towns & Villages.—book m 
3J# 
their first essay in this business. A number of the inhabitants 
are also employed as boatmen, for the purpose of conducting 
voyages. There is some Indian trade, from the neighbouring 
Shawanese, Piorias, and Delawares. There are but few mecha¬ 
nics, and these but indifferent. A chapel is erected here, at which 
the Rev. Mr. Maxwell officiates. 
As the agriculture of St. Genevieve, is carried on more ex¬ 
tensively, than in any of the other villages, 1 shall take this op¬ 
portunity of giving a description of it. One fence encloses the 
whole village field, and this is kept up at the common expense. 
The river side is left open, the steepness of the bank rendering 
any enclosure unnecessary. This field is divided into a number 
of small lots, of an equal size; a certain number of arpents in 
front, and a certain number in depth. The more wealthy pos¬ 
sess and cultivate several of these lots, while some of the poorer 
class do not own one entire. But nearly all the inhabitants have 
a share in them; they were ceded by the Spanish govern¬ 
ment, as an appendage to the possession of every resident- 
er in the village. This mode has been practised from the earli¬ 
est settlements on both sides of the Mississippi, and perhaps 
Bad its origin from necessary precaution against the Indians. 
Their agricultural labors commence in the month of April, 
when the inhabitants, with their slaves, are seen going and re¬ 
turning, each morning and evening, for eight or ten days, with 
their ploughs, carts, horses, &c. The ground is broken up with 
a kind of wheel plough, which enters deep into the soil. Corn, 
pumpkins, and spring wheat, compose the usual crop. It is now- 
left entirely to nature, and no further attention is paid to it until 
harvest, when each villager, but without that mirth and jollity, 
which usually takes place on such occasions, in other countries, 
quietly hauls in his own crop. There is a great contrast be¬ 
tween the lots cultivated by the Americans, and those of the 
creoles; pains are taken to keep them clear of weeds, and this 
is rewarded by a crop of at least one third greater. In the 
rich alluvia, it is thought, that wheat sowed in the spring is 
best; it does not grow so rank, and is less apt to lodge or miL 
dew. There is a kind of weed here resembling hemp, having a 
hoarse, vigorous stalk, and a strong but not disagreeable sjnell; 
