The wood of the Kalmia is very hard, and some people on that account, make the axis of their pullies of it. Weavers shuttles are chiefly made of it, and the weavers are of opinion, that no wood in this country is better for this purpose, for it is compact, may be made very smooth, and does not easily crack, or burst. The joiners and turners here, employ it in making all kinds of work, which requires the best wood; they chiefly use the root because it is quite yellow; the wood has a very suitable hardness and fineness, and from the center, spread as it were small rays, which are at some distance from each other. When the leaves of the Kalmia are thrown into the fire, they make a crackling like salt. The chimney sweepers make brooms in winter of the branches with the leaves on them, since they cannot get others in that season. In the summer of the year 1750, a certain [[340]]kind of worms, devoured the leaves of almost all the trees in Pensylvania; yet they did not venture to attack the leaves of the Kalmia. Some people asserted, that when a fire happened in the woods, it never went further, as soon as it came to the Kalmias, or Spoon trees.
November the 21st. The Swedes and all the other inhabitants of the country plant great quantities of maize, both for themselves and for their cattle. It was asserted that it is the best food for hogs, because it makes them very fat, and gives their flesh an agreeable flavour, preferable to all other meat. I have given in two dissertations upon this kind of corn to the Swedish Royal Academy of Sciences, which stand in their Memoirs, one in the Volume for the year 1751, in the last quarter, and the other in the first quarter of the Volume for the year 1752, and thither I refer my readers.
The wheels of the carts which are here made use of, are composed of two different kinds of wood. The felloes were made of what is called the Spanish oak, and the spokes of the white oak.
The Sassafras tree grows every where in this place. I have already observed several particulars in regard to it, and intend to add a few more here. On [[341]]throwing some of the wood into the fire, it causes a crackling as salt does. The wood is made use of for posts belonging to the enclosures, for it is said to last a long time in the ground: but it is likewise said, that there is hardly any kind of wood, which is more attacked by worms than this, when it is exposed to the air without cover, and that in a short time it is quite worm-eaten through and through. The Swedes related, that the Indians who formerly inhabited these parts, made bowls of it. On cutting some part of the sassafras tree, or its shoots, and holding it to the nose, it has a strong but pleasant smell. Some people peel the root, and boil the peel with the beer which they are brewing, because they believe it wholesome for the same reason. The peel is put into brandy, either whilst it is distilling, or after it is made.
An old Swede remembered that his mother cured many people of the dropsy, by a decoction of the root of sassafras in water drank every morning: but she used, at the same time to cup the patient on the feet. The old man assured me, he had often seen people cured by this means, who had been brought to his mother wrapped up in sheets. [[342]]
When a part of a wood is destined for cultivation, the sassafras trees are commonly left upon it, because they have a very thick foliage, and afford a cool shade to the cattle, during the great heats. Several of the Swedes, wash and scour the vessels in which they intend to keep cyder, beer or brandy, with water in which the sassafras root or its peel has been boiled; which they think renders all those liquors more wholesome. Some people get their bed-posts made of sassafras wood, in order to expel the bugs; for its strong scent it is said prevents those vermin from settling in them. For two or three years together this has the desired effect; or about as long as the wood keeps its strong aromatic smell; but after that time it has been observed to lose it effect. A joiner shewed me a bed, which he had made for himself, the posts of which were of sassafras wood, but as it was ten or twelve years old, there were so many bugs in it, that it seemed likely, they would not let him sleep peaceably. Some Englishmen related, that some years ago it had been customary in London, to drink a kind of tea of the flowers of sassafras, because it was looked upon as very salutary; but upon recollecting that the same potion was much used against the venereal disease, [[343]]it was soon left off, lest those that used it, should be looked upon as infected with that disease. In Pensylvania some people put chips of sassafras into their chests, where they keep all sorts of woollen stuffs, in order to expel the moths (or Larvæ, or caterpillars of moths or tinies) which commonly settle in them in summer. The root keeps its smell for a long while: I have seen one which had lain five or six years in the drawer of a table, and still preserved the strength of its scent.
A Swede named Rambo, related that the Indians formerly dyed all sorts of leather red with the bark of the chesnut oak.
Some old people remembered that in the year 1697, there had been so rigorous a winter, that the ice in the river Delaware was two feet thick.
November the 22d. Aoke Helm was one of the most considerable Swedes in this place, and his father came over into this country along with the Swedish governor Prince; he was upwards of seventy years of age. This old man told us, that in his youth there was grass in the woods, which grew very close, and was every where two feet high; but, that it was so much lessened at present, that the cattle hardly find food enough, and that therefore four cows now give no more milk than one at that time; [[344]]but the causes of this alteration are easy to find. In the younger years of old Helm, the country was little inhabited, and hardly the tenth part of the cattle kept which is at present; a cow had therefore as much food at that time, as ten now have. Further, most kinds of grass here are annual, and do not for several years together shoot up from the same root, as our Swedish grasses: they must sow themselves every year, because the last year’s plant dies away every autumn. The great numbers of cattle hinder this sowing, as the grass is eaten before it can produce flowers and fruit. We need not therefore wonder that the grass is so thin on fields, hills, and pastures in these provinces. This is likewise the reason why travellers in New Jersey, Pensylvania, and Maryland, find many difficulties, especially in winter, to get forwards with their own horses, for the grass in these provinces is not very abundant, because the cattle eat it before it can bring seeds: but more to the north, as in Canada, are a sufficient quantity of perennial grasses; so wisely has the Creator regulated every thing. The cold parts of the earth, naturally bring forth a more durable grass, because the inhabitants want more hay to feed their cattle with, on account of the length of the winter. [[345]]The southern provinces again have less perennial grass, as the cattle may be in the fields all the winter. However careful œconomists have got seeds of perennial grasses from England, and other European states, and sowed it in their meadows, where they seem to thrive exceedingly well.
The Persimon (Diospyros Virginiana) was pretty common here: I have already mentioned it before, but I intend now to add some more particulars. Some of its fruits began to ripen and to become fit for eating about this time, for they always ripen very late in autumn, and then the people eat them like other fruit: they are very sweet and glutinous, yet have a little astringency; I frequently used to eat a great quantity of them, without feeling the least inconvenience. From the persimon several Englishmen and Swedes brew a very palatable liquor in the following manner. As soon as the fruit is ripe, a sufficient quantity is gathered, which is very easy, as each tree is well stocked with them. These persimon apples are put into a dough of wheat or other flour, formed into cakes, and put into an oven, in which they continue till they are quite baked, and sufficiently dry, when they are taken out again: then, in order to brew the liquor, a pot full of water is put on the [[346]]fire and some of the cakes are put in: these become soft by degrees as the water grows warm, and crumble in pieces at last; the pot is then taken from the fire, and the water in it well stirred about, that the cakes may mix with it: this is then poured into another vessel, and they continue to steep and break as many cakes as are necessary for a brewing: the malt is then infused, and they proceed as usual with the brewing. Beer thus prepared is reckoned much preferable to other beer. They likewise make brandy of this fruit in the following manner: having collected a sufficient quantity of persimons in autumn, they are altogether put into a vessel, where they lie for a week till they are quite soft. Then they pour water on them, and in that state they are left to ferment of themselves, without promoting the fermentation by any addition. The brandy is then made in the common way, and is said to be very good, especially if grapes (in particular of the sweet sort) which are wild in the woods, be mixed with the persimon fruit. Some persimons are ripe at the end of September, but most of them later, and some not before November and December, when the cold first overcomes their acrimony. The wood of this tree is very good for joiner’s instruments, [[347]]such as planes, handles to chisels, &c. but if after being cut down, it lies exposed to sunshine and rain, it is the first wood which rots, and in a year’s time there is nothing left but what is useless. When the persimon trees get once into a field, they are not easily got out of it again, as they spread so much. I was told, that if you cut off a branch and put it into the ground, it strikes root, but in very strong winters, these trees often die by frost, and they, together with the peach trees, bear cold the least of any.