The above photo features a field of tobacco in the westernmost part of Guilford County. It is time to harvest tobacco; and, harvesting can be brutal when the weather is hot.The bottom leaves are harvested first and, when done by hand, is backbreaking work. Since the Civil War, tobacco has been a big crop for North Carolina. However, after World War II, interest in agriculture in general has declined in the state. And with education about the harmful nature of smoking tobacco, use has decreased.
Greensboro has an interesting history with tobacco. A tobacco factory opened in 1881 and local production peaked here in 1890. Tobacco production had its ups and downs in the 20th century. In 1954, Guilford County was 4th in the state in tobacco production. In the late 1970s, Greensboro had two tobacco warehouses, but both were closed by 1984. By 1990, there were only 644 tobacco farmers in Guilford County and local production fell to 25th in the state. Ed Williams' 1990 article in the "News and Record", updated in 2015, is one of our references for today's post, and is a really good place to start if you want to learn more about Greensboro's relationship with the tobacco industry. Read here.
It is fun to drive around and see if you can find a tobacco field and and old tobacco barn. If you know someone in the industry, it is really interesting to see the sticks hanging in the barn before and after the tobacco is cured. Seeing a field like the one above sure takes a person back to the old-time ways, back when tobacco barns, mules, and tobacco plants were seemingly everywhere.
Here is a document prepared by NC State and suggested for use by school teachers.
A crop we see very little of here, but there's an area around Lake Erie that grows tobacco.
Posted by: William Kendall | Tuesday, September 08, 2020 at 02:52 PM