Part 7

Many people have not been able to find out why the North American plants which are carried to Europe and planted there, for the greatest part flower so late, and do not get ripe fruit before the frost overtakes them, although it appears from several accounts of travels, that the winters in Pensylvania, and more so those in New York, New England, and Canada, are full as severe as our Swedish winters, and therefore are much severer than those which are felt in England. Several men of judgment charged me for this reason to examine and enquire into this phœnomenon with all possible care. But I shall instead of an answer, rather give a few remarks which I made upon the climate and upon the plants of North America, and leave my readers at liberty to draw the conclusions themselves.

1. It is true, that the winters in Pensylvania, and much more those in the more northern provinces, are frequently as severe as our Swedish winters, and much colder than the English ones, or those of the southern parts of Europe. For I found at Philadelphia, which is above twenty deg. more southerly than several provinces in Sweden, that the thermometer of professor Celsius, fell twenty-four deg. below the freezing point in winter. Yet I was assured that the winters I spent here, were none of the coldest, but only common ones, which I could likewise conclude from the Delaware’s not being frozen strong enough to bear a carriage at Philadelphia during my stay, though this often happens. On considering the breadth of the river which I have already mentioned in my description of Philadelphia, and the difference between high and low water, which is eight English feet; it will pretty plainly appear that a very intense frost is required to cover the Delaware with such thick ice.

2. But it is likewise true, that though the winters are severe here, yet they are commonly of no long duration, and I can justly say, that they do not continue above two months and sometimes even less, at Philadelphia; and it is something very uncommon when they continue for three months together, in so much that it is put into the gazettes. Nearer the pole the winters are somewhat longer, and in the quite northern parts they are as long as the Swedish winters. The daily meteorological observations which I have made during my stay in America, and which I intend to annex at the end of each volume of this work, will give more light in this matter.

3. The heat in summer is excessive, and without intermission. I own I have seen the thermometer rise to nearly the same degree at Aobo in Finland. But the difference is, that when the thermometer of professor Celsius rose to thirty deg. above the freezing point once in two or three summers at Aobo, the same thermometer did not only for three months together stand at the same degree, but even sometimes rose higher; not only in Pensylvania, but likewise in New York, Albany, and a great part of Canada. During the summers which I spent at Philadelphia, the thermometer has two or three times risen to thirty-six deg. above the freezing point. It may therefore with great certainty be said, that in Pensylvania the greatest part of April, the whole May, and all the following months till October, are like our Swedish months of June and July. So excessive and continued a heat must certainly have very great effects. I here again refer to my meteorological observations. It must likewise be ascribed to the effects of this heat that the common melons, the water melons, and the pumpions of different sorts are sown in the fields without any bells or the like put over them, and yet are ripe as early as July; further, that cherries are ripe at Philadelphia about the 25th. of May, and that in Pensylvania the wheat is frequently reaped in the middle of June.

4. The whole of September, and half, if not the whole of October, are the finest months in Pensylvania, for the preceding ones are too hot. But these represent our July and half of August. The greatest part of the plants are in flower in September, and many do not begin to open their flowers before the latter end of this month. I make no doubt that the goodness of the season, which is enlivened by a clear sky, and a tolerably hot sun-shine, greatly contributes towards this last effort of Flora. Yet though these plants come out so late, they are quite ripe before the middle of October. But I am not able to account for their coming up so late in autumn, and I rather ask, why do not the Centaurea Jacea, the Gentiana, Amarella and Centaurium of Linnæus, and the common golden rod, or Solidago Virgaurea flower before the end of summer? or why do the common noble liverwort, or Anemone Hepatica, the wild violets (Viola martia, Linn.) the mezereon (Daphne Mezereum, Linn.) and other plants shew their flowers so early in spring? It has pleased the Almighty Creator to give to them this disposition. The weather at Philadelphia during these months, is shewn by my meteorological tables. I have taken the greatest care in my observations, and have always avoided putting the thermometer into any place where the sun could shine upon it, or where he had before heated the wall by his beams; for in those cases my observations would certainly not have been exact. The weather during our September and October is too well known to want an explanation. [15]

5. However there are some spontaneous plants in Pensylvania, which do not every year bring their seeds to maturity before the cold begins. To these belong some species of Gentiana, of Asters, and others. But in these too the wisdom of the Creator has wisely ordered every thing in its turn. For almost all the plants which have the quality of flowering so late in autumn, are perennial, or such as, though they have no seed to propagate themselves, can revive by shooting new branches and stalks from the same root every year. But perhaps a natural cause may be given to account for the late growth of these plants. Before the Europeans came into this country, it was inhabited by savage nations, who practised agriculture but little or not at all, and chiefly lived upon hunting and fishing. The woods therefore have never been meddled with, except that sometimes a small part was destroyed by fire. The accounts which we have of the first landing of the Europeans here, shew that they found the country all over covered with thick forests. [16] From hence it follows, that excepting the higher trees, and the plants which grow in the water or near the shore, the rest must for the greatest part have been obliged to grow perhaps for a thousand years together, in a shade, either below or between the trees, and they therefore naturally belong to those which are only peculiar to woody and shady places. The trees in this country drop their leaves in such quantities in autumn, that the ground is covered with them to the depth of four or five inches. These leaves lie a good while in the next summer before they moulder, and this must of course hinder the growth of the plants which are under the trees, at the same time depriving them of the few rays of the sun which can come down to them through the thick leaves at the top of the trees. These causes joined together make such plants flower much later than they would otherwise do. May it not therefore be said, that in so many centuries these plants had at last contracted a habit of coming up very late, and that it would now require a great space of time to make them lose this habit, and use them to quicken their growth?

September the 24th. We employed this whole day in gathering the seeds of plants of all kinds, and in putting scarce plants into the herbal.

September the 25th. Mr. Hesselius made me a present of a little piece of petrified wood, which was found in the ground here. It was four inches long, one inch broad, and three lines thick. It might plainly be seen that it had formerly been wood. For in the places where it had been polished, all the longitudinal fibres were easily distinguishable, so that it might have been taken for a piece of oak which was cut smooth. My piece was part of a still greater piece. It was here thought to be petrified hiccory. I afterwards got more of it from other people. Mr. Lewis Evans told me that on the boundaries of Virginia, a great petrified block of hiccory had been found in the ground, with the bark on it, which was likewise petrified.

Mr. John Bartram is an Englishman, who lives in the country about four miles from Philadelphia. He has acquired a great knowledge of natural philosophy and history, and seems to be born with a peculiar genius for these sciences. In his youth he had no opportunity of going to school. But by his own diligence and indefatigable application he got, without instruction, so far in Latin, as to understand all Latin books, and even those which were filled with botanical terms. He has in several successive years made frequent excursions into different distant parts of North America, with an intention of gathering all sorts of plants which are scarce and little known. Those which he found he has planted in his own botanical garden, and likewise sent over their seeds or fresh roots to England. We owe to him the knowledge of many scarce plants, which he first found, and which were never known before. He has shewn great judgment, and an attention which lets nothing escape unnoticed. Yet with all these great qualities, he is to be blamed for his negligence; for he did not care to write down his numerous and useful observations. His friends at London once obliged him to send them a short account of one of his travels, and they were very ready, with a good intention, though not with sufficient judgment, to get this account printed. But this book, did Mr. Bartram more harm than good; for as he is rather backward in writing down what he knows, this publication was found to contain but few new observations. It would not however be doing justice to Mr. Bartram’s merit, if it were to be judged of by this performance. He has not filled it with a thousandth part of the great knowledge, which he has acquired in natural philosophy and history, especially in regard to North America. I have often been at a loss to think of the sources, from whence he got many things which came to his knowledge. I likewise owe him many things, for he possessed that great quality of communicating every thing he knew. I shall therefore in the sequel, frequently mention this gentleman. For I should never forgive myself, if I were to omit the name of the first inventor, and claim that as my own invention, which I learnt from another person.

Many Muscle shells, or Mytili anatini, are to be met with on the north-west side of the town in the clay-pits, which were at present filled with water from a little brook in the neighbourhood. These muscles seem to have been washed into that place by the tide, when the water in the brook was high. For these clay-pits are not old, but were lately made. Poor boys sometimes go out of town, wade in the water, and gather great quantities of these shells, which they sell very easily, they being reckoned a dainty.

The Virginian Azarole with a red fruit, or Linnæus’s Cratægus Crus galli, is a species of hawthorn, and they plant it in hedges, for want of that hawthorn, which is commonly used for this purpose in Europe. Its berries are red, and of the same size, shape, and taste with those of our hawthorn. Yet this tree does not seem to make a good hedge, for its leaves were already fallen, whilst other trees still preserved theirs. Its spines are very long and sharp; their length being two or three inches. These spines are applied to some inconsiderable use. Each berry contains two stones.

Mr. Bartram assured me, that the North American oak, cannot resist putrefaction for near such a space of time, as the European. For this reason, the boats (which carry all sorts of goods down from the upper parts of the country) upon the river Hudson, which is one of the greatest in these parts, are made of two kinds of wood. That part which must always be under water, is made of black oak; but the upper part, which is now above and now under water, and is therefore more exposed to putrefaction, is made of red cedar or Juniperus Virginiana, which is reckoned the most hardy wood in the country. The bottom is made of black oak, because that wood is very tough. For the river being full of stones, and the boats frequently running against them, the black oak gives way, and therefore does not easily crack. But the cedar would not do for this purpose; because it is hard and brittle. The oak likewise is not so much attacked by putrefaction, when it is always kept under water.

In autumn, I could always get good pears here; but every body acknowledged, that this fruit would not succeed well in the country.

All my observations and remarks on the qualities of the Rattle-snake, are inserted in the Memoirs of the Swedish Academy of Sciences, for the year 1752, p. 316, and for the year 1753, p. 54, and thither I refer the reader. [17]

Bears are very numerous higher up in the country, and do much mischief. Mr. Bartram told me, that when a bear catches a cow, kills her in the following manner: he bites a hole into the hide, and blows with all his power into it, till the animal swells excessively and dies; for the air expands greatly between the flesh and the hide. [18] An old Swede called Nils Gustave’s son, who was ninety-one years of age, said, that in his youth, the bears had been very frequent hereabouts, but that they had seldom attacked the cattle: that whenever a bear was killed, its flesh was prepared like pork, and that it had a very good taste. And the flesh of bears is still prepared like ham, on the river Morris. The environs of Philadelphia, and even the whole province of Pensylvania in general contain very few bears, they having been extirpated by degrees. In Virginia they kill them in several different ways. Their flesh is eaten by both rich and poor, since it is reckoned equal in goodness to pork. In some parts of this province, where no hogs can be kept on account of the great numbers of bears, the people are used to catch and kill them, and to use them instead of hogs. The American bears however, are said to be less fierce and dangerous, than the European ones.

September the 26th. The broad plantain, or Plantago major, grows on the highroads, foot paths, meadows, and in gardens in great plenty. Mr. Bartram had found this plant in many places on his travels, but he did not know whether it was an original American plant, or whether the Europeans had brought it over. This doubt had its rise from the savages (who always had an extensive knowledge of the plants of the country) pretending that this plant never grew here before the arrival of the Europeans., They therefore give it a name which signifies, the Englishman’s foot, for they say that where a European had walked, there this plant grew in his foot steps.

The Chenopodium album, or Goosefoot with sinuated leaves, grows in plenty in the gardens. But it is more scarce near the houses, in the streets, on dunghills and corn-fields. This seems to shew, that it is not a native of America, but has been brought over amongst other seeds from Europe. In the same manner it is thought that the Tansey (Tanacetum vulgare, Linn.) which grows here and there in the hedges, on the roads, and near houses, was produced from European seeds.

The common vervain, with blue flowers, or verbena officinalis, was shewn to me by Mr. Bartram, not far from his house in a little plain near Philadelphia. It was the only place where he had found it in America. And for this reason I suppose it was likewise sown here amongst other European seeds.

Mr. Bartram was at this time-building a house in Philadelphia, and had sunk a cellar to a considerable depth, the soil of which was thrown out. I here observed the following strata. The upper loose soil was only half a foot deep, and of a dark brown colour. Under it was a stratum of clay so much blended with sand, that it was in greater quantity than the clay itself; and this stratum was eight feet deep. These were both brick coloured. The next stratum consisted of little pebbles mixed with a coarse sand. The stones consisted either of a clear, or of a dark Quartz; [19] they were quite smooth and roundish on the outside, and lay in a stratum which was a foot deep. Then the brick-coloured clay mixed with sand appeared again. But the depth of this stratum could not be determined. Query, could the river formerly have reached to this place and formed these strata?

Mr. Bartram has not only frequently found oyster-shells in the ground, but likewise met with such shells and snails, as undoubtedly belong to the sea, at the distance of a hundred and more English miles from the shore. He has even found them on the ridge of mountains which separate the English plantations from the habitations of the savages. These mountains which the English call the blue mountains, are of considerable height, and extend, in one continued chain from north to south, or from Canada to Carolina. Yet in some places they have gaps, which are as it were broke through, to afford a passage for the great rivers, which roll down into the lower country.

The Cassia Chamæcrista grew on the roads the woods, and sometimes on uncultivated fields, especially when shrubs grew in them. Its leaves are like those of the Sensitive plant, or Mimosa, and have likewise the quality of contracting when touched, in common with the leaves of the latter.

The Crows in this country are little different from our common crows in Sweden. Their size is the same with that of our crows, and they are as black as jet in every part of their body. I saw them flying to day in great numbers together. Their voice is not quite like that of our crows, but has rather more of the cry of the rook, or Linnæus’s Corvus frugilegus.

Mr. Bartram related, that on his journeys to the northern English colonies, he had discovered great holes in the mountains on the banks of rivers, which according to his description, must exactly have been such giants pots, [20] as are to be met with in Sweden, and which I have described in a particular dissertation read in the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. Mr. Bartram has likewise addressed some letters to the Royal Society at London upon this subject. For some people pretended, that these holes were made by the savages, that they might in time of war hide their corn and other valuable effects in them. But he wrote against this opinion, and accounted for the origin of these cavities in the following manner. When the ice settles, many pebbles stick in it. In spring when the snow melts, the water in the rivers swells so high that it reaches above the place where these holes are now found in the mountains. The ice therefore will of course float as high. And then it often happens, that the pebbles which were contained in it, ever since autumn when it first settled on the banks of the river, fall out of the ice upon the rocky bank, and are from thence carried into a cleft or crack by the water. These pebbles are then continually turned about by the water, which comes in upon them, and by this means they gradually form the hole. The water at the same time polishes the stone by its circular motion round it, and helps to make the hole or cavity round. It is certain that by this turning and tossing, the stone is at last unfit for this purpose; but the river throws commonly every spring other stones instead of it into the cavity, and they are turned round in the same manner. By this whirling both the mountain and the stone afford either a fine or a coarse sand, which is washed away by the water when in spring, or at other times it is high enough to throw its waves into the cavity. This was the opinion of Mr. Bartram about the origin of these cavities. The Royal Society of Sciences at London, has given a favourable reception to, and approved of them. [21] The remarks which I made in the summer of the year 1743, during my stay at Land’s-Ort, in my country, will prove that I was at that time of the same opinion, in regard to these holes. I have since further explained this opinion in a letter to the Royal Academy of Sciences; and this letter is still preserved in the Academy’s Memoirs, which have not yet been published. But there is great reason to doubt, whether all cavities of this kind in mountains, have the same origin.

Here are different species of Mulberry trees, which grow wild in the forests of north and south America. In these parts the red mulberry trees are more plentiful than any other. However Mr. Bartram assured me that he had likewise seen the white mulberry trees growing wild, but that they were more scarce. I asked him and several other people of this country, why they did not set up silk manufactures, having such a quantity of mulberries, which succeed so easily? For it has been observed that when the berries fall upon the ground where it is not compact but loose, they soon put out several fine delicate shoots. But they replied that it would not be worth while to erect any silk manufactures here, because labour is so dear. For a man gets from eighteen pence to three shillings and upwards, for one day’s work, and the women are paid in proportion. They were therefore of opinion that the cultivation of all sorts of corn, of hemp, and of flax, would be of greater advantage, and that at the same time it did not require near so much care as the feeding of silk worms. By the trials of a governor in Connecticut, which is a more northern province than New York, it is evident however, that silk worms succeed very well here, and that this kind of mulberry trees is very good for them. The governor brought up a great quantity of silk worms in his court yard; and they succeeded so well, and spun so much silk, as to afford him a sufficient quantity for cloathing himself and all his family.

Several sorts of Vines likewise grow wild hereabouts. Whenever I made a little excursion out of town, I saw them in numerous places climbing up trees and hedges. They clasp around them, and cover them sometimes entirely, and even hang down on the sides. This has the same appearance at a distance, as the tendrils of hops climbing along trees. I enquired of Mr. Bartram why they did not plant vineyards, or press wine from the grapes of the wild vine. But they answered, that the same objection lay against it, which lies against the erection of a silk manufacture, that the necessary hands were too scarce, and it therefore was more rational to make agriculture their chief employment. But the true reason undoubtedly is, that the wine which is pressed out of most of the North American wild grapes is sour and sharp, and has not near such an agreeable taste, as that which is made from European grapes.

The Virginian Wake robin, or Arum Virginicum, grows in wet places. Mr. Bartram told me, that the savages boiled the spadix and the berries of this flower, and devoured it as a great dainty. When the berries are raw, they have a harsh, pungent taste, which they lose in great measure upon boiling.

The Sarothra Gentianoides, grows abundantly in the fields and under the bushes, in a dry sandy ground near Philadelphia. It looks extremely like our whortleberry bushes when they first begin to green, and when the points of the leaves are yet red. Mr. Bartram has sent this plant to Dr. Dillenius, but that gentleman did not know where he should range it. It is reckoned a very good traumatic, and this quality Mr. Bartram himself experienced; for being thrown and kicked by a vicious horse, in such a manner as to have both his thighs greatly hurt, he boiled the Sarothra and applied it to his wounds. It not only immediately appeased his pain, which before had been very violent, but he likewise by its assistance recovered in a short time.