Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/257

 into with the tenant on the public lands, were in great measure the same as those which had been formulated by Dale a few years before under similar circumstances. He was transported to Virginia free of expense to himself, and after his arrival he was provided with victuals for twelve months, and for the same length of time was supplied with apparel, weapons, tools, and implements. In addition, he was presented with a certain number of cattle. As a return for these benefits, the tenant was expected to pay to the Company one-half of his annual crops, and to remain in its employment for seven years, at the expiration of which interval he was at liberty to renew the contract or to remove to land which had been granted to him as a dividend.

The reports as to the operation of this system of tenant right are contradictory. In a letter to the Company in England, the Governor and Council in Virginia went so far as to say that the persons who worked on half shares, with the exception of those who were attached to the College lands, found themselves unable even to earn food sufficient for their needs during three months of the year. This was probably an exaggeration. In the extent to which it was accurate, it was explained in large measure by circumstances which it was impossible for the tenants to control. Many are said to have had just ground for complaint in the fact that they were assigned to cleared lands worn out by a course of cultivation prolonged over a number of years, and which were, therefore, in no condition to bring forth a profitable crop of tobacco. Pory