The History of Virginia, in Four Parts

by Robert Beverley

1. Chestnuts are found upon very high trees, growing in barren ridges. They are something less than the French chestnut; but, I think not differing at all in taste.

2. Chinkapins have a taste something like a chestnut, and grow in a husk or bur, being of the same sort of substance, but not so big as an acorn. They grow upon large bushes, some about as high as the common apple trees in England, and either in the high or low, but always barren ground.

3. Hazelnuts are there in infinite plenty, in all the swamps; and towards the heads of the rivers, whole acres of them are found upon the high land.

4. Hickory nuts are of several sorts, all growing upon great trees, and in an husk, like the French walnut, except that the husk is not so thick, and more apt to open. Some of these nuts are inclosed in so hard a shell, that a light hammer will hardly crack them; and when they are cracked, their kernel is fastened with so firm a web, that there is no coming at it. Several other sorts I have seen with thinner shells, whose kernels may be got with less trouble. There are also several sorts of hickories, called pig nuts, some of which have as thin a shell as the best French walnuts, and yield their meat very easily; they are all of the walnut kind.

5. They have a sort of walnut they call black walnuts, which are as big again as any I ever saw in England, but are very rank and oily, having a thick, hard, foul shell, and come not clear of the husk as the walnut in France doth; but the inside of the nut, and leaves, and growing of the tree, declare it to be of the walnut kind.

6. Their woods likewise afford a vast variety of acorns, seven sorts of which have fallen under my observation. That which grows upon the live oak, buds, ripens and drops off the tree, almost the whole year around. All their acorns are very fat and oily; but the live oak acorn is much more so than the rest, and I believe the making of oil of them would turn to a good account; but now they only serve as mast for the hogs and other wild creatures, as do all the other fruits aforementioned, together with several other sorts of mast growing upon the beach, pine and other trees. The same use is made also of diverse sorts of pulse and other fruits growing upon wild vines; such as peas, beans, vetches, squashes, maycocks, maracocks, melons, cucumbers, lupines, and an infinity of other sorts of fruits, which I cannot name.

§ 15. Grapes grow wild there in an incredible plenty and variety, some of which are very sweet and pleasant to the taste; others rough and harsh, and perhaps fitter for wine or brandy. I have seen great trees covered with single vines, and those vines almost hid with the grapes. Of these wild grapes, besides those large ones in the mountains, mentioned by Batt in his discovery, I have observed four very different kinds, viz:

1. One of these sorts grows among the sand banks upon the edges of the low grounds, and islands next the bay and sea, and also in the swamps and breaches of the uplands. They grow thin in small bunches, and upon very low vines. These are noble grapes; and though they are wild in the woods, are as large as the Dutch gooseberry. One species of them is white, others purple, blue and black, but all much alike in flavor; and some long, some round.

2. A second kind is produced throughout the whole country, in the swamps and sides of hills. These also grow upon small vines, and in small bunches; but are themselves the largest grapes, as big as the English bullace, and of a rank taste when ripe, resembling the smell of a fox, from whence they are called fox grapes. Both these sorts make admirable tarts, being of a fleshy substance, and perhaps, if rightly managed, might make good raisins.

3. There are two species more that are common to the whole country, some of which are black, and some blue on the outside, and some white. They grow upon vast large vines, and bear very plentifully. The nice observer might perhaps distinguish them into several kinds, because they differ in color, size, and relish; but I shall divide them only into two, viz: the early and the late ripe. The early ripe common grape is much larger, sweeter and better than the other. Of these some are quite black, and others blue, and some white or yellow; some also ripen three weeks or a month before the other. The distance of their ripening, is from the latter end of August to the latter end of October. The late ripe common grapes are less than any of the other, neither are they so pleasant to the taste. They hang commonly till the latter end of November, or till Christmas; all that I have seen of these are black. Of the former of these two sorts, the French refugees at the Monacan town made a sort of claret, though they were gathered off of the wild vines in the woods. I was told by a very good judge who tasted it, that it was a pleasant, strong, and full bodied wine. From which we may conclude, that if the wine was but tolerable good when made of the wild grape, which is shaded by the woods from the sun, it would be much better if produced of the same grape cultivated in a regular vineyard.