Maybe the following will help clarify the distinction.
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.
After all Nelson and Adams were there.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Craig Kilby" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, June 28, 2009 8:32 PM
Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Plantations
> What is this? I've never heard of any such definition. I have, for a
> example, a will from 1770 in which the testator devises his "plantation"
> to his sons. It was all of 400 acres and I doubt much of it was used to
> produce anything except booze and a few livestock.
>
> On Jun 28, 2009, at 4:43 PM, Harold Gill wrote:
>
>> The difference between a plantation and a farm is what was produced not
>> the size. Washington's holdings were called farms because they produced
>> provisions.
>> HBG
>>
>> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jessica Carter" <[log in to unmask]>
>> To: <[log in to unmask]>
>> Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 7:04 AM
>> Subject: Re: [VA-HIST] Plantations
>>
>>
>>> Ferry Farm was 600 acres when the Washingtons owned it. Mount Vernon
>>> was actually broken up into four farms, but I don't know if it was
>>> considered four plantations or one. Their website might have more
>>> acreage info.
>>>
>>> My understanding is that individual plantation sizes in Virginia in the
>>> eighteenth century were in the smaller range (maybe 1,000 acres or
>>> less) rather than the huge, 3,000 acre ones found in 19th- century
>>> cotton plantations or in the 18th-century Carolina lowcountry.
>>> Virginia landowners may have owned just as much land, but it was in
>>> individual plantations for the most part rather than one single
>>> sweeping plantation.
>>>
>>> Philip Morgan's book. Slave Counterpoint, discusses acreage of
>>> plantations in both Virginia and South Carolina in the eighteenth
>>> century. He talks about it in relation to where slaves lived, but he
>>> has some good information in there on plantation size as well.
>>>
>>> Hope this helps!!
>>>
>>> Jessica Carter
>>>
>>> At 06:35 PM 6/24/2009, you wrote:
>>>> Is there any data on the sizes of colonial and 19C plantations? I am
>>>> not interested in land grants or total holdings, but rather the sizes
>>>> of individual plantations. So, for instance, the size of Ferry Farm or
>>>> Mount Vernon rather than the total holdings of the Washingtons.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks
>>>> Jim Brothers
>>>>
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