In North Carolina, tobacco has been a successful cash crop and central to our state's agricultural history. In North Carolina, tobacco growing dates back to the mid 1600s, as it was one of the few crops that grew well in the dry, sandy soil. The above field is an example of soil quality the Sandhills and even here, in the Piedmont. The above tobacco is planted out West Market Street, near the Guilford/Forsyth County line.
Over the past decades, North Carolina has been moving away from its agricultural industry, with more emphasis on the industrial and service oriented sectors. There was a day when virtually every community in Greensboro, and the surrounding areas, had parcels of land planted in tobacco. Now, the crop is not nearly as easy to find and employment in tobacco. Between 1992 and 2012, employment in the tobacco industry has declined by almost 50%*
As you can see from the above photo and the insert below, tobacco ripens from the bottom up. The bottom leaves have already turned yellow. If you want the leaves to grow larger and thicker, you need to cut off the flowers before they open. Trimming directs the energy to other parts of the plant. Most North Carolina children who live on tobacco farms have had the chore of working the fields and helping in the process. The tobacco in the photo has a lot of flower buds.
This weekend would be a good one to take a drive around the rural parts of Greensboro to look for tobacco fields, old tobacco barns, and other traces of our agricultural history.
*reference, here.
It grows here in a limited area that's rather ideal, climate wise, for certain crops.
Posted by: William Kendall | Saturday, August 12, 2017 at 02:06 PM