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Show TRAVELS TllROUGH NORTil AMERICA: Wh:lt I have here fJid, rcfpcCl:ing t e condition :md trc1tment of !laves, appertam· s, ·t 11. 1.),~ rcrnembercd to thofe only who arc upon th e larg~ 1 mUtl Lv , • . . plantatiO· nS · y·. · · . the lot of [uch as ar~.; unfo! tun,"tt enough to fall 111 It gm ta, . . . , .·J nto t h e h an d:.:. of tl 1e ]o'v er clafs of ·wh1te people, a.n ct of hatd taJk. - manu. ers · h ·c very different. In the Carolm:-ts and Gcorgw. 111 t e town ~ , L • • . agam• , 1111 avery pre1r.e n t ·tfelf in very diffc 1\.:nt co lours from what 1.t do'"'s 1 . . • • 11. fiorn1 1 ' even m lts woru 11 Virginia · I am told, th:tt 1t. 1 no uncommon t 111 ·1 1 o- t 11 rc, to 1r.\ ..e gang,s of ncon roes fl:akcd at a hork race, and to ii c 1 rb fi t te bc1 • t 1 H:! un or una 11g b,·m dicd about fi-orn one .it:t of drunken gamblers to ano~ h er rJ.O r d·,t ys torbr c thcr • ITo v much to be ckpr catcd arc the 1 1 · 1 i' ft . . r.uch ,, 1. LJJ. •<: to c ill l yet thefc are th · law enaCl:ed by :tWS W 11C l l1 C.:! 1' .... u ~ ' · people whO boaft of their lOVC or liberty ~11Lt inLl.cpcndCll CC~ and Wh() ref'ume to fay, that it is in the brca!ls or Amcncans alo r1 that the .bleHin~s of freedom are held in jnil: cfi:im.Jtion. Tl)c Northern Necl·, with the exception of fomc few fpots only, is flat ai"td [andy, and abounds with pine and ccd:11·· trees. Some parts of it are well cultivated, an l afford good crops; but thcf<.: arc fo intermixed with e tenfi.ve traCts of wafi:e land, worn out by the clllture of tobacco, and which are almofl: dcflitutc of verdarc, that on the whole the country has the appearance of barrennefs. Thi is the cafe wherever tobacco has been made the principal objeCt of cultivation. It is not, however, fo much owing to the great {hare of nutr:ment which the tobacco plant requires, that the land is impoveri! hed, as to the particular mode of cultivating it, which renders it neceffary for people to be continually walking between the plants from the moment they are fet out, fo tlut the ground about each plant is left expofed to the burning rays of the fun all the fummer, and becom s at the ei1d of the feafon a hard beaten pathway. A ruinous fyftem has prevailed alfo of working the fame piece of land year after year, till it was totally exhaufl:ed; after this it was left negleCted, and a frdh piece of land was cleared, that always produced good crops for one or two feafons; but this in its turn was worn out and afterwards 1 ft watl:e. Many of the planters are at length beginning to fee the abfurdity of wearing out ~heir lands in this manner, and now raife only one crop of tobacco upon a piece. C U L T I V A T 1 0 N 0 F T 0 n A C C 0. 7 . ptecc of new land, then th ey fo'.V he 1t fi:1r two years, and afterward clover. per acre They pur on from twelve to fifteen hundn:d buD1cls of manur ~t firfl:, vvhich is found to be fuiJicient both for the tobacco and wl1cat; tbc latter is produced at the rate of about twenty builiel· per acre. In fame 1;arts of Virgini, , the lands 1<-:ft wall:e in this manner throw up, in a· very {hort tim. , a fpo 1taneous growth of pines and cedars; in which cafe, being [haded fr m the powc1ful influence of the fun, they recover their former 1't:rtility at the nd of fifteen or twenty years; but in othe1' parts many years cl:.lpfe b fore :111y verdure appear£ upon th m. The trees fpringing up in this fpontancous manner ufu ally grow very clofc to each other; they attain the height of tifteeu or twenty feet, perhaps, in the fame number of years; there is, however, but very little fap in them, and in a D1ort time after they are cut down they decay. T obacco is raifed and manufaCtured in the following manner: When the fpring is fo far advanced that every appr henfion of the return of froil: is baniD1eJ, a convenient fpot of grouml is chofen, from twenty to one hundred feet fquare, whereon they burn prodigious piles of wood_, in order to defi.roy the weeds and infetls. The warm aD1es are then dug in with th earth, and the feed 9 which is bhck, and remarkably li11all, fown. The whole is next cover d over with buOJes, to prevent birds and flies, if poffiblc, from getting to it; but this) in general, proves ve y ineffctlual; for the plant fcarcely nppears above ground_, when it is attac! cd by a large black By of the beetle kind, which defl: roys the 1 'aves. Perfons are repeatedly fcnt to pick ofr thcfe flies; but fom~timcs, notwithftanding all their attention, fo ·much mi1chicf is done that v ry few plants arc left~ i As I pafled through Virginia, I heard univc fal cCJmplaint .. of the depredations they had committed; the b ds were almo!l: wholly dcicroyed. .l\s foon a the young plants arc fuft1ciently grown, which is generally in the beginning of 1\by, they arc tranfplanted into fields, and {et out in hillocks, at the difi.ance of th ree or four feet from each other. Here again they have other enemies to contend with; the roots are attacked 4 by |
