Peter Glenday

“ Indian corn sells at half a dollar per bushel, wheat at a dollar, rye at 3 quarters of a dollar, oats about the same, butter at about the fifth part of a dollar, cheese the same, beef and pork sell at a dollar per stone, but all our weights are 16 ounces to the pound so I reckon a man can make as much of his land here as in Scotland and the buying of it would not be above what would pay a year’s rent of your land which is not half so good with dung as ours is without it and every man may keep as many beasts here as he likes, they go in the woods and cost him nothing. ”

“ There are no gentlemen here as in Scotland. Every white person is reckoned as good as another if he behaves himself, be he poor or rich, and a man that has white servants eats and works with them. Almost everyone who farms is laird of his farm himself. Those who rent land generally pay as much rent as the half of what he possesses would sell at. Land here generally produces from 60 to 90 bushels of Indian corn per acer, every six bushels is your cool [of oats or barley] , wheat from 40 to 60, oats and rye about the same. ”

“ Everybody lives like gentlemen here, upon everything that is fat and rare, the only difficulty is to a man when he comes in he has everything to buy dear and it is a long time before he can get a crop. ”