Precisely, and therein it is defective, and until that defect be remedied, land will continue to be comparatively a drug in the market. It is the design of this Essay to show that it is possible to give land a value independent of any costly or complicated annual labor bestowed upon it.

4th. The Southern system of agriculture includes a succession of crops of a most exhausting or otherwise injurious character. These crops are cotton and corn, varied only by small grain. This succession is continued until the land is worn out and turned out to rest.

5th. These crops are not only exhausting and hurtful in consequence of the clean culture they require, but they also require an amount of labor not known elsewhere. If we consider the amount of productive land, that is, the number of acres yielding an annual income, we shall find the amount of labor used on an ordinary Southern plantation to be greater per productive acre than the amount of labor use in the most perfectly cultivated portions of Europe. In the latter every acre produces something, whether in pasture, meadow, or cultivated crops. At the South nothing but the cotton or grain pays. The rest of the plantation is idle.

III. PLANTATION MANAGEMENT

A. Instructions of a Mississippi Planter to his Overseer, 18571

Many of the planters laid down definite rules for the management of their plantations and took care to see that their overseers faithfully carried out these rules as far as possible. The following instructions show the management of the slaves on a Mississippi plantation:

State of Mississippi, Coahoma County, near Friars Point, A. D. 1857

The health, happiness, good discipline and obedience; good, sufficient and comfortable clothing, a sufficiency of good wholesome and nutritious food for both man and beast being indispensably necessary to successful planting, as well as for reasonable dividends for the amount of capital invested, without saying anything about the Master's duty to his dependants, to himself and his God I do hereby establish the following rules and regulations for the management of my Prairie Plantation, and require an observance of the same by

1 Documentary History of American Industrial Society. Edited by Ulrich B. Phillips and others (Cleveland, 1910), I, 112-5. Printed by permission of the publishers, The Arthur H. Clark Company.

any and all Overseers I may at any time have in charge thereof to wit:

Punishment must never be cruel or abusive, for it is absolutely mean and unmanly to whip a negro from mere passion or malice, and any man who can do this is entirely unworthy and unfit to have control of either man or beast.

My negroes are permitted to come to me with their complaints and grievances and in no instance shall they be punished for so doing. On examination, should I find they have been cruelly treated, it shall be considered a good and sufficient cause for the immediate discharge of the 'Overseer.

Prove and show by your conduct towards the negroes that you feel a kind and considerate regard for them. Never cruelly punish or overwork them, never require them to do what they cannot reasonably accomplish or otherwise abuse them, but seek to render their situation as comfortable and contented as possible.

See that their necessities are supplied, that their food and clothing be good and sufficient, their houses comfortable; and be kind and attentive to them in sickness and old age.

See that the negroes are regularly fed and that their food be wholesome, nutritious and well cooked.

See that they keep themselves well cleaned: at least once a week (especially during summer) inspect their houses and see that they have been swept clean, examine their bedding and see that they are occasionally well aired; their clothes mended and everything attended to that conduces to their health, comfort and happiness.

If any of the negroes have been reported sick, be prompt to see what ails them and that proper medicine and attention be given them. Use good judgment and discretion in turning out those who are getting well.

I greatly desire that the Gospel be preached to the Negroes when the services of a suitable person can be procured. This should be done on the Sabbath; day time is preferable, if convenient to the Minister.

Christianity, humanity and order elevate all-injure nonewhilst infidelity, selfishness and disorder curse some delude others and degrade all. I therefore want all of my people encouraged to cultivate religious feeling and morality, and punished for inhumanity to their children or stock - for profanity, lying and stealing.

All hands should be required to retire to rest and sleep at a suitable hour and permitted to remain there until such time as it will be neces

sary to get out in time to reach their work by the time they can see well how to work - particularly so when the nights are short and the mornings very cold and inclement.

Allow such as may desire it a suitable piece of ground to raise potatoes, tobacco. They may raise chickens also with privileges of marketing the same at suitable leisure times.

There being a sufficient number of negroes on the plantation for society among themselves, they are not to be allowed to go off the plantation merely to seek society, nor on business without a permit from myself or the Overseer in charge - nor are other negroes allowed to visit the plantation.

After taking proper care of the negroes, stock, etc. the next most important duty of the Overseer is to make (if practicable) a sufficient quantity of corn, hay, fodder, meat, potatoes and other vegetables for the consumption of the plantation and then as much cotton as can be made by requiring good and reasonable labor of operatives and teams.

Have a proper and suitable place for everything and see that everything is kept in its proper place, all tools when not in use should be well cleaned and put away.

Let the cotton be well dried before cleaning it. Be sure the seed put up for planting are well dried and a sufficient quantity saved to plant the farm two or three times over; and will suggest the propriety of sending a few trustworthy hands ahead of the regular pickers to gather from the early opening - where the plant is well supplied with bolls for seed for planting the ensueing year; in this way by gathering sufficient quantity every year to plant twenty or twenty five acres we shall be able to keep up a supply of the best and most approved Seed nor should there be less care observed in selecting the Seed corn from the crib.

I would that every human being have the gospel preached to them in its original purity and simplicity; it therefore devolves upon me to have these dependants properly instructed in all that pertains to the salvation of their souls; to this and whenever the services of a suitable person can be secured, have them instructed in these things in view of the fanaticism of the age it behooves the Master or Overseer to be present on all such occasions. They should be instructed on Sundays in the day time if practicable, if not then on Sunday night. J. W. FOWLER.

B. Management of Slaves on a Cotton Plantation, 18521 Detailed instructions for the management of a cotton plantation reveal the many-sided relations of the owner to his slaves.

My first care has been to select a proper place for my "Quarter," well protected by the shade of forest trees, sufficiently thinned out to admit a free circulation of air, so situated as to be free from the impurities of stagnant water, and to erect comfortable houses for my negroes. Planters do not always reflect that there is more sickness, and consequently, greater loss of life, from the decaying logs of negro houses, open floors, leaky roofs, and crowded rooms, than all other causes combined; and if humanity will not point out the proper remedy, let self-interest for once act as a virtue, and prompt him to save the health and lives of his negroes, by at once providing comfortable quarters for them. There being upwards of 150 negroes on the plantation, I provide for them 24 houses made of hewn post oak, covered with cypress, 16 by 18, with close plank floors and good chimneys, and elevated two feet from the ground. The ground under and around the houses is swept every month, and the houses, both inside and out, white-washed twice a year. The houses are situated in a double row from north to south, about 200 feet apart, the doors facing inwards, and the houses being in a line, about 50 feet apart. At one end of the street stands the overseer's house, workshops, tool house, and wagon sheds; at the other, the grist and saw-mill, with good cisterns at each end, providing an ample supply of pure water. My experience has satisfied me, that spring, well, and lake water are all unhealthy in this climate, and that large under-ground cisterns, keeping the water pure and cool, are greatly to be preferred. They are easily and cheaply constructed, very convenient, and save both doctors' bills and loss of life. The negroes are never permitted to sleep before the fire, either lying down or sitting up, if it can be avoided, as they are always prone to sleep with their heads to the fire, are liable to be burnt and to contract diseases: but beds with ample clothing are provided for them, and in them they are made to sleep. As to their habits of amalgamation and intercourse, I know of no means whereby to regulate them, or to restrain them; I attempted it for many years by preaching virtue and decency, encouraging marriages, and by punishing, with some severity, departures from marital obligations; but it was all in vain. I allow for each hand that works

1 The Industrial Resources of the Southern and Western States. Edited by J. D. B. De Bow (New Orleans, 1852), II, 330-3.

out, four pounds of clear meat and one peck of meal per week. Their dinners are cooked for them, and carried to the field, always with vegetables, according to the season. There are two houses set apart at mid-day for resting, eating, and sleeping, if they desire it, and they retire to one of the weather sheds or the grove to pass this time, not being permitted to remain in the hot sun while at rest. They cook their own suppers and breakfasts, each family being provided with an oven, skillet, and sifter, and each one having a coffee-pot, (and generally some coffee to put in it,) with knives and forks, plates, spoons, cups, &c., of their own providing. The wood is regularly furnished them; for I hold it to be absolutely mean for a man to require a negro to work until daylight closes in, and then force him to get wood, sometimes half a mile off, before he can get a fire, either to warm himself or cook his supper. Every negro has his hen-house, where he raises poultry, which he is not permitted to sell, and he cooks and eats his chickens and eggs for his evening and morning meals to suit himself; besides, every family has a garden, paled in, where they raise such vegetables and fruits as they take a fancy to. A large house is provided as a nursery for the children, where all are taken at daylight, and placed under the charge of a careful and experienced woman, whose sole occupation is to attend to them, and see that they are properly fed and attended to, and above all things to keep them as dry and as cleanly as possible, under the circumstances. The suckling women come in to nurse their children four times during the day; and it is the duty of the nurse to see that they do not perform this duty until they have become properly cool, after walking from the field. In consequence of these regulations, I have never lost a child from being burnt to death, or, indeed, by accidents of any description; and although I have had more than thirty born within the last five years, yet I have not lost a single one from teething, or the ordinary summer complaints so prevalent amongst the children in this climate.

I give to my negroes four full suits of clothes with two pair of shoes, every year, and to my women and girls a calico dress and two handkerchiefs extra. I do not permit them to have "truck patches" other than their gardens, or to raise anything whatever for market; but in lieu thereof, I give to each head of a family and to every single negro, on Christmas day, five dollars, and send them to the county town, under the charge of the overseer or driver, to spend their money. In this way, I save my mules from being killed up in summer, and my oxen in winter, by working and hauling off their crops; and more than all, the negroes are prevented from acquiring habits of trading