Southern Farming

SOUTHERN FARMING:

The farms in South grew cotton and corn as a major crop. In the spring the fields were plowed with horses or mules, with the farmer following behind the plow. Following the plow, someone was dropping the seeds by hand, covering the seeds in the trench left by the plow, by raking the dirt from the sides, over the seeds, with their feet.

Through the summer the seeds poked their heads through the ground. The family worked the fields, chopping the weeds from between the rows as the cotton plants grew. Late summer the plants had grown large and started blooming. It would not be long now. September October saw the bolls start to form from the flowers. Then, the bolls would burst open, full of cotton. The rows upon rows, fields upon fields of cotton would turn to white, giving an impression of winter snow.

Then the hard work would begin. With long sacks, ten to twelve feet long, made from homespun canvas , with a strap to go over the shoulder, the family would work in the fields all day. The strap was slung across one shoulder, crossing the chest to the sack which dragged behind. Starting on one side of the field they would take row after row, pulling the cotton from the bolls and putting in the sack. When the sack was filled, it was taken to a wagon, weighed and emptied. Then the process would start over. When one wagon was filled, it was taken off to the nearest gin, to be sold and unloaded. This trip could take a while, depending on the closest gin. At the gins, stalls were erected with the farmers names on them. The wagons of cotton were unloaded into these stalls. Then it was ginned when they had time it took some time to gin a bale of cotton because they didn't have a press and the cotton had to be tromped down with their feet. In places where the gin was too far away, cotton buyers came. Their prices were usually less than what the farmer could get if he sold to the gins, but again, he didn't have to make the long drives.

On the large farms and plantations of the south, slave labor worked the crops and fields. Contrary to the way a lot of people think, not all slave owners were Simon Legree's. The slaves were treated well, fed decently, and taken care of, when they got hurt or became ill. Some farmers could not afford their own farms, so worked for some of the larger landlords. They would work and farm their few acres on share. They did the work, the landowner took part of the crops. A good landowner would allow the sharecropper a larger percentage of the crops, but some would barely be able to make ends meet with their small shares. Some sharecroppers were forever in debt to the land owners. This also was a form of slavery, because the sharecropper could never hope to be able to save enough to buy their own little farm.

I hope these few words gave you some insight as to how our ancestors lived, worked, traveled, loved and died. What would they would think of the modern day conveniences their descendants use and have? Would be interesting to ask them, wouldn’t it?

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