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Download or read book Studies on the Geography of Virginia (Classic Reprint) written by George Thomas Surface and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2016-08-14 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Studies on the Geography of Virginia The Indians of the Northern Neck Country being friendly, their presence presented an additional inducement to English settlers, by reason of the profits to be realized from their trade. It was in this region that the next English settlements were founded. If tobacco was king in the James River country, the oyster may be aptly designated as queen in the Northern Neck. In the establishment of an industrial system much depends upon the forces and conditions which give rise to the initiative. The ac quirement of food and clothing constitutes the first essential. This obtained, the most profitable commodity, or means of exchange, is next to receive attention. The Virginia colonists had to meet the first by hunting, fishing, the cultivation of corn, raising of livestock, and bartering with the Indians. All of the conditions precluded a surplus of food stuffs, so that these are ruled out at this stage as possible commodities for exchange. But even if they had been pos sible, the demand would have been so limited as to make the produc tion unprofitable. They must produce a surplus of that for which there is a pressing demand in England to realize profitable results. What were the leading English imports? Iron and steel from Spain; copper from Sweden; wine, salt and canvas from France; silks and velvets from Italy; spices from Asia; and naval supplies, such as tar, pitch, cordage, masts and yards, from Russia and Poland. The search of the colonists for gold and copper had been futile; in 1620, iron mines were opened at the James River Falls, but aban domed because inferior; the grape was neither adapted to the climate nor soil; great difficulty was experienced in supplying the domestic demand for saAbout the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.