Remembering North Carolina Tobacco

Book excerpt: North Carolina's tobacco heritage comes to life in this volume of stories and remembrances from traditional tobacco farmers and cultivators. When early settlers struggled to grow anything at all in North Carolina's sandy soil, tobacco was a boon that became a way of life. The lives of many North Carolinians continue to revolve around the growth cycle of the tobacco plant, from laying-by to cropping and curing. In this collection of nostalgic memories, tobacco historian Bill Yeargin and others reminisce about the frustrations of slugs and tar, the cropping of dew-drenched leaves, the aching beauty of a tobacco bloom and the ultimate connection of man with earth—a connection that is slowly fading with each new generation.