Stringing the Primings.
"When the plants are fairly started in their growth, the planter tops and primes them, processes performed, the first by pinching off the top bud, which would else run to seed, and the second by removing the lower leaves of each plant, leaving bare a space of some inches near the ground, and retaining from six to a dozen stout, well-formed leaves on each stem, according to the promise of the soil and season, and these leaves form the crop. The rejected lower leaves or primings, in the days of slavery, formed one of the mistress' perquisites and were carefully collected by the '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 troublesome 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, crowd 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 moth, whose egg produces these larvæ, is a large white miller of unusual size and prolificness. Liberal and kind masters would frequently offer the negro children a reward for every miller captured, and many were the pennies won in this way. One of these insects, placed one evening under an inverted tumbler, was found next morning to have deposited over two hundred eggs on the glass.
Worming.
"As the plant matures the leaves grow heavy, and, thick with gum, droop gracefully over from the plant. Then as they ripen, one by one the plants are cut, some inches below the first leaves, with short stout knives,—scythe or reaper is useless here,—and hung, heads down, on scaffolds, in the open air, till ready to be taken to the barn. A Virginia tobacco-barn is totally unlike any other building under the sun. Square as to the ground plan, its height is usually twice its width and length. In the center of the bare earthen floor is the trench for firing; around the sides runs a raised platform for placing the leaves in bulk; and, commencing at a safe distance from the fire, up to the top of the tall building, reach beams stretching across for the reception of the tobacco-sticks, thick pine laths, from which are suspended the heavy plants. Safely housed and beyond all danger of the frost, whose slightest touch is sufficient to blacken and destroy it, the crop is now ready for firing, and through the late autumn days blue clouds of smoke hover over and around the steep roofs of the tall tobacco-barns. A stranger might suppose the buildings on fire, but not a blaze is within, the object here, as in bacon-curing, being smoke, not fire.