THE SOUTHERN PLANTER. 



717 



made and gathered in within the year — but 

 as it takes 18 months from the sowing of 

 tobacco-seed to getting the crop to mar- 

 ket, it is evident that for six months of 

 the year the planter must suffer the em- 

 barrassment of having upon his hands at 

 the same time, the old crop and the new. 

 Every practical man will see the trouble 

 incident to such a state of things as this, 

 and especially of a crop of the uncompro- 

 mising demand for ail the labour it re- 

 quires, like the tobacco crop, and which, 

 by an invariable rule of "every plantation, 

 U so long as anything is required to be 

 done for the tobacco, everything else 

 gives way." 



The history of the agriculture of the 

 world may be challenged for a crop more 

 elaborately tended from beginning to end 

 than the tobacco crop on a Virginia plan- 

 tation — and thus it is, that while full jus- 

 tice is done to it under the rule already 

 mentioned, as fixed and unchangeable as 

 the laws of the Medes and Persians, every 

 thing else is starved. And when we have 

 adverted to some of the prominent de- 

 tf^Js of the culture of this all-absorbing- 

 labor crop, it will be manifest it will be 

 justly liable to the charge of being the bane 

 of all good husbandry ; and here may be 

 super-added an insuperable barrier against 

 the attainment of the higher degrees of 

 rural economy in any community where it 

 is a staple crop. 



To begin aright, we must commence 

 with sowing the seed. " Plant patch- 

 ground," are household words with tobac- 

 co planters — and mean the richest virgin 

 soil; some rich hollow, or piece of branch- 

 bottom being selected, — the deeper in the 

 forest the better, because less liable to the 

 fly or tobacco flea — other things being 

 equal, branch-land is preferred, as in dry 

 seasons the branch-water may be used to 

 irrigate the young plants — a work requir- 

 ed more or less every season — and, under 

 the tobacco rule, never omitted at any ex- 

 pense of time or labor. Hickory, walnut, 

 pawpaw and redbud are known to be the 

 growths indicating the richest mould — and 

 upon some spot where these most abound, 

 the work of making plant-beds is usually 

 commenced, the first week in the new 

 year — though many begin before the 

 Christmas holidays — and thus increasing 

 by so much this all-absorbing crop. Such 

 spots, in the depths of the forest, as are 



most densely covered with the heavies* 

 growth are preferred, because they afford 

 the large quantity of fuel required "to 

 burn the plant-beds," a process deemed 

 absolutely necessary to success.* The 

 size of the plant-patch being determined, 

 the timber is not only cut off from its sur- 

 face, and mauled into suitable lengths for 

 burning, but a large margin around is also 

 cleared, experience having proved that 

 the heaviest forest growth does not afford 

 fuel enough to burn its own surface suffi- 

 ciently lor plants ; and besides, it is ne- 

 cessary to remove the adjacent forest to 

 let in the sun in order to encourage the 

 early growth of the young plants. 



It may safely be assumed, that for every 

 given number of superficial yards of land 

 sown in tobacco seed, at least three times 

 more is cleared of its timber, to answer 

 the demands of burning, fencing and let- 

 ting in the sun. This will afford some idea 

 of the consumption of the finest forest 

 timber annually for this item in tobacco- 

 making districts. Although in former 

 times this waste of the material for lum- 

 ber, by reason of its abundance, was 

 thought nothing of— now. in the altered 

 circumstances of the country, leaves to- 

 bacco fairly chargeable with ruinous con- 

 sumption of one of the essential articles 

 of rural economy, and by the nature of 

 things growing annually of more impor- 

 tance, the material of fuel and lumber. 



The w 7 ood being cut into proper lengths, 

 and mauled into convenient sizes, with 

 the brush of the limbs chopped and mixed 

 with it, is laid in a ridge along one side of 

 the proposed plant-patch, 4 feet wide, and 

 about 2 or 2| feet thick, with the inter- 

 mixture of brush — this being green wood, 

 must be set on fire at first with light-wood 

 or seasoned fuel, its whole length and 

 breadth ; and when w 7 ell fired, adding from 

 time to time fresh supplies of fuel, and 

 keeping the fire up until the surface of 

 the earth is sufficiently burnt, indicated by 

 a reddish appearance or calcined state of 

 the soil. The fire is then moved to the 

 next space of four or five feet — this is 



* The consumption of largo quantities of the 

 finest fuel — for none other will answer, together 

 with the hauling and careful management of the 

 process, composes a large item against the all- 

 devouring staple of labor, time and precious ma- 

 terial. 



