608 TjiAXSACTIOXS OF THE AMEIUCAX lynTlTL-TE. 



on this ; for more disease is engendered hy bad "water tlum b_v any- 

 thing else. Fifthly, he must see that his laborers are j^aid their just 

 dues, and as soon after it is due as possible. If these suggestions be 

 carried out, few laborers will care to desert tlieir employers ; but, on 

 the contrary will, as has already occurred in many instances, reen- 

 gage after tlie expiring of the term of contract. 



The laborers should be divided into gangs under the supervision 



"of an overseer, and the ordinary M'ork of the garden should be ])or- 

 tioned off to each gang, at the rate of one man to two acres. This 

 can easily be done, as the garden will have been divided oft' accord- 

 ing to its natural formation. If the laud be ftat, each gang of 



. twenty men could be allotted forty acres in one patch, numbered 

 stakes being placed to mark its boundaries ; but if the plantation be 

 detached, the spaces so separated could be worked by the given num- 

 ber of men, according to the acreage, under one or more overseers. 

 A certain percentage ought always to be allowed for sick or absent 

 men, out of a reserve gang kept for that purpose as supernumeraries. 

 Each gang should be chosen as much as possible of one class, and 

 located together in their own habitations. Tlie factory hands should 

 be kept on the factory, and have a somewhat higher rate of wages, 

 as by this means they would be induced to be more watchful and 

 careful in tlie performance of their various duties. Field labor, 

 especially hoeing, unfits them for the delicate task of manipulating 

 the leaf, and alternate exposure to the outer atmosphere and the 

 heat of the factory frequently engenders disease. All the gangs 

 should bo numbered and mustered every morning, each laborer's 

 name being called from the muster roll, and their daily task appor- 

 tioned them, with instructions to each overseer. The work accom- 

 plished should be daily measured, whether in field or fjictory, and 

 the laborers informed of the amount each had earned, which should 

 bo then and there written down by the clerk appointed for the purpose, 

 who ought to be in charge and attached to every 200 men. Should any 

 dispute arise, the work should be immediately measured in the pre- 

 sence of the laborer and the overseer in charge of his division, whose 

 duty it is to supervise, under the orders of the person in charge, the 

 whole of the division placed under his control. It would at all times 

 be advisable to pay the laborers monthly, and as soon as convenient 

 after the ex])iring of each nu>nth, as this regularity gives them confi- 

 dence in their em[)loyer, 



A savings bank svsteni ought to be introduced into <i\-iiY\- factory, 



