Tobacco
The whole family, including the animals, was required to
raise the tobacco crop and get it to market. The cows helped feed the family
and the horses or mules did the plowing and hauling.
Margie Waller Walton
“Coming from the field” about 1925. Ike (Iris) and Donkey
(Irma) pose with a mule as they take a break from working in the fields of
tobacco. This picture was probably taken on a Sunday afternoon when no work was
done. I don’t know much about mules, but it looks as if they have placed a wig
on the mule’s head.
I remember that my mother was happiest when she was at work
with family. She had learned from childhood how the interaction that went on
between laborers helped to sustain the effort required of all to complete the
task. You will find in her Teenie Weenie book entries about the work of raising
tobacco.
Author
Tobacco barn on the Bud Bailey farm. It is constructed of
logs. The spaces between the logs are filled with mud. This makes the barn
airtight so that no heat from the fires escapes. There are thousands of these
old barns all over Southside Virginia, some of them still in use. The firing
nowadays is done with oil or propane instead of wood.
O T Bailey, the grandson of Bud Bailey, is growing a crop of
tobacco on the farm this summer 2001.