ined the newly freed servants in moving on to western Carolina or
to the northern colonies.

In fact it is an indication of the solid character of the Virginia
yeomanry that it survived to enter the Eighteenth century, that under
Andros and Nicholson as well as under Sir William Berkeley it was the
soundest element in the life of the colony. Had it not been for the
crowning misfortune of the introduction of great swarms of negro slaves,
sooner or later it would have come once more into its own, would have
carved out for itself a new prosperity, would have filled Virginia from
the Atlantic to the Alleghanies.

_CHAPTER VI_

THE YEOMAN IN VIRGINIA HISTORY

Perhaps it would have been impossible for the Virginia yeoman to survive
the dark days of the Restoration period had it not been for the fact
that in the matter of his food supply he was independent of England and
her vexatious trade restrictions. He might be in rags, but there was no
reason why he should ever feel the pangs of hunger. Seldom in any
climate, in any age has food existed in such extraordinary variety and
in such lavish abundance.

Almost every planter, even the poorest, was possessed of cattle. The
_Perfect Discription_ states that in 1649 there were in the colony "of
Kine, Oxen, Bulls, Calves, twenty thousand, large and good."[6-1]
Fifteen years later the number had increased to 100,000.[6-2] Many a
little farmer, too poor to afford the help of a servant or a slave, had
cattle more than sufficient for his every need. John Splitimber, a
planter of meagre means, died in 1677 owning eight cows and one
bull.[6-3] John Gray, whose entire personal estate was valued only at
9,340 pounds of tobacco, possessed at his death six cows, six calves,
two steers and one heifer.[6-4] The inventory of the goods of Richard
Avery, another poor planter, shows three steers, one heifer, three small
cattle and one calf.[6-5] The yeoman not only secured from these animals
a goodly supply of beef, but milk in abundance from which he made butter
and cheese. The steers he used as beasts of burden.

The meat which most frequently appeared upon the table of the poor man
was that of swine. The planter marked his hogs and turned them loose in
the woods to feed upon roots and acorns. On the other hand, sheep did
not multiply in the colony, for the woods were not suited for their
maintenance, and those areas which had been cleared of trees could more
profitably be utilized