I’m Mark Oppold with an American Agriculture History Minute.
The first settlers in Plymouth Colony planted mostly barley and peas with seeds they brought with them from England. But their most important crop as time went on was Indian corn or maize, which they were shown how to cultivate by the Native Americans.
To fertilize that first crop, they used small fish. As time continued, larger farms, plantation agriculture developed in Virginia and Maryland where tobacco was grown, and in South Carolina where they grew more rice. Cotton became a major plantation crop after 1800.
That’s today’s American Agriculture History Minute. I’m Mark Oppold. Thanks for reading. I’ll see you next time.
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