Twelve Years a Slave Narrative of Solomon Northup, a Citizen of New-York, Kidnapped in Washington City in 1841, and Rescued in 1853, from a Cotton Plantation near the Red River in Louisiana

CHAPTER XII.

Chapter 1273 wordsPublic domain

Personal Appearance of Epps--Epps, Drunk and Sober--A Glimpse of his History--Cotton Growing--The Mode of Ploughing and Preparing Ground--Of Planting, of Hoeing, of Picking, of Treating Raw Hands--The difference in Cotton Pickers--Patsey a remarkable one--Tasked according to Ability--Beauty of a Cotton Field--The Slave's Labors--Fear of Approaching the Gin-House--Weighing--"Chores"--Cabin Life--The Corn Mill--The Uses of the Gourd--Fear of Oversleeping--Fear continually--Mode of Cultivating Corn--Sweet Potatoes--Fertility of the Soil--Fattening Hogs--Preserving Bacon--Raising Cattle--Shooting-Matches--Garden Products--Flowers and Verdure, 162