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Barefoot In The Sand: Remembering the Waning Days of the Hopewell Community (1998) Bruce C. Gragg 24/123

The flu cured tobacco barns were very susceptible to catching fire.
As the leaves dried, if they weren't strung tight enough on the
sticks a couple of leaves would fall onto the hot pipes and scratch
another barn full of tobacco, it would be completely burned in just a
short time. That could prove very expensive, as we learned one year
after Papa quit growing tobacco himself. Mr. Rhoden used our barn and
it burned, he lost the money from the crop, however we lost our barn.
That created a big fire, that we had to work hard to keep it from
getting into the nearby woods. It was mid Summer and I was
barefooted, and stepped on several hot embers and burned my toes
while trying to help extinguish the fire.

Tobacco was the main cash crop, however, other crops were grown to
supply food for livestock or the table. If the hog and cow herd grew
to a size bigger than the fanner could handle, they would be sold off
for some extra cash. There were few tractors, most plowing and field
work was done by one or two horse or mule teams. When plowing with a
tractor, even a one row model, one round trip (two rows) takes the
place of at least 2 round trips with a one horse plow. With a horse
there is not the problem of breathing so much engine exhaust and
fumes and you are much closer to the ground. However, after many
years away from this I still long for the sound of earth being plowed
in the spring. All the dead weeds and brush that could not be turned
under were usually gathered and burned in small piles. Late winter
was time to begin plowing for the years crops. Using a horse or mule
and a "Dixie" turn plow, we would break the ground to a depth of
about 6 or 7 inches. Our old wood stock turn plow was a six inch and
would turn a six inch band of earth. The steel beam we borrowed from
Mrs. Mills was an eight inch, and it would turn eight inches at a
time. With it you save a round trip for every four rounds you plowed.
That doesn't sound like much but when you are walking it, but it adds
up in a hurry. We would hook a short chain to the plow stock with a
weight on it and drag in front of the plow point and in the furrow of
the previous round to help pull weeds and grass down so they would
turn with the soil easier. Listening to the sod being turned created
a sound that could make you drift off in thoughts very easily.

We had stumps in the fields to contend with and try not to hit an
underground one. We always tried to have them marked, if not it was a
rude awakening to hit one unexpectedly. We worked a lot to get them
out, but Hercules Powder Co. finally got them in the sixties. When a
large one was removed it made good kindling for a long time. There
was something to the smell of freshly broken ground that was
awakening. At the time when I was following the trailing end of a
horse I didn’t have a good view, nor at times really have such a
relaxed feeling. The weather always played havoc with plowing time,
if too wet or too dry very little could be

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