Page:Economic History of Virginia Vol 1.djvu/465

 of the beds, weeds, for the flowers of which they were known to have a strong proclivity. To raise a barrier against the incursions of these pests as well as to furnish protection from the rays of the sun, oak leaves and boughs were thickly strewn over the surface of the patch; straw was also used until it was observed that the plants which had been guarded from injury by this means showed, when transferred to the field, a tendency to lag in their growth and to take a spiral shape. For this reason they were always referred to as &#8220;Frenchmen,&#8221; a people who were associated in the Virginian mind with tallness and attenuation in form.

There was no date which was universally accepted as the proper time for transplantation. It was the habit of some to remove the tobacco from the bed as early in the season as was practicable; but of others, to defer doing so until the latest moment, the peculiar character of the soils of the different fields not entering into consideration. As a rule, transplantation began very early in May, small hills situated about four feet apart having first been thrown up for the reception of the slips. The tobacco patches on the same estate lay in some cases as widely separated as a mile, or a mile and a half, such ground being chosen as was most fertile, and, therefore, most certain to be highly productive. As each plant grew in size, care was taken to keep the surrounding earth entirely free of weeds, and when the plant had put forth leaves to a certain number, a dozen or more if the ground was rich, or if poor, nine or ten, the stalk of the top was broken off, and from that time the offshoots at the junction of leaf and stalk were destroyed as fast as they