We have seen the principal means of earning cash in early eighteenth Virginia. Today we examine Jones' comments upon raising food.
"The Indian corn is planted in hills and weeded much as Tobacco. This grain is of great increase and most general use; for with this is made good bread, cakes, mush, and hommony for the Negroes, which with good pork and potatoes (red and white, very nice and different from ours) with other roots and pulse, are their general food. Indian corn is the best food for cattle, hogs, sheep and horses; and the blades and tops are excellent fodder, when well cured, which is commonly used, though many raise good clover and oats; and some have planted sanfoin, etc.
"In the marshes, and woods, and old fields is good range for stock in the spring, summer, and fall; and the hogs will run fat with certain roots of flags and reeds, which abounding in the marshes they root up and eat. Besides, at the plantations are standard peach-trees, and apple-trees, planted out in orchards, on purpose almost for the hogs.
"The peaches abound, and are of a delicious taste, and apple-trees are raised from the seeds very soon, which kind of kernel fruit needs no grafting, and is diversifyed into numberless sorts, and makes, with good management, an excellent cyder, not much inferior to that of Herefordshire, when kept to to a good age; which is rarely done, the planters being good companions and guests whilst the cyder lasts. Here cherries thrive much better (I think) than in England; though the fruit trees soon decay, yet they are raised to great perfection.
"As for wool, I have had near so good as any near Leominister; and it might be much improved if he sheep were housed every night, and foddered and littered as in Urchingfield, where they have by such means the finest wool; but to do this, would be of little use, since it is contrary to the interest of Great Britain to allow them exportation of their woolen manufactures; and what little woolen is there made might be nearly had as cheap, and better from England.
"As for provisions, there is an excellent variety of excellent fish in great plenty easily taken; especially oysters, sheepheads, rocks, large trouts, crabs, drums, sturgeons, etc. They have the same fowl as in England, only they propagate better; but these exceed in wild geese and ducks, cohoncks, blew-wings, teal,swans, and mallards.
"Their beef and veal is small, sweet, and fat enough; their pork is famous, whole Virginia shoats being frequently barbacued in England; their bacon is excellent, the hams being scarce to be distingused from those of Westphalia; but their mutton and lamb some folks don't like, though others extol it. Their butter is good and plentiful enough.
"Their venison in the lower parts of the country is not so plentiful as it has been, though there be enough and tolerably good; but in the frontier counties they abound with venison, wild turkies, etc., where the common people sometimes dress bears, whose flesh they say, is not to be distinguished from good pork or bacon. They pull the down of their living geese and wild and tame ducks, wherewith they make the softest and sweetest beds.
"The houses stand sometimes two or three together; and in other places a quarter, half a mile, or a mile, or two, asunder, much as in the country in England."
The food picture above probably reflects the German tastes also but it does not show the vegetable preferences where there were differences.
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.