Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 2.djvu/173

 brought from the mother country. Byrd is discovered in 1684 writing to his brother in England, and thanking him for the gooseberry and currant bushes which had just been received; in the salve year, he expresses to a second correspondent his appreciation of a gift of seeds and roots, which had been planted and had safely flowered. The summer-houses, arbors, and grottoes, which Beverley declares were to be found near the residences were doubtless generally situated in the garden, and were erected to afford a cool place of retreat in the warmest hours of the summer day; the garden itself was always protected by a paling to keep out the hogs and cattle which were permitted to wander without restraint. In the immediate vicinity of the dwellings of the wealthy landowners, there were as a rule grouped the dove-cot, stable, barn, henhouse, cabins for the servants, kitchen, and milk-house, the object of this in the last instances being to remove from the mansion the operations of cooking, washing, and dairying. In many yards, a tall pole with a toy house at the top was erected, in which the bee martin might build its nest, this bird bravely attacking the hawk and crow, and thus serving as a guardian of the poultry. In some cases, wells were dug as a means of procuring drinking water, but the natural springs were so numerous that the use of the former was comparatively rare.