in the world," and that the most wretched cottages in England
were superior to them.[6-19] But the period of which Butler wrote was
exceptional, and before long the growing prosperity of the colony made
possible a great improvement in the dwellings of the people. The rough
log cabin gave way to the little framed cottage with chimneys at each
end.

A residence erected in one of the parishes of the Eastern Shore in 1635
to serve as a parsonage may be accepted as typical of the better class
of houses in Virginia at this time. It was made of wood, was forty feet
wide, eighteen deep and had a chimney at each end. On either side was an
additional apartment, one used as a study, the other as a
buttery.[6-20] For the poor man this was far too pretentious, and he had
to content himself with a home perhaps thirty by twenty feet, containing
at times two or three apartments, at times only one.

But such as it was it gave him ample protection against the heat of
summer and the cold of winter. Fuel he never lacked. When the frosts of
December and January came upon him, he had only to repair to the nearest
forest, axe in hand, to supply himself with wood in abundance. In this
way, not only would he keep a roaring blaze in his open fireplace, but
would widen the space available for the next summer's tobacco crop.

The surroundings of the planter's residence were severely plain. In the
yard, which usually was uninclosed, towered a cluster of trees, a
survival of the primeval forest. Nearby was the garden, with its flowers
and vegetables, the dove-cote, the barn, the hen house, perhaps a milk
house or even a detached kitchen. In some cases wells were sunk, but the
use of natural springs was more common.[6-21]

Of the plantation itself, only a fraction was under cultivation at one
time. Tobacco was exceedingly exhausting to the soil, but the cheapness
of land led the planters to neglect the most ordinary precautions to
preserve its fertility. They sowed year after year upon the same spot,
until the diminishing yield warned them of approaching sterility, and
then would desert it to clear a new field. This system made it necessary
for them to provide for the future by securing farms far larger in
extent than was dictated by their immediate requirements. They had to
look forward to the day when their land would become useless, and if
they were provident, would purchase ten times more than they could
cultivate at any one time. Thomas Whitl