Chapter 3

There is very little justification for including silk culture as an enterprise in the agricultural history of the Jamestown Colony. It was one product that was usually placed first in recommendations of the authorities who sponsored the settlement of Virginia.

In keeping with the improved status of the social and economic life of England, in the latter years of the sixteenth century, came a desire for finer and more lustrous fabrics in their articles of dress. Serges and tweeds, woven from the fleeces of their coarse-wooled sheep, no longer satisfied the fastidious tastes of the ruling aristocracy. Even calicos from far-away Calcutta were esteemed fit for royal inaugural gowns. Silk was the last word in luxurious garb.

Silkworms had been reared in the Orient from ancient times. These moths had been domesticated for so many years they had become fully dependent on human aid for existence. They could crawl but could not fly. While silk brought fabulous prices on the world's market there were numerous reasons why its culture never succeeded in America. The handling of the creeping, crawling, ill-smelling worms was objectionable to anyone not accustomed from childhood to the task. Old people and young girls who were the ones employed in rearing silkworms in the Orient received the equivalent of a few cents a day for their labor. Such cheap help was not available in Virginia. Perhaps, the most serious objection of all was the lack of a suitable food supply for the worms. A silkworm from the time it hatches from the egg till it spins its cocoon devours a mass of green forage. Leaves of the mulberry tree are its favorite diet. In fact, without a supply of mulberry trees, successful silk culture is out of the question. Growing a crop of trees had to precede the rearing of worms. This took several years. Nevertheless, the directions of the London Company urged in season and out that the colonists should produce silk.

Governor Wyatt, in 1621, was instructed: "Not to permit any, but the council and heads of hundreds, to wear gold in the clothes, or to wear silk till they make it themselves." Nothing came from this order. In 1656, the agitation for silk became so intense, the General Assembly was forced to take action. First, an experienced silk grower, an Armenian by the name of George, was sent to the colony, and the General Assembly was ordered to give him four thousand pounds of tobacco to keep him in the country. Another law, passed that year, ordered that each planter set out ten mulberry trees for each one hundred acres of land he owned. These trees were to be fenced, to protect them from horses and cattle, and to be kept weeded. This law was repealed, two years later, as it "seems rather troublesome and burthensome than any waies advantageous to the country." The law was re-enacted in 1661 but given a three years delay as it was impossible to get mulberry trees. The General Assembly, in 1657, voted a bounty of 5000 pounds of tobacco to any planter producing 100 pounds of wound silk. There were no claimants. Two years later, the bounty was increased to 10,000 pounds of tobacco and the amount of silk required was reduced to 50 pounds. Again the results were negative. Then a bounty of fifty pounds of tobacco for each pound of silk was ordered. The effects from all these orders are summed up in an act of the General Assembly in 1663 which reads:

George, the Armenian, having proved the making of ten pounds of wound silk, it is ordered there be paid him for his encouragement in the levy according to act.

It is assumed that George received 500 pounds of tobacco. What became of the silk is not recorded. A few years later the price per pound of wound silk was fixed by the General Assembly at 20 shillings or two hundred pounds of tobacco.

HEMP AND FLAX

Two plants, the culture of which was strongly urged by the English authorities, were hemp and flax. In this case, greater success was realized than occurred with most of the demands that came from across the ocean. It had been ordered in 1658, by the General Assembly: "That what person or persons, soever, shall at any time hereafter make, in this colonie, so much silke, flax, hopps or any other staple commodities (except tobacco) as is worth two hundred pounds sterling, or English wheate to the value of five hundred pounds stirling in one yeare, and exporte the same or cause the same to be exported, or shall first make two tunne of wine raized out of a vineyard made in this collonie, shall have given him by this country, for an encouragement, ten thousand pounds of Virginia tobacco."

Apparently no one qualified for the bounty on flax for, in 1661, provision was made for importing some flax seed from England. No price was fixed, in 1666, on "flax by reason of the uncertainty of the quality." In 1682, bounties were offered: "For every peck of flax seeds, four and twentie pounds of tobacco, and for every peck of hemp seed twenty pounds of tobacco." Bounties were also offered for hemp and flax woven into cloth. It was also ordered that every tithable person should produce one pound of dressed hemp and one pound of dressed flax or two pounds of either annually. From that time on considerable hemp and flax were raised in Virginia, but most of the crop was used at home. Linen cloth was highly prized. There was also a demand for cordage made of hemp fibers for ships.

ENGLISH GRAIN

As already noted, the initial attempts of the colonists to grow the grains with which they had been accustomed in England came to naught. They were familiar with wheat, rye, barley and oats. To make satisfactory yields, these grains had to be broadcasted on well prepared seed beds. Newly cleared forests left the soil full of stumps and roots. The wooden plows of those days were useless on these newly cleared lands. Preparation of the soil, for tobacco or maize, could be accomplished with a hand hoe or shovel. These plants required space in which to develop their full growth. A tobacco plant could be set or a hill of corn planted wherever a little loose dirt could be found. Some English grains were seeded in the cleared land near Hampton and Newport News but these old fields, abandoned by the Indians, were also near to exhaustion. An "indifferent crop" was reported.

In 1627, Abraham Piersey had 200 acres each in wheat and barley. From these crops he was able to furnish food daily to sixty persons. How much of this seeding was on land that had been abandoned for tobacco, or was old Indian fields, is not stated. When DeVries visited Virginia in 1643, he found the planters putting down, in English grain, lands which had been exhausted by successive crops of tobacco. The General Assembly had ruled in 1639, that corn (probably wheat and maize) could be exported whenever the price fell below twelve shillings a bushel. Large exports of this valuable cereal were then being made to the near-by colonies of Maryland, Manhattan, Carolina and the West Indies.

It was estimated by Edward Williams, in 1650, that two able-bodied laborers could seed sixty acres in wheat in the course of one season and reap the grain when it was ripe. The yield from such an area had a market value of four hundred and eighty pounds sterling. It was reported that these fields which no longer produced the best grades of tobacco were better for wheat than newly cleared land. As these exhausted fields could be rented or purchased at moderate cost compared with prime tobacco new ground, many poorly financed colonists were able to get a start towards prosperity without resorting to the almost universal practice of growing tobacco.

LIVESTOCK

As already shown, the domestic animals brought to the Colony, in the first few years of its settlement, were turned out in the woods to fend for themselves. The original breeding stocks were of ordinary quality and the lack of care given them contributed to their inferiority. Predatory animals such as wolves, bears, panthers and wild cats exacted a heavy annual toll of young animals.

Until Governor Dale constructed his miles of picket fences there was nothing to keep the animals from wandering up into the highlands where the colonists did not dare to venture. In spite of the handicaps all classes of domestic animals increased in numbers when not slaughtered for food. This was especially true of swine.

SWINE

Hogs contributed more to the material welfare of the Jamestown Colony than historians have generally recognized. Hogs have many advantages over other breeds of livestock. They multiply much faster than any other domestic animal except poultry. They make faster gains and double the weight for the food consumed than do cattle, sheep or goats. When slaughtered, hogs dress out about 75 percent edible meat, as compared with 55 to 60 percent for cattle. When given wide open range in humid climates such as prevailed in the Tidewater, they do fairly well without other feed than what they can find for themselves.

In summer, at Jamestown, they obtained most of their living in the numerous fresh-water swamps. Tuckahoe, a flag-like swamp plant, with an enormous root system, was their favorite hot weather forage. The roots of tuckahoe, often as large as a man's arm, contain a crystalline acid that burns the mouth of a human being like fire. After a few trials, hogs seem to relish it. While tuckahoe is not a fattening feed, hogs eating it make satisfactory gains in weight.

In the fall when the acorns and nuts ripened, the hogs put on weight at a rapid pace. The woods were stocked with oak, hickory, chestnut, beech, chinquapin, and persimmon trees and shrubs, the fruits of which were all grouped under the general term _mast_. There is one difference between pork produced from grain-fed hogs and those fattened on mast. The lard of the latter group melts at a temperature of about ten degrees below that of those fed corn. To the connoisseur of well cured hams and bacon this low melting point is not a detriment but a distinct improvement.

The colonists adapted the Indian practice of using smoke to aid in the curing of meat. The natives built platforms of poles supported by posts about six feet from the ground. The meat to be cured was salted and spread on these poles. A small fire was built underneath to furnish the smoke. This arrangement was called by the Taino Indians, a _barbacoa_ from which we get the English equivalent, _barbecue_.

By 1636, hogs, sheep and goats had increased in such numbers that ships coming to Jamestown could supply their needs for meat from the colony's surplus. This was advantageous to shipmasters and furnished a market for a product of a growing industry in the colony. Prior to that time ships coming to America from Europe had to take on food stuffs for the round trip.

Another benefit accrued to the colony. The combined curing process of salt and smoke imparts a delicious flavor to hams and bacon that has never been excelled by any other method. This applies especially to meat from hogs fattened on mast or peanuts.

Virginia hams and bacon soon became noted for their excellence all over the world. The fame of these products has never waned. Unfortunately, most hotels and restaurants in the United State now use the term "Virginia ham" on their menus to designate this sort of meat regardless of its origin or cure. New England ships, plying a coastwise traffic with the Caribbean countries, frequently stopped in Jamestown for cargoes of salted meats. This trade was especially desirable during times when the price of tobacco fell to ruinous levels. Most of the hogs ran wild. Some planters marked their animals by ear-cuts, and then could claim an entire drove, if they had a number of their branded hogs in it.

CATTLE

Neat animals were kept near Jamestown in the early years, but they, like the swine, had to gather their own living. A few were trained for draft purposes. In new grounds where stumps and roots prevail, oxen are more useful than horses. They do not get in a panic when obstacles interfere. Then too, they can be slaughtered for beef when they become too old for work. During the period under study, cattle, in Virginia, often brought good prices. Many were purchased by the New England colonists as it was cheaper to buy animals, in America, than to go to the expense and loss of animals by shipping them across the ocean.

There was a market for oxen in the Caribbean region, where they were used for power, in the sugar mills.

In the first thirty years, some of the cattle went wild in the back country, but many of the cows were kept in the vicinity of the Jamestown headquarters. While not notable as dairy cows, they produced enough milk so that Virginia gained a reputation among ship crews for its excellent butter and cheese. In 1649 it was estimated that there were twenty thousand cattle in the Colony.

GOATS AND SHEEP

Flocks of goats and sheep became noticeable to visitors about the middle of the century. Many were brought to Virginia. In the early years the numbers killed by wolves made them unprofitable. Heavy bounties paid for wolf heads eventually reduced the depredations of this predator until sheep and goats were fairly safe. As producers of meat and wool for clothing sheep contributed to the general welfare of the colony. By 1649, the number of sheep was estimated at three thousand; and of goats at five thousand.

HORSES

Of all the domestic animals brought from England to Jamestown in the early days of the settlement, the most expensive to transport and the most useless after they arrived in Virginia were horses. The estimate of the number in the Colony in 1649 is 200. There was no purpose for them to serve. The fragile wooden plows of the seventeenth century were of no use among the stumps and roots in newly cleared forest lands. Horses were of no value for transportation as there were no roads through the forests or bridges over the rivers. They were of little use as beasts of burden as there were few burdens to carry. A horse was no match for an able-bodied man on Indian trails through timbered country. As late as 1671, the Batts and Fallam expedition, consisting of five white men and seven Indians, who were the discoverers of New River, had horses for the white men when they left Petersburg. All of these animals were dead before they reached the mountains.

The colonists did all they could afford to do with the horses brought to them and that was to turn them loose to shift for themselves. In a very few years there was a band of wild horses roaming the woods in the back country. Eventually these wild horses provided a great deal of recreation for the younger planters. Capturing and breaking to the saddle wild horses became a popular sport. As soon as a horse was caught and accustomed to a rider the most natural thing was to try it for speed.

Horse-racing began with local contests but developed into a major sport. King Charles II is credited with having imported Turk and Arabian horses to England. Some of this blooded stock may have been shipped to Jamestown. At any rate Virginia saddle-horses at an early date began to attract attention because of their speed.

Two other colonies, Rhode Island and New York were famous for their fast horses. Racing became an inter-colonial sport. The first regular race course was the New Market on Hempstead Plains, Long Island. There the fleetest horses of Long Island were brought together to settle all arguments by actual trial. This famous race course was described in 1670 by a contemporary, Daniel Denton: "Toward the middle of Long Island lyeth a plain sixteen miles long and four broad, upon which plain grows very fine grass, that makes exceeding good hay, and is very good pasture for sheep or other cattel; where you shall find neither stick nor stone to hinder the horse heels or endanger them in their races, and once a year the best horses in the island are brought hither to try their swiftness, and the swiftest rewarded with a silver cup, two being annually procured for that purpose."

Horse-racing became of economic importance to these colonies. The sugar planters, in the Caribbean region, also became interested in this "sport of kings" and sent agents to buy the fastest horses they could find. High prices were sometimes paid for prize winning animals.

Governor Francis Nicholson in 1690, "gave prizes to those that should excell in riding, running, wrestling and cudgeling." Of these sports, riding became by far the most popular. Interest in horse-racing, fox-chasing, steeple-chasing, and riding tournaments has never entirely died out in Virginia.

CONCLUSION

A great deal has been written about the events that occurred during the ninety-two years that elapsed, from the settlement of the colony on Jamestown Island, and the change of capital site to Williamsburg. Judging from the recorded observations of visitors during that period, no great difference in the general appearance of the landscape had taken place. It still looked very much like a wilderness. Much forest land had been cleared, farmed for a few years, and then turned back to nature. The mammoth trees with scanty undergrowth, that the firstcomers found, had been replaced with a luxuriant second or third growth. If the top-soil is not eroded away a new forest can be produced in Virginia in thirty or forty years.

One of the most noticeable improvements was in the dwelling houses. Substantial brick and frame buildings had replaced the hurriedly constructed shacks of the early days.

The accumulated wealth from the surplus products resulting from their farming activities was reflected in their flocks and herds of horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, and poultry. Dire famine no longer stared them in face. Through insistence that only the best quality products should be shipped abroad, favorable trade relations had been established in the commerce of the world.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of all was the creation of the farm home where a family could own, in fee simple, the land they tilled, live in peace, and enjoy the fruits of their own labor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. Beverley, Robert. _History of Virginia_ ... Reprinted from the author's 2nd. rev. ed., London, 1722. Richmond, Virginia, 1855.

2. Brown, Alexander. _The Genesis of the United States._ Boston and New York, 1890. 2 Vols.

3. Bruce, P. A. _Economic History of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century._ New York, 1895. 2 Vols.

4. Bullock, William. _Virginia Impartially Examined_ ... London, 1649.

5. Campbell, Charles. _History of the Colony and Ancient Dominion of Virginia_ ... Philadelphia, 1860.

6. Clayton, Rev. John. _A letter_ ... May 12, 1688. _Giving an Account of Several Observables in Virginia_ ... Reprint in Force, Peter. Tracts ... Washington, 1836-46. Vol. 3.

7. Devries, David Peterson. _Voyages from Holland to America._ New York, 1853.

8. Force, Peter. _Tracts and Other Papers_, Relating Principally to the Origin, Settlement, and Progress of the Colonies of North America. Washington. 4 Vols.

Gray, Lewis C. History of Agriculture in the Southern United States to 1860. Washington, D. C. 2 Vols.

9. Hakluyt, Richard. _Collection of Early Voyages, Travels and Discoveries of the English Nation._ London, 1809-12. 5 Vols. Also Edinburgh, 1885-90. 16 Vols.

10. Hamor, Ralph. _A True Discourse of the Present State of Virginia_ ... London, 1615. Albany, J. Munsell, 1860.

11. Hariot, Thomas. _Narrative of the First English Plantation of Virginia._ London, 1588. Reproduced after DeBry's illustrated edition printed in Frankfort in 1590, the illustrations having been designed in Virginia in 1585 by John White. London, B. Quaritch, 1893.

12. Hening, W. W. _Virginia Statutes at Large_, 1619-1792. 13 Vols.

13. Jefferson, Thomas. _Notes on the State of Virginia._.Richmond, J. W. Randolph, 1853.

14. Purchas, Samuel. _Purchas his Pilgrims._ London, 1626. 5 Vols.

15. Smith, Captain John. _Works._ Edited by Arber, 1884. Also Edinburgh 1910. 2 Vols.

16. Spotswood, Alexander. _Official Letters_, 1710-1722. Ed. by R. A. Brock. Virginia Historical Society Collections. Richmond, 1882-85. 2 Vols.

17. Strachey, William. _The Historie of Travaile Into Virginia Britannia_ ... London. Printed for the Hakluyt Society, 1849.

18. Swem, E. G. _Virginia Historical Index._ Roanoke, Virginia. 1934-36. 2 Vols.

19. _Virginia Company of London. Abstract of the Proceedings of the Company_ ... 1619-1624. By Conway Robinson. Edited by R. A. Brock. Virginia Historical Society, 1888-89.

20. _Virginia Truly Valued._ In Force's Tracts, Vol. 3.

APPENDIX I

A PLOWMAN'S DAY

This is an extract from Markham's _Farewell to Husbandry, or the Enriching of all Sorts of barren and Steril grounds in our Kingdome_, a well-known book on farming as carried on in England in the early years of the 17th century; it is presented here in order to show what the daily tasks of a farmer were at that time, and what might be expected, according to this standard, of a settler coming to Virginia. The author, Gervase Markham, issued several editions of the work. This extract is from the fourth edition, printed in 1638, of which a title-page is reproduced in this booklet, from the copy in the William and Mary College Library. Markham's book has an additional interest, for the reason that in the supplies sent by ship _Supply_ in 1620 to Berkeley Hundred, a copy of the current edition was included.