Are these historic definitions/usages, or modern? And I will admit to  
not having made much of a study of anything but the early iron industry.

The Virginia colony was a "plantation". So when Lord de la Ware wrote  
a pamphlet/book in 1610 it was entitled:

A True and Sincere declaration of the purpose and ends of the  
Plantation begun in Virginia...

Just as Sir Francis Bacon;s publication (1625) was called "Of  
Plantations".

The British "Colonial Office" was called "The Commisioners for Trade  
and Plantations". the use of "plantation" as a synonym for colony  
extended well into the 1700s.

Hall, F
1731 The Importance of the British plantations in America to this  
Kingdom: with the state of their trade, and methods for improving it,  
as also a description of the several colonies there. J. Peele, London.

James Brothers

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On Sep 28, 2007, at 11:25, Diana Bennett wrote:

> From "Everyday Life in Colonial America 1607-1783" by Dale Taylor
>
> "Until the eve of the Civil War, the average plantation in the  
> Chesapeake region consisted of a single family who lived in a one- 
> room house some 16'x20' or 20'x20' on 50 to 250 acres."
>
> "Both farms and plantations were generally small, about 250 acres  
> maximum size, since more acreage could not be successfully  
> cultivated by a single family."
>
> And somewhere in my research I read (I think "Albions Seed") that  
> "farms" were under 200 acres and "plantations" were 200 acres or  
> more. But they both had the same kind of house. - this would be  
> 1700's.
>
> Any sources elsewhere for these numbers for farms and plantations?
>
> Regards,   Diana Kercheval Bennett