( 5 ? 5 ;

of Dratning. So that the Richest Meadow Lands , which Is one third of thcCountry, is Boggy, Marfr, and Swamp, whereof they make Jictle Advantage,but loose in them abundance of their Cattle, especially at the first of theSpring, when the Cattle are Weak, and venture too far aster young Grass.Whereas vast lmprovements might be made thereofj for the generality ofVirginia is a Sandy Land with a Sbaüow Soil. So that aster they have ciear-ed a fresti piece of Ground out of the Woods it vili not bear Tobacco past2 ot 3 Tears, unless Cow-pedd-, for they Manare their Ground by keepmgtheir Cattle, as in thc South you do your Sheep, every Night confiningthem within Hurdles, which they remove when they have sufficiemlyDunzd One Spot of Ground. But alass! They cannot Improve much thus:besides it produces a strong fort of Tobacco, in which the Smoakers siy theycan plainly Taste the Fulfomeness of the Dung. Therefore every 3 or 4Tears they must be for Clearing a new picce of Ground out of the Woods ,which requires much Labour and Toil, it being so Thick grown ali overwith Maffy Timber. Thus their Plantations run over vast Tracts of Groundeach Ambitioning to engross as much as they can, that they may be (ureto have enough to Piant , and for their Flocks and Herds of Cattle to Rangeand Feed in: so that Plant atkms of 1000, 2000, or 3000 Acres areCom-mon ; whereby the Country is Thinly Inhabited; their Living Solitary andUnsociable; Trading Confused and Dilpersed; behdes other Inconveniencies.Whereas they might Improve aooor 300 Acres to more advantage, andwould make the Country much more Healthy; for thole that have 3000 A-cres havescarce Cleared 600 Acres thereof, which is peculiarly termed thePlantation , being surrounded with the 2400 Acres of Woods , so that therecan be nofree or even Motion of the Air, but the Air is kept either Sta-gnant, or the Lofty Sulpbureous Particles of the Air, that are Higher than theTops of the Trees, which are above as High again as the generality ofiheWoods in England, Descending when they pass over the Cleared Spots ofGround, must needs in the violent Heat of Summer, raise a PreternaturalFerment, and produce Bad Effects. Nor is it any Advantage to their Stocksor Crops; for did they but Dr<st» their Swamps and Low-Lands , theyhave avery Deep Soil, that would endure Piant ing 20 or 30 Tears-and forne would scarce ever be worn out, but be ever Longer Better, forthey might lay them all Winter, or when they pleased, in Water, andthe Product of their Labour would be Double or Treble, whether Corn orTobacco.

On the Plantation where I Lived, I Drain’d a good large Swamp, whichfully answered Expectation, for with 3 Men in 13 Days I Drained thewhole Swamp, and it being Sandy Land , Soaks and Drains admirably well,and wbat I little expected, I laid a WeU Dry at a considerable distance.The Gentlewoman, who was Owner of that Plantation was in Englandlast Year, and I think Dr. Moulin was by when fhe asked me, Now to teachher how’fhe might make her Tobacco that grew in that Swamp lefs, for itproduced fb very Large, that it was (ufpected to be of the Atanoko hind‘. IVol. III. Ffff told