BLACK OAK AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. g 



At the period of which we write men were much 

 more laborious and devoted to their business than 

 at the present day ; a fact or two will prove this. 

 During the period of manufacturing the indigo dye, 

 which was a process requiring the closest atten- 

 tion, Mr. Sinkler though he slept every night in 

 his bed, never for three weeks saw the face of his 

 wife or daughters ; he returned and departed while 

 they slept. He and his brother lived full twelve 

 miles asunder, and yet they generally visited each 

 other after dark ; they would eat supper and then 

 return home. All this was done on horseback, sul- 

 kies and buggies being then unknown. 



Upon the resort of the planters to the inland 

 swamps for the cultivation of rice, the work of 

 reclamation and preparation for rendering them safe 

 and productive was both arduous and precarious ; 

 subject as they were as often to an excess of water, 

 as to a want of it when most needed. It is now a 

 source of surprise and wonder to examine the 

 amount of labor and skill some of the fields in this 

 neighborhood exhibit Take, for instance, Wantoot, 

 the patrimonial estate of Daniel Ravenel, Esq., who 

 died in 1807. On his land four swamps unite to 

 form Biggin, each contributing copious streams. 

 To unite and concentrate these into one, and bear 

 off the water when in excess, as well as distribute it 

 into the fields of the different plantations, called for 

 judgment, perseverance, and an amount of labor not 



