Friday - 23 Mercury at 75 in the Morning 74 at noon and 72 at night. Day very lowering & some times light rains or mists but not to wet the ground. Wind at N° E Mr Fairfax went away after Breakfast. At home all day. Saturday — 23a Mercury at 68 in the Morning 74 at Noon. and 71 at night. Wind Northwardly and pleasant. The Morning cloudy, but clear, about noon, and a little warm. Accompanied by Col° Humphrys I rid to Muddy hole, & Neck Plantations. - The Drilled Oats at the latter between the corn being threshed out & cleaned, measured 54 B. There being 24 rows of these each (allowing for the divisions between the cut & the bouting rows at the ends) about 1075 yards long amounts to 25,800 yards running measure, or 160 yds 19" which is better than 51⁄4 acres, the quantity to the acre therefore, cannot exceed 10 Bushels, which is less it is presumed than the same kind of land would have produced in broad cast, it is to be remarked however that the abundant wet which had fallen from the middle of May, or thereabouts, till Harvest had in most of the low places destroyed the grain either wholly, or in part by which the quantity growing was reduced but this would also have happened in any square piece of ground as there is scarce any that is not subject to the same accident. Sunday 30 Mercury at 67 in the Morning 78 at noon and 70 at night. Morning a little cloudy, the day upon the whole cool & pleasant with the wind at East. Monday - 31" Mercury at 67 in the Morning 73 at noon, and 70 at night. Morning lowering, with small sprinklings of rain but too light to wet anything.about one O'clock it cleared, wind pretty fresh from the No. East & clear afterwards. Mr Will Craik who came here to dinner, afterwards went away for Alexandria on his journey to Hampshire. Accompanied by Col° Humphreys rid to the plantations at the Ferry and Dogue run, at the first the plowing of the cut upon the hill was finished and the plows in the drilled corn by the fish house, the Hoes were at work in the other Drilled corn. At Dogue run the Hoes had just finished the cut they had been in; and the Plows the drilled corn; into which the Hoes had entered on the east side next the Swamp. The Plows would now cease till the Horses could be a little refreshed & get out wheat for sowing. On behalf of Mr. APPLETON P. C. GRIFFIN, a Corresponding Member, and Chief Assistant Librarian of Congress, Mr. HENRY H. EDES communicated two letters written in 1692 by Isaac Addington to William Blathwayt, and spoke as follows: It will be remembered that at the time Volume II of our Publications went to press, five of the Massachusetts Royal Commissions were missing; and that at our meeting in December last Mr. Matthews announced the discovery of four of them, and communicated copies. The single commission which thus far has eluded our diligent search is that of Isaac Addington, the first Secretary of the Province, who was named in the Charter. Shortly after our December meeting, Mr. Griffin sent me the proof sheets of a list of manuscripts recently acquired by the Library of Congress. In it I noticed a letter written by Addington to Mr. Secretary Blathwayt in the summer of 1692. As this date is so near that of the arrival of the Charter it seemed possible that it might contain some reference to the long-sought Commission. I therefore asked for a copy of the document and in a few days received a photostat. The paper also contains a portion of another letter of Addington to Blathwayt, dated in October, 1692. The letters follow.2 Honble Sr I may not omit to render my hearty acknowledgment of Oblig[ation] and Gratitude unto your Self for your favour in the Honor confe[rred] upon me by their Majtys appointing me to be Secretary of th[e] Province of the Massachusetts Bay, In which Office I sha[l] studiously Endeavour to approve my Self in all Loyalty, and i[n] fidelity unto their Majties Service. And in Obedience to His [Majesty's] Commands signified to me 1 See pp. 150-155, above. 2 Some words torn away are conjecturally supplied within square brackets. half are standing whilst the Cradlers are whetting their Scythes, drinking, or talking. - 6th. Each raker must take a swarth & not two go in one that the authors of bad work may be more easily detected. By this mode of proceeding the raking & binding will will be done with more ease, regularity and dispatch, because it becomes a sober settled work, there being no pretext for hurrying at one time. but standing at another. — but 7th. By this means, I am persuaded that the number of rakers which usually follow Cradlers, would, by the middle of harvest or by the time the grain is in condition to shock as it comes from the Cradle be fully up with them and then might go on together if it should be conceived best. Admitting that the grain can be cut with safety as soon as it comes out of the Milky State the advantages here described added to the superior quality of the straw for fodder, and indeed for every other purpose, greatly over ballances any inconveniencies which may result from the practice, & which must lay chiefly if not wholly, in these 1st. The hazard of a heavy beating rain which may settle the swarth among the stubble so as to make it bad to rake, and difficult perhaps to get up clean. and 2a lighter rains and Dews which may interrupt the binding, the straw not drying so soon in swarth as it does standing nor can it be meddled with so early in the morning generally. But as neither rain, nor Dews will hurt the grain (on the contrary will make it thrash easier and do very little injury to the straw,) and as there is always work enough on the Plantations to employ the hands in (such as succouring & hoeing of corn, pulling flax, weeding of vines, Pease, &ct &ce) supposing the interruptions above mentioned to happen no labour need be lost because as each harvest will be managed by the hands belonging to the farm or Plantation they can without inconvenience (having their tools always at hand) shift from one kind of work to another without preparation or fitting themselves for it. Sunday - 16th Mercury at 78 in the Morning 86 at noon and 84 at Night. Very little wind at any time in the day but very hot. Doct' Craik came here in the forenoon dined, and returned afterwards. Monday - 17th Mercury at 78 in the morning 85 at noon and 79 at at night. Exceedingly warm all day with but little wind. After noon a cloud arose out of which we had only a sprinkling of rain the body of the cloud passing above. i.e. to the Northward of this place. Rid to the Plantations in the neck, Muddy hole, Dogue run & Ferry, at the first began to cut the ripest of the oats, but thinking them in general too green quitted after breakfast and sat all hands to pulling flax the doing of which was compleated about sundown. At Muddy hole the people were employed in clearing a yard to tread wheat in, and in getting in wheat & Rye of the latter 6 shocks (got in by the Dogue run hands) yielded 111⁄2 bushels of clear Rye, and 4 other shocks brought in by the hands of the Plantation & threshed by them 5 B1 of clear rye was produced. Dogue run people cut their oats in the upper Meadow, and the Ferry were employed as yesterday about their wheat. Tuesday - 18th Mercury at 77 in the morning-87 at noon- and 84 at night, A heavy forenoon with much appearances of rain but none fell, very hot afternoon when the sun at intervals came out. a breeze from the So West all day. Rid to all the Plantations except that at the Ferry. — began to cut the meadow at the Neck plantation to day, and to clean & prepare at the yard for treading wheat there. Finished hilling with the plows all the corn at Muddy hole which was planted in the usual way, & ordered the plows to turn the ground in the drilled corn designed for turnips, & to plow it deep and well. Dogue run people (in part) cleaning and preparing their wheat yard and getting the oats to it. Finished a Hay rack at the House which contained all the Hay that was made at the upper meadow at Dogue run and all that came off the Ferry meadow. Wednesday 19th Mercury at 82 in the Morning 89 at noon and 81 at Night. - Clear until about 2 O'clock when a cloud arose to the westward out of which proceeded a powerful rain. Rid to all the Plantations today, at that in the neck, the Scythmen having cut (yesterday) the upper part of the Meadow, & to the cross fence: returned to the Oat-field to day at the old orchard fence which they cut down; but did not shock, the straw being too great for it. — At the same place the plows finished the middle cut of the drilled corn, & plowed in the same cut, the intervals between the Corn rows which were designed for Turnips. The Plows at Muddy hole began yesterday afternoon to give the middle cut (next and adjoining the drilled corn) another plowing from the road to the woods back. -4 other shocks of Rye at this place from another part of the field, yielded about the same quantity of clean grain that the first did, viz. five bushels from which their being 177 shocks in the field, it may be computed that not more than 220 or 225 will be obtained. On my return home I found Mr Calvert of Maryland and his son, Colo Bland, Mr Geo. Digges, Mr Foster & Lund Washington here all of whom dined-The 3 first stayed the evening the other three returned. Mercury at 78 in the Morning 86 at noon and 80 at Night. Very warm all day, About 4 O'clock a cloud arose out of which proceeded a shower of rain after which it cleared, but towards Sundown it overcast and rained moderately for several hours. Before the rain the Flax in the Neck was thrown into shocks as was part of the oats, another part was set on end (as much as could be of it) and the third part was caught on the ground in the Sheaf by the rain. Finished cutting the meadows in the neck, this afternoon; & had begun to plow the ground designed for Turnips there, but the rain put a stop to it, the plows then went into the Corn adjoining thereto in the cut next the Barn. Mr. Calvert & Son was prevented recrossing the river this Afternoon by the rain. Mercury at 76 in the Morning 80 at noon and SO at night. A little Cloudy in the Morning but clear afterwards and not so warm as it had been. Mr. Calvert and Son went away very early in the Morning. After breakfast Col Bland and Myself road to My plantations at Muddy hole and in the neck, at the first found the grd was too wet for Plowing, and that 4 other shocks of Rye from another part of the field had been threshed which yielded rather better than 71⁄2 bushels of clean grain. At the other I examined the shocks of Flax wch seemed to be toler ably dry, and in good order, but I directed the Overseer to keep an attentive watch upon them, and the oats, & open & dry them if they appeared to need it, and to get both as soon as he could to the Barn. Having finished Cutting the meadows in the neck, the farmer & two or three hands remained there to make the Hay, whilst six cutters came over & cut down the Orchard grass at the House which had been stripped of the head (for the seed) on or about the first instant. It may be re |