[Michel continued his description of Virginia by noting that the land consisted of valleys and plains which were covered by high trees.] "The soil is mostly light and partly sandy, except above the falls in the rivers where it is black and heavy. It is good soil, especially at Falling Creek on the James River. In Virginia, almost everything grows that is put into the ground. Tobacco is the principal article there. It passes for money because gold and silver are seldom seen there, especially among the common people. It is planted in such quantity that 150 ships, large and small but not more than twenty small ships, left the country this year laden with tobacco."
"The merchants have great storehouses filled with all kinds of goods. When an inhabitant needs something, he goes to a merchant. The sale is recorded in the book and when the tobacco crop comes in, the people pay the merchants. A hundred pounds of tobacco is usually recorded as twenty shillings (one pound of money)."
"When the rainy season comes, the tobacco is packed solidly, one leaf above the other, into a barrel which holds from 700 to 1000 pounds. Growing tobacco demands much care. First, the soil is prepared. Then, using a broad hoe, the soil is loosened on top and made into little mounds, six feet apart. It is planted in rainy weather. When fully grown, the leaves touch each other. It grows best in new soil but the land must be very good to grow tobacco for twenty years."
"The inhabitants do not live close together but are spread out so that they have lots of ground around them. They must keep clearing new land to grow the tobacco. A settler divides his land into three parts, the first for tobacco and corn, the second for meadows for the cattle, and the third part for woods. When the land does not grow tobacco well anymore, corn is planted for six to eight years. Then he lets the land stand idle for a while and uses new ground. A settler often grows 1500 to 2000 pounds of tobacco a year plus six to eight barrels of corn."
"Corn is so productive that it yields fifty to a hundred fold. It makes pretty good bread. It is pounded and cooked. They also make a hominy. Servants make a mush from corn and they bake cakes from the grain. Corn is planted by making a small hole in the ground and three or four grains are put into it. The holes are six feet apart. Much corn is raised for both people and cattle. During the summer, the weeds must be removed in both the corn and tobacco. The price of corn is about two shillings a bushel which is equal to about two measures in Switzerland."
"They also plant wheat in the same way as we do at home. The fields for this are usually where the cattle have been penned which fertilizes the ground. Wheat yields twenty-five fold and costs about three or four shillings per bushel. They also plant oats and barley."
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.