Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/458

 the only purpose to which the marshes and swamps were devoted. In March, 1673, the marsh land situated in the boundaries of James City Island, remaining without an owner, was determined to be the property of all the inhabitants of the corporation, the object of this provision being to furnish a common for the live stock of the whole population. As a rule, the marshy and swampy soil occupied such a low position that it would have been difficult to draw off the water without expensive ditches, or to have prevented an immediate inundation by the tides and floods without still more expensive dikes; nevertheless, there must have been a considerable area of ground which could have been protected from overflow without imposing a serious burden on the resources of the planters.

This opinion was entertained by Mr. Clayton, a very intelligent observer, who, during his sojourn in Virginia, was much impressed with the folly of the proprietors, who instead of turning to their advantage in the culture of tobacco the bogs and marshes in their possession, which could have been easily drained, preferred to go to a great outlay of time and labor in order to destroy the heavy growth of forest covering the surface of the earth on a higher level. While a resident of the Colony, he visited for a short time a lady owning a plantation which had been cultivated almost to the point of exhaustion. On this estate there was a large area in swamp that had only to be ditched to be converted into a rich arable soil. No sooner had the eye of Mr. Clayton detected the presence of this unreclaimed land, than he took occasion to call the attention of the overseer to it, with the advice that he should drain it and use it in the cultivation of tobacco. The reply which was returned was characteristic