Tobacco postcards with workers. Photos provided by the Patrick County Historical Society
Built with Tobacco By Patrick County Historical Society
To understand the importance of tobacco in the settling and survival of the American colonies is to learn that tobacco was the principal medium of exchange in colonial days. In other words, folks got paid in tobacco - sheriffs, clerks, other county officials, and even ministers. Alexander Gordon, one of the early preachers who served the Critz area before it became Patrick County, received a salary of 1,600 pounds of tobacco for the year. Dues to the established church that he pastored were assessed in tobacco also, 33 pounds for each of 856 “tithables” in one parish. Although replaced for the most part by US currency by the time Patrick County was formed in 1791, tobacco remained a major cash crop. Tobacco grown in the eastern Piedmont section of the Blue Ridge and along the southern border of the state was considered the best in the early days, as well as when flue-cured tobacco became the norm. Flue-curing, as opposed to air-curing used with other types of tobacco products, involved heating the green leaves in log tobacco barns until it achieved a rich, golden color and that sweet – to any farmer, chewer, or smoker - aroma. Until the mid-20th century, farmers did this with wood fires. At the base of the barn were usually two flues, hence the name, extending the length of the dirt floor of the barn. Farmers took care to watch the temperature in their barns very closely so as not to overheat the leaves while making sure the fire didn’t get away and burn the barn down, possibly causing the loss of a whole year’s income. As anyone who has ever worked in tobacco can attest, the lengthy process of getting it ready for market required more work
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Patrick County Magazine / visitpatrickcounty.org
than most people would be willing to endure these days. From readying the soil in late winter, starting seedlings in “plant beds” in early spring, then planting, “suckering,” controlling pests, topping, priming, curing, and, finally, hauling it to be auctioned at tobacco warehouses in the fall, was a very labor-intensive enterprise. One observer called it “the 13-month crop,” not so far from the truth. Flue-curing involved picking tobacco leaves in several “primings” rather than cutting the whole stalk down late in the season. The first priming was hardest because it involved bending down to pick only the lowest few leaves, but all the harvesting was hot, grimy work. Smelly tobacco gum from the leaves would stick to skin and clothing alike. In the old days, workers picked as many green leaves as they could carry under one arm and then loaded these onto “tobacco slides” that were pulled by mules between rows. Though tractors arrived in the 20th century to ease some of the workload, a few farmers were still using mules to help with harvesting as late as the 1960s. And pity the poor mule that got rambunctious and tore through some rows of tobacco. This was real money lost for his owner, so anger and a few choice words for the offending animal were to be expected. At the barn, the leaves were tied on thin, often hand- hewn, wooden sticks. Women were often the best and fastest at this process with young children “handing leaves” to them. Then, it was hung on horizontal poles running the length of the barns. This “housing” of tobacco was often left to young, lanky fellows who sometimes had to work 15-20 feet off the ground while straddling those long poles as it was handed up to them.