Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/356

 and eighty pounds sterling. The fifteenth Act of Assembly, in the session of 1639, permitted &#8220;corn,&#8221; in which term both wheat and maize were doubtless included, to be exported whenever the price sank below twelve shillings a bushel. Any one shipping grain from the country had to secure special permission to do so. In February, 1639, John Stratton was authorized to transport grain and cattle presumably to New England, and instructions were given to the Captain of the fort at Point Comfort to grant him free egress, provided that he bore away no prohibited commodity; similar commissions were subsequently issued to William Hunt and Edward Robins, to enable them to export to the same quarter a quantity of grain and pork.

Berkeley, like his predecessors Harvey and Wyatt, had, upon his appointment as Governor, been specially directed to encourage a diversification of the agricultural products of Virginia, and he proceeded soon after his arrival to