In my research in Essex County, I found that the
term "farm" was pretty rare, but that had nothing to
do with farm size or labor pool. If you pay
attention to the writings of Landon Carter and
George Washington, you'll see what the real
distinction was: "planters" planted tobacco and
corn; "farmers" cultivated wheat. The distinction
obviously awaited the advent of extensive wheat
growing after 1750, especially in the piedmont.
Jefferson, Washington and others sang the praises of
wheat as a way to get out from under the tobacco
system. In Virginia, the problem was that wheat was
difficult to raise and wasn't as profitable as corn
or tobacco. In Tidewater Virginia, some planters -
usually the wealthiest - dabbled in wheat, but corn
and tobacco remained the export-crops-of-choice.
The regime of wheat did have one benefit: it didn't
absorb the grower's time the way that both tobacco
and corn did. I've always wondered if anyone has
looked into a possible correlation between crop
choice and revolutionary leanings. Corn vs. wheat
absolutely made a major difference in attitudes and
voting patterns in Illinois in 1860.
________________________________
Dr. David S. Hardin
Assistant Professor of Geography
Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences
Longwood University
Farmville, Virginia 23909
Phone: (434) 395-2581
e-mail: [log in to unmask]
********************
"For as Geography without History
seemeth a carkasse without motion,
so History without Geography
wandreth as a Vagrant without a
certaine habitation."
John Smith, 1627
---- Original message ----
Date: Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:18:10 -0400
From: Harold Gill <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: land definitions
To: [log in to unmask]
>I think the reason the term farm is seen so
rarely in Virginia is because
>most people grew tobacco as a staple crop so most
agricultural operations
>were plantations.
>HBG
>----- Original Message -----
>From: "Joan Horsley" <[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 7:58 PM
>Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] land definitions
>
>
>> I'm interested in your distinction between
"plantation" and "farm,"
>> because I don't think I've ever seen the word
"farm" in pre-Revolution
>> northern Virginia deeds, road orders, or wills,
only "plantation." I had
>> assumed that "plantation" in such records was a
generic term for
>> cultivated land regardless of crop, size,
etc--at least that's how it
>> seemed to be used.
>>
>> There's this example from a 1710 document
regarding the distribution of
>> land to the Huguenot refugees of Manakin. Here
again "plantation" seems
>> just to mean "farm" or even simply a piece of
land that could be farmed:
>>
>> "And it is further Ordered, that such of the
French Refugees as have
>> bought the Plantations, or dividents of any
other of the said Nation in
>> the first 5,000 Acres, shall have and enjoy the
same without prejudice to
>> such Purchaser, to hold the Land due to him for
his own share, and to take
>> up as much more as will make his said Share the
Compleat quantity of 133
>> Acres. [R. A. Brock's Huguenot Documents]
>>
>> Could it be that, at least early on, the use of
"plantation" differed
>> depending on the context--a kind of
value-neutral "place of planting" for
>> a land or court record versus a social
situation with cultural and class
>> implications of heirarchy? Or have I
misunderstood the records?
>>
>> Joan Horsley
>>
>> Harold Gill <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Plantations in Virginia produced a staple crop
such as tobacco while
>> farms
>> produced provisions such as corn, wheat, and
other grains.William Nelson
>> wrote that his son Hugh converted one of his
plantations to a farm for
>> growing provisions instead of tobacco. John
Adams wrote in Feb. 1777: "The
>> Planters are those who raise Tobacco and the
Farmers such as raise Wheat
>> &c." This distinction seems to have been normal
in 18th century Virginia.
>> HBG
>>
>>
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>>
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