PARIS, July 30, 1787.
SIR,--Having observed that the consumption of rice in this country, and
particularly in this capital, was very great, I thought it my duty to
inform myself from what markets they draw their supplies, in what
proportion from ours, and whether it might not be practicable to
increase that proportion. This city being little concerned in foreign
commerce, it is difficult to obtain information on particular branches
of it in the detail. I addressed myself to the retailers of rice, and
from them received a mixture of truth and error, which I was unable to
sift apart in the first moment. Continuing, however, my inquiries, they
produced at length this result: that the dealers here were in the habit
of selling two qualities of rice, that of Carolina, with which they
were supplied chiefly from England, and that of Piedmont; that the
Carolina rice was long, slender, white and transparent, answers well
when prepared with milk, sugar, &c., but not so well when prepared _au
gras_; that that of Piedmont was shorter, thicker, and less white, but
that it presented its form better when dressed _au gras_, was better
tasted, and, therefore, preferred by good judges for those purposes;
that the consumption of rice, in this form, was much the most
considerable, but that the superior beauty of the Carolina rice,
seducing the eye of those purchasers who are attached to appearances,
the demand for it was upon the whole as great as for that of Piedmont.
They supposed this difference of quality to proceed from a difference
of management; that the Carolina rice was husked with an instrument
that broke it more, and that less pains were taken to separate the
broken from the unbroken grains, imagining that it was the broken
grains which dissolved in oily preparations; that the Carolina rice
costs somewhat less than that of Piedmont; but that being obliged to
sort the whole grains from the broken, in order to satisfy the taste of
their customers, they ask and receive as much for the first quality of
Carolina, when sorted, as for the rice of Piedmont; but the second and
third qualities, obtained by sorting, are sold much cheaper. The
objection to the Carolina rice then, being, that it crumbles in certain
forms of preparation, and this supposed to be the effect of a less
perfect machine for husking, I flattered myself I should be able to
learn what might be the machine of Piedmont, when I should arrive at
Marseilles, to which place I was to go in the course of a tour through
the seaport towns of this country. At Marseilles, however, they
differed as much in account of the machines, as at Paris they had
differed about other circumstances. Some said it was husked between
mill-stones, others between rubbers of wood in the form of mill-stones,
others of cork. They concurred in one fact, however, that the machine
might be seen by me, immediately on crossing the Alps. This would be an
affair of three weeks. I crossed them and went through the rice country
from Vercelli to Pavia, about sixty miles. I found the machine to be
absolutely the same with that used in Carolina, as well as I could
recollect a description which Mr. E. Rutledge had given me of it. It is
on the plan of a powder mill. In some of them, indeed, they arm each
pestle with an iron tooth, consisting of nine spikes hooked together,
which I do not remember in the description of Mr. Rutledge. I therefore
had a tooth made, which I have the honor of forwarding you with this
letter; observing, at the same time, that as many of their machines are
without teeth as with them, and of course, that the advantage is not
very palpable. It seems to follow, then, that the rice of Lombardy (for
though called Piedmont rice, it does not grow in that county but in
Lombardy) is of a different species from that of Carolina; different in
form, in color and in quality. We know that in Asia they have several
distinct species of this grain. Monsieur Poivre, a former Governor of
the Isle of France, in travelling through several countries of Asia,
observed with particular attention the objects of their agriculture,
and he tells us, that in Cochin-China they cultivate six several kinds
of rice, which he describes, three of them requiring water, and three
growing on highlands. The rice of Carolina is said to have come from
Madagascar, and De Poivre tells us, it is the white rice which is
cultivated there. This favors the probability of its being of a
different species originally, from that of Piedmont; and time, culture
and climate may have made it still more different. Under this idea, I
thought it would be well to furnish you with some of the Piedmont rice,
unhusked, but was told it was contrary to the laws to export it in that
form. I took such measures as I could, however, to have a quantity
brought out, and lest these should fail, I brought, myself, a few
pounds. A part of this I have addressed to you by the way of London; a
part comes with this letter; and I shall send another parcel by some
other conveyance, to prevent the danger of miscarriage. Any one of them
arriving safe, may serve to put in seed, should the society think it an
object. This seed too, coming from Vercelli, where the best rice is
supposed to grow, is more to be depended on than what may be sent me
hereafter. There is a rice from the Levant, which is considered as of a
quality still different, and some think it superior to that of
Piedmont. The troubles which have existed in that country for several
years back, have intercepted it from the European market, so that it is
become almost unknown. I procured a bag of it, however, at Marseilles,
and another of the best rice of Lombardy, which are on their way to
this place, and when arrived, I will forward you a quantity of each,
sufficient to enable you to judge of their qualities when prepared for
the table. I have also taken measures to have a quantity of it brought
from the Levant, unhusked. If I succeed, it shall be forwarded in like
manner. I should think it certainly advantageous to cultivate, in
Carolina and Georgia, the two qualities demanded at market; because the
progress of culture, with us, may soon get beyond the demand for the
white rice; and because too, there is often a brisk demand for the one
quality, when the market is glutted with the other. I should hope there
would be no danger of losing the species of white rice, by a confusion
with the other. This would be a real misfortune, as I should not
hesitate to pronounce the white, upon the whole, the most precious of
the two, for us. The dry rice of Cochin-China has the reputation of
being the whitest to the eye, best flavored to the taste, and most
productive. It seems then to unite the good qualities of both the
others known to us. Could it supplant them, it would be a great
happiness, as it would enable us to get rid of those ponds of stagnant
water, so fatal to human health and life. But such is the force of
habit, and caprice of taste, that we could not be sure beforehand it
would produce this effect. The experiment, however, is worth trying,
should it only end in producing a third quality, and increasing the
demand. I will endeavor to procure some to be brought from
Cochin-China. The event, however, will be uncertain and distant.
I was induced, in the course of my journey through the south of France,
to pay very particular attention to the objects of their culture,
because the resemblance of their climate to that of the southern parts
of the United States, authorizes us to presume we may adopt any of
their articles of culture, which we would wish for. We should not wish
for their wines, though they are good and abundant. The culture of the
vine is not desirable in lands capable of producing anything else. It
is a species of gambling, and of desperate gambling too, wherein,
whether you make much or nothing, you are equally ruined. The middling
crop alone is the saving point, and that the seasons seldom hit.
Accordingly, we see much wretchedness among this class of cultivators.
Wine, too, is so cheap in these countries, that a laborer with us,
employed in the culture of any other article, may exchange it for wine,
more and better than he could raise himself. It is a resource for a
country, the whole of whose good soil is otherwise employed, and which
still has some barren spots, and surplus of population to employ on
them. There the vine is good, because it is something in the place of
nothing. It may become a resource to us at a still earlier period; when
the increase of population shall increase our productions beyond the
demand for them, both at home and abroad. Instead of going on to make
an useless surplus of them, we may employ our supernumerary hands on
the vine. But that period is not yet arrived.
The almond tree is also so precarious, that none can depend for
subsistence on its produce, but persons of capital.
The caper, though a more tender plant, is more certain in its produce,
because a mound of earth of the size of a cucumber hill, thrown over
the plant in the fall, protects it effectually against the cold of
winter. When the danger of frost is over in the spring, they uncover
it, and begin its culture. There is a great deal of this in the
neighborhood of Toulon. The plants are set about eight feet apart, and
yield, one year with another, about two pounds of caper each, worth on
the spot sixpence sterling per pound. They require little culture, and
this may be performed either with the plough or hoe. The principal work
is the gathering of the fruit as it forms. Every plant must be picked
every other day, from the last of June till the middle of October. But
this is the work of women and children. This plant does well in any
kind of soil which is dry, or even in walls where there is no soil, and
it lasts the life of a man. Toulon would be the proper port to apply
for them. I must observe, that the preceding details cannot be relied
on with the fullest certainty, because, in the canton where this plant
is cultivated, the inhabitants speak no written language, but a medley,
which I could understand but very imperfectly.
The fig and mulberry are so well known in America, that nothing need be
said of them. Their culture, too, is by women and children, and,
therefore, earnestly to be desired in countries where there are slaves.
In these, the women and children are often employed in labors
disproportioned to their sex and age. By presenting to the master
objects of culture, easier and equally beneficial, all temptation to
misemploy them would be removed, and the lot of this tender part of our
species be much softened. By varying, too, the articles of culture, we
multiply the chances for making something, and disarm the seasons in a
proportionable degree, of their calamitous effects.
The olive is a tree the least known in America, and yet the most worthy
of being known. Of all the gifts of heaven to man, it is next to the
most precious, if it be not the most precious. Perhaps it may claim a
preference even to bread, because there is such an infinitude of
vegetables, which it renders a proper and comfortable nourishment. In
passing the Alps at the Col de Tende, where they are mere masses of
rock, wherever there happens to be a little soil, there are a number of
olive trees, and a village supported by them. Take away these trees,
and the same ground in corn would not support a single family. A pound
of oil, which can be bought for three or four pence sterling, is
equivalent to many pounds of flesh, by the quantity of vegetables it
will prepare, and render fit and comfortable food. Without this tree,
the country of Provence and territory of Genoa would not support
one-half, perhaps not one-third, their present inhabitants. The nature
of the soil is of little consequence if it be dry. The trees are
planted from fifteen to twenty feet apart, and when tolerably good,
will yield fifteen or twenty pounds of oil yearly, one with another.
There are trees which yield much more. They begin to render good crops
at twenty years old, and last till killed by cold, which happens at
some time or other, even in their best positions in France. But they
put out again from their roots. In Italy, I am told, they have trees
two hundred years old. They afford an easy but constant employment
through the year, and require so little nourishment, that if the soil
be fit for any other production, it may be cultivated among the olive
trees without injuring them. The northern limits of this tree are the
mountains of the Cevennes, from about the meridian of Carcassonne to
the Rhone, and from thence, the Alps and Apennines as far as Genoa, I
know, and how much farther I am not informed. The shelter of these
mountains may be considered as equivalent to a degree and a half of
latitude, at least, because westward of the commencement of the
Cevennes, there are no olive trees in 43-1/2° or even 43° of latitude,
whereas, we find them _now_ on the Rhone at Pierrelatte, in 44-1/2°,
and _formerly_ they were at Tains, above the mouth of the Isere, in
45°, sheltered by the near approach of the Cevennes and Alps, which
only leave there a passage for the Rhone. Whether such a shelter exists
or not in the States of South Carolina and Georgia, I know not. But
this we may say, either that it exists or that it is not necessary
there, because we know that they produce the orange in open air; and
wherever the orange will stand at all, experience shows that the olive
will stand well, being a hardier tree. Notwithstanding the great
quantities of oil made in France, they have not enough for their own
consumption, and, therefore, import from other countries. This is an
article, the consumption of which will always keep pace with its
production. Raise it, and it begets its own demand. Little is carried
to America, because Europe has it not to spare. We, therefore, have not
learned the use of it. But cover the southern States with it, and every
man will become a consumer of oil, within whose reach it can be brought
in point of price. If the memory of those persons is held in great
respect in South Carolina who introduced there the culture of rice, a
plant which sows life and death with almost equal hand, what
obligations would be due to him who should introduce the olive tree,
and set the example of its culture! Were the owner of slaves to view it
only as the means of bettering their condition, how much would he
better that by planting one of those trees for every slave he
possessed! Having been myself an eye witness to the blessings which
this tree sheds on the poor, I never had my wishes so kindled for the
introduction of any article of new culture into our own country. South
Carolina and Georgia appear to me to be the States, wherein its
success, in favorable positions at least, could not be doubted, and I
flattered myself it would come within the views of the society for
agriculture to begin the experiments which are to prove its
practicability. Carcassonne is the place from which the plants may be
most certainly and cheaply obtained. They can be sent from thence by
water to Bordeaux, where they may be embarked on vessels bound for
Charleston. There is too little intercourse between Charleston and
Marseilles to propose this as the port of exportation. I offer my
services to the society for the obtaining and forwarding any number of
plants which may be desired.
Before I quit the subject of climates, and the plants adapted to them,
I will add, as a matter of curiosity, and of some utility, too, that my
journey through the southern parts of France, and the territory of
Genoa, but still more the crossing of the Alps, enabled me to form a
scale of the tenderer plants, and to arrange them according to their
different powers of resisting cold. In passing the Alps at the Col de
Tende, we cross three very high mountains successively. In ascending,
we lose these plants, one after another, as we rise, and find them
again in the contrary order as we descend on the other side; and this
is repeated three times. Their order, proceeding from the tenderest to
the hardiest, is as follows: caper, orange, palm, aloe, olive,
pomegranate, walnut, fig, almond. But this must be understood of the
plant only; for as to the fruit, the order is somewhat different. The
caper, for example, is the tenderest plant, yet, being so easily
protected, it is among the most certain in its fruit. The almond, the
hardiest, loses its fruit the oftenest, on account of its forwardness.
The palm, hardier than the caper and orange, never produces perfect
fruit here.
I had the honor of sending you, the last year, some seeds of the sulla
of Malta, or Spanish St. Foin. Lest they should have miscarried, I now
pack with the rice a canister of the same kind of seed, raised by
myself. By Colonel Franks, in the month of February last, I sent a
parcel of acorns of the cork oak, which I desired him to ask the favor
of the Delegates of South Carolina in Congress to forward to you.
I have the honor to be, with sentiments of the most perfect esteem and
respect, Sir, your most obedient, and most humble servant.