824 SUCKERING. 
‘house-gang,’ as the force was styled, strung on small sharp 
sticks like exaggerated meat-skewers, and cured, first in the 
sun, afterwards in the barn, often placing a pretty penny in 
her private purse. Now when all labor must be paid for in 
money, they are not worth collecting, and, except when some 
thrifty freedman has a large family which he wishes to turn 
to account, are left to wither where they fall. 
There is absolutely no rest on a large tobacco plantation, 
one step following another in the cultivation of the trouble- 
some weed—the last year’s crop is rarely shipped to market 
before the seed must be sown for the next—and planting and 
replanting, topping and priming, suckering and worming, 
rowd on each other through all the summer months. 
Withal the ground must be rigidly kept free from grass ‘and 
weeds, and after the plants have attained any size this must 
be done by hoe; horse and plow would break and bruise the 
brittle leaves. 
“‘Suckering’ is performed by removing every leaf-bud - 
which the plant throws out after the priming (and topping), 
thus retaining all its sap and strength for the development of 
the leaves already formed, and this must be done again and 
again through the whole season. Worming is still more 
tedious and unremitting. In the animal kingdom there are 
three creatures, and three only, to whom tobacco is not. 
poisonous—man, a goat found among the Andes, and the. 
tobacco-worm. This last is a long, smooth-skinned worm, 
its body formed of successive knobs or rings, furnished each 
with a pair of legs, large prominent eyes, and is in color as 
green as the leaf upon which it feeds. It is found only on 
the under side of the leaves, every one of which must be 
carefully lifted and examined for its presence. Women make 
better wormers than men, probably because they are more 
patient and painstaking. When caught the worm is pulled 
apart between the thumb and finger, for crushing it in the 
soft mold of the carefully cultivated fields is impossible. 
Carelessness in worming was an unpardonable offence in the 
days of slavery, and was frequently punished with great 
severity. An occasional penalty on some plantations—very 
few, in justice to Virginia planters be it said—was to compel 
the delinquent wormer to bite in two the disgusting worm 
discovered in his or her row by the lynx-eyed overseer. 
Valuable coadjutors in this work are the housewife’s flock of 
turkeys, which are allowed the range of the tobacco lots near 
the house, and which destroy the worms by scores. The 
