272 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
seed from the North every year, “ ’cause it runs out.’ 
He plants in November, and they ripen in May, but he 
lets them remain through the summer in the hills. 
One fact in regard to his management of negroes might 
be pursued by parents toward children, as well as mas¬ 
ters towards servants. He keeps them at home; and he 
very rarely has occasion to punish. 
Having learned that the name of the post-office here 
was “ Okachickama,” I found by reference to a memo¬ 
randum, that I was in the neighborhood of another old 
acquaintance, John T. Leigh, Esq., and in the after¬ 
noon we rode over to his house, and found him reading the 
S. W. Farmer, where he had just discovered that I was 
on my way to Mississippi, and expressing his regret to 
his family that he should not probably meet with me, as 
he lived off of any leading road. His astonishment and 
pleasure may be “ guessed” at, when Mr. Hardiman in¬ 
troduced the very individual whose name was then upon 
his lips. 
I had only come for a short call. I stayed two nights. 
Who ever escaped Virginia hospitality in less time. 
How these meetings and joyous welcomes, and show of 
respect from every member of a family, do sink into the 
heart and search out every kind feeling, and strengthen 
every emotion that prompts in the labor of doing good, 
and promoting the happiness of our fellow creatures. 
What other recompense can be so dear to one devoting 
time and talents to increase the knowledge, and conse¬ 
quently add joy to the mind of his universal brethren, as 
such interviews as the one I have just described and am 
now describing. Have patience with me, my northern 
friends, if I appear tedious, but I am anxious to paint 
you a picture of a Mississippi planter, in which you 
may see all the little minutiae of his household; so dif¬ 
ferent, so wonderfully different from your own. 
Mr. Leigh works about 35 field hands, including 
blacksmiths, carpenters, spinners, and weavers; the lat¬ 
ter only working in the field in “picking time”—that is, 
when the cotton is ripe and ready to gather, which 
in the way of hurry, answers to the time of your harvest. 
He owns about ninety negroes, old and young, all of 
whom live in families by themselves, in very com¬ 
fortable log cabins, some of which are neatly furnished 
and provided with household matters and things, and 
others that are exactly the reverse, and look just like 
some white folks’ houses. These families have a weekly 
ration of three and a half pounds of bacon, clear of bone, 
for each member, except small children, who are fur¬ 
nished with food in proportion to size and numbers. 
About a peck and a half of meal is also given, and more, 
if they can use it without waste, and sweet potatoes, tur- 
neps, squashes, onions, green corn, and various other 
vegetables, as well as melons and peaches, by untold 
quantities; and all show by their looks that they are full 
fed and well clothed. 
“ The quarters,” that is the place where the negro 
cabins stand, are away from the dwelling house, and are 
so arranged as to be in sight of the overseer’s house, so 
that he can always have an eye to anything going wrong. 
For negroes, like children, want a deal of careful watch¬ 
ing at all times. 
When the hands go to their work in the morning, 
all the children are taken to the nursery, where they are 
taken care of and fed by a woman who does nothing else. 
Women never go to the field until the child is a month 
old, and from then till weaning time, return to nurse 
them at stated times. Hands either take their breakfast 
and dinner to the field with them, or have it sent out in 
little tin buckets, kept for the purpose. 
Mr. Leigh has 640 acres of land in cultivation, includ¬ 
ing about 80 acres taken up in yards, gardens, orchard, 
&c. Of the balance, he puts 200 acres in corn, 60 or 70 
acres in oats, and the remainder in cotton, upon which 
he made for the last three years, from 125 to 135 bales 
a year. [A bale of cotton is always 400 lbs.] He put 
up last year, 16,000 lbs. of bacon, for the use of the 
plantation, and intends in future, to keep up a supply. 
This being the first year of the ten since the commence¬ 
ment of the plantation that it has provided its own meat. 
He still continues to clear some land every year, and 
particularly to clear up all the “ hard spots” that were 
left at the first clearing; straightening the crooked chan¬ 
nels of branches, and filling up and cultivating the old 
channels; draining little ponds, &c. But what is ol vast 
importance and necessity for every Mississippi farmer to 
learn and practice, he has the whole plantation under a 
complete system of hill-side ditches, by which he wholly 
prevents the light soil from washing away, and adds 
greatly to the value of the land, and the annual amount 
of the crops. 
Now if any body should ask “what are hill-side 
ditches?” I have to say, that the whole of all the numer¬ 
ous hill-sides are ditched with one or more ditches, as 
may be necessary to take up and carry off all the falling 
water, almost on a level, and winding round till an out¬ 
let can be found to discharge it without injury to the 
land. These ditches are laid off by a level, and are in 
tended to remain permanent fixtures; and all the plow¬ 
ing has to conform to their shape, and as a matter of 
course, utterly annihilating “ straight rows.” This great 
and indispensable improvement upon Mr. Leigh’s farm, 
was done by his very intelligent son, Randolph, who 
until the present year has had the sole charge of over¬ 
seeing the plantation; thereby proving, that one rich 
planter’s son could make himself a useful member of so¬ 
ciety. I wish I could say all sons were like this estima¬ 
ble young man—particularly my own. In this connec¬ 
tion, I must not forget to mention Mr. Leigh’s son-in- 
law, Dr. Town, whose plantation is adjoining, and cul¬ 
tivated under the same system, and which he wholly 
oversees himself. 
Mr. Leigh works 17 mules and horses, and three yoke 
of oxen; has about 200 hogs, 50 head of cattle, 70 sheep, 
which are sheared twice a year, and from which he 
makes all the light negro clothing,—he also makes all 
the cotton clothing used. 
He hauls his cotton about seven miles, where it is 
shipped on steamboats in high water, upon the Yallabu- 
sha river, which empties into the Yazoo, and thence 
into the Mississippi, above Vicksburgh. All his sup¬ 
plies come through the same source, even a year s stock 
of flour, which he gets from Richmond, that being the 
only kind that will keep good through the summer. Who 
can tell why? It is important to Ohio millers, whose 
flour can always be had considerably cheaper. 
Mr. Leigh has what but few others in this region have, 
an abundance of stone. It is a mixture of iron and sand, 
very hard, and isfound in layers, with natural smooth frac¬ 
tures, that fit it for building purposes. It stands fire when 
the edge is exposed to the heat, but if reversed from the 
position that it is found in, it scales off and flies all over 
the house like grape shot. 
Mr. Leigh is very successful in keeping his sweet po¬ 
tatoes packed in cotton seed, in a well ventilated room; 
and as a very strong evidence that his negroes do not 
suffer much want for food, I observed that this potatoe 
house had no fastening to prevent them from helping 
themselves if badly pinched with hurger. 
Now I think I hear some of my eastern fair readers 
exclaim, “ Well now, I do wish he would tell us what 
sort of a house this Mississippi nabob lives in?—very- 
splendid, I dare say. Oh, I wish I could see it.” Well, 
madam, it is a common double log cabin, with a hall 
between. “ Why, you don’t mean to say, that a man 
with such a farm, and so many negroes, lives in such a 
house as thatV* 
Oh yes I do, and very comfortably and nicely he does 
live too, for he has a wife—ah, a wife, madam: not a 
mere piece of household furniture, such as your boarding 
school bred farmer's daughter will make—totally unfit 
for a farmer’s wife. “Well now, do tell me where they 
all stay in such a house as that?” Why, madam, there is 
another cabin back in the yard—that is the kitchen—no 
matter that it is so far off the eating room—it is Missis¬ 
sippi fashion; and there are plenty of negroes to run 
back and forth; and here is another building—that is the 
smokehouse; and there is another, that is the store 
room; and there are two or three more, those are lodg¬ 
ing rooms. No matter that, they are ten rods from the 
house_it is the fashion—and as for d a', convenience and 
comfort is fen time** y.-orv' < rv <.::y t than it is 
in these hOus ho.Id a: vh.: L - a... s. Ti :. arrange 
