The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-08-23
The Southern Plantation of Teday.

Plantations at the present day are
conducted very differently from the way
they were managed under the old re-
gime. The one / have in mind comprises
something over five thousand acres.
The proprietor reserves about $50 acres
for his own planting and rents out the
remainder to small farmers who give
him so many pounds or bales of cotton
for the rent, in proportion to the guam
tity and quality of the particular piece
OF ground they cultivate, the size OF
house and corn house of which they
have the use etc. Much Discrimination is
required in the selection of tenants, for
detective or Indifferent farming will inn
poyerish the land and endanger the land
lords chances of collecting his rent.
Most OF the tenants ara negroes. forty
families Of that race residing on the
place.
Of these tkere are number who are
excellent farmers, thrifty, industrious.
prompt in pay ing their Obligations, ana
thoroughly interested in everything that
pertains to their business, the wife
working as hard as her Observation-Disclosures
in fact, because when her field work in
over she cooks the simple meals. washes
the clothes, and patches the garments
for her numerous family by the blaze
OF ljght-wood torch, after the MEM
bers of the household are rolled in their
respective quilts and voyaging in
slum berland. She does more than
this. for she raises chickens and tur-
keys, sometimes geese and ducks, using
the eggs for pocket money and to obtain
the tobacco which is as necessary to her
comfort as to that OF her husband and
sons.
The majority of the negroes go to
work in the early morning with no
breakfast, or perhaps only crust to
nibble on; when they come in at twelve
O'Clock, a stiraDout is made Ga dish con-
cocted of corn meal, salt and water, and
looking very much as the name sug-
gests), of which all the family partake,
the elder members eating an "allowancen
of bacon. Any Injuries they may enjoy
appear at the evening m cal, such as
their fare is of the simplest, and cold
water their beverage, except on Sundays
and high days. celebrated usually with
reference to some religious festival.
Too much credit cannot be given these
hard working wives and mothers, who
hoe, rake, cook. wash. chop, patch, and
mend from morning. until night; very
often garments will be patched until
scarcely a trf ce of the original founda-
many cases where the wife is much the
best cotton chopper" of the two, and
her work far more desirable than her
husbands.
About one-third OF the plantation
negroes are good respectable citizens.
living in harmony with their wives and
houoring the sanctity of the marriage
relation; but the majority-though de
vout church members and punctuai in
their attendance in all services by day
and by night. Sundays and through the
week-violate the seventh command
ment in the most fragrant manner, even
though they obey number of the other
ten. Nor does their behavior in this re-
spect injure their social standing among
their fellows. A colored minister under
took to turn all such deIinquents out of
the church, but found that his congre-
CATION would be too much depleted, so
he kept the wanderers in the fold.
"Their falling fromgrace" so often may
create gossip, but seldom incurs cen
sure, though the church members, even
the perpetrators themselves. would be
shocked at the idea of cutting stick of
wood on Sunday or performing any
other trivial task that could with some
foretnought be accomplished as we'll on
the previous day.-South Carolina Cor
respondence of the Boston Transcript.