The plants, grown almost 6,000 to an acre, are part of a region of tens of thousands of acres devoted to flue-cured tobacco destined for cigarettes.

At the time of the photograph almost 9,000 Virginians farmed the plant and over 15,000 Virginians held jobs in the manufacture of cigarettes. In this field on the Easley Farm in Pittsylvania County near Chatham, Virginia , all but one of the 25 workers were Mexican migrants. The local unemployment rate was over 10%, but the minmum wage jobs were not sought by local workers.

This farm had a tobacco allotment of 50 acres, large by regional standards, which produced over 125,000 pounds of tobacco a year. Additionally, other acreage yielded cucmbers, broccoli, soybeans and corn.