KARMEilS' kKGlSTER— EFFECTS OF TOBACCO CULTURE. 



601 



TOBACCO CULTURE 



For the Farmers' Register. 



No. 5. 



en fortunes. Hence it is, that we see now for the 

 first time, the people of that favored section of 

 country, uwakinii from their letliargj-, and avail- 

 On the. effects of the Tohaccn crop on the agricul- I '*!■•? themselves of all the advantages so abundant- 

 tural inierestti of Virginia. ly iurnislied by nature, tor the melioration of their 



airricultural condition. Thcee having been the 



From the earliest history of this country to the 

 present moment, the tobacco crop has been one of 

 considerable interest, not only to individuals, but 

 to the comnuuiity at large: and although it has 

 been a great source of wealth to this community, 

 and to Ihe United States in general, in a commer- 

 cial ])oitit of view, it has done more to blight and 

 empovcrish Virginia than all the other crops that 



eliects of the extensive cultivation ol' the tobacco 

 crop in eastern Virginia, let us see what are its 

 effects upon the agriculture of middle Virginia 

 — the section iu which we live. To the evils al- 

 ready enumerated, all of which are aj)|)licab!e to 

 our region, we shall add many others, to the truth 

 of which, our experience bears ample testimony. 

 From the excessive drudgery of the crop, it has 



have been the product of her once generous, but j the efiect to discourage white labor, and 'conse- 

 now abused and exhausted so.l 1 lie tmie was, quently, encourage the substitution of slave labor. 

 ^v■llen there was no_d.nerence of opmion prevail- This has decidedly a bad effect upon the habils 



ing about the propriety of making this crop. But 

 now, it has become a question oi' -very serious im- 

 j)ort, whetlicr the crop should not be entirely aban- 

 doned, or at least very much diminished. Indeed, 

 interest and sound policy at home and abroad, 

 unite in demanding a reduction of the crop; and 

 however slow we may be in believing it necessary, 

 or obstinate in continuing its extensive cultivation, 

 it does not require the s])irit of prophecy to divine, 

 that the time is not far distant when we must be 

 driven to the dire necessity of quitting the crop, 

 or forsaking the countrj^ When dread alterna- 

 tives like these stare us in the I'ace, and threaten 

 1.15 with consequences so much to be deplored by 



y a oaa enect upon 

 and morals of the white inhabitants of our coun- 

 try, as well as on their agricultural profits; for, 

 whatever has a tendency to encourage idleness, 

 increases extravagance and vice. I verily believe, 

 that were it not tor the extensive cultivation of to- 

 bacco, parents in this country would bring up their 

 children to work on their farms, and instead ofthe 

 swarms of "professional" drones and idlers that 

 we daily see hanging upon the skirts of society, 

 and living upon the labor of the industrious por- 

 tion of the community, we would see an indus- 

 trious and intelligent population, content to enjoy 

 the profits of their own virtuous labors. It has 

 the effect also, to increase the value and scarcity of 



every iriend to his country, it becomes the duty of (he actual necessaries of life— to \v\\, corn and 



every mtclligent agriculturist to forego his pre- perk, and consequentl), those articles of prime ne- 



ssiil gam, and do all in lus j;.ower to dimmish cessity have always been comparatively scarce 

 the cultivation of the crop, and to renovate our •"'•'••■• ■ ■'. . _ i 



already m::ch abused and empoverished soil. In 

 the early settlement of Virginia, when the whole 

 face of the country was thickly covered with al- 

 most unbroken forest, there was every inducement 

 at home and abroad, to encourage the cultivation 

 of tobacco; but now, the whole scene is changed 

 — sadly changed. Two generations have "not 

 passed away since the settlement of this part of 

 Virginia, and what do we now see ! Our country 

 mourning, and presenting the appearance of de- 

 crepitude and premature old age. Our majestic 

 forests have fallen at the feet of the rapacious 

 planter — our fields are lacerated with the plough 

 of the ruthless cultivator, and our whole country 

 presents a scene melancholy to behold. It there- 

 lore becomes us, one and all, to seek out the cause 

 of this decay, and staunch the wounds of" our be- 

 loved, and bleeding country. 



In the early settlement of eastern Virginia, the 

 tobacco crop was extensively cultivated, and con- 

 tinued so to be, until the country was so much cut 

 down and exhausted, that it was no longer a sub- 

 ject of interest to the planter, but of manifest in- 

 jury to his present and luture agricultural pros- 

 pects. Not until the alternatives of abandoning the 

 crop or the country, stared the peo[)le of eastern 

 Virginia in the tlice, did they determine to forsake 

 the crop, and seek out otiier subjects of profit 

 in their agricultural pursuits. So paralizing and 

 blighting are the effects of this crop (where ex- 

 tensively cultivated,) upon the resources of any 

 country, thatit recjuires a long time for its inhabi- 

 tants to accommodate their feelings, habits, and 

 preiudices to a change so radical, and enter Avith 

 spirit and energy into a system calculated to re- 

 store their exhausted lands, and retrieve their fali- 



VoL. 11—44 



and high, in this part or the country. Indeed, I 

 know many, ver/ many intelligent and wealthy 

 planters, wdio make ^"this exhausting, trouble- 

 some, and expensive crop to buy conf and pork 

 — thereby restricting the comforts of living, and 

 rendering themselves dependent upon others for 

 the very things that sound policy and good 

 economy would require them to furnish from their 

 own farms. For, so full}- does this destructive po- 

 licy enter into our domestic economy, that there 

 is not a pig upon our plantations, that does not 

 (eel its blighting efiects. It is a remarkable fact 

 also, that when the largest crops of tobacco are 

 made, the least profit«s realized by the planters: 

 lor the abundance of the crop keeps down the 

 price, and consequently does not repay the planter 

 for the increased wear and tear of his land, and 

 expense of cultivation. I am clearl}' of (he opin- 

 ion, that if the tobacco crop of middle Viroinia 

 was diminished one-half, the planters would re- 

 alize more clear profit, live in far greater plen- 

 ty and comfort, and at the same time, have an 

 opportunity to improve their lands Avith rapidity, 

 and make many articles with their own labor, 

 that they now have to jmy money for — and that 

 money, made in the hardest possible way — to vi'it, 

 by the tobacco crop. It is ob\'ious to every one 

 who looks abroad upon the face of our country, 

 from the tide water to the mountains, that the to- 

 bacco croj) has been the great agent in its de- 

 struction—and, judging the iliture by the past, I 

 venture to assert, tliat in twenty years to come, 

 three-fourths of the tobacco made in the United 

 States, will be raised in the great Valley of the 

 Mississippi. lis tendency has been Avest-ward 

 ever since its earliest introduction into Virginia; 

 it must therefore, firoiri the nature of the case, ul- 



