Industrial history of the United States, from the earliest settlements to the present time being a complete survey of American industries, embracing agriculture and horticulture, including the cultivation of cotton, tobacco, wheat, the raising of horses, neat-cattle, etc., all the important manufactures, shipping and fisheries, railroads, mines and mining and oil, also a history of the coal-miners and the Molly Maguires, banks, insurance and commerce, trade-unions, strikes and eight-hour movement, together with a description of Canadian industries / by Albert S. Bolles.

INDUSTRIAL HISTORY CF THE UNITED SIATES, From the Larliest Settlements to the Present Time: BEING A COMPLETE SURVEY OF AMERICAN INDUSTRIES, AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE; INCLUDING THE CULTIVATION OF COTTON, TOLACCO, WHEAT; THE RAISING OF HORSES, NEAT- CATTLE, ETC.; ALL THE IMPORTANT MANUFACTURES, SHIPPING AND FISHERIES, RAILROADS, MINES AND MINING, AND OIL; ALSO A HISTORY OF THE COAL-MINERS AND THE MOLLY MAGUIRES; BANKS, INSURANCE, AND COMMERCE; TRADE-UNIONS, STRIKES, AND EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT; TOGETHER WITH A DESCKIPTION OF CANADIAN INDUSTRIES. > In Seven Books. COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED WITH ABOUT THREE HUNDRED ENGRAVINGS BY THE MOST EMINENT ARTISTS. BY ALBERT S. BOLLES, LECTURER IN POLITICAL ECONOMY IN BOSTON UNIVERSITY, AND AUTHOR OF “THE CONFLICT BETWEEN LABOR AND CAPITAL,’? AND “CHAPTERS IN POLITICAL ECONOMY.” 4 NORWICH, CONN, : : THE HENRY BILL PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1881. CoryriGHt, 1878, BY THE HENRY BILL PUBLISHING COMPANY, & a “ ‘4 mS a a S Franklin Press: Blectrotyped and Printed by Rand, Avery, & Ca, Boston. PREFACE. HE present work was projected by the author several years ago, and is now given to the public in the belief that it will prove really useful, inasmuch as nothing worthy of the name has appeared, while the field itself is quite as deservirg of study as any other portion or phase of American history. A great variety of materials have been collected and used in the present ondertaking: many facts, also, have been gathered from conversation with persons who were more or less familiar with some special branch of American industry. The author has sought to make proper acknowledgment for all facts and incidents herein related, though doubtless he has failed to do justice to every work and author from whom special information has been drawn, On page 56 he omitted to state that the statistics relating to ship- ments of cotton were taken from Mr. Dana’s valuable work entitled “ Cotton from Seed to Loom ;” while ught to be mentioned, that, in the introductory chapter, free use has been made of the short but excellent sketches of Ben: Perley Poore and Charles L. Flint of the History of Agriculture contained in the United-States Agricultural Reports, as well as the paper of the latter on American Horses which is to be found in the same publication. Likewise, in describing the Pittsburgh riots of 1877, liberal use was made of the mes- sage of Gov. Hartranft, which contained a very concise and truthful account of that shocking affair. Nor would I fail to express my very great indebtedness to Henry Hall of “The New-York Tribune,” and James Hall of Norwich, Conn., without whose assistance the preparation of this work for the press would have been much longer delayed. To Mr. C. A. Cutter, Librarian of the Boston Athenzum, my sincerest Ml iv PREFACE. thanks are due, and are hereby tendered, for the exceedingly liberal use of the books of that institution; and also to the Librarian of the Boston Public Library for special privileges of a similar character. T would: further add) my obligations to the Librarian ef the Astor Library for the privilege of consulting to my best advantage the treasures of that collection, ‘The aids thus obtained from these three noble institutions were invaluable: indeea, without them, it comet . would have been impossible for the author to have executed the p.esent work. a! NoRWICH, CONN,, Oct. 15, 1878. PREFACE TO ‘THE THIRD EDITION. HAT two editions of this work should be exhausted within a few months strongly verifies the author's belief, when writing it, that such a work was needed. Since the first edition was issued, changes and improvements in the text and illustrations have been made, which, it is believed, will render the work still more valuable to the reader. THE AUTHOR. Hof the Public ddomy sulting btained hem, it L work. months ork was in the ler the HOR, F 7 i TABLE OF CONTENTS. —— “20e- BOOK 1. AGRICULTURE, AND HORTICULTURE, CHAPTER I. GENERAL !Iisrory. . ‘ ; : F : : ; A 7 " . Introductory. — Indian Agriculture, — Colonial Agriculture in the Southern Colonies, — Colo- nial Agriculture in the New-England Colonics. — French Colomal Agriculture. — Effects of American Revolution, — Causes of Progress in Agriculture. — Homestead Laws, — Agricultural Societies, — Granger Movement. — Agricultural Education and Literature. — Establishment of State Boards of Agriculture. CHAPTER II. AGRICULTURAL IMPLEMENTS . . ‘ ; , e P ° ‘ e 5 CHAPTER III. COTTON . ‘ F . P F ‘ F ‘ . ‘ . ° . é CHAPTER IV. WHEAT . ‘ ‘ . ° ‘ z 3 : ‘ * ° e e : CHAPTER V. CORN 7 ° . e A . : ‘ : ° . e e e ° CHAPTER VI. SUGAR AND MOLASSES . ° ; . ‘ F F e ° ° e ° 7 CHAPTER VII. TOBACCO . . ‘ . ‘ : . : ; . . ° ° e e CHAPTER VIII. GRASS AND Hay . 7 . . 7 7 7 . . A : 7 : I-31 52-45 46-61 73-79 99-I01 errno a a amy ales cep vi CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX, MINOR Crops, ° ° ° ° : , : ° e e e e ° CHAPTER X. NEAT-CATTLE , 7 ‘ F ‘ ‘ 7 ° ‘ e e ° e . CHAPTER XI. BUTTER AND CHEESE, ‘ . ‘ ; ; ° e e ° e e CHAPT SR NIT. Tie Horse. : ‘ . . : , ; . . ° ° . . The Trotting-Horse. — The Pucing-Horse, CHAPTER XIII. SHEEP . . . . . . . . . . . . ° . . CHAPTER XIV. SWINE - . ; . ‘ ° : f . - e ° e . . CHAPTER XV. LPORTICULTURE, NURSERIES, AND FRUIT-RAISING : . e ° . - BOOK IL. ¥ MANULPACTURES, a CHAPTER TI. MANUFACTURE OF TRON AND STEEL . : ; ‘ ; ‘ ‘ Early History, — Forty Years of Repression and Struggle. —The Effect of Tariffs. — The Era of Anthracite Fuel and the Hot Blast. — The Growth of Rolling-Mills. — Influence of Paris Exposition on American Iron-Manufacture. — The Manufacture of Steel. CUAPTER IT. TRON AND STEEL MANUFACTURES ; ; 5 : j : 3 ; Nails. — Cutlery. — Clocks and Watches. — Iron Pipes and Tubes. — Locomotives, — Sewing- Machines, — Fire-Arms, — Tron- working Machinery. ~ Axes and Saws, — Stoves, — Safes. — Iron Bridges. — Printing- Presses. — Wire. — Water-Wheels. — Locks. — Pumps. CHAPTER TIT. MANUFACTURES OF GOLD, SILVER, AND OTHER METALS . ‘ : Coinage. — Jewelry. — Gold and S‘lver Leaf. — Silver Table-Ware. — Copper and Brass Uten- sils. — Bronze Ware and Statuary. — Bells, — Lead-Manufactures, — Stereotyping, — Tin -Ware, — Toys. — Applications of Zinc. 102-113 114-126 137-145 149-156 157-163 164-181 217-315 316-368 « 102-113 + 114-126 + 127-136 + 137-148 . 149-156 . 157-163 » 164-181 217-315 316-308 CONTENTS, CHAPTER IV. THE MANUFACTURE OF Woot. , ‘ ' , : . ‘ : General History of the Woollen-Manufacture, — Spinning and Weaving, — Hats, — Carpets, — Shoddy. — Clothing. — Hosiery, CHAPTER V. THE MANUFACTURE OF Corron” , ; : , : F ° ° : P CHAPTER VI. SILK-MANUPACTURE . . . ; ; , ‘ , ‘ ; ° ° ° CHAPTER VIL ' SHOE AND LEATHER MANUVACTURES . . . . ‘ ‘ . . ‘ cst . ‘wr r 4 CHAPTER VIII. PAPER AND PAPER-ITANGINGS . ; . ; ; : F ° ° e 7 ; CHAPTER IN. GUNPOWDER AND FIREWORKS ; : : : . ‘ e ° CHAPTER X. INDIA-RUBBER MANUFACTURES. : ; ; ; F F e ° ° CHAPTER XI. CHEMICAL MANUFACTURES CHAPTER XIL. Wood AND O1lteR MANUPACTURES . ; : : ; : ‘ : ‘ Lumber, — Wood-Working Machinery, — Furniture. — Starch. — Wine, Spirits, and Beer, — Cordage and Bagging. — Soap. — Flour. —- Musical Tustruments, — Matches. — Glass- Ware and Pottery, — Glue, — Veneering. — Carriages and Cars, CHAPTER XIII. CONCLUSION. 7 é 7 ‘ . , . P - . e e ‘ 300K III. MG Bini Aiwws 2° Sor , % SHIPPING AND RAILROADS. a CHAPTER I. Be WooDEN SHIPS - ; : ‘ : ‘ . P ‘ ; ° ° ° =) CHAPTER IL. STEAMBOATS 369-402 403-426 427-443 444-456 457-408 469-478 479-487 458-496 497-559 a es viii IRON STEAMSHIPS CANALS . THE FISHERIES RAILROADS MINING . GOLD e SILVER . LEAD e COPPER . COAL e Coal-Miners. — The Molly Maguires, — Later History. — Bituminous-coal Mining. IRON e MINOR METALS CONTENTS, CHAPTER IIL CHAPTER IV. . CHAPTER V. CHAPTER . VI. BOOK IV. CHAPTER I. General History, CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIIL. MINES AND MINING, AND OIL, 590-602 603-608 609-618 4 nae gs oh 619-664 : 673-685 686-692 693-696 697-703 704-734 735-747 , — 748-7 53 §90-602 603-608 609-618 , 619-664 693-696 697-703 794-734 7357747 748-753 AP 5 ei eit pe res eee ane CONTENTS. CHAPTER IX, (QUARRYING . ° . . e . ’ . . . . . . © 754-759 CHAPTER X. SALT . . . . . . ’ . ' . . e ° ° ° 760-767 CHAPTER XI. PETROLEUM .« «6 « jr.4 e. oN , , ne a Sr + 708-780 BOOK V. BANKING, INSURANCE, AND COMMERCE. CHAPTER I. BANKING . . . ; ‘ . : ; ; ; ‘ ‘ , : . 733-812 Early Colonial Period. — First Bank of the United States. — Second Bank of the United States. — State Banks. — Massachusetts. — New York. — Ohio, — Indiana, — Illinois. — Ken- cucky, — Tennessee, — Mississippi. CHAPTER II. INSURANCE. ; . ; : ; ; . ; . ; ‘ . » 813-849 Marine, — Fire. — Life. — Accident. CHAPTER IIT. COMMERCE. . . ‘ . : : . : . . , : . 850-878 Ante-Revolutionary Period. — Post-Revolutionary Period, y BOOK VI. TRADE-UNIONS AND EIGHT-HOUR MOVEMENT. CHAPTER I. TRADE-UNIONS . : : . ‘ ; : : ‘ . . : - 881-888 CHAPTER II. E1GHT-Hour MOVEMENT ‘ : . . ; ‘ . ° . : . 889-890 CHAPTER III. n LATER HIsTORY OF TRADE-UNIONS — . ; : . : F : . - 891-903 CONTENTS. BOOK. VII. THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA. THE INDUSTRIES OF CANADA : ; : i ‘ ‘ ; : The Fisheries. — The Lumber-Trade. — Mining. — Farming. — Manufacturing, BOOK I, AGRICULTURE AND HORTICULTURE, INDUSTRIAL HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES. CHAPTER I. GENERAL HISTORY. INTRODUCTORY. OR ages historians have been busy in writing about political and military events, leaving quite out of sight the social and industrial life of nations, as unworthy of notice. To recent historians a truer historic instinct has been given ; and, by uniting with it a broader and more profound cul- pi eent ture, they are setting before the world juster, more varied, and methods of more complete pictures of the civilization of the past. Other his- te pie: torians there are who exhibit only a single side or phase of material life, but, unlike their predecessors, are concerned not less with political or military events than with social and industrial characteristics. It is true that a history of agricuiture is free from those startling sensations which spring from the vivid description of battles and other operations of war, the intrigues of diplomacy, the uncertain and checkered course Of tmportance legislation, the wild freaks of rulers, or the tragedies and comedies of history of of social life. But agriculture possesses an interest for us as deep rica acclie and abiding as any other phase of history. It is a healthy study; for we are taken out of doors, are brought into intimate relationship with Nature, and learn of her boundless generosity and rewards for well-doing. Moreover, it is a history of some of man’s greatest triumphs, won, not by striking down his brother, but by conquest over Nature through accident or experiment. No wonder, then, that the cultivation of the soil has proved so attractive to the world’s greatest men. When the Roman patrician, Cincinnatus, left his farm to assume the dictatorship of Rome, he betook himself to hie’ eraatea his gentle occupation as soon as he had delivered his country men have from the enemy. And likewise Washington, when retiring from ee? 28ti- the cares of state, fled to Mount Vernon, where, amid_ his eens rich and numerous acres, he daily drank heavy draughts of pure enjoyment, for which he had often longed during an anxious civil career and the still I 2 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY more troubled days of the Revolution. Even of Webster it may be questioned, whether, with all his fitness and fondness for the national Senate, he did not derive greater happiness from his farm in Marshfield ; for what fact can more touchingly attest his attachment to it than his dying request for his cattle to be driven one by one past the window of the room where he lay, that he might look once more upon them before his eyes were forever closed ? Remembering how vast is the space filled by agriculture in the industries of our country, no further justification is required for writing its history. Fora long period, agricultural products have led the list of exports to Justification : : ; for writing a Other countries, and will lead them for years and centuries to come. history of If a history of the efforts to destroy life be worth preserving, agriculture. surely a history of those means in which so many are engaged to sus- tain life is not less worthy of preservation. ‘The famous minister of Henry IV. of France, Sully, called agriculture, including both tillage and pasturage, “the two breasts of the state.’ Strikingly true as the figure is, will not a review of the subject, by showing what has been already accomplished, excite the farmer to new experiments and inquiry ? INDIAN AGRICULTURE. The North-American Indian was not an agriculturist : he regarded the cul- tivation of the soil as degrading. Yet, as it was necessary for some one to Indians cultivate it in order to obtain a living, the task fell to the old raisedcorm. = women and children. ‘Though the Indian was slack, careless, and lazy, he exercised more forethought and care about his corn-crop than any thing else. When Capt. John Smith visited Virginia in 1609, in writing of the Indians he says, “The greatest labor they take is in planting their corn; for the country is naturally overgrown with wood. To prepare the ground, they bruise the bark of trees near the roots ; then do they scorch the roots with fire, that they grow no more.” Very likely from them our ancestors learned the process of belting or girdling trees by cutting through the sap-wood ; thus causing the fall of the spray and the decay of the smaller branches, and admit- ting the sun and air in sufficient quantities for corn to grow and bear fruit. The mode of planting and cultivating corn was rude enough, and betokens as clearly as any other trace of their civilization how simple and low it was. Mode of avery spring-time, the dead wood on the ground, and _ perhaps planting. other branches and brush, were collected and burned to obtain ashes to enrich the soil ; after which the surface of the ground was scratched with the flat shoulder-blade of the moos:, or with crooked pieces of wood. Then hills were made with the rudest sort of wooden hoes or clam-shells, about four feet apart, in each of which was placed an alewife caught from the adjoining stream, or a horseshoe crab picked up from the seashore. Upon this stimulant were dropped half a dozen grains of corn, which were covered ; stioned, did not in. more cattle to 1e might istries of . Fora <ports to to come. eserving, od to sus- fenry IV. uge, “the review of he farmer | the cul- ve one to » the old eless, and than any ng of the corn ; for bund, they with fire, urmned the bod ; thus nd admit- fruit. betokens bw it was, perhaps to obtain scratched of wood. m-shells, from the Upon covered ; OF THE UNITED STATES. 3 and a hut was then built in the middle of the field, wherein lived the police to protect their work from the ravages of birds. One can very easily imagine, in those times, when the forests were alive with birds, what would be the fate of a cornfield if left to itself. While the smaller birds and animals were prevented from eating up the tender blade only by constant watchfulness, the stronger stalk and full-grown corn were preserved by the exercise of the same ceaseless vigilance. As the corn grew the earth was scraped around it, until the hills were two feet high,—a custom still followed in many parts of the country. Before the corn was fully ripe, it was plucked ; and the seed for the next year was selected from those stalks containing the largest number of ears, and hung up in the wigwam. The remainder was dried in the husk, over smouldering fires, or in the prarvesting sun ; after which process it was husked, shelled, packed in birch- and storing bark boxes, and buried in holes in the earth, which were lined SaeeS with bark to protect the grain more perfectly from frost and moisture. A writer says these excavated barns were carefully concealed by the women from their lazy husbands and sons, lest they should discover and eat up their contents ; yet, with all the care they could take, the hogs of the colonists often unhinged their barn-doors, and helped themselves to the golden treasure. History says that one of these Indian barns was discovered by the Pilgrims at Truro, at a time when their store of provisions was so reduced as to contain but five kernels of corn to each individual. Corn thus dried, cracked in a stone-mortar and boiled, was called “ o-mo- nee 3” and “sup-paun,” when pounded into meal and sifted through a basket for ash-cakes. When on the war-path, the Indian warrior lived pow in. upon parched corn called “no-kake.”” When Roger Williams dians cooked journeyed through the forests on the way to his future home, near °°" Narragansett Bay, accompanied by the Indians whom he loved, and who never proved treacherous to him, he says that each man carried a little basket of this kind of food, —enough to last for several days. ‘Lhe Indians also pre- pared corn in another way, which has become well known, and will probably be long continued. We allude to the mode of mixing corn with beans, and preparing a dish known among them as “ mu-si-quatash,” which in these days has been abbreviated to succotash. The original dish, however, according to Gordkin, was not composed simply of corn and beans: several other ingredients were included, “ fish and flesh of all sorts, either new-taken or dried, venison, bear’s-flesh, beaver, moose, otter, or raccoon, cut into small pieces, Jerusalem artichokes, ground-nuts, acorns, pumpkins, and squashes.” While corn was the chief product raised by the Indian, he cultivated or collected several other fruits and vegetables. Among their corn were planted peas and beans, the vines climbing up the corn-stalks ; thus economizing the INDIAN HOES. ie ee 4 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY use of pea-brush and bean-poles. Surely this was an exhibition of economy in labor and material worthy of a savage. During the month of May they Other fruits also planted “ pumpkins” among their corn, “and a fruit like unto raised. a musk-melon, but less and worse, which they called ‘ macocks.’” The bold and unblushing sunflower was also cultivated ; but instead of putting its seeds to the ignoble use of hen-fodder, as the moderns do, they were made into bread. In some parts of the country wild rice was gathered and kept ‘or winter use ; and Barlowe, who visited North Carolina in 1584, affirms that 1e saw there “both wheat and oats.” ‘Tobacco was everywhere cultivated. ‘Luge grape-vines intwined many a forest-tree, and the woods abounded with other wild fruits and berries. Gourds were raised, of all sizes, from the huge “cal-a-bash-es,” holding two or three gallons apiece, to the “tiny receptacles of pigments used in painting for war.” Cherries and plums also abounded, large quantities of which were dried for winter use. Concerning the cultiva- tion of the apple, something will be said in another place. Although the Indians knew nothing about sugar-cane, they were not without sugar ; for they extracted it from the maple, just as we do :.ow. Mixed with Dainty freshly-pounded “sup-paun,” and seasoned with dried whortle- dishesand = berries, a dainty dish was baked for high festivals; and, for an beverages. accompanying beverage, the dried meats of oil-nuts were pounded, and boiled in the juice of sassafras. For lights on such occasions, candles were made from the green wax of the bayberry, with rush wicks, which burned brightly, and yielded a pleasant odor. Their provisions were stored in boxes made of birch-bark ; and their cutting instrumen‘s and sharp weapons were pointed with flint-stone, shells, or bones. Instruments“ few earthen vessels were used ; but the superiority of our civili- and domestic zation, in its material characteristics, over the aboriginal, presents eee: no more striking contrast than in the variety and improvement of means for cultivating the soil, It may also be added, that the Indian possessed no domestic animals except a few small dogs, and no poultry. Such is a brief picture of the agricultural life of the Indian. Long ago the cheerless wigwam was supplanted by the pleasant home, the crabbed orchard Fate of tn- PY large and more luscious fruit, and the ill-tilled, scanty corn- dian agricul- patch by more careful tillage and abundant crops. Although aed cattle-shows and agricultural anniversaries were unknown, the Indians celebrated their “ green-corn dance” and the feast of the “ harvest- moon.” But, “ Alas for them! their day is o’er; Their fires are out from hill to shore. No more for them the red deer bounds; The plough is in their hunting-grounds ; The pale man’s axe rings through their woods, The pale man’s sail skims o'er their floods ; Their pleasant springs are dry.” sconomy fay they like unto cocks.’ ” f putting ‘re made ind kept irms that ultivated. ded with the huge ceptacles bounded, e cultiva- ot without lixed with whortle- id, for an pounded, s, candles sh burned ir cutting or bones. our civili- , presents ement of possessed g ago the 1 orchard nty corn- Although own, the ‘ harvest- OF THE UNITED STATES. COLONIAL AGRICULTURE IN THE SOUTHERN COLONIES, The system of agriculture which swept away the aboriginal system, though vastly superior to it, was, nevertheless, very imperfect compared with the system of modern days. ‘Two very different systems flourished in who settled the colonies, each of which requires a separate description, ‘To Virginia. the Southern colonies first came an aristocratic people, with their servants and slaves. ‘They were followed by Scotch merchants and mechanics, who were succeeded by French Huguenots of high spirit and attainments; while at a later period flocked large numbers of Scotch Jacobins, on account of the unsuccessful rebellions of the pretenders to the Scottish throne. A true glimpse of the immigration by which Virginia, the mother of the South Atlantic States, was colonized, may be obtained from the response of the governor, Sir William Berkeley, to one of the interrogatories propounded to him by the British lords-commissioners of foreign affairs. In response to the inquiry, “ What number of English, Scotch, and Irish have, for these seven years last past, come yearly to plant and inhabit with your government?” and also, “ What blacks or slaves have been brought within the same?” he replied, “ Yearly there come in of servants about fifteen hundred. Most are English, few Scotch, and fewer Irish, and not above two or three ships of negroes in seven years.” Nothing is said of the free immigrants, though included in the interrogatory ; and their number was, doubtless, too inconsiderable for notice. In the same examination Sir William says, “ But I thank God there are no free schools or printing ; for learning has brought disobedience and heresy and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them and libels against the best government. God keep us from both !” The feudal system also, which was weakening in England, was adopted, though in an earlier form, as the following extract from one of the royal grants will show. It gave the patentee the right “to divide the Feudal sys- said tract or territory of land into counties, hundreds, parishes, t¢™ adopted. tithings, townships, hamlets, and boroughs, and to erect and build cities, towns, parishes, churches, colleges, chapels, free schools, almshouses, and houses of correction, and to endow the same at their free will and pleasure ; and did appoint them full and perpetual patrons of all such churches so to be built and endowed ; with power, also, to divide any part or parcel of said tract or territory, or portion of land, into manors, and to call the same after their own or any of their names, or by other name or names whatsoever ; and within the same to hold a court in the nature of a court-baron, and to hold pleas of all actions, trespasses, covenants, accounts, contracts, detinues, debts, and demands whatsoever, when the debt or thing demanded exceed not the value of forty shillings sterling money of England; and to receive and take all amerce- ments, fruits, commodities, advantages, perquisites, and emoluments whatso- ever, to such respective court-barons belonging or in any wise appertaining ; | EE A AE AL NN eR I a = < 6 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY and, further, to hold within the same manors a court-leet and view of frank- pledge of all the tenants, residents, and inhabitants of the hundred within such respective manors.” > eee NEW RIVER PLOUGH-TEAM, VIRGINIA. The farms in Virginia and Ma-yland were extensive, fronting on the Ches- apeake Bay or its tributaries, and running a long way into the interior. Not Farms and__ far from the shore of river or bay was located the planter’s mansion, \ mansions. tg which came ships from England, bringing merchandise in ; exchange for tobacco; or other craft laden with the products of New- | England fisheries, or of West-India plantations, to barter for tobacco, wheat, orcorn. The intervening space between the mansion-house and water-side was usually laid out as a garden, in the prim, stiff style of those days, with terraces, arbors, and wide walks bordered with box. Most of the houses were built of English brick, the iron-work, and also much of the interior, being imported. Entering the hall, we are told by a Virginia antiquarian, walls were seen covered with deer’s antlers, fishing-rods, and guns; portraits of cavaliers and dames and children; even carefully-painted pictures of race- horses, on whose speed and bottom many thousands of pounds had been staked, and lost and won, in their day and generation. On one side of the ” | hall a broad staircase, with oaken balustrade, led to the numerous apartments : above ; and on the opposite side a door gave entrance into the great dining- i. hall. The dining-room was decorated with great elegance ; the carved oak ( wainscot extending above the mantlepiece in an unbroken expanse of fruits Hl and flowers, hideous laughing faces, and armorial devices, to the cornice. The i _ furniture was in the Louis Quatorze style, with carved backs to the low-seated i H ee ee chairs. There were Chelsea figures, and a sideboard full of plate, and a Japan cabinet, and a Kidderminster carpet ; while in the great fire-place a few twigs crackled on huge and highly-polished brass andirons. On the walls hung pictures of gay gallants, brave warriors, and fair dames whose eyes out- y of frank- vithin such n the Ches- terior. Not r’s mansion, thandise in ts of New- cco, wheat, 1 water-side days, with 1ouses were erior, being arian, walls portraits of es of race- 5 had been side of the apartments eat dining- carved oak se of fruits nice. The low-seated ate, and a place a few the walls eyes out- OF THE UNITED STATES. 7 shone their diamonds; and more than one ancestor looked grimly down clad in cuirass and armlets, and holding in his mailed hand the sword which had done bloody service in its time. The lady portraits, as an invariable rule, were decorated with sunset clouds of yellow lace; the bright locks were powdered ; and many little black patches set off the dazzling fairness of the rounded chins. Near the mansion were tenements for the manager and the overseers, and the slave cabins. ‘The first philanthropist to improve the condition of his slaves, according to trustworthy authority, was Col. John inipeaves Taylor of the Rappahannoc! Valley, who was equally distin- ment of con- guished in the last century as a farmer, author, and statesman. pieovenal “ He built commodious brick dwellings for them, and accustomed them to plank floors, glass windows, and decent, civilized habits of living. He, besides, furnished them more regularly and abundantly with food and clothing than was then usual. His negroes multiplied rapidly, became more honest and industrious ; and his crops increased.” The pioneers of Virginia are described as contrasting strongly with the planters and their adherents. In most cases they were younger sons, unlucky gamesters, turbulent spirits, rejected lovers, or disbanded soldiers, the pioneers vho turned their backs upon civilization to live an untrammelled of Virginia. life in some .ertile mountain-gap or rich river-bottom. Game was plentiful ; and they were hunters rather than farmers, sending their peltries to market, and only cultivating enough land to supply their wants. ‘This unrestrained life became a passion; and, as the tide of civilization advanced westward, the pioneers would leave their “settlements ” with their “ improvements,” to seek some spot in the wilderness where as yet no white man’s foot had trodden. Tobacco early became the staple product of Virginia, although laws numer- ous and stringent were enacted to prevent its cultivation. Efforts were put forth to encourage other branches of industry ; yet little attention Cultivation was paid to them except for purposes of home consumption, °f tobacco. Planters still continued the culture of the exhausting tobacco-plant, with con- tinuous cropping, shallow ploughing, and no fertilizing, until the soil grew weak, and unfit for cultivation. Small ploughs and heavy hoes were used in cultivat- ing it; and when the crop was gathered, cured, and packed into hogsheads, it was rolled away to the nearest wharf for inspection and_ transportation. In those early days good roads were unknown, and wagons were few: so a pole and whipple-trees were attached to each hogshead by an iron bolt driven into the centre of one head, thus converting the cask into a huge roller. For many years the places for deposit and inspection of tobacco were called “ rolling-houses.” Though cotton was raised at an early date, it was not grown in sufficient quantities for export: indeed, the cultivation of tobacco absorbed the chief attention of the planter, especially in Virgipia, until the opening of the 8 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY eighteenth century. Farther south, in South Carolina, rice was cultivated. It is related, that, in 1694, a vessel from Madagascar put into Charleston in Cotton, rice, ‘istress, the captain of which, in return for favors rendered by the andother governor, gave him a bag of rice. ‘The governor, who had seen products. : A ; : the plant growing in the hot swamps of Madagascar, conceived the idea of raising rice in hisown colony : accordingly it was planted, and brought forth abundantly. ‘The soil proved well adapted to the plant, and it was not MANNER OF CARRYING TOBACCO FORTY YEARS AGO, long before the marshes of Georgia and South Carolina were covered with rice- plantations. Exports of rice to England soon after began, and in 1724 a hundred thousand barrels were sent from the latter State. periments in wine-making were undertaken at an early period; and in 1758 the London Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Commerce, and Manufactures, pro- posed premiums fcr its production. ‘The same society offered premiums for hemp, opium, olives, pot and pearl ashes, barilla, logwood, scammony, myrtle- wax, sarsaparilla-root, and the gum from the persimmon-tree. It was supposed that this gum might prove a substitute for gum-arabic ; but the cost of gather- ing and transporting it was too great, and the experiment failed. After a three-years’ trial, the premium was withdrawn. Besides the premiums offered by this society, the British Parliament granted ultivated. leston in d by the had seen onceived 1 brought t was not Za 4 (Pi st A ; Lig. tel. 7 Mr fF iS ith rice- in 1724 ments in London res, pro- iums for myrtle- ipposed gather- After a granted 4 ] i} " ’ . K OF THE UNITED STATES. 9 considerable sums of money at various times to stimulate the culture of silk, indigo, and other plants. Colonial trade, however, was guarded 5. iums none the less strictly ; for the colonists were obliged to send all offered by , shacing British Par- their surplus products to England, and were forbiaden purchasing oa any foreign manufactures save in a British port. COLONIAL AGRICULTURE IN THE NEW-ENGLAND COLONIES. Let us now look toward the North, and watch the landing of the Pilgrims, and their first efforts in cultivating the soil. ‘The colonists of Virginia, who came somewhat earlier, as we have seen, had confined their atten- qye pigrims tion chiefly to the raising of tobacco; and as their climate was an agricul- less rigorous, and their summers were longer, it was easier for them ‘** paenls: to obtain a living. ‘The Pilgrims were an agricultural people, the clergy form- ing no exception ; and for a long period they were among the foremost in New England in trying experiments, and inciting their flocks to patient and intelligent industry. One of the reasons why they came here from Holland, according to Bancroft, was, because they “ had been bred to agricultural pur- suits,” which they could not follow in the land of their temporary adoption. That they continued to follow their original pursuit as their chief one for many years after their arrival is familiar history. But their task was a severe one. Cleared fields were small and few; and their implements pigcutty of were ill fitted to clear the dense woods, and subdue the stubborn cultivating soil. Some implements, doubtless, were obtained from the mother- **® 8° land ; but the only metal to be found here that they could work was bog-iron ore, which was very brittle, and often spoiled a day’s work. The want of magnitude of their tas ., from lack of appropriate means, it is per- Proper tools. haps more difficult for us in this age to realize than almost any other feature of our history, because farming-implements have been brought to such a degree of perfection. The system of agriculture best adapted to the country could only be learned by experiment. Of course the settlers brought with them the ideas and products of their mother-land ; but how poor was their outfit they success in soon learned. Indian-corn, pumpkins, squashes, beans, potatoes, farming tobacco, and other vegetables and fruits, which were found grow- pears ing here, it was easy to cultivate by inquiry from the Indians, and_ only by ex- with greater success than ever attended the efforts of their teach- Peer ers; but in respect to the fruits transplanted, as well as the horses, sheep, and other animals brought hither, it was only fot ud out by numerous experiments and many losses what our climate and soil were best fitted to raise and sustain. What did the English immigrant know about the country until he came here, and how English cattle and fruits would thrive under such altered conditions? It would be an interesting chapter to trace the history of these experiments ; 10 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY but our space is too limited, even if the necessary information could be gath- Suffice it to say, after trial some vegetables and grasses were aban- doned, while the appropriate locality ered, nace of others was discovered, Hemp, i indigo, rice, cotton, madder, millet, 3 spelt, lentils, lucern, sainfoin, and ; many other things, were tried in j New England, and failed, as did ‘ other crops in the Southern colo- ; nies. Not only the plants of Hu- rope, but many from Asia and the Kast Indies, were tried, including cinnamon and various commercial plants. of these crops, on = experiment, failed entirely; others : eieaaet flourished after a fashion, but proved unprofitable ; others flourished with pectiliar luxuriance, and with characters unchanged ; and still others, under the new conditions, assumed new characters or excellences. Before the war of the Revolution, these trials had been made from Maine to ‘Texas ; and so completely had this century and a half of experiments solved the great prob- lems of adaptation, acclimation, and often naturalization, that not a single important species of domestic mnimal has been profitably introduced since, nor but one plant (sorghum) of sufficient importance to be recognized in our official statistics. So writes one whose accuracy none will question." Let us reproduce the picture of a New-Eng- land colony during this period. It is the one flourishing at Massachusetts Bay, which was founded not long after the Plymouth Colony. Pictureof a Within this peaceful realm squatter- New-Eng- sovereignty was unknown ; for no land colony: individual was permitted to establish himself without authority of the government. ‘ach body swarmed out with a regular allotmeut of individual farms, based in extent upon the wealth of the settlers; a great pasture, a peat- i meadow, a salt-marsh, and fishing-grouncis, being : held in common. ‘These farms were so laid out, ‘ that no house was over half a mile from the 2 meeting-house ; and it was with astonishing ra- ener e: . pidity that agricultural communities sprang up, like the fabled warriors of i) Cadmus, into full-armed life. Like those mythological knights, they were ‘a 1 Professor Brewer of Yale College. Id be gath- were aban- ate locality 1, Hemp, der, millet, nfoin, and ‘e tried in ed, as did thern colo- nts of HMu- ‘ia and the , including commercial crops, on ely ; others but proved rished with hers, under ore the war as; and so great prob- ot a single iced. since, ized in our 1 rarriors of they were SF iE SS Aiea cleat OF THE UNITED STATES. it armed with weapons, not for their own destruction, but for the defence of their liberties and their homes. From these small farming-hamlets have grown up most of the towns and cities of our country, and from one of them went forth the alpha of colonization in the Great West. In the log-cabin of that agricultural era were first cultivated the true though austere religion, the domestic virtues, the sturdy habits of frugal industry, the daring spirit, and the devoted love of liberty, that have so advanced the prosperity and the glory of this Western continent. ‘The acorns planted by our fathers have become stately trees, under whose umbrageous foliage thousands of their descendants, and others whom the grateful shade has invited from less-favor.d lands, find protection, shelter, and repose. The same writer has given a felicitous sketch of the houses of the early set- tlers, drawn from a careful perusal of the materials collected by the tireless antiquarian. Imagine yourself as belonging to a “committee ON grouses of farms,” and then let us visit one of these yeomen. Riding along the early a “trail,” indicated by marked trees, we find his horse and cattle- mewisre: shed standing near an old Indian clearing, encircled by a high palisade, which includes the spring, that water may be brought without dan- ger from the “ bloody savages.” The house, which is over a small deep cellar, is built of logs, notched where they meet at the corners, with a thatched roof, and a large chimney at one end, built of stones cemented with clay, ‘The small windows are covered with oiled paper, with protect- ing shutters ; and the massive door is thick enough to be bullet- proof. Pulling the “latch-string,”” we enter, and find that the floor, and the floor of the loft which forms the ceiling, are made of “ rifted” or -plit pine, roughly smoothed with the adze; while the immense hearth, occupying nearly an entire side of the house, is of large flat stones. There are no partition-walls ; but thick serge curtains are so hung, that at night they divide off the flock-beds, upon which HOUSE OF AN EARLY SETTLER, tee 2. ST RRR me ae sin. Calman emma ere a 5 ent Ss A ca an Re 12 INDUSTRIAL HiS TORY there are piles of rugs, coverlets, and flannel sheets. A high-backed chair or two, a massive table, a large chest with a carved front, and some Indian birch- bark boxes, are ranged around the walls ; while on a large “ dressoir” we see wooden bowls and trenchers, earthen platters, horn drinking-cups, and a pewter tankard. ‘The corselet, matchlock, and bandoliers are ready for defence, with 1 halberd, if the senior occupant of the house holds a commissicn in “ ye trainband ;” and from a “lean-to”” shed comes the great wheel or the clang of the loom, as the busy “helmates ” hasten to finish their “stents.” High on the mantle-shelf, with a “ cresset- lamp ’’ on one side, and the time- marking hour-glass on the other, is the well-thumbed Bible, which was not left for show. ‘Our especial desire is,’ say the company’s instructions, “that you take especial care, in set- tling these families, that the chief in the family be grounded in religion, whereby morning and evening family duties may be duly performed, and a ee Se ah ane watchful eye held over all in each family by one or more in each family appointed thereto, so that disorders may be prevented, and ill weeds nipt before they take too great a head.” While a greater variety of crops was cultivated in New England than in the Southern colonies, yet nowhere was seen any thing like scientific farming. As Farming new lands could be easily obtained, old ones were not thoroughly unscienti‘c. tiJled. When the soil became exhausted from much bearing, and no enrichment, and grew too poor to raise wheat, corn was planted ; when this would no longer thrive, barley or rye was sown: thus the quality of the crop decreased with the starving soil, until beans alone were raised ; and, when these ceased to grow, the field was abandoned. A dearth of interest in cultivating the soil continued until the close of the Revolution. Previous to that time, no spirit of inquiry in this great industry Littleinter. WS abroad to give a charm to daily toil. Hard work was the esttakenin order of the day, into which neither poetry nor science ever en- agriculture. tered, The farmer remained fast to his farm; and it was almost as true of him as it was of the Sybarites, who dwelt on the eastern side of Italy, and who prided themselves on growing gray between the bridges of their Lagoon City, —he never went beyond his narrow boundaries, and hardly knew of a world outside of himself. There were gatherings, it is true, besides those for religious worship, where ne‘ghbors met and conversed with each other. Upon election-days people mingled, and also at “ raisings,”” when flip and cider flowed plentifully. The d chair or ian birch- -” we see 1a pewter ence, with nin “ye the clang .” High “ cresset- the time- other, is ch was not cial desire structions, re, in set- e chief in n religion, ing family ned, and a Il in each ach family weeds nipt han in the ming. As thoroughly baring, and when this the crop when these bse of the t industry was the ever en- as almost e of Italy, of their dly knew ip, where s people ly. The OF THE UNITED STATES. 13 “husking,” too, was a social as well as industrial gathering, where the same favorite drinks went round, followed by a rich feast upon pump- gatherings kin-pies, which formed one of the most thoroughly-enjoyed of the early dishes of the early settlers. Longfellow has immortalized the farmers. “husking ” in the song of Hiawatha, and we are sure our readers will delight in recalling the scene. The maize-field having grown and ripened, “Till it stood in all the splendor Of its garments green and yellow, Of its tassels and its plumage, And the maize-ears full and shining Gleamed from bursting sheets of verdure; Then Nokomis, the old woman,” spoke to Minnehaha, the merry Laughing-Water ; “ And they called the women round them, Called the young men and the maidens, To the harvest of the cornfields, To the husking of the maize-ear. On the border of the forest, Underneath the fragrant pine-trees, Sat the old men and the warriors, Smoking in the pleasant shadow. In uninterrupted silence Looked they at the gamesome labor Of the young men and the women; Listened to their noisy talking, To their laughter and their singing ; Heard them chattering like the magpies, Heard them laughing !)e the bluejays, Heard them singing like the robins. And, whene’er some lucky maiden Found a red ear in the husking, Found a maize-ear red as blood is, ‘Nershka!’ cried they all together, *Nershkai you shall have a sweetheart, You shall have a handsome husband!’ ‘Ugh!’ the old men all responded From their seats beneath the pine-trees.” The obstinacy with which old ideas were cherished quenched the spirit of agricultural improvement. It is not to the credit of our ancestors, that, in many a town, the possession of superior inelligence, except by the Causes minister and doctor, was not honored, but ridiculed. If a choicer which spirit arose, who ventured to try experiments, he was_ neither checked ag- ricultural cheered nor encouraged, but, on the other hand, was laughed at improve- for his folly. One who has studied the history of these times ment. ‘well says, that if such a one “did not plant just as many acres of corn as ( 14 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY i his fathers did, and that, too, in the ‘old of the moon;’ if he did not sow # | # just as much rye to the acre, use the same number of oxen to plough, and get in his crops in the same day; or if he did not hoe as many times as his father and his grandfather did ; if, in fine, he did not wear the same kind of y homespun dress, and adopt the same religious views and prejudices, — he was i shunned in company by the old and young, and looked upon as a visionary.” 4 eres pe RR at OS —_— WHITEFIELD’S HOUSE, LOOKING WEST. WHITEFIELD’S HOUSE, LOOKING SOUTH. The rotation of crops was a thing unknown in those times. No one ever Rotation of thought of fertilizing the soil. It has been said, that, even within crops the memory of men now living, barns were sometimes removed to k ; mawpown: get them out of the way of heaps of manure by which they were surrounded, rather than incur the expense and trouble of putting these accumulations upon the fields. Swine were generally allowed to run at large, Nicaea and cattle were rarely housed during night or winter. It was ment of thought necessary to leave them out of doors, and expose them to cattle. SE Ss ng the summer’s sun and dew and to the winter’s storm, in order “to toughen” them. A writer says, “It was the common opinion in the Virginia Colony, that housing and milking cows in winter would kill them.” Brief as this sketch is, who cannot fail to see how great and numerous have been the improvements in farming since the Pilgrims, to use their own words, “left their pleasant and beautiful homes in England to plant their poor cottages in the wilderness”? For a century and a half the colonists throughout the country remained in a stationary state in respect to their leading pursuit. Their implements, few and imperfect, were never improved ; the hoe, plough, spade, fork, and occasionally a harrow, comprising pretty nearly the whole inventory. With this coarse and slender outfit their heavy task was continued for many a long and weary year. 0 whe totter | | i 4 FRENCIT COLONIAL AGRICULTURE. A word may be said concerning the French colonists, before closing te history of this period. While the English, Dutch, and Swedes were taking ™_ possession of the soil from the Penobscot to the Altamaha, the French en- } tered the Gulf of St. Lawrence, ascended the river bearing that name, crossed the lakes, found the head waters of the Mississippi, and were borne OF THE UNITED STATES. lid not sow plough, and times as his me kind of v ie | 2s, — he was ¥ visionary.” KING SOUTH. No one ever r, even within 5 removed to ich they were putting these run at large, nter. It was kpose them to in order “to h the Virginia .’ Brief as ve been the 1s, “left their ttages in the the country rsuit. ‘Their lough, spade, le inventory. 1 for many a *rSZr NI VNVISINOT NI SNINVW-YVONS closing the were taking b French en- that name, were borne INDUSTRIAL HISTORY 16 on its broad current to the Gulf of Mexico. The discoveries of the French, Cultivation the journey of La Salle among the Indians and down the mighty of the sugar- stream, are full of romantic interest; but we can only stop to meee note what was done when the French landed in Louisiana, and began the permanent conquest of the soil. A variety of crops was planted ; but none flourished like the sugar-cane, which had been transported into Spain from India by the Saracens, again to Madeira, and thence to the West-India Islands, from which the French planters obtained their plants. For several years its cultivation proved unsuccessful. Not until 1764 did the experiment succeed, upon the eastern bank of the Mississippi, under the intelligent and careful culture of Chevalier de Mazan. The following year, Destrehan, the royal treasurer in the colony, and other planters, erected works on the opposite bank below New Orleans; but the results were disappointing. Indeed, the planters lost so much heart, that, in 1769, they abandoned the business, and turned their attention to the cultivation of indigo, cotton, tobacco, rice, corn, and other crops. A few small gardeners continued to plant sugar-cane in the neighborhood of the city, which they retailed in the market for the use of children ; or expressed the juice, making sirup, which they sold in bottles. More than twenty-five years elapsed before further efforts were made to culti- vate the sugar-plant. The engraving here inserted represents the early process of manufacturing sugar, and will not be without interest to our readers. The cane was stripped Early mode Of its leaves, and ground, or rather crushed, by a heavy stone made of making to revolve by manual force. The expressed juice, after boiling in wee a caldron, was ladled into large stone jars, which were exposed to the rays of the sun unti] the sugar crystallized. Cater on we shall learn what success attended renewed efforts in the way of cultivating the sugar- plant. EFFECTS OF AMERICAN REVOLUTION. The American Revolution wrought a profound change in the agriculture of the country ; not, indeed, in the way of stimulating interest in the cultivation of the soil, but in giving greater freedom in the exchange of commodities. Thrift- less as was the mode of farming prior to that event, during the Revolution it was well-nigh paralyzed ; nor did it speedily