September the 22d. After I had been at church, I employed the remainder of the day in conversing with the most considerable people in town, who had lived here for a long while, and I enquired into the curiosities hereabouts.
Mr. Cock had a fine spring near his country seat; it came from a sandy hill, and afforded water enough constantly to fill a little brook. Just above this spring Mr. Cock had erected a building from those above-mentioned glittering stones, into which were put many jugs, and other earthen vessels full of milk; for it kept very well in cold water during the great heat with which the summer is attended here.
I afterwards met with many houses which were situated like this on springs, [[91]]and therefore were destined to keep the meat and milk fresh.
Almost all the enclosures round the corn-fields and meadows hereabouts, were made of planks fastened in a horizontal direction. I only perceived a hedge of privet in one single place. The enclosures were not made like ours, for the people here take posts from four to six feet in height, and make two or three holes into them, so that there was a distance of two feet and above between them. Such a post does the same service as two, and sometimes three poles are scarce sufficient. The posts were fastened in the ground, at two or three fathoms distance from each other, and the holes in them kept up the planks, which were nine inches, and sometimes a foot broad, and lay above each other from one post to the next. Such an enclosure therefore looked at a distance like the hurdles in which we enclose the sheep at night in Sweden. They were really no closer than hurdles, being only destined to keep out the greater animals, such as cows and horses. The hogs are kept near the farm-houses every where about Philadelphia, and therefore this enclosure does not need to be made closer on their account. Chesnut trees were commonly made use of for this [[92]]purpose, because this wood keeps longest against putrefaction, and an enclosure made of it can stand for thirty years together. But where no chesnut wood was to be got, the white, and likewise the black oaks were taken for that purpose. Of all kinds of wood, that of the red cedar holds out the longest. The greatest quantity of it is brought up here; for near Philadelphia it is not plentiful enough, to be made use of for enclosures; however there are many enclosures near the town made of this wood.
The best wood for fuel in every body’s opinion is the hiccory, or a species of walnut; for it heats well; but is not good for enclosures, since it cannot well withstand putrefaction when it is in the open air. The white and black oaks are next in goodness for fuel. The woods with which Philadelphia is surrounded, would lead one to conclude, that fuel must be cheap there. But it is far from being so, because the great and high forest near the town is the property of some people of quality and fortune, who do not regard the money which they could make of them. They do not sell so much as they require for their own use, and much less would they sell it to others. But they leave the trees for times to come, expecting that wood will become [[93]]much more scarce. However they sell it to joiners, coach-makers, and other artists, who pay exorbitantly for it. For a quantity of hiccory of eight foot in length, and four in depth, and the pieces being likewise four foot long, they paid at present eighteen shillings of Pensylvanian currency. But the same quantity of oak only came to twelve shillings. The people who came at present to sell wood in the market were peasants, who lived at a great distance from the town. Every body complained that fuel in the space of a few years, was risen in price to many times as much again as it had been, and to account for this, the following reasons were given: the town is encreased to such a degree, as to be four or six times bigger, and more populous than what some old people have known it to be, when they were young. Many brick-kilns have been made hereabouts, which require a great quantity of wood. The country is likewise more cultivated than it used to be, and consequently great woods have been cut down for that purpose; and the farms built in those places likewise consume a quantity of wood. Lastly, they melt iron out of the ore, in several places about the town, and this work always goes on without interruption. For these reasons it is [[94]]concluded in future times Philadelphia will be obliged to pay a great price for wood.
The wine of blackberries, which has a very fine taste, is made in the following manner. The juice of the blackberries is pressed out, and put into a vessel; with half a gallon of this juice, an equal quantity of water is well mixed. Three pounds of brown sugar are added to this mixture, which must then stand for a while, and after that, it is fit for use. Cherry wine is made in the same manner, but care must be taken that when the juice is pressed out, the stones be not crushed, for they give the wine a bad taste.
They make brandy from peaches here, after the following method. The fruit is cut asunder, and the stones are taken out. The pieces of fruit are then put into a vessel, where they are left for three weeks or a month, till they are quite putrid. They are then put into the distilling vessel, and the brandy is made and afterwards distilled over again. This brandy is not good for people who have a more refined taste, but it is only for the common kind of people, such as workmen and the like.
Apples yield a brandy, when prepared in the same manner as the peaches. But for this purpose those apples are chiefly [[95]]taken, which fall from the tree before they are ripe.
The American Night-shade, or Phytolacca decandra, Linn. S. N. grows abundantly near the farms, on the highroad in hedges and bushes, and in several places in the fields. Whenever I came to any of these places I was sure of finding this plant in great abundance. Most of them had red berries, which grew in bunches, and looked very tempting, though they were not at all fit for eating. Some of these plants were yet in flower. In some places, such as in the hedges, and near the houses, they sometimes grow two fathom high. But in the fields were always low; yet I could no where perceive that the cattle had eaten of it. A German of this place who was a confectioner told me, that the dyers gathered the roots of this plant and made a fine red dye of them.
Here are several species of Squirrels. The ground Squirrels, or Sciurus striatus, Linn. S. N. are commonly kept in cages, because they are very pretty: but they cannot he entirely tamed. The greater Squirrels, or Sciurus cinereus, Linn. S. N. frequently do a great deal of mischief in the plantations, but particularly destroy the maize. For they climb up the stalks, cut [[96]]the ears in pieces and eat only the loose and sweet kernel which lies quite in the inside. They sometimes come by hundreds upon a maize-field, and then destroy the whole crop of a countryman in one night. In Maryland therefore every one is obliged annually to bring four squirrels, and their heads are given to the surveyor, to prevent deceit. In other provinces every body that kills squirrels, received twopence a piece for them from the public, on delivering the heads. Their flesh is eaten and reckoned a dainty. The skins are sold, but are not much esteemed. Squirrels are the chief food of the rattle-snake and other snakes, and it was a common fancy with the people hereabouts, that when the rattle snake lay on the ground, and fixed its eyes upon a squirrel, the latter would be as it were fascinated, and that though it were on the uppermost branches of a tree, yet it would come down by degrees, till it leaped into the snake’s mouth. The snake then licks the little animal several times, and makes it wet all over with its spittle, that it may go down the throat easier. It then swallows the whole squirrel at once. When the snake has made such a good meal, it lies down to rest without any concern.