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| George Mason — Orchardist by Susan A. Borchardt |
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Gardens and orchards were, literally, a consuming interest of Virginia planters. The produce of their orchards and gardens helped planters to practice the hospitality for which Virginia became so famous. Baskets and pyramids of fruit provided a fitting finale for most dinners. Fruits, fresh, cooked, and preserved, were given a place of honor on refreshment tables at parties and balls. Americans loved fruits.[1] Like most of his contemporaries, George Mason was a careful orchardist, a man who tended to the improvement of his fruit stock and to the production of his ciders and fruit brandies. As a man who, according to his son John, "...kept no Stewart or Clerk about him,"[2] Mason managed his own gardens and orchards with what period documents indicate was the same care he took in crafting his legal and political writings. John Mason, George Mason's fourth son, describes the Gunston Hall of his childhood in a remembrance he penned for his children and grandchildren in the 1830s. In his depiction of the property, fruit and nut trees appear in several locations. He writes that there was "an extensive orchard of fine fruit trees & of a variety of kinds...."[3] An 1818 advertisement in the Alexandria Gazette offering Gunston Hall for sale mentions "two orchards of well selected apples and peaches, besides an abundance of other choice fruits."[4] Undoubtedly, these were the descendants of the orchards George Mason established in the eighteenth century. Order & Pleasure in the Plantation Setting Mason used fruit trees to order the landscape surrounding his plantation house. John Mason writes that: on the North Front by which was the principal approach was an extensive lawn kept closely pastured, thru' the midst of which led a spacious Avenue girded by long double ranges of that hardy & Stately cherry Tree the common black-heart raised from Stone, & so the more fair & uniform in their growth commencing about 200 feet from the house and extending thence for about 1200 feet. The Carriage way being in the Center, & the foot ways on either Side, between the two rows, forming each a double range of Trees, and under their Shade- ...[5] Here, the cherry trees served many functions, not the least of which must have been providing fruit. Most importantly, the four rows of trees would have focused the attention of visitors entering from the road on the plantation house. All eyes were brought to bear on Gunston Hall. In warm weather, the "foot ways" on either side of the carriage drive would have furnished the Masons and their guests with shady walkways for pleasurable strolls. The lines of trees certainly afforded Mason an intellectual challenge for they were planted to "counteract that deception in our vision" which makes parallel lines converge. John Mason explains that "A common center was established, exactly in the middle of the outer door way of the Mansion...and so carefully and accurately had they been planted, & trained, and dressed in accordance each with the others...that from the point described as taken for the common center...only the first four trees were visible."[6] The trees gave Mason the additional pleasure of tricking acquaintances as well as the eye for John Mason remembers that his father would "...amuse his Friends...by inviting...[those] (who visiting Gunston Hall for the first, may have happened to have arrived after night, or may have come by way of the River and entered by the other Front...) to the North front to see the grounds." His son relates that George Mason would place his guests in the center of the doorway and ask them how many trees they saw. When they replied "'four'" he would move them off center and ask again. John Mason reports that Mason's visitors would be astonished to see, not four trees, but four rows containing fifty trees each.[7] The other landscape effects Mason achieved using fruit and nut trees were more restrained. He used trees to screen off certain areas of the plantation in sight of the mansion. John Mason records that on the west side of the property the stables were "masqued by a Row of large English walnut Trees," while on the east "the corn house and grainary- Servants houses (in those days called Negroe quarters) Hay yard & cattle pens" were all masqued by rows of large Cherry and Mulberry Trees..." Each of these features provided produce for Mason's table as well as lending beauty and order to the landscape. Other planters employed mulberry trees to line and shade drives or to screen off various plantation features. George Washington planted mulberry trees along his serpentine walks in 1765;[8] six years later Thomas Jefferson was referring to the road southeast of the mansion at Monticello as "Mulberry Row." The shops and houses of his slaves, indentured servants, and hired laborers lined the road.[9] A plan Jefferson drew in the late 1770s suggests that trees were planted along both sides of this row of buildings at an interval of twenty-five feet apart.[10] Fruit Stock Like most eighteenth-century planters, Mason's reasons for growing a wide variety of fruit stock were more than aesthetic. Fruit was an important food source. It was eaten fresh, transformed by cooks into a wide variety of dishes, pressed or distilled into beverages, and preserved for sweetmeats and winter fare. Orchards were considered assets. When large land owners contracted with leaseholders to farm portions of their property (usually one hundred to two hundred acres), the leases required that certain improvements be made to the farm. A typical contract, like that executed between George Mason and leaseholder Thomas Halbert in 1752, specifies that the lessee improve the property by building "two Well framed dwelling Houses at least sixteen feet square," "two well framed Tobacco Houses or Barnes at least thirty two feet long & twenty feet wide," and plant "an Orchard of two hundred Winter Apple Trees at thirty feet Distance every Way from each other, and eight hundred Peach Trees, at fifteen Feet Distance every Way from each other." Leases usually stipulated the maintenance of this investment in fruit; the orchard was to be "well trimmed, pruned, fenced in, and secured from Horses, Cattle, and other Creatures," and, if any trees were to die, they must be replaced.[11] The importance of orchards and fruit stock is further reflected in their frequent appearance in newspaper advertisements for property sales. In 1773, when Thomson Mason, George Mason's younger brother advertised several properties on "Chappawamsick Run" in Stafford and Prince William Counties, he noted the tracts had "good orchards."[12] Like many wealthy planters, George Mason strove to have a varied and plentiful stock of fruits. The record of his success is recorded, in part, in theDiaries of George Washington,who obtained a large portion of his fruit stock in the early years of his ownership of Mount Vernon from George Mason. A sampling of the diary entries for 1762 through 1764 appear below:
These entries shed light on a number of facets of period fruit cultivation. Today, a visit to the market usually rewards one with but a few varieties of each type of fruit. In the eighteenth century the orchards of most well-to-do planters featured a wide range of varietals. George Washington's daily jottings reveal some of the reasons for growing such an assortment of pears, cherries, apples, peaches, plums and other fruits. The ability to have fresh fruits on one's table most of the year was a mark of status and hospitality, so planters would cultivate varieties which bore fruit from early to late and types which kept well in storage. In his diary entry for 30 March 1765, Washington notes grafting fruit stock he obtained from George Mason: "8 Early June Pears then 10 latter Burgamy-...and lastly Early Burgamy." [14] In The British Fruit-Gardener John Abercrombie carefully outlines the different seasonal varieties of each kind of fruit. For pears he notes there are three types: summer, autumn, and winter. He explains that summer pears "...will not keep long..." and are simply for eating; autumn pears although they bear later, are generally "of a handsome size..." and are likewise for eating; and of winter pears he says: Under this head is comprised a valuable collection of the finest and richest eating Pears, with some that are eminent for baking, and other culinary purposes; attaining full growth on the trees towards the middle and end of October, but not maturity for eating, till after being gathered and laid some considerable time in the house...ripening as they lie in successive order from November till Spring and Summer following...[15] Period cookbooks also reflect the practice of keeping fruit on the table year round through the availability of numerous varieties. The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, an English cookbook by Hannah Glasse, first published in 1747, has a documented history of use in numerous Virginia households. Most editions include lists of foods procurable each month in England. The listings of available fruits in December and January follows:
The "winter bonchretien" is one of the varieties which Washington received from Mason, although these two Virginians apparently called them "Winter Boon Chr[etie]ns." The Bon Chretien was an old variety of French pear long popular in England and then imported to America where it evolved into the Bartlett pear.[17] Washington's diary also hints at another reason for growing numerous varietals when he refers to the "black Pear of Worcester" as "a large course fruit for baking." A selection of varieties was grown to permit different uses including eating, preserving, cooking and beverage making. English author Thomas Hitt included the same variety of pear in a list of "Good BAKING-Pears" in his A Treatise of Fruit-Trees of 1755.[18] Virginia horticulturist, Lady Jean Skipwith calls the "New Town Pippin," a variety of apple which Mason sent Washington "...the finest eating apple in Am[erica]."[19] As correspondence between the two neighbors reveals, Mason used at least two varieties of apples to make cider, one of which was the Maryland Red Streak. Nineteenth-century documents, including A.J. Downing's The Fruits and Fruit Trees of America published in 1845, mention the "Red Streak" as a good cider apple.[20] Cider & Brandies In a 5 April 1785 letter to Washington, George Mason notes he is sending cider to Mount Vernon: I have broach'd four or five Hogsheads of Cyder & filled your Bottles with what we thought best; tho' the Difference in it is hardly distinguishable, all I have being made of the Maryland Red streak, & managed in the same Manner. I hope it will prove good, tho' my Cyder this year is not so clear & fine, as it generally has been; from what Cause I don't know, unless that I ground my apples last Fall rather later than usual. As the Cyder in the Bottles will not ripen, fit for use, 'til late in May, I have also filled a Barrel out of the same Hhd. [hogshead] which I beg your acceptance of. If you use it out of the barrel, you will find it (as all sweet Cyder is) much more grateful to the Stomack, by having a little Ginger grated upon it.[21] Most Virginians seem to have preferred their cider fermented or "hard," rather than sweet. Here, Mason recommends the addition of a bit of ginger to give the sweet cider extra bite. George Mason must have had an excellent reputation as a cider maker. Not only did Washington request cider of Mason apparently due to a shortage in his own cellars, but Northern Virginian Richard Scott copied Mason's recipe in his journal in 1848. Scott recorded that the recipe was given to him by Mason's son John as it was set down in a 19 September 1790 letter from George Mason to his third son, Thomson Mason of Hollin Hall. To make fine cider the apples should be left in heaps eight or ten days to mellow: they will mellow better and with less loss in a house screened from the weather. When you beat or grind them, pick them over, throw out the rotten and cut those that are only a little rotten- they should be perfectly dry when beat or ground- Your casks must be sweet and clean- They should be ground very fine and when the cider is put in the casks run it through a hair sifter so as not to let any of the spouce go into it- Hogsheads are better than casks to put it in at first- Fill your cask not full by 3" so as to leave room for the liquor to ferment without running over- The quicker your casks are set into the place they are to stand the better, set it on skids so as to drain it off without shaking the cask- put the bung on loosely- as soon as the violence of fermentation is over (three or four days according to the weather) fix the bung in tight. When fermentation is over (nine to eleven days according to weather) rack it off into another clean hogshead, first wrenching with a little clean cider, observing not to rack too near and at this racking as well as the last racking to fill the cask within an inch or two of the bung to bung up tight and set the cask in a position to be drawn off. The dregs on the bottom of your cask, left with each racking, thrown into opposite casks together, make the best vinegar and prevents a loss by not racking too near- about three weeks after the first racking, rack the cider in the same manner a second time which will be sufficient for all except for what you intend for bottling, which should be racked again about the first of March- when you rack the cider the second time (except that reserved for the third racking in the spring) it will be best to rack it into barrels for family use as it will be less liable to spoil if drawn out for use in barrels than in larger casks- The spouce beat on ground again with the addition of a little water let lie all night or prepared in the morning makes a pleasant drink for present use.[22] Cider was not the only beverage which Mason made from his fruit stock. John Mason remembers that "...my Father had among his Slaves- ... a distiller.- ...The Distiller made every Fall a good deal of Apple Peach and Persimmon brandy..."[23] Like many of the gentry Mason owned a still for the production of alcoholic beverages from fruits grown in his own orchards as well as for making simples and other drinks. Cordials, ratafia and shrubs were other alcoholic fruit-based beverages made at home.[24] Raising Fruit Documents also reveal how fruit stock was obtained and raised in the eighteenth century. As seen again and again in the Washington diaries, many fruit trees were grafted, especially those of seed fruits, like apples and pears. To propagate fruits by grafting, a twig of one plant, called the scion, is attached to the rooted stock of another plant.[25] On 9 March 1775 George Mason writes to George Washington: "I send you the Cherry-Graffs you desire, but am afraid they are rather too forward: the bundle with the white Stick in it is May-Dukes; the other the large black May Cherrys."[26] The next day Washington records in his diary:
Grafting was usually done on the stock of trees grown from seed or lesser varieties of the same or even other fruits. In a 1764 diary entry George Washington mentions "from hence to the end of the row Row are Plumb Scions for grafting upon- another year" and in the "4th. Row all apple Scions to continue Pear Grafts upon next year."[28] But, not all tree fruit was propagated by grafting. In his "Recollections," John Mason specifically mentions that the four rows of black heart cherry trees leading to the landfront entrance of Gunston Hall were raised from stone. But, it was even more common to grow some of the larger stone fruits by this method. A 1780 letter from Mason to Jefferson documents that practice: ...I take this Opportunity, by my Son, of sending you a few of the Portugal, & best kind of rare-ripe Peach Stones. Almost all my Portugal peaches were stolen this Year, before they were ripe; but I saved the few Stones I send you myself, & know they are the true Sort, I have observed this kind of peach requires more Care than most others, & if the Trees are not tended, & the Ground cultivated, the Fruit is apt to be coarse & harsh; with due Culture the Peaches are the finest I have ever tasted.[29] Six years later in France, Jefferson writes of American fruits: "The fruits of the peach class do not degenerate from the stone so much as is imagined here. We have so much experience of this in America that tho' we graft all other kinds of fruits, we rarely graft the peach, the nectarine, the apricot or the almond. The tree proceeding from the stone yields a faithful copy of its fruit and the tree is always healthier."[30] As period documents indicate fruit trees could be grown in rows (standard or standing trees) or they could be planted next to a wall (wall trees). The branches of wall trees were usually fastened to the wall to promote a better yield. The warmth absorbed and released by the wall encouraged early blooming and fruiting as well as supporting limbs heavy with fruit. Thomas Hitt notes that the Black pear of Worcester, one of the varieties Washington obtained from Mason" does better against a wall."[31] Free-standing fruit trees were grown in rows with the individual plants set far enough apart to allow room for future growth. Mason's contract with leaseholder Thomas Halbert specifies that the apple trees be planted thirty feet apart and the peach trees fifteen feet apart. Hitt offers advice on the proper grafting stocks for wall trees and standards. On the subject of apples, he explains that apples "...designed for standards may be grafted upon crab stocks or those raised from the kernels of apples...But as the fruit of the standard is for the most part used of in the kitchen, for baking &c. I recommend the crab stock for most of them; because kitchen-fruit is not valuable without a tart taste, either in tarts or pies; and, if made into cyder, it is most agreeable to the palates of the best judges of that liquor."[32] Virginia planters obtained their fruit stock in various ways. Plants, seeds, and stones could be purchased or exchanged. Plant materials could be bought from England and later France. In fact, although Americans improved fruit stocks with native strains or cultivated American plants in their orchards and gardens, most of the edible fruits of the eighteenth century had European origins. In writing to his son, John, in Bordeaux, France in 1789, George Mason orders among other things: ...a few young Trees of the best kinds of Pears & Plums, by any Ship to Potomack River, that sails between the Middle of October & the first of February; they will not bear the Passage at any other Season of the Year; also a few young Grape Vines, of good kinds; the Roots shou'd be carefully covered with Moss, or some such thing, or set in Boxes of Earth. And, l[et there] be nea[tly packed...] Stones of the best kinds of Plums, Apricots, & Cherries, & so[me peach]es; & send them to me by some careful Captain...[33] With its brief and, unfortunately, fragmentary instructions for shipping, Mason's letter hints at all of the difficulties inherent in transporting live plants from the Continent to America. As many contemporary documents show, often the long-awaited plants did not arrive alive or even in good condition. Plants frequently succumbed to the effects of defective packing, careless ships crews, rough or dry weather, and extended voyages. Planters could also place orders from American nurseries. Two of the most famous were the William Prince nursery on Long Island and Bartram's Garden near Philadelphia. Avid horticulturist John Bartram's establishment began as a garden cultivated to satisfy his own curiosity and pleasure. Taken over by his son William, it grew into what Swedish naturalist Peter Kalm called the first "botanical garden" in America. Ultimately, the garden evolved into a family business. The garden became quite an oft-visited attraction.[34] George Mason made an early morning excursion to Bartram's garden during July of 1787 while attending the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. [35] Both the Bartram and Prince families sold fruit trees and plants. A late eighteenth-century list of plants available from Bartram's Garden includes whortleberrys, cherry, grapes, persimmon, raspberry, mulberry and a large assortment of nuts, while a 1790 catalog from the Prince nurseries offered many varieties of English cherries, "plumbs," apricots, nectarines, peaches, pears, apples, mulberries, figs, quince, "goosberries," currants, "rasberries" and strawberries.[36] Local nurseries also offered fruit stock. A notice in the September 1755 Virginia Gazette advertised a great assortment of fruit trees "To be Sold by William Smith, at his Nursery in Surry County."[37] Many members of the Virginia gentry acquired new fruit stock through plant exchanges with other gentlemen. George Mason gave George Washington shoots from his fruit trees to graft onto scions or stock already in the gardens and orchards at Mount Vernon. In turn, some of Mason's fruit stock came from the Fairfax family who lived at nearby Belvoir plantation and from John Blair of Williamsburg, President of the Virginia Council. In early 1785, Mason sent George Washington "Water-Melon Seeds" from Gunston Hall. In December of the same year, Washington transplanted some "young Crab trees for the Shrubberies," from "Colo. Mason's Quarter," probably the Little Hunting Creek property adjacent to Mount Vernon. Washington reports that "not getting [the Crab trees] home in time to plant, the Roots were buried until they could be planted in the places designed for them tomorrow or &ca."[38] Ventures in Wine The abiding interest that wealthy Virginians had in horticultural pursuits extended to forward looking plans for American agricultural production. Mason was one of many gentlemen who invested in two schemes to promote the raising of wine and silk in Virginia. In October 1759, Mason circulated a solicitation for investors willing to subscribe to shares in the vineyard that Rhineland native, Maurice Pound, had established in the nearby town of Colchester. Pound had planted a vineyard and set up a wine press, an "Undertaking" Mason considers "... likely to be so useful, & beneficial to this Colony." Mason commends Pound to potential subscribers and revealed his interest in the enterprise when he remarks that "I have frequently been in his vineyard." Mason himself invested ten pounds in the scheme and offered to put up more money should it be necessary. Unfortunately, Pound was not able to establish a successful vineyard and Mason, Washington and other important Northern Virginia planters, including Thomson Mason, George William Fairfax, and Spence Grayson, lost their money.[39] Virginians were intent on the idea of raising wine, and throughout the second half of the eighteenth century, they invested in a number of viticulture schemes. In 1774 Mason subscribed to one share in Italian Philip Mazzei's "Proposals for forming a Comp[an]y for raising Wine, Oyl & Silk &c." Mazzei established his vineyard in Albemarle County and for awhile it seemed as if he might make a go of the venture. The scheme attracted considerable interest from many notable Virginians, among them Mason, Washington, Jefferson, Peyton Randolph, Robert Carter Nicholas, and a host of others. Unfortunately, in the end, Mazzei's Spanish, Portuguese, and Italian vines succumbed to the American climate as had Pound's German grapes.[40] At least twice Mason ordered grape seeds or vines from France. It is likely he, too, was trying to establish a thriving stock of wine grapes, but on a much smaller scale. Unfortunately, when his seeds arrived in 1783, he notes that "...for want of exact Endorsations upon all the Papers, I am at a Loss to know the different kinds of Grapes, & which are the best worth cultivating..."[41] During the Revolutionary War, George Mason wrote the following to his friend and neighbor George Washington: "May God grant us a return to those halcyon Days; when every Man may sit down at his Ease under the Shade of his own Vine, & his own fig-tree, & enjoy the Sweets of domestic Life!"[42] While Mason's wish is couched in the rhetoric of his era, his words and imagery also convey the importance of fruit cultivation to the eighteenth-century Virginia planter where the fruits of the orchard represent peace and plenty. NOTES
This article was originally published in the Gunston Gazette (Gunston Hall Plantation Membership Newsletter), vol. 1, no. 1 (1995): I-VIII. |
