Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/239

 labor. Everything produced by them went into the store, in which they had no proprietorship. The influence of this fact was most obstructive to the growth of the community in prosperity; there was a very natural disposition on the part of the colonists to idle over their tasks, or to avoid the performance of these tasks altogether, and it was observed that those who were most honest and energetic by nature, were comparatively indolent and indifferent in attending to their duties in the field. So capable and resolute a man as Dale would not be long in detecting the cause of the evil, or in applying the most direct measures for removing it. Reference has already been made to the fact, that as soon as he reached Jamestown he consulted with the resident Council as to the advisability of allotting to each man a &#8220;private garden.&#8221; This term seems to have been the expression for private holding, &#8220;common garden&#8221; being applied to ground set apart for public uses. The judgment of the Council must have been favorable to Dale&#8217;s suggestion, for at a later date he assigned to a large number of the colonists who were distinguished for superior qualities, three acres apiece, to be held under lease. The most prominent of these men was William Spencer, who was described as honest, industrious, and valiant. The tract of each person was referred to as a farm, and the person himself as a farmer&#8212;that is to say, a man who paid rent as the condition of his tenure. The amount of this rent in grain was two and a half barrels for himself and each of his servants. Every tenant was required to work for the commonwealth one month in the year, but this was not to conflict with either seed-time or harvest. In order to