C a t ^ s Farm Management 



own. He should settle all quarrels 

 among the hands; if any one is at 

 fault he should administer the pun- 

 ishment. He should take care that 

 no one on the place is in want, or 

 lacks food or drink; in this respect 

 he can afford to be generous, for he 

 will thus more easily prevent pick- 

 ing and stealing.^ 



Unless the overseer is of evil mind, 

 he will himself do no wrong, but if 

 he permits wrong-doing by others, 

 the master should not suffer such in- 

 dulgence to pass with impunity. He 

 should show appreciation of cour- 

 tesy, to encourage others to practice 



1 This was the traditional wisdom which was 

 preached also in Virginia in slave times. In his 

 Arator (1817) Col. John Taylor of Caroline says of 

 agricultural slaves: 



"The best source for securing their happiness, 

 their honesty and their usefulness is their food. * 

 * * * One great value of establishing a com- 

 fortable diet for slaves is its convenience as an in- 

 strument of reward and punishment, so powerful as 

 almost to abolish the thefts which often diminish 

 considerably the owner's ability to provide for 

 them." 



[34] 



