[With Col. Byrd, now at Col. Spotswood's air furnace below Fredericksburg on the 4th of October 1732.]
"After satisfying our eyes with all these sights, we satisfied our stomachs with a sirloin of beef, and then the parson and I took leave of the Colonel and left our blessing upon all his works. We took our way from thence to Major Woodford's seven miles off, who lives upon a high hill that affords an extended prospect, on which account 'tis dignified with the name Windsor. There we found Rachel Cocke, who stayed with her sister some time, that she might not lose the use of her tongue in this lonely place. We were received graciously and the evening was spent in talking and toping, and then the parson and I were conducted to the same apartment, the house being not yet finished.
"5 [October]. The parson slept very peaceably and gave me no disturbance, so I rose fresh in the morning and did credit to the air by eating a hearty breakfast. Then Major Woodford carried me to the house where he cuts tobacco. He manufactures about sixty hogsheads yearly, for which he gets after the rate of 11d. a pound and pays himself liberally for his trouble. The tobacco he cuts is Long Green, which, according to its name, bears a very long leaf and consequently each plant is heavier than common sweet-scented or Townsend tobacco. The worst of it is, the veins of the leaf are very large, so that it loses its weight a good deal by stemming. This kind of tobacco is much the fashion in these parts, and Jonathan Forward (who has great interest here) gives a good price for it. This sort the Major cuts up and has a man that performs it very handily. The tobacco is stemmed clean in the first place and then laid straight in a box and pressed down hard by a press that goes with a nut. This box is shoved forward toward the knife by a screw, receiving its motion from a treadle the engineer sets a going with his foot. Each motion pushes the box the exact length which the tobacco ought to be of, according to the saffron, or oblong, cut, which it seems yields one penny in a pound more at London than the square cut, though at Bristol they are both of equal price. The man strikes down the knife once at every motion of the screw, so that his hand and foot keep exact pace with each other. After the tobacco is cut in this manner, 'tis sifted first through a sand riddle, and then through a dust riddle, till 'tis perfectly clean. Then 'tis put into a tight hogshead and pressed under the nut, till it weighs about a thousand neat. One man performs all the work after the tobacco is stemmed, so that the charge bears no proportion to the profit.
"One considerable benefit from planting Long Green tobacco is that 'tis much hardier and less subject to fire than other sweet-scented, though it smells not altogether so fragrant.
"I surprised Mrs. Woodford in her housewifery in the meat house, at which she blushed as if it had been a sin. We all walked about a mile in the woods, where I showed them several useful plants and explained the virtues of them. This exercise and the fine air we breathed in sharpened our appetites so much that we had no mercy on a rib of beef that came attended with several other good things at dinner."
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