. The story of agriculture in the United States. in the colonies. A de-scription of plantation methods will show why many ofthe planters did not become rich in anything but land andslaves. In raising tobacco a seed-bed was started in the earlyspring; later, the young plants were set out from six tonine feet apart in each direction. When the plants wereabout one foot high they were topped and pruned, leav-ing only seven or eight leaves. After this, the field wasgone over constantly, the ground between the rows be-coming hard beaten paths; the weeds were kept down COLONIAL AGRICULTURE 63 by hoei
. The story of agriculture in the United States. in the colonies. A de-scription of plantation methods will show why many ofthe planters did not become rich in anything but land andslaves. In raising tobacco a seed-bed was started in the earlyspring; later, the young plants were set out from six tonine feet apart in each direction. When the plants wereabout one foot high they were topped and pruned, leav-ing only seven or eight leaves. After this, the field wasgone over constantly, the ground between the rows be-coming hard beaten paths; the weeds were kept down COLONIAL AGRICULTURE 63 by hoeing, the worms were picked off, and the suckerswere cut. This was work that ignorant negroes coulddo as well as anyone; there was Httle to learn, no skillwas needed, and the negroes were not harmed by themonotonous labor in a hot climate. When the plants turned brown they were cut and laidon the ground over night. Next, they were carried tothe tobacco shed and hung upon pegs or poles to dry forfrom four to six weeks. Later, they were again piled. Rolling Tobacco to the Wharf in Virginia up to sweat, and after the leaves were stripped fromthe stalk they were packed in hogsheads or bundled upin long rolls. The hogsheads contained from five hun-dred to fifteen hundred pounds of tobacco. When theywere ready to go to the landing, the hogsheads were rolledby hand if the distance was not great; otherwise an axlewas run through the center of the cask and a horse or anox drew it along the road. If the planter lived back inthe country, he might have to load his hogsheads upon araft and thus carry them to the main stream and downto a landing, where they met a ship from England. One slave could care for about three acres of tobacco,raising from one and one-half to three or four hogsheads. 64 AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES A planter had to have at least twenty slaves if he wishedto make it profitable to keep an overseer. Counting thetimber and waste land, besides the fields planted to crop
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
