Tobo is Big Business...Or Is It?

As I mentioned in my last post, Washington has once again resigned from the military. It occurred sometime around Christmas 1758 and I'm sure, at the time, he thought his military career was over for good. He resolutely set his sights on becoming a successful planter at Mount Vernon. Ferling notes that, while he served with valor and ambition, he met with meager success, making several errors in judgment likely from a lack of maturity and experience. Personally, he has struck me as calculating, whiny and incessant when he didn't get his way. Not the picture I remember from the history books. However, Washington does show several positive character traits that many associate with him still today, including bravery and charisma. He has also shown himself to be honest about many of his shortcomings and work on them with intensity and focus, mimicking positive traits of those men he admired most. As Ferling closes the chapter on "The Frontier Warrior," he remarks that Washington's early years are marked with remoteness and distance when it came to all manner of relationships...including the "business partnership" with his fiancee, Martha Custis.

Mawwiage. Mawwiage is what bwings us togethaw today (from The Princess Bride...I just couldn't help myself)

On January 6, 1759, George Washington and Martha Custis, were married in front of 40 guests. Ferling devotes exactly three paragraphs (232 words) to the wedding. Of that, 79 of those words (34%) were about what George and Martha wore. The ceremony was brief and the celebration lasted for three days. So much for the nuptials of America's first, "first family."

By April 1759, the Washingtons were "home" (at Mount Vernon) and George set about becoming a planter. Like many, Washington planted tobacco (Tobo) his first year. The process of growing, harvesting and selling tobacco was described in detail and is simply fascinating. If Wikipedia can be trusted, it appears that the process is much the same today (still very labor-intensive) minus the time and treachery of shipping to the Great Britain. As I have seen tobacco fields, but never as such set foot on a real plantation, here's the process in a nutshell:

The planting process actually begins on Epiphany (12 days after Christmas). Seeds are planted and then covered to protect them from winter's harm. Due to the low survival rate of the seeds, it was not uncommon to plant as much as 10x what was needed. In May, the surviving plants were transplanted about three feet apart and then "hoed" (if that is even a word-I'm assuming it means weeded in this case) every five days or so. Once leaves appeared, the plants were pinched off so they could not flower, which allowed the leaves to prosper during the growing season (six to eight weeks). In this way, plants grew wide but not tall and required constant attention (more weeding, etc.). In September, the leaves were cut and laid out to wither, then hung up to air dry and cure, which could take up to several weeks. The timing of this phase was crucial as leaves that were too moist or too dry would ruin the crop during its upcoming sea voyage. Once cured, the leaves were packed into barrels which often weighed 1,000 pounds. Finally, fifteen months after the initial planting, they were ready for shipment to Great Britain, which had its own risks and perils.

Washington's first two crops were financial failures due to declining prices and oversupply, which did not set well for our ambitious hero. Even more sadly, his first crops were also his best. He later remarked that Tobo farming might be "an Art beyond my skill" and so by 1764, he began to grow wheat instead. With wheat, George found his niche and his operations became quite prosperous and helped Mount Vernon become an industrial village, complete with flour mill, saw mill, dairy, smokehouse and fishing port.

So Washington's foray into tobacco, which was the basis of wealth for many of his contemporaries and what Virginia, North Carolina and other neighboring states would become known for, was short-lived and ill-fated. But through those failures, he found a new kind of success, which I think is a lesson for us all.