“An employer,” said Jas. C. Lusby, in a paper read before the Agricultural and Mechanical Society of Fayette County, September 2, 1855, “should never ask a negro any questions whatever about the business of the plantation, or the condition of the crops; nor say anything in the presence of the negroes about the overseer, for they are always ready to catch any word that may be dropped, and use it if possible to cause a disturbance between the master and the overseer.”[20] It seems that there was a common practice among masters to have one or two trusties among the negroes to act as spies upon the overseer. “Negroes,” said Lusby, “in two-thirds of the cases, are the cause of employers and overseers falling out.”[21] The successful planter was one who gave sufficient time and thought to the management of his farm to enable him to be his own judge as to the character and efficiency of his overseer. The overseer was the most important factor in the management of the large plantation. His indifference toward the interests of either master or slaves broke down the system, because there was perfect unity of interests inherent in the system, and the successful overseer recognized this ideal. It was the business of the overseer to be present at the beginning of every important work, not merely because he was paid to do so, but because the negroes always took advantage of his absence. It was his business to ring a bell or blow a horn in the morning for breakfast, because it was unsafe to entrust this duty to a negro driver for the reason that it was almost impossible to find a negro sufficiently regular in his habits to be reliable. If the breakfast hour was a failure, the entire day’s work was seriously damaged. The overseer had to see that the negroes were up by four o’clock in the winter and about half past three in the spring and summer. This gave time to prepare victuals, arrange clothes and shoes, to see that horses and mules were properly fed, that crib doors were shut, that fires were built for the children, and that everybody was ready to go to work by daylight.[22] The overseer accompanied the slaves to the field and saw that the day’s work was properly begun. He could then return to his house for breakfast. Following breakfast, he was free to make a general inspection of the plantation. He inspected the cabins to see that they were neatly kept, that the clothes of the negroes were washed, that the negro nurses were properly looking after the children, that the common bakery, boot-and-shoe shop, carpenters, mechanics, and tailors were efficiently functioning.