Abstract

Flue-cured tobacco has been grown in North Carolina since the flue-curing process was developed. Practices employed for generations by successful grower families find expression in small-farm rural landscapes that have altered little for many decades. The federal Tobacco Stabilization Program helped buffer the region's tobacco landscapes from change, but external forces have recently accumulated to threaten the long-established patterns. One possible outcome of these pressures is the geographic fragmentation of traditional grower communities and their replacement in portions of the region by one of three alternative landscapes.

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