Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/104

 fertile mould peculiarly fitted for the culture of rice, hemp, tobacco, and maize, but merging here and there into a soil, mixed with sand and subject to overflow, that was only adapted to the whortleberry, cranberry, and chinquapin. These low grounds were in general embowered by magnificent forests of pine, poplar, cypress, and sweet gum, and were also very productive of such evergreens as the holly, cedar, and liveoak. Then there was the soil found on the banks of the upper sections of the rivers and throughout the adjacent country, this country being a succession of very shallow valleys, with small hills here and there; in these valleys, as well as upon the hills, the soil was quite frequently a rich black mould, but as a rule it was loose, light, and thin, with a substratum in some localities of clay and marl, and in others, of gravel and stone. The elevations separating the valleys were very poor, the surface of the ground being covered with a light sand, or a red and white clay, barely concealed by a thin mould formed by the decaying leaves. These elevations were generally overgrown with chinquapin bushes, stunted oaks and chestnuts, but in summer patches of reedy grass were found on them here and there. Wherever the earth was composed of a deep and fertile mould, this being confined to the banks of the streams, there were seen walnut, ash, beech, and oak trees of a remarkable size. Finally, there was the soil that was observed in the country in which the fountains of the principal rivers were situated. Here it differed somewhat in the degree of fertility. In some localities, there were wide areas of rich and very heavily timbered land; there were in others, meadows and savannahs covered to the extent of many hundred acres with very tall reeds and grasses; in others still, there were bogs and swamps, in which the trees grew to a phenomenal height, and so thickly together that their branches interlocked.