8586. TREES, Fig and mulberry.—
The
culture of the fig and mulberry is by women and
children, and therefore earnestly to be desired
in countries where there are slaves. In these,
the women and children are often employed in
labors disproportioned to their sex and age.
By presenting to the master objects of culture,
easier and equally beneficial, all temptation to
misemploy them would be removed, and the lot
of this tender part of our species be much
softened.—
To William Drayton. Washington ed. ii, 199.
(P.
1787)
