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diff --git a/27117-8.txt b/27117-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..919ca8e --- /dev/null +++ b/27117-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2288 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tobacco in Colonial Virginia, by Melvin +Herndon + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Tobacco in Colonial Virginia + "The Sovereign Remedy" + + +Author: Melvin Herndon + + + +Release Date: November 1, 2008 [eBook #27117] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA*** + + +E-text prepared by Mark C. Orton and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (https://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 27117-h.htm or 27117-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/1/1/27117/27117-h/27117-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/1/1/27117/27117-h.zip) + + + + + +TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA + + * * * * * + +JAMESTOWN 350TH ANNIVERSARY HISTORICAL BOOKLETS + +_Editor_--E. G. SWEM, Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary + +COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS: JOHN M. JENNINGS, Director of the Virginia +Historical Society, Richmond, Virginia, _Chairman_. FRANCIS L. +BERKELEY, JR., Archivist, Alderman Library, University of Virginia, +Charlottesville, Virginia. LYMAN H. BUTTERFIELD, Editor-in-Chief of the +Adams Papers, Boston, Mass. EDWARD M. RILEY, Director of Research, +Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., Williamsburg, Virginia. E. G. SWEM, +Librarian Emeritus, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, +Virginia. WILLIAM J. VAN SCHREEVEN, Chief, Division of Archives, +Virginia State Library, Richmond, Virginia. + + + 1. _A Selected Bibliography of Virginia, 1607-1699._ By E. G. +Swem, John M. Jennings and James A. Servies. + + 2. _A Virginia Chronology, 1585-1783._ By William W. Abbot. + + 3. _John Smith's Map of Virginia, with a Brief Account of its +History._ By Ben C. McCary. + + 4. _The Three Charters of the Virginia Company of London, with Seven +Related Documents: 1606-1621._ Introduction by Samuel M. Bemiss. + + 5. _The Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624._ By Wesley Frank +Craven. + + 6. _The First Seventeen Years, Virginia, 1607-1624._ By Charles E. +Hatch, Jr. + + 7. _Virginia under Charles I and Cromwell, 1625-1660._ By Wilcomb +E. Washburn. + + 8. _Bacon's Rebellion, 1676._ By Thomas J. Wertenbaker. + + 9. _Struggle Against Tyranny and the Beginning of a New Era, +Virginia, 1677-1699._ By Richard L. Morton. + +10. _Religious Life of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century._ By +George MacLaren Brydon. + +11. _Virginia Architecture in the Seventeenth Century._ By Henry +Chandlee Forman. + +12. _Mother Earth--Land Grants in Virginia, 1607-1699._ By W. Stitt +Robinson, Jr. + +13. _The Bounty of the Chesapeake; Fishing in Colonial Virginia._ By +James Wharton. + +14. _Agriculture in Virginia, 1607-1699._ By Lyman Carrier. + +15. _Reading, Writing and Arithmetic in Virginia, 1607-1699._ By Susie +M. Ames. + +16. _The Government of Virginia in the Seventeenth Century._ By Thomas +J. Wertenbaker. + +17. _Domestic Life in Virginia in the Seventeenth Century._ By Annie +Lash Jester. + +18. _Indians in Seventeenth-Century Virginia._ By Ben C. McCary. + +19. _How Justice Grew. Virginia Counties._ By Martha W. Hiden. + +20. _Tobacco in Colonial Virginia; "The Sovereign Remedy."_ By Melvin +Herndon. + +21. _Medicine in Virginia, 1607-1699._ By Thomas P. Hughes. + +22. _Some Notes on Shipping and Shipbuilding in Colonial Virginia._ By +Cerinda W. Evans. + +23. _A Pictorial Booklet on Early Jamestown Commodities and +Industries._ By J. Paul Hudson. + +Price 50¢ Each + +PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA + +GARRETT and MASSIE, INC., Selling Agent, RICHMOND, VIRGINIA + + * * * * * + + +TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA + +"The Sovereign Remedy" + +by + +MELVIN HERNDON + + + + + + + +Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration Corporation +Williamsburg, Virginia +1957 + +Copyright©, 1957 by +Virginia 350th Anniversary Celebration +Corporation, Williamsburg, Virginia + +Jamestown 350th Anniversary +Historical Booklet, Number 20 + + + + +TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA + +"The Sovereign Remedy" + + +Tobacco was probably first brought to the shores of England from +Florida by Sir John Hawkins in 1565. Englishmen were growing it by the +1570's, and after the return of the daring Sir Francis Drake to England +with a large quantity of tobacco captured in the West Indies in 1586, +the use of tobacco in England was increased substantially. By 1604 its +consumption had become so extensive as to lead to the publication of +King James' _Counter Blast_, condemning the use of tobacco; +nevertheless, six years later the amount brought into Great Britain was +valued at £60,000. + +Some of the colonists were probably acquainted with tobacco before they +landed at Jamestown and found the Indians cultivating and using it +under the name of uppowoc or apooke. However, it was not until 1612 +that its cultivation began among the English settlers, even in small +patches. Previously their attention had been centered entirely on +products that could be used for food. Captain John Smith wrote that +none of the native crops were planted at first, not even tobacco. + +The story of tobacco in Virginia begins with the ingenious John Rolfe. +He was one of the many Englishmen who had come to enjoy the fragrant +aroma and taste of the imported Spanish tobacco; and upon his arrival +at Jamestown in May, 1610, Rolfe found that tobacco could be obtained +only by buying it from the Indians, or by cultivating it. There seems +to have been no spontaneous growth then as now. Owing to the frequent +unfriendly atmosphere between the colonists and the Indians, Rolfe +probably decided to grow a small patch for his own use. He also had a +desire to find some profitable commodity that could be sold in England +and thus promote the success and prosperity of the settlers and the +London Company. Driven by these two motives John Rolfe became the first +colonist to successfully grow tobacco, the plant that was to wield such +a tremendous influence on the history of Virginia. + +_Nicotiana rustica_, the native tobacco of North America, was found to +be inferior to that grown in the Spanish Colonies. Botanists state that +_Nicotiana rustica_ had a much greater nicotine content and sprouted or +branched more than that cultivated today. William Strachey, one of the +first colonists, gave the following description of the native plant +grown in 1616: + + It is not of the best kynd, it is but poore and weake, and of a + byting tast, it growes not fully a yard above the ground, bearing a + little yellowe flower, like to hennebane, the leaves are short and + thick, somewhat round at the upper end.... + +In 1611 Rolfe decided to experiment with seed of the mild Spanish +variety. He persuaded a shipmaster to bring him some tobacco seed from +the Island of Trinidad and Caracas, Venezuela; and by June, 1612, +tobacco from the imported seeds was being cultivated at Jamestown. On +July 20, 1613, a Captain Robert Adams landed the _Elizabeth_ in England +with a sample of Rolfe's first experimental crop. In England, this +first shipment was described as excellent in quality, but it was still +inferior to Spanish tobacco. In 1616 Rolfe modestly asserted, "no doubt +but after a little more triall and expense in the curing thereof, it +will compare with the best in the West Indies." The success of Rolfe's +experiment was soon apparent. In 1617, 20,000 pounds of tobacco were +exported from Virginia, and in the following year the amount doubled. + +Tobacco did not become the chief staple owing merely to the successful +attempts by Rolfe to produce a satisfactory smoking leaf. As has been +noted, there was a ready market for tobacco in England before the +settlers landed at Jamestown. A second important cause was the fact +that tobacco was indigenous to the soil and climate of Virginia. +Tobacco also had a greater advantage Over All Other Staples in That It +Could Be Produced in Larger Quantities Per Acre. This Was Important +Considering the Labor Required To Clear the Trees and Prepare One Acre +for Cultivation. It Was Soon Discovered That the Amount of Tobacco +Produced by One Man's Labor Was Worth About Six Times the Amount of +Wheat That One Man Could Grow and Harvest. Moreover, Tobacco Could Be +Shipped More Economically Than Any Other Crop; Thus the Monetary Return +Upon a Cargo Was Greater Than for Any Other Crop That Could Be Produced +in the Colony. + +One Other Factor Must Not Be Overlooked. One of the Basic Aims of the +English Colonial Policy Was the Development Of Colonial Resources, +Which Would at the Same Time Create a Colonial Market for English +Manufactures in the Colonies. Tobacco Proved To Be Virginia's Most +Valuable Staple, and With Everyone Feverishly Growing the Plant, the +Colony Became an Important Colonial Market. Virginia Purchased English +Goods Delivered in English Ships With Her Tobacco, England Marketed +Much of the Tobacco In Europe and Received Specie Or Goods That Could +Be Sold Elsewhere. This Created a Market for English Manufactures, the +English Merchant Fleet Profited From the Carrying Trade and There Was +No Drain of Specie From England. + + +THE TOBACCO PLANTATION: FROM JAMESTOWN TO THE BLUE RIDGE + +The cultivation of tobacco soon spread from John Rolfe's garden to +every available plot of ground within the fortified districts in +Jamestown. By 1617 the value of tobacco was well known in every +settlement or plantation in Virginia--Bermuda, Dale's Gift, Henrico, +Jamestown, Kecoughtan, and West and Shirley Hundreds--each under a +commander. Governor Dale allowed its culture to be gradually extended +until it absorbed the whole attention at West and Shirley Hundreds and +Jamestown. + +[Illustration: _TOBACCO at Jamestown--1600's_ + Courtesy of Sidney E. King] + +The first general planting in the colony began at West and Shirley +Hundreds where twenty-five men, commanded by a Captain Madison, were +employed solely in planting and curing tobacco. In 1616 the tobacco +fever struck furiously in Jamestown. The following description +indicates the impact of the "fever": there were "but five or six +houses, the church downe, the palizado's broken, the bridge in pieces, +the well of fresh water spoiled; the storehouse used for the church..., +[and] the colony dispersed all about, planting tobacco." The "Noxious +weed" was even growing in the streets and in the market place. + +By 1622 plantations extended at intervals from Point Comfort as far as +140 miles up the James River, and the planters were so absorbed in the +cultivation of tobacco that they gave the Indians firearms and employed +them to do their hunting. This boldness was shortlived, for the Indian +Massacre of 1622 tended to narrow the area under cultivation for that +year. Even so, the planters were able to produce 60,000 pounds of +tobacco. + +Within a year after the massacre the settlers once again became very +bold and extended cultivated areas even farther than before. Prior to +the massacre, the planters had difficulty in clearing the ground of +timber; afterwards, they took over the fields cleared by the Indians +which were said to be among the best in the colony. Expansion was +further facilitated by the "head-right" system, introduced in 1618, +which gave fifty acres of land to any person who transported a settler +to the colony. + +For the first twenty years after the landing at Jamestown, the settlers +restricted themselves to the valley of the James and to the Accomac +Peninsula. For the next thirty years there was a gradual expansion to +the north and west along the banks of the James, York, and the +Rappahannock rivers and their tributaries. By 1650 the frontiersmen had +reached the Potomac. From Jamestown, settlements gradually spread up +and down both banks of the James and its tributaries, the Elizabeth, +Nansemond, Appomattox, and the Chickahominy. Then came the settlements +along the York and its tributaries, the Mattapony and the Pamunkey; and +finally, along the banks of the Rappahannock and the Potomac. The +expansion into the interior did not take place until the Tidewater area +had become fairly well settled. The tidal creeks and rivers afforded a +safe and convenient means of communication while the country was +thickly forested and infested with unfriendly Indians. By settling on +the peninsulas, formed by the tidal creeks and rivers, it was easier to +protect the early settlements once the Indians had been driven out. + +In 1629 there were from 4,000 to 5,000 English settlers, confined +almost exclusively to the James River valley and to the Accomac +Peninsula, where they cultivated about 2,000 acres of tobacco. By 1635 +tobacco had almost disappeared in the immediate vicinity of Jamestown, +as many of the planters moved to new land along the south bank of the +York River. At this time there were settlements in the following eight +counties: Henrico, located on both sides of the James River, between +Arrahattock and Shirley Hundred; Charles City, also located on both +sides of the James from Shirley Hundred Island to Weyanoke; James City, +on both sides of the James from Chippoakes to Lawnes Creek, and from +the Chickahominy River on the north side to a point nearly opposite the +mouth of Lawnes Creek; Warrasquoke (Isle of Wight), contained the area +from the southern limit of James City to the Warrasquoke River; Warwick +and Elizabeth City, the rest of the remaining settlements on the James +River; Charles River (York), all of the plantations on the south bank +of the York River; and finally Accomac. The plantations were still more +thickly grouped in James City than in any other county. + +By the late 1630's, attempts to reduce the amount of tobacco grown in +the colony, by limiting the number of plants each person could plant, +had caused many planters to leave their plantations in search of virgin +soil in which more tobacco per plant could be grown. They frequently +built temporary dwellings, as they expected to move on as soon as the +land under cultivation showed signs of exhaustion. In 1648 planters in +large numbers sought permission from Governor Berkeley and the Council +to move across the York River, to take up the virgin and unclaimed +land. + +Spreading north the frontiersmen had reached the Rappahannock and the +Potomac by 1650, and settlers began moving into Lancaster County. In +1653 the first settlers established themselves in what is now King +William County. Just before the end of the seventeenth century the +tobacco industry had expanded into the lowlands all along the +Rappahannock and Potomac rivers below the Fall Line. In 1689 the York +River area produced the largest quantity of tobacco, the Rappahannock +River area was second, the Upper James third, and the Accomac Peninsula +last. While the production of tobacco continued to expand north and +west, it made little headway in the sandy counties of Princess Anne and +Norfolk. + +All during the seventeenth century expansion tended to extend in a +northerly direction within the Tidewater region, but in the eighteenth +century the movement was to the west in search of virgin soil. Planters +began moving beyond the Fall Line soon after the turn of the century. +Robert Carter of Nomini Hall patented over 900 acres of land above the +Falls in 1707. It is generally agreed that the commercial production of +tobacco began to expand beyond the Fall Line about 1720. In 1723 a +traveler, who had just visited above the Falls, mentioned seeing many +fields of tobacco. In the following year Robert Carter had hundreds of +additional acres surveyed, in what is now Prince William County, as he +extended his holdings above the Fall Line. The tobacco industry seems +to have been fairly well established as far west as Spotsylvania, +Hanover, and Goochland counties as early as 1730. + +In the year 1740 Elias and William Edmunds were among the first +settlers in Fauquier County. They settled near what is now Warrenton +and began producing tobacco of excellent quality, which soon came to be +known as "Edmonium Tobacco." Ten years later large quantities were +being produced in Albemarle (including present Nelson and Amherst +counties), Cumberland, Augusta, and Culpeper counties. During the +six-year period 1750-1755, tobacco production appears to have been +centered equally in three areas: the Upper James River district, the +York River district, and the Rappahannock River district. Each of the +three districts exported about 83,000 hogsheads of tobacco, while the +Lower James River district exported only about 10,000. + +Just prior to the American Revolution the tobacco industry began to +expand rapidly south of the James River, especially to the south and +west of Petersburg. One observer declared in 1769 that the Petersburg +warehouses contained more tobacco than all the rest of the warehouses +on the James or the York River. It was estimated that 20,000 hogsheads +were being produced annually in that region alone. A considerable +amount of tobacco was also being grown in the lower region of the +Valley of Virginia. + +As the tobacco industry continued to expand into Piedmont Virginia, +there was a gradual decline in the Tidewater area. The increase in +population naturally caused a continual expansion of the tobacco +industry from its meager beginnings at Jamestown, but this was not the +major cause. The primary cause was the wasteful cultivation methods +practiced by the planters. To obtain the greatest yield from his land +the planter raised three or four consecutive crops of tobacco in one +field, then moved on to virgin fields. This practice was begun on a +relatively large scale as early as 1632 when a planting restriction of +1,500 plants per person was enacted, causing many planters to leave +their estates in search of better land in an effort to increase the +quality of their tobacco. As cheap virgin soil became scarce, planters +left their lands in Tidewater to take up fresh acreage in the Piedmont, +or they stayed at home and grew grain, some corn but mostly wheat. + +We can only generalize as to when and how extensive this substitution +of wheat for tobacco may have been. There are those who believe that a +permanent shift away from tobacco began as early as 1720 on the Eastern +Shore of Virginia, while others state that it did not start until about +ten years later. As early as 1759 all of the best lands in Virginia +were reported to have been taken, and by the time of the Revolution the +supply was said to have been completely exhausted. In 1771 there were +rumors that at least one hundred of the principal Virginia planters had +given up the tobacco culture entirely and converted their plantations +to something more profitable. However, it is generally agreed that +tobacco was not abandoned extensively in Tidewater before the +Revolution. + +The first appreciable decline came during the Revolution and this trend +continued until the tobacco was almost completely abandoned in +Tidewater in the nineteenth century. The rise in demand for foodstuffs +during the war caused planters to shift from tobacco in increasing +numbers. Many of them only reduced their tobacco crop at first, but +later abandoned it completely. After the Revolution wheat was +substituted for tobacco quite extensively, but owing to the expansion +into the Piedmont, Virginia's post-war tobacco production soon equalled +that of the prewar years. Tobacco was still grown in Tidewater Virginia +and some beyond the western boundary of the Piedmont, but by this time +Tidewater had ceased to be the "tobacco country" of previous years. + +The production of tobacco continued to increase in the Piedmont and +decrease in Tidewater, and Piedmont Virginia became more firmly +established as Virginia's tobacco belt. This change was due partly to +the fact that the virgin and fertile soils of the West kept tobacco +prices so low that it could not be profitably produced on the manured +worn out soils in the East. Tidewater was becoming full of old tobacco +fields covered with young pine trees and the industry became +concentrated largely in middle and southern Virginia. By 1800 Piedmont +Virginia had definitely become the major tobacco producing area. + +[Illustration: Old Tobacco Warehouse, built 1680 at Urbanna, Virginia + Courtesy of Mrs. H. I. Worthington] + +[Illustration: The mild species of tobacco which Rolfe imported from +the West Indies. + + The harsh species of tobacco which Rolfe found the + Indians cultivating. + + Courtesy of George Arents, and Virginia State Library] + +Expansion and new developments over a period of years brought about a +fantastic increase in tobacco production. When its production was +confined to the Tidewater area, Virginia produced about 40,000,000 +pounds annually; by 1800 this amount had doubled. Virginia remained the +leading producer of tobacco in the United States until the War Between +the States, when she was replaced by Kentucky, owing to the devastating +effects of the war in the Old Dominion. + +In the South the nature of the crop usually determines the number of +acres that one person can cultivate successfully. Only a small number +of acres of tobacco can be cultivated properly owing to its high value +of yield per acre and the careful supervision required. The production +of tobacco per acre does not appear to have changed very much in the +long period from about 1650 to 1800, when 1,000 pounds per acre was +considered a good yield. However, the amount that one man could produce +increased during this period as the planters became more experienced +and the plow and other implements came to be used more extensively. It +has been estimated that in 1624 one man could properly cultivate and +harvest only about one-half of an acre of tobacco, or about 400 pounds. +At the beginning of the eighteenth century the average product of one +man was from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds or in terms of acreage, from one and +a half to two acres, plus six or seven barrels of corn. Around 1775 one +man produced from 2,000 to 2,500 pounds of tobacco besides provisions. +Thus it appears that during most of the Colonial period one man could +cultivate one and a half to two acres of tobacco, plus provisions; but +by the end of this period he had increased the productiveness of his +own labor. + + +MANAGEMENT OF THE CROP + +Cultivation practices during the early years at Jamestown appear to +have been a combination of those used by the Indians and those of the +farmers in England; modifications and new techniques were developed as +the settlers became experienced planters. The early Jamestown settlers +followed the Indian custom of planting the tobacco seed in hills as +they did corn, although some probably followed the practice as +described by Stevens and Liebault's _Maison Rustique_ or _The Country +Farm_, published in London in 1606: + + For to sow it, you must make a hole in the earth with your finger + and that as deep as your finger is long, then you must cast into + the same hole ten or twelve seeds of the said Nicotiana together, + and fill up the hole again: for it is so small, as that if you + should put in but four or five seeds the earth would choake it: and + if the time be dry, you must water the place easily some five days + after: And when the herb is grown out of the earth, inasmuch as + every seed will have put up his sprout and stalk, and that the + small thready roots are entangled the one within the other, you + must with a great knife make a composs within the earth in the + places about this plot where they grow and take up the earth and + all together, and cast them into a bucket full of water, to the end + that the earth may be separated, and the small and tender impes + swim about the water; and so you shall sunder them one after + another without breaking them. + +This was perhaps the forerunner of the tobacco plantbed, as it appears +from the above description that a half dozen or so plants were taken +from each hill sown and transplanted nearby. + +Just when the planters stopped planting tobacco like corn is not known. +Thomas Glover's _Account of Virginia_, written in 1671, is perhaps the +first written account which mentions sowing the seeds in beds. He +wrote, "In the Twelve-daies [before Christmas?] they begin to sow their +seed in the beds of fine Mould..." A somewhat more detailed account was +written in 1688 by John Clayton, an English clergyman visiting in +Virginia. He relates that before the seeds were sown the planters +tested the seed by throwing a few into the fire; if they sparkled like +gunpowder, they were declared to be good. The ground was chopped fine +and the seeds, mixed with ashes, were sown around the middle of +January. To protect the young plants, the seedbed was usually covered +with oak leaves, though straw was used occasionally. Straw was thought +to harbor and breed a fly that destroyed the young plants, and if straw +was used, it was first smoked with brimstone to kill this fly. Oak +boughs were then placed on top of the leaves or straw and left there +until the frosts were gone, at which time they were removed so that the +young tender plants were exposed to allow them to grow strong and large +enough to be transplanted. + +Post-Revolutionary plantbed practices were essentially those of the +early colonial planters, with slight modifications as they became more +experienced. In choosing plantbed sites, a sunny southern or +southeastern exposure on a virgin slope near a stream was preferred. +This enabled the planter to water his plantbed in case of a drought. +The practice of burning the plantbeds over with piles of brush and logs +prior to seeding was no doubt a seventeenth century custom, but the +first available record was found in an account written during the +Revolution. + +To clear land for cultivation, the settlers felled the trees about a +yard from the ground to prevent the stump from sprouting and to cause +the stump to decay sooner. Some of the wood was burnt or carried off +and the rest was left on the field to rot. The area between the stumps +and logs was then broken up with the hoe. In their ardent quest for +more cleared land, the planters frequently cultivated old Indian +fields, which the Indian had abandoned for one reason or another. Such +land was always found to be of the best soil. Clayton stated that after +the land was chopped fine, hills to set every plant in were raised to +"about the bigness of a common Mole-hill...." A later account by +William Tatham, relates that the hills were made by drawing a round +heap of earth about knee high around the leg of the worker, the foot +was then withdrawn and the top of the hill was flattened with the back +of the hoe. + +In 1628 the hills were made at a distance of four and one-half feet, +the distance was reduced to four feet by 1671, and by 1700, three feet +became and remained the usual distance. The plants were considered +large enough to be transplanted when they had grown to be about the +"Breadth of a Shilling," usually around the first or second week in +May. The earlier in May the better, so that the crop would mature in +time to harvest before the frosts came. Planters usually waited for a +rain or "season" to begin transplanting. One person with a container +(usually a basket) of plants dropped a plant near each hill; another +followed, made a hole in the center of each hill with his fingers, +inserted the roots and pressed the earth around the roots with his +hands. Several "seasons" and several drawings from the plantbeds were +usually required before the entire crop was planted, which was +frequently not until sometime in July. + +The tobacco was hoed for the first time about eight to ten days after +planting, or to use a common expression, when the plants had "taken +root." The tobacco was usually hoed once each week or as often as was +deemed necessary to keep the soil "loose" and the weeds down. When the +plants were about knee high they were "hilled up," as the Indian had +done his corn, or the Englishman his cabbage, and considered "laid by." +Frequently some of the plants died or were cut off by an earthworm; +these vacant hills were usually replanted during the month of June, +except when prohibited by law. This restriction was an attempt to +reduce the amount of inferior tobacco at harvest time. + +Around 1800, plows were still rarely used in new grounds, but they +appear to have been rather common in the old fields. George Washington +used the plow to lay off his tobacco rows into three-foot squares, the +hills were then made directly on the cross so that in the early stages +of its growth the tobacco could be cultivated with the plow each way. +The plow lightened the burden of cultivation by requiring less hoe +work. + +When the plant began to bloom, usually six or seven weeks after +planting, the plant was topped; that is, the top of the plant was +pinched out with the thumb and finger nails. The number of leaves left +on the plant depended largely upon the fertility of the soil. In the +early days of the colony, planters left twenty-five or thirty leaves on +a plant, by 1671 the number had been reduced to twelve or sixteen in +very rich soil. Throughout the seventeenth century the General +Assembly, in an attempt to reduce production, occasionally limited the +number of leaves that could be left on a plant after topping. After +around 1700, from five to nine leaves were left on the plant, depending +on the strength of the soil. + +After topping, the plant grew no higher, but the leaves grew larger and +heavier and sprouts or suckers appeared at the junction of the stalk +and the leaf stem. If allowed to grow they injured the marketable +quality of tobacco by taking up plant food that would have gone into +the leaves. These suckers were removed by pinching them off with the +thumb and finger nails. Owing to his laziness or ignorance, the Indian +did not top his tobacco, though he did keep the suckers out. Tobacco +that has been topped will produce a second set of suckers once the +first growth has been removed. If the tobacco is not topped, only three +or four suckers will appear, and these grow in the very top of the +plant. During the course of the growing season the colonial planter had +two sets of suckers to remove, from the junction of each leaf and from +the bottom to the top of the plant, whereas the Indian had only a total +of three or four per plant. Thus it appears that the planter learned +from his own experience to top tobacco, and that it was a laborious +though profitable task. It has been said that topping was first used as +a means of limiting the production of tobacco to the very best grades +by the planters as early as the 1620's. + +Only a planter with considerable experience could tell when the plant +was ripe for harvest. This no doubt accounts for much of the inferior +tobacco produced in the early days of the colony. Planters usually had +their own individual methods of determining when a plant was ripe for +cutting. Some thought the plants were ripe and ready to cut when a +vigorous growth of suckers appeared around the root; others believed +the plant was ripe when the top leaves of the plant became covered with +yellow spots and "rolled over," touching the ground. Occasionally it +had to be cut regardless of its maturity to save it from the frost. + +During the early days at Jamestown the tobacco was harvested by pulling +the ripe leaves from the plants growing in the fields. The leaves were +then piled in heaps and covered with hay to be cured by sweating. In +1617, a Mr. Lambert discovered that the leaves cured better when strung +on lines than when sweated under the hay. This innovation was further +facilitated in 1618 when Governor Argall prohibited the use of hay to +sweat tobacco, owing to the scarcity of fodder for the cattle. It was +probably this new method of curing that led to the building of tobacco +barns, which were known to be in use at the time of the Indian Massacre +in 1622. + +By 1671 the planters had stopped stringing the leaves on lines; the +tobacco plant was cut off just above the top of the ground and left +lying in the field for three or four hours, or until the leaves "fell" +or became somewhat withered so that the plant could be handled without +breaking the stems and fibers in the leaves. The plants were then +carried into the tobacco barns, and hung on tobacco sticks by a small +peg that had been driven into each stalk. + +During the early years of the eighteenth century the pegs were +superseded by partially spliting the stalk and hanging it on the +sticks. The use of fire in curing tobacco was also introduced during +this century, but was rarely used before the Revolution. The earlier +accounts refer to curing as the action of the air and sun. If the plant +was large, the stalk was split down the middle six or seven inches +below the extremity of the split, then turned directly bottom upwards +to enable the sun to cause it to "fall", or wither faster. The plants +were then brought to the scaffolds, which were generally erected all +around the tobacco barns, and placed with the splits across a small oak +stick about an inch in diameter and four and a half feet long. The +sticks of tobacco were then placed on the scaffold. The tobacco +remained there to cure for a brief period and then the sticks were +removed from the outdoor scaffolds, carried into the tobacco barn and +placed on the tier poles erected in successive regular graduation from +near the bottom to the top of the barn. Once the barn was filled, the +curing was sometimes hastened by making fires on the floor of the barn. + +Around 1800 the most common method was still air-curing, fire was used +primarily to keep the tobacco from molding in damp weather. During the +War of 1812 there was a considerable shift to fire-curing owing to the +demand in Europe for a smoky flavored leaf. Fire-curing not only gave +tobacco a different taste, but it also improved the keeping qualities +of the leaf. The fire dried the stem of the leaf more thoroughly, thus +eliminating the major cause of spoilage when packed in the hogshead for +shipment. + +August and September were the favorite months for cutting and curing +because the tobacco would cure a brighter color if cured in hot +weather. Even today farmers like to finish curing their tobacco as +early in September as possible. However, it was usually cold weather +before all of the crop could be cut and cured. Occasionally frost would +kill part of the crop before it was ripe enough to cut. + +In the early years of the tobacco industry there was little to the +stripping process as the leaves were hung on strings to cure. The +string was removed and the leaves were twisted and wound into rolls. +The leaves were twisted by hand or spun on a small spinning machine +into a thick rope, from which a ball containing from one to thirty +pounds was made, though some were known to weigh as much as 105 pounds. +The rolls were either wrapped in heavy canvass or packed in small +barrels for shipping. In 1614 four barrels containing 170 pounds each +were sent to England on the _Sir Thomas_. Tobacco was also shipped +loose or in small bundles known as hands, and by 1629 a considerable +number of hogsheads were being used. + +There seems to have been little grading in the early days. London +Company officials frequently complained of the bad tobacco being mixed +with the good, and early inspection laws required that the tobacco be +brought to central locations and the mean tobacco separated from the +bulk. After cutting became the common practice the leaves were stripped +from the stalk and assorted according to variety and grade. By the +1680's the lowest grade was known as lugs. Sweet-scented and Oronoco +were usually exported separately, and usually only the sweet-scented +was stemmed. If the two varieties were mixed in a hogshead, it was +purchased at the prevailing Oronoco prices, which were less than those +paid for sweet-scented. The English merchant claimed that he had to +sell all of it as Oronoco unless it were separated and that the cost of +the labor required to separate it was equal to the higher price the +sweet-scented would bring. These two varieties were probably seldom +mixed except perhaps to fill the last hogshead of the season. The +planters eventually came to realize the value of handling tobacco with +care, for when good tobacco land became less plentiful, other means of +improving the quality of tobacco became necessary. + +By 1665 most of the tobacco was shipped in hogsheads, but it was not +until 1730 that the shipment of bulk tobacco was prohibited. Nor were +the hogsheads made to any standard size until 1657, at which time they +were required to be 43" × 26". In 1695 the standard size was raised to +48" × 30", and this remained the standard size until the 1790's. In +1796 the legal size was increased to 54" × 34"; this remained the legal +size until the 1820's. The weight of the hogshead increased from time +to time. In 1657 a hogshead of tobacco weighed about 300 pounds, 600 in +the 1660's, 800 by 1730, 950 by 1765, and around 1,000 in the 1790's. +These were supposed to have been the standard or legal weights, but +regulations were not strictly enforced. As early as 1757 some of the +hogsheads weighed as much as 1,274 pounds. By 1800 hogsheads averaged +about 1,100 pounds. + + +VARIETIES + +A complete story on the origin of the early varieties of tobacco would +be a very significant contribution, since very little is known about +them. Most writers agree that the tobacco cultivated by the English +settlers was not the same _Nicotiana rustica_ grown by the Indians, but +_Nicotiana tabacum_, the type found growing in South America and the +West Indies. The difference between these two types was profound, both +in taste and size. The plant native to Virginia was small, growing to a +height of only two or three feet, whereas _Nicotiana tabacum_ grew from +six to nine feet tall. As to taste, George Arents remarked, "the same +difference in taste exists between these two species, as between a crab +apple and an Albemarle pippin." + +All during the colonial period tobacco was classified into two main +varieties, Oronoco and sweet-scented. Oronoco had a large porous +pointed leaf and was strong in taste. Sweet-scented was milder, the +leaf was rounder and the fibers were finer. We are also told that +sweet-scented grew mostly in the lower parts of Virginia, along the +York and James rivers, and later on the Rappahannock and on the +southside of the Potomac. Oronoco was generally planted up the +Chesapeake Bay area and in the back settlements on the strong land +along all the rivers. + +Oronoco is thought to have originated in the vicinity of the Orinoco +River valley in Venezuela. After being brought to a different +environment and climate in Virginia, various varieties or strains of +Oronoco were developed or came about naturally. In the late 1600's a +very fair and bright large Oronoco, Prior, and Kite's Foot were +mentioned. As the years passed planters came to distinguish other +varieties such as Hudson, Frederick, Thick-Joint, Shoe-string, +Thickset, Blue Pryor, Medley Pryor, White Stem, Townsend, Long Green, +Little Frederic, and Browne Oronoco. + +A type of tobacco referred to locally as "yellow", had been growing on +the poor, thin, and sandy soils in and around Pittsylvania County, +Virginia, and Caswell County, North Carolina since the early 1820's. It +was just another one of the many local varieties and attracted little +attention until a very lucky accident occurred in 1839. A Negro slave +on the Slade farm in Caswell County, North Carolina, fell asleep while +fire-curing tobacco. Upon awakening, he quickly piled some dry wood on +the dying embers; the sudden drying heat from the revived fires +produced a profound effect--this particular barn of tobacco cured a +bright yellow. This accident produced a curing technique that soon +became known throughout the surrounding area in Virginia and North +Carolina. This tobacco became known as "Bright-Tobacco", and this area +the "Bright-Tobacco Belt". + +The many variations were due to the different environments, cultural +practices, methods of curing and breeding; and each of these variations +was given a name because of some particular quality it possessed, or +was given the name of a person or place. The difference in the +composition of the "Bright-Tobacco" grown in the poor sandy soil, such +as that found in Pittsylvania County, caused the tobacco to cure +bright. This so-called new type of tobacco was of the old Virginia +Oronoco and if grown on heavier soils, it produced a much heavier +bodied tobacco and would not make the same response when flue-cured. +Only the tobacco grown in the soils such as that in the "Bright-Tobacco +Belt" cured bright, which indicates that it was the soil and not the +variety that caused the tobacco to be bright when cured. + +The origin and development of sweet-scented tobacco remains somewhat of +a mystery, and we can only make conjectures as to what happened. Some +authorities hold that the present day Maryland tobacco is descended +from the sweet-scented of the Colonial days, while others believe it to +be a descendant of Oronoco. It seems quite possible that there was only +one variety of _Nicotiana tabacum_ when John Rolfe first began his +experiments, and there is reason to believe that this first tobacco was +sweet-scented. The name Oronoco probably came after the name +sweet-scented had already been established. It also appears that +sweet-scented disappeared as soon as the soils along the James, York, +Rappahannock, and Potomac rivers were exhausted. + +George Arents, probably the foremost authority on the history of +tobacco, in referring to Rolfe's first shipment to England wrote, "So +fragrant was the leaf that it almost at once began to be known as +'sweet-scented.'" Ralph Hamor, in 1614, declared that the colony grew +tobacco equal to that of Trinidad, "sweet and pleasant." Jerome E. +Brooks wrote that Rolfe's importation of tobacco seed resulted in the +famous Virginia sweet-scented leaf. + +Once the cultivation began to spread into the areas away from the sandy +loam along the James and York rivers, the type of soil necessary for +the production of the sweet-scented, other varieties began to develop. +In 1688 John Clayton wrote, "I have observed, that that which is called +Pine-wood Land tho' it be a sandy soil, even the sweet-scented Tobacco +that grows thereon, is large and porous, agreeable to Aranoko Tobacco; +it smokes as coursely as Aranoko." While on his visit to Virginia, +Clayton visited a poor, worn-out plantation along the James River. The +owner, a widow, complained to him that her land would produce only four +or five leaves of tobacco per plant. Clayton suggested that one of the +bogs on the plantation be drained and planted in tobacco. A few years +later Clayton happened to meet this same lady in London, selling the +first crop of tobacco grown on the drained bog. She related to Clayton +that the product was "so very large, that it was suspected to be of the +Aranoko kind...." + +In 1724 Hugh Jones observed that the farther a person went northward +from the York or southward from the James, the poorer the quality of +the sweet-scented tobacco, "but this maybe (I believe) attributed in +some Measure to the Seed and Management, as well as to the Land and +Latitude." John Custis in a letter to Philip Perry in 1737 wrote that +he grew Oronoco on the Eastern Shore of Virginia using the same seed as +he did for his sweet-scented York crop. It appears that as the sandy +loam necessary for the growing of sweet-scented tobacco became +exhausted and the planters expanded into the heavy fertile soils, the +tobacco became the strong, coarse Oronoco. As virgin soil became +scarce, Oronoco was no longer confined to the richest soils, nor was it +thought to be less sweet-scented than its rivals. Toward the end of the +eighteenth century tobacco inspectors found it so difficult to +distinguish the various types, that they classed all tobacco as +Oronoco. Thus it seems quite possible that both Oronoco and +sweet-scented were originally one variety which became two, primarily +because of the different soil composition. + + +TRANSPORTATION TO MARKET + +In the early days of the colony the small ocean-going merchant vessel +was the only method of transportation essential to marketing the +tobacco crop. Such a small ship was able to anchor at many of the +plantation wharves and load its cargo of tobacco. Next to fertility, +the proximity to navigable water was the most important factor in +influencing the planter in the selection of a tract of land. However, +later expansion of the tobacco industry into the interior and the +increase in the size of all ocean-going ships made some mode of +transportation within the colony a necessity. When the ships could not +get directly up to the wharf or enter shallow creeks on which many of +the plantations were located, small boats called flats or shallops were +used to transport the hogsheads to the anchored vessels. In 1633 the +General Assembly provided that all tobacco had to be brought to one of +the five warehouses--to be erected in specified localities--to be +stored until sold. The planters objected immediately and petitioned the +House of Burgesses to allow ships to come into every county, "where +they will find at every man's house a store convenient enough for +theire ladinge, we beinge all seated by the Riverside." The planters +also complained that they had "... noe other means to export but by +Boatinge." + +Carrying the tobacco for long distances in the shallop involved a risk, +as well as an additional expense. By rolling the hogsheads directly on +board a ship anchored at his own wharf or only a few miles away the +planter eliminated the danger involved in transporting his tobacco in +an untrustworthy, heavily laden shallop, and he also saved the increase +in freight charges for delivery to the ships by the seamen. Freight +rates were the same from his wharf to England as they were from any +other point in the colony. + +In 1697 Henry Hartwell remarked, "they [the merchants] are at the +charge of carting this tobacco ... [collected from the planter,] to +convenient Landinge; or if it lyes not far from these landings, they +must trust to the Seamen for their careful rolling it on board of their +sloops and shallops...." A second common mode of transportation, +according to Philip A. Bruce, was "not to draw the cask over the ground +by means of horses or oxen, like an enormous clod crusher, the custom +of a later period, but to propel it by the application of a steady +force from behind." In 1724 Hugh Jones wrote, "The tobacco is rolled, +drawn by horses, or carted to convenient Rolling Houses, whence it is +conveyed on board the ships in flats or sloops." Thus it appears that +by 1700 the Tidewater planters had adopted three methods of +transporting their tobacco to market or to points of exportation: by +rolling the hogshead, by cart, and by boat. + +By the middle of the eighteenth century planters in the Piedmont were +rolling their tobacco to the distant Tidewater markets, whereas the +Tidewater planter usually hauled his tobacco by wagon. Rolling tobacco +more than 100 miles was not out of the ordinary. The ingenious upland +planters placed some extra hickory hoops around the hogshead, attached +two hickory limbs for shafts, by driving pegs into the headings, and +hitched a horse or oxen to it. This method worked quite well except +that the tobacco was frequently damaged by the mud, water, or sand. To +prevent this, the hogshead was raised off the ground by a device called +a felly. This device consisted of segments of wood fitted together to +form a circle resembling the rim of a cartwheel; these segments were +fitted around the circumference of the hogshead. The hogsheads used for +rolling in this manner were constructed much more substantially than +those wagoned or transported by boat. + +For the river trade the Piedmont planter once again relied upon his +ingenuity. Around 1740 a rather unique water carrier was perfected by +the Reverend Robert Rose, then living in Albemarle County. Two canoes +fifty or sixty feet long were lashed together with cords and eight or +nine hogsheads of tobacco were rolled on their gunwales crossways for +the trip to Richmond. This came to be known as the "Rose method." For +the return trip the canoes were separated and two men with poles could +travel twice the distance in a day as four good oarsmen could propel a +boat capable of carrying the same burden. Before 1795 boats coming down +the James River from the back country landed at Westham, located just +above the falls, and the tobacco was then carried into Richmond by +wagon. There is the story of one planter who forgot to land his canoes +at Westham. It seems that he left his plantation on the upper James +with a load of tobacco and a jug full of whiskey. By the time he +reached Westham the planter had consumed too much of the whiskey, and +forgot to land at Westham. He rode his canoes, tobacco and all, over +the Falls. Shortly thereafter he was fished from the waters downstream, +wet and frightened, but sober. + +By 1800, owing to the fact that both the planters and buyers had become +more concerned about the quality of tobacco, rolling tobacco in +hogsheads began to decline sharply, although fifty years later a rare +roller might still be seen on his way to market. The rivers and canals +provided the most typical means of transportation. Wagons were used +primarily as feeders to and from inland waters. The Potomac, +Rappahannock, and York rivers were valuable colonial arteries, but +played a less significant role after the Piedmont became the major +producing area. The James and the Roanoke superseded them as the major +arteries of transportation in the nineteenth century. + +The "Rose method" of water transportation, the lashing of two canoes +together, had practically disappeared on the upland waters by 1800, +being replaced by a small open flat-bottomed boat called the bateau, +which carried a load of from five to eight hogsheads. Two planters, N. +C. Dawson and A. Rucker, both of Amherst County, patented a bateau, in +the early 1800's, which was a great improvement over the earlier ones. +This bateau was from forty-eight to fifty-four feet long, but very +narrow in proportion to its length. It was claimed that with a crew of +three men these new "James River Bateaux" could make the round trip +from Lynchburg to Richmond in ten days. They floated down the stream +with ease, but worked their way back upstream with poles. Shortly +before the turn of the eighteenth century canals had been constructed +around the falls from Westham to Richmond, and the upland boats were +able to load and unload their cargoes at the wharves in Richmond. In +1810 it was estimated that about one-fourth of the entire Virginia +tobacco crop came down the James River and through the Westham Canal +into Richmond. + +There were land and water routes in the Roanoke Valley that led to +Petersburg. Tobacco was taken all the way to Petersburg by wagon, or +carried by boat from the upper Roanoke and its tributaries to the falls +at Weldon, North Carolina, and from there to Petersburg by wagon. Owing +to the tobacco trade coming down the Roanoke, Clarksville became a +small market town. In the Farmville area many of the planters sent +their tobacco down the Appomattox River to Petersburg, rather than +overland by wagon. Soon after 1800 the Upper Canal Company built a +canal that connected Petersburg with the navigable waters of the +Appomattox River. Virginia's waterways served her transportation +problem well until they were superseded by the railroads in the +ante-bellum days. + + +ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE INSPECTION SYSTEM + +Within a few years after Rolfe's successful experiment in the +cultivation of tobacco, it became necessary to inaugurate some means of +improving the quality of the Virginia tobacco. Once it was discovered +that tobacco could be successfully and profitably grown in Virginia, +everyone wanted to grow it. Blacksmiths, carpenters, shipwrights, and +even the minister frequently grew a patch of tobacco. Owing to +inexperience in farming of any kind, plus the fact that the commercial +production of tobacco was new even to most of the experienced farmers, +much of the tobacco produced was of a very low quality. For centuries +many planters seem to have placed quantity above quality in growing +tobacco. Anyone could grow tobacco in certain quantities, but only a +few could produce tobacco of superior quality. + +The first general inspection law in Virginia was passed in 1619 and +provided that all tobacco offered for exchange at the magazine, the +general storehouse in Jamestown, found to be very "mean" in quality by +the magazine custodian was to be burnt. The magazine was abolished in +1620 and in 1623 this law was amended to provide for the appointment of +sworn men in each settlement to condemn all bad tobacco. + +In 1630 an act was passed prohibiting the sale or acceptance of +inferior tobacco in payment of debts. The commander of each plantation +or settlement was authorized to appoint two or three experienced and +competent men to help him inspect all tobacco, offered in payment of +debts, which had been found "mean" by the creditor. If the inspectors +declared the tobacco mean, the inferior tobacco was burned and the +delinquent planter was disbarred from planting tobacco. Only the +General Assembly could remove this disability. Owing to complaints that +the commanders were showing partiality to planters on their own +plantations, the act was amended in 1632; the commander's power of +inspection was removed and his duty was limited to appointing two +inspectors and making the final report. The appointment of inspectors +was made compulsory in case of a complaint. + +The following year (1633) a more comprehensive measure was enacted. It +provided that all inspections were to be made at five different points +in the colony: James City, Shirley Hundred Island, Denbigh, Southampton +River in Elizabeth City, and Cheskiack. Storehouses were to be built at +these places and all tobacco was to be brought to these storehouses +before the last day of December of each year. At these storehouses the +tobacco was to be carefully inspected and all of the bad tobacco +separated from the good and burned. This duty was to be performed once +each week by inspectors under oath, one of whom was to be a member of +the Council. All tobacco found in the barns of the planters after +December 31 was to be confiscated, unless reserved for family use. All +of those planning to keep tobacco for that purpose were required to +swear to this fact before the proper officials before December 31. All +debts were to be paid at one of these five storehouses, with the +storekeeper as a witness. Before the end of the year (1633) two other +such storehouses were authorized to be built,--one at Warrasquoke and +the other at a point lying between Weyanoke and the Falls. In addition +to the Councillors, members of the local courts were added as +inspectors. The provision requiring the burning of unmerchantable +tobacco may have been enforced, but the storehouses were never built. + +In 1639 all of the mean tobacco and half of the good was ordered +destroyed. The legislature passed an act providing for the appointment +of 213 inspectors, three were assigned to each district. These +inspectors were authorized to break down the doors of any building if +they had reason to believe that tobacco was being concealed within. +This act was designed primarily to restrict the quantity of tobacco to +be marketed owing to the flooded markets abroad and the resulting low +prices. + +All of the inspection laws passed after 1632 were formally repealed in +1641. The only important inspection law left on the statute books was +the one passed in 1630 requiring the plantation commander, who was +later replaced by the county lieutenant, to appoint two or three +inspectors to inspect tobacco sold or received in payment of a debt, +upon complaint of the buyer or creditor that he had been passed some +bad tobacco. The law remained on the books until 1730. After these +early attempts to establish an effective inspection system, little +further progress was made during the seventeenth century. Occasional +acts aimed at controlling the quantity and quality of tobacco continued +to be passed from time to time; such as laws prohibiting the tending of +seconds, false packing, and planting or replanting tobacco after a +certain date. + +As the tobacco industry continued to expand into the interior, the need +and the difficulty of regulating the quality of the leaf increased. +Owing to ignorance or indifference, the frontier planters seldom +resorted to methods of improving the quality of the crop. They traded +their tobacco in small lots with the outport merchants, those from +ports other than London, mostly Scottish, who sold the inferior tobacco +to the countries in northern Europe. In 1705 the Council proposed that +an experienced and competent person be appointed in each county to +inspect and receive all tobacco for discharge of debts in that county +at specifically named storehouses and "at no other place." These county +agents were to meet and select proper locations for building the +storehouses. Owners of the land sites selected were to be given the +privilege of building and renting these storehouses. If the owner did +not choose to build, he could rent the land site to the county agent +that he might build on it. If both refused to build, it was proposed +that the county court should buy the land and erect the storehouse. + +Storehouses were already established on many of the land sites +proposed. In 1680, to accelerate the growth of towns, the General +Assembly had passed an act providing that fifty acres of land be laid +out for towns at convenient landings and that storehouses be built in +each, at which all goods imported had to be landed and all exports +stored while awaiting transportation. The towns and storehouses were +located in the following places in twenty counties: Accomac, Calvert's +Neck; Charles City, Flower de Hundred; Elizabeth City, Hampton; +Gloucester, Tindall's Point; Henrico, Varina; Isle of Wight, Pates +Field on Pagan Creek; James City, James City; Lancaster, Corotomond +River; Middlesex, Urbanna Creek; Nansemond, Dues Point; New Kent, Brick +House; Norfolk, on the Elizabeth River at the mouth of the Eastern +River; Northampton, Kings Creek; Northumberland, Chickacony; Essex, +Hobb's Hole; Stafford, Pease Point, at the mouth of Deep Creek; +Westmoreland, Nominie; and York, Ship Honors Store. Though none of the +proposals were passed by the General Assembly in 1705, they were +incorporated into later legislation and provided the basis for an +effective inspection system. + +In 1712 the General Assembly once again decided it would be +advantageous to have designated places in each county where tobacco and +other products could be kept safe while waiting for transportation to +England, and an act was passed providing that all houses already built +and being used as public "rolling-houses", that is warehouses, within +one mile of a public landing, be maintained by their respective owners. +If there were no such warehouses at designated locations, the county +courts were given the authority to order new ones built. If the owner +of the site refused to build, the county could, after a fair appraisal, +buy the land and build a warehouse at public expense. When and if the +warehouse was discontinued, the land reverted to the original owner or +his heirs. It is interesting to know that the warehouse built at +Urbanna, in Middlesex County, in 1680, is still standing, and it is +"America's only colonial built warehouse for tobacco still in +existence". + +The owners were compelled to receive all goods offered, and were to +receive storage rates for these services. For goods stored in casks of +sixty gallons in size, or bales or parcels of greater bulk, the owners +of the storehouses received twelve pence for the first day or the first +three months and six pence for every three months thereafter. The owner +of the warehouse was made liable for merchandise lost or damaged while +under his custody. + +One of the most significant features of the 1730 inspection system was +first introduced in 1713. Primarily through the efforts of Governor +Spotswood, an act was passed providing for licensed inspectors at the +various warehouses already established. To provide a convenient +circulating medium, and one that would not meet with opposition from +the English government, these inspectors were authorized to issue +negotiable receipts for tobacco inspected and stored at these +warehouses. Like many new and untried ideas, this law seemed somewhat +radical and met a great deal of opposition. With Colonel William Byrd +as their leader, the opposition was able to convince certain British +officials that the added expense required by the act imposed an undue +hardship on the tobacco trade. This local opposition combined with the +pressure of the conservative London merchants caused the act to be +vetoed by the Privy Council in 1716. + +The act of 1712, providing for the regulation of public warehouses, +remained in force and became a part of the rather effective inspection +system established in 1730. The act was amended in 1720 giving the +county courts the authority to order warehouses inconvenient to the +landings discontinued. These two pieces of legislation brought all of +the public warehouses near convenient landings and made the warehouse +movement flexible. From this point on, as the tobacco industry shifted +from one area to another, the warehouse movement kept pace. From time +to time established warehouses were ordered discontinued, or new ones +erected; and occasionally warehouses ordered discontinued were revived. +However, it appears that inspection warehouses were not permitted above +the Fall Line until after the Revolution. + +In 1730 the most comprehensive inspection bill ever introduced, passed +the General Assembly. The common knowledge that the past and present +inspection laws had failed to prevent the importation of unmarketable +tobacco, plus a long depression, had changed the attitude of many of +the influential planters and merchants. Nevertheless, the act did meet +with opposition from some of the English customs officials and a few of +the large planters. Soon after the passage of this new inspection law a +prominent planter wrote complainingly to a London merchant, "This Tobo +hath passed the Inspection of our new law, every hogshead was cased and +viewed by which means the tobacco was very much tumbled and made +something less sightly than it was before and it causes a great deal of +extraordinary trouble". There were complaints that the new law +destroyed tobacco that used to bring good money. Still another planter +complained that the planter's name and evidence on the hogshead had +much more effect on the price of the tobacco than the inspector's +brand. While some of the planters expressed their disapproval of the +new inspection law verbally, others resorted to violence. During the +first year some villains burned two inspection houses, one in Lancaster +County and another in Northumberland. + +The inspection law passed in 1730 was frequently amended during the +colonial period, but there were no changes in its essential features. +The act provided that no tobacco was to be shipped except in hogsheads, +cases, or casks, without having first passed an inspection at one of +the legally established inspection warehouses; thus the shipment of +bulk tobacco was prohibited. Two inspectors were employed at each +warehouse, and a third was summoned in case of a dispute between the +two regular inspectors. These officials were bonded and were forbidden +under heavy penalties to pass bad tobacco, engage in the tobacco trade, +or to take rewards. Tobacco offered in payment of debts, public or +private, had to be inspected under the same conditions as that to be +exported. The inspectors were required to open the hogshead, extract +and carefully examine two samplings; all trash and unsound tobacco was +to be burned in the warehouse kiln in the presence and with the consent +of the owner. If the owner refused consent the entire hogshead was to +be destroyed. After the tobacco was sorted, the good tobacco was +repacked in the hogshead and the planter's distinguishing mark, net +weight, tare (weight of the hogshead), and name of inspection warehouse +were stamped on the hogshead. + +A tobacco note was issued to the owner of each hogshead that passed the +inspection. These notes were legal tender within the county issued, and +adjacent counties, except when the counties were separated by a large +river. They circulated freely and eventually came into the possession +of a buyer who, by presenting them at the warehouse named on the notes, +exchanged them for the specified amount of tobacco. And these +particular notes were thus retired from circulation. The person finally +demanding possession of the tobacco was allowed to have the hogsheads +reinspected if he so desired. If he was dissatisfied with the quality, +he could appeal to three justices of the peace. If they found the +tobacco to be unsound or trashy, the inspectors paid a fee of five +shillings to each of the justices, and they were also held liable for +stamping the tobacco as being good; should the tobacco be declared +sound, the buyer paid the fee. + +Parcels of tobacco weighing less than 200 pounds in 1730, later +increased to 350, and finally 950 pounds, were not to be exported, in +such cases the inspectors issued transfer notes. When the purchaser of +such tobacco had enough to fill a hogshead, the tobacco was prized and +the transfer notes were exchanged for a tobacco note. The tobacco could +then be exported. Such small parcels were often necessary to pay a +levy, or a creditor, or it might have been tobacco left over from the +crop after the last hogshead had been filled and prized. These tobacco +notes provided the only currency in Virginia until she resorted to the +printing press during the French and Indian War. By the end of the +eighteenth century the reputation of the inspectors and the value of +the tobacco notes began to decline, due primarily to lax inspecting. +Exporters and manufacturers frequently demanded that their tobacco be +reinspected by competent agents. + +The inspection law was allowed to expire in October, 1775, but it was +revived the following October. During this period the payment of debts +in tobacco was made on the plantation of the debtor, and if the +creditor refused to accept the tobacco as sound and marketable, the +dispute was referred to two competent neighbors, one chosen by each of +the disputants. + +Prior to 1776 tobacco that was damaged while stored in the public +warehouses was paid for by the colony, but provisions were made in 1776 +that such a loss was to be borne by the owner of the tobacco. In 1778 +this was amended to the effect that losses by fire while stored in the +warehouses would be paid for by the state. Four years later, owing to +the great losses that had been sustained by the owners of the tobacco, +the inspectors were held liable for all tobacco destroyed or damaged, +except by fire, flood, or the enemy. The state continued to guarantee +the tobacco against the fire hazard until well into the nineteenth +century. + +The law requiring "refused" tobacco to be burned in the warehouse kiln +was repealed in 1805, and such tobacco could then be shipped anywhere +within the state of Virginia. Stemmers or manufacturers were required +to send a certificate of receipt of such refused tobacco purchased to +the auditor of public accounts in Richmond. These receipts were then +checked against the warehouse records of the amount of refused tobacco +sold. Finally, in 1826, the General Assembly legalized the exportation +of refused tobacco, provided the word "refused" was stamped on both +ends and two sides of the hogsheads in letters at least three inches in +length. + +In 1730 three inspectors were appointed for each inspection by the +governor, with the advice and consent of the Council. This did not +always mean that there were three inspectors at each warehouse at all +times. Warehouses built on opposite banks of a creek or river were +frequently placed under the same inspection; that is, the three +inspectors divided their time at the two warehouses. In areas where the +production of tobacco declined from time to time, two warehouses were +frequently placed under the jurisdiction of one set of inspectors. And +if the quantity of tobacco produced in that particular area +necessitated separate inspections, the change was then made. The +inspection system was very flexible in this respect. The inspectors +were required to be on duty from October 1 to August 10 yearly, except +Sundays and holidays. By 1732 it was discovered that it was unnecessary +to have three inspectors on duty at all times. Consequently, the number +of regular inspectors was reduced to two, but a third was appointed to +be called upon when there was a dispute between the two regular +inspectors as to the quality of tobacco. + +As the governor was able to choose the inspectors and place them at any +warehouse within the colony, the local county people began to complain +and demand that they be given more authority in this governmental +function. This procedure tended to provide the governor with the +opportunity to provide his friends with jobs regardless of their +qualifications. In 1738 the General Assembly enacted legislation +providing that the inspectors were to be appointed by the governor from +a slate of four candidates nominated by the local county courts. Where +two warehouses under one inspection were in different counties, two +candidates were to be nominated by each county. This procedure remained +unchanged until the middle of the nineteenth century. + +The salaries of the inspectors were regulated by the General Assembly, +though the colony did not guarantee the sums after 1755. For the first +few years each inspector received £60 annually, and if the fees +collected were insufficient to pay their salary, the deficient amount +was made up out of public funds. After 1732 it was found that this +amount was too high and unequally allocated with respect to the amount +of individual services performed, as some warehouses received more +tobacco than others. So for the next few years salaries were determined +on the basis of the amount of tobacco inspected and ranged from £30 to +£50 annually. From 1755 to 1758 the inspectors received the amount set +by the legislature only if enough fees were collected by the inspectors +at their respective warehouses. During the next seven years the +inspectors received three shillings per hogshead, plus six pence for +nails used in recoopering the tobacco, instead of a stated salary. Out +of this the inspectors had to pay the proprietors of the warehouse +eight pence rent per hogshead. In 1765 the inspectors were again placed +on a flat salary basis, and for the next fifteen years their salaries +ranged from £25 to £70. After 1780 their annual salaries ranged from +about $100 at the smallest warehouses to about $330 at the largest. + + +WAREHOUSES 1730-1800 + +In most instances the warehouses were private property, but they were +always subject to the control of the legislature. Regulations regarding +the location, erection, maintenance and operation as official places of +inspection were set forth by special legislation. Owners of the land +sites selected were ordered to build the warehouses and rent them to +the inspectors. If the land owner refused to build, then the court +could order the warehouse built at public expense. Just how many +warehouses were built at public expense is difficult to determine, +probably only a few, if any, were built in this manner. + +The rent which the proprietor received usually depended upon the number +of hogsheads inspected at his warehouse, though the rates were +regulated by the General Assembly. In 1712 the proprietors received +twelve pence for the first day or the first three months and six pence +every month thereafter per hogshead. In 1755 the owners received eight +pence per hogshead. During the Revolution the rate was raised to four +shillings, but was lowered to one shilling six pence after the +cessation of hostilities. At the beginning of the nineteenth century +rent per hogshead, including a year's storage, was twenty-five cents. + +To keep pace with the movement of the tobacco industry, new warehouses +were built and others discontinued from time to time. And by observing +the warehouse movement it is possible to grasp a general picture of the +decline of the tobacco industry in Tidewater Virginia. The expansion of +the industry into Piedmont is more difficult to follow during this +period owing to the fact that inspection houses were not permitted +above the Falls until after the Revolution. + +In 1730 seventy-two warehouses located in thirty counties were ordered +erected and maintained for the purpose of inspection and storage by the +General Assembly. Twelve years later warehouses were erected in only +one additional county, Fairfax. A few of those established in 1730 were +discontinued, but twenty-six new ones had been erected by 1742, making +a total of ninety-three in operation at that time. From 1742 to 1765 +the total number of inspection houses increased by about six, but this +does not reveal a complete picture of the warehouse movement. A closer +examination shows a much greater shift in the movement. Sixteen new +inspection warehouses were erected during this period, twelve of them +near the Fall Line; in the meantime, ten of the old established +warehouses far below the Falls were discontinued. + +After a year without an official inspection system the lapsed +inspection law was revived in October, 1776; seventy-six of the +warehouses were re-established as official inspection stations. Soon +after the end of the war the number of inspections began to increase +again, and it was chiefly through the efforts of a David Ross that +inspection warehouses were permitted above the Falls. The first +inspections seem to have appeared above the Falls in Virginia in 1785: +one at Crow's Ferry, Botetourt County; one at Lynch's Ferry, Campbell +County; and a third at Point of Fork on the Rivanna River, Fluvanna +County. Tobacco inspected in the warehouses above the Falls could not +be legally delivered for exportation without first being delivered to a +lower warehouse for transportation and reinspection upon demand by the +purchaser. + +There were a number of reasons why the inspection warehouses were +restricted to Tidewater Virginia until after the Revolution. It was not +until after the Revolution that a strong need and demand for them was +felt above the Falls. Inadequate transportation facilities in the +interior made exportation from upland inspections less feasible. It is +also probable that the Legislature was opposed to upland inspections as +it would be more difficult to control the inspections, spread out over +a larger area, as rigidly as those concentrated in a smaller area. And +no doubt Tidewater Virginia recognized the economic value of having all +of the inspections located in its own section. However, the sharp +decline in tobacco production in the Tidewater followed by an equal +increase in the Piedmont made inspections above the Falls inevitable. + +Of the ninety-three inspection warehouses in operation in 1792, only +about twenty were above the Fall Line; but by 1820 at least half of the +137 legal inspections were above the Falls. Of the forty-two new +inspections established in the period 1800-1820 only three were in +Tidewater Virginia; one in Prince George County in 1807, one in Essex +County in 1810, and the third in Norfolk County in 1818, owing to the +opening of the Dismal Swamp Canal. + + +SALE OF THE LEAF + +Under the original plan of colonization the Virginia settlers were to +pool their goods at the magazine, the general storehouse in Jamestown. +All of the products produced by the settlers, and all goods imported +into the colony were to be first brought to the magazine. In 1620 the +London Company made plans to abolish the magazine and open the trade to +the public. The colony was then forced to rely on peripatetic merchant +ships which came irregularly. These casual traders dealt directly with +the planters, going about from plantation to plantation collecting +their cargo. These merchants were without agents in the colonies, and +they relied solely upon the chance of selling their goods as they +passed the various plantation wharves. They usually sold their goods on +credit, expecting to collect their dues in tobacco on the return trip +the next year. Occasionally the crops were small, or they discovered +that most of the tobacco had been sold or seized by other traders, and +consequently they were forced to wait another year to collect from +their debtors. + +The planter soon discovered that he was in an equally precarious +situation, and largely at the mercy of the merchant, for if he failed +to sell on the terms offered, another ship might not come his way until +the following year. The planter's bargaining power was also hampered by +his ignorance of market conditions abroad. Such conditions encouraged +the practices of engrossing and forestalling, by the merchants, to the +point that much legislation was passed to prohibit such actions. +Increasing competition by the Dutch traders gradually reduced the +dependence of the planter on the casual trading merchant. The danger +from pirates and frequent wars caused the English to inaugurate the +convoy system, which also helped improve the market conditions. +However, trading directly with the casual merchants was still common +after 1625, and a few still operated as late as 1700. + +The consignment system developed along with the system of casual +trading, and it also operated upon the practice of the ships collecting +cargo from the various plantations. Importation was based on the same +idea: the ship which gathered the planters' tobacco usually brought +goods from abroad. Originally the merchant acted only as the agent of +the planter. He advanced him the total cost necessary to export and +market the crop abroad, sold the crop on his client's account and +placed the net proceeds to the planter's credit. Soon the merchant was +advancing the planter goods and money beyond the amount of his net +receipts; the planter frequently discovered that he was at the +merchant's mercy and was forced to sell on the merchant's terms. To +make matters worse, the tobacco was sold by the merchants to retailers +in England on long term credit at the planter's risk. If the retailer +went bankrupt, or his business failed, the planter not only lost his +tobacco but still had to pay the total charges, freight, insurance, +British duties, plus the agent's commission, which amounted to about +eighteen pounds sterling in 1730. Planters frequently complained that +their tobacco weighed much less in England that it did when it was +inspected and weighed in the colony. There were reports that the +stevedores were supplying certain patrons in England with tobacco of +superior quality obtained by pilfering. An agent in England was +certainly not apt to look after a planter's crop as though it were his +own. + +The gradual destruction of the fertility of the soil in the Tidewater +country and the expansion of the tobacco industry into the back country +made direct consignment less feasible. This, and the various other +causes of dissatisfaction with the consignment system, led to the +system of outright purchase in the colony. This new procedure was +carried on largely by the outport merchants, especially the Scottish, +who were doing quite a bit of illicit trading before the Union of 1707. +Since the Tidewater business was controlled largely by the London +merchants, the new Scottish traders penetrated the interior and +established local trading posts or stores at convenient locations, many +of which became the nuclei of towns. After the Union their share of the +trade increased very rapidly, and at the beginning of hostilities in +1775 the Scots were purchasing almost one-half of all the tobacco +brought to Great Britain. On the eve of the Revolution only about +one-fourth of the Virginia tobacco was being shipped on consignment. + +The factorage system appears to have been introduced in Virginia around +1625, and was actually a part of the consignment system. A factor was +one who resided in the colony and served as a representative and the +repository of the English merchant. With the establishment of a +repository in the colony, trade became more regular, debtors less +delinquent, and the problem of securing transportation for exports or +imports was mitigated. Some of the factors were Englishmen sent over by +the English firms, others were colonial merchants or planters who +performed for the foreign firms on a commission basis. As the tobacco +industry expanded beyond the limits of the navigable waters, it became +the custom of the planters located near such streams to act as factors +for their neighbors in the interior. By 1775 the factorage system had +developed to the extent that one planter found four firms at +Colchester, eleven at Dumfries, and twenty at Alexandria which would +buy wheat, tobacco, and flour in exchange for British goods and +northern manufactures. + +The rise of a class of factors in Virginia, aided by the Scottish +merchants, made it possible for the planters to break away from the +London commercial agents. The Revolution cut the connection between +England and the Virginia planters, but the factorage system was not +destroyed. The merchants and businessmen in the former colonies simply +replaced the English factors. Soon after the cessation of hostilities, +England had reestablished her commercial predominance owing to the +superior facilities and experience of British merchants in granting +long term credits, and perhaps the preference of Americans for British +goods. The British were again willing to extend to the planters the +accustomed long term credits, but they were careful to grant it only to +merchants of high standing. + +Lax inspecting caused the buyers to lose faith in the inspectors' +reputation and guarantee. As early as 1759 tobacco was being sold by +displaying samples. It was quite natural then for the buyers to begin +visiting the warehouses as the tobacco was being inspected, to enable +them to purchase the better hogsheads directly from the original owner. +But it seems that even as late as 1800 such practices were only +occasional. While lax inspections caused a few buyers to visit the +warehouses, the presence of these buyers led many of the planters to +bring their tobacco to the warehouses most frequented by the buyers. As +these buyers paid higher prices for the better tobacco, the ultimate +result was the development of market towns and the disappearance of the +tobacco note. Within a decade after the turn of the nineteenth century +Richmond, Manchester, Petersburg, and Lynchburg had become major market +towns. + + +PRODUCTION, TREND OF PRICES, AND EXPORTS + +When tobacco was first planted in Jamestown, Spanish tobacco was +selling for eighteen shillings per pound. Virginia tobacco was inferior +in quality, but it was assessed in England at ten shillings per pound. +On the basis of these high prices the Virginia Company of London agreed +to allow the Virginia planters three shillings per pound, in trade at +the magazine in Jamestown, for the best grades. + +Even though it seemed that the London Company was getting the lions +share, these prices proved to be very profitable for the colonists and +the infant tobacco industry increased very rapidly. During the period +1615-1622 tobacco exports increased from 2,300 to 60,000 pounds, and by +1630 the volume had risen to 1,500,000. Meanwhile prices had fallen as +rapidly as production and exports had increased. In 1625 tobacco was +selling for about two shillings per pound, but in 1630 merchants were +reported to be buying it for less than one penny per pound. + +It was quite obvious that the fall in prices was due to overproduction. +The English first attempted to alleviate the condition in 1619 through +monopolistic control. Negotiations were conducted with the Virginia +Company of London, Henry Somerscales, and Ditchfield in 1625. All were +opposed by the colony, except that of the London Company, because the +colonists thought that the various proposals would benefit the King and +a small group of court favorites at the expense of the planters. + +The next move was made by the colony. In an attempt to restrict the +production of tobacco, Governor Wyatt ordered that production be +limited to 1,000 plants per person in each family in 1621. These same +instructions provided that only nine leaves were to be harvested from +each plant. Similar laws were enacted in 1622 and again in 1629, but +these laws were probably not strictly enforced as prices failed to +improve. Undaunted by failure in its first attempt to cope with the +situation, the General Assembly made several attempts at price fixing. +In 1632 tobacco prices in the colony were fixed at six pence per pound +in exchange for English goods; in 1633 it was increased to nine pence. + +The 1639 crop was so large that the legislature ordered all of the bad +and half of the good tobacco destroyed; merchants were required to +accept fifty pounds of tobacco per 100 of indebtedness. English goods +were to be exchanged for tobacco at a minimum rate of three pence per +pound. The minimum rate of the 1640 crop was fixed at twelve pence. +Such legislation failed to meet with the approval of the home +government and in 1641 tobacco averaged about two pence per pound. + +Following the depression of 1639 tobacco prices failed to rise above +three pence, and probably never averaged more than two pence per pound +for the next sixty years. To prevent the complete ruination of the +tobacco planters, the General Assembly established fixed rates for +tobacco in the payment of certain fees. In 1645 these fees were payable +in tobacco rated at one and one-half pence per pound; ten years later +the rate had increased only a half pence. The war with Holland, +restrictions on the Dutch trade, and the plague in England brought +forth another serious depression in the colonies in the 1660's. In 1665 +the tobacco fleet did not go to the colonies on account of the plague +in London. Tobacco prices dropped to one pence per pound. + +[Illustration: METHODS OF TRANSPORTING TOBACCO TO MARKET + + a, Upon canoes. b, By upland boats. c, By wagons. d, + Rolling the hogshead.] + +[Illustration: PLANTATION TOBACCO HOUSES AND PUBLIC WAREHOUSES + + a, The common tobacco house. b, Tobacco hanging on a + scaffold. c, The operation of prizing. d, Inside of a + tobacco house, showing the tobacco hanging to cure. e, + An outside view of a public warehouse. f, showing the + process of inspection.] + +This new depression stirred the Virginia legislature. In 1662 the +Assembly prohibited the planting of tobacco after the last of June, +provided that Maryland would do the same. Maryland rejected the idea. +This would have eliminated a great deal of inferior tobacco, for much +of the tobacco planted in July seldom fully matures before it must be +harvested to save it from the frost. The planters in both colonies +continued to produce excessive crops and the depression became more +acute. Led by Virginia, the North Carolina and Maryland legislatures +prohibited the cultivation of tobacco in 1666. Lord Baltimore again +refused to permit a cessation in Maryland, consequently Virginia and +North Carolina repealed their legislation. Instead of cessation the +Virginia crop was so large in 1666 that 100 vessels were not enough to +export the crop. The possibility of another enormous crop in 1667 was +eliminated by a severe storm that destroyed two-thirds of the crop. +However, the glutted market resulting from the large crop grown in 1666 +caused prices to fall to a half pence per pound. + +In the 1670's prices climbed to one and one-half pence, but a +tremendous crop in 1680 glutted the market again. The crop was said to +have been so large that it would have supplied the demand for the next +two years, even if none were produced in 1681. The General Assembly +once again came to the aid of the planter by rating tobacco in payment +of debts at one and one-fifth pence in 1682, and two pence in payment +of quit-rents in 1683. Once again Virginia renewed attempts to bring +about a cessation of production, but the English government refused to +permit such action claiming that it would stimulate foreign production +and thereby reduce the revenue to the Crown. In April, 1682 the General +Assembly convened but was prorogued by Lieutenant Governor Sir Henry +Chicheley a week later, when it was apparent that the members were +determined to discuss nothing but the cessation of tobacco. A week +later a series of plant cuttings broke out in Gloucester County +followed by others in New Kent and Middlesex counties. Approximately +10,000 hogsheads of tobacco were destroyed before these riots were put +down by the militia. Probably as a result of this destructive act, +prices rose to two and a half pence in 1685, but a bumper crop of over +18,000,000 pounds in 1688, the largest ever produced to that date, +caused prices to drop to one penny per pound in 1690. + +Throughout most of the seventeenth century the tobacco planters were +plagued with the problem of overproduction and low prices. To add to +their woes the entire eighteenth century was one of periodic wars +either in Europe or in America, or both. King William's War ended in +1697 and the following year tobacco prices soared to twenty shillings +per hundred pounds and prices remained good for the next few years. The +outbreak of Queen Anne's War and another 18,000,000 pound crop ushered +in another depression. Several thousand hogsheads of tobacco shipped on +consignment in 1704 brought no return at all, and the next year many of +the planters sold their tobacco for one-fourth of a penny per pound. +Instead of attempting to limit production in an effort to relieve the +market conditions, these low prices caused the planters to increase +production as they attempted to meet their obligations. In 1709 tobacco +production reached an all-time high of 29,000,000 pounds. + +The Peace of Utrecht in 1713 seems to have brought little relief. +Tobacco prices failed to improve until after the passage of the +inspection act in 1730. In 1731 tobacco sold for as much as twelve +shillings six pence per hundred pounds, despite the fact that Virginia +exported 34,000,000 pounds. In a further attempt to improve the quality +and the price of tobacco the General Assembly ordered the constables in +each district to enforce the law forbidding the planters to harvest +suckers. Anyone found tending suckers after the last of July was to be +heavily penalized. These two measures seem to have produced the desired +effects; in 1736 tobacco sold for fifteen shillings per hundred pounds. + +Unlike Queen Anne's War, King George's War seemed to stimulate tobacco +prices and they remained relatively good for a number of years after +the Peace of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1748. During the early 1750's merchants +paid up to twenty shillings per hundred pounds, even though Virginia +had been exporting from 38,000,000 to 53,000,000 pounds annually. +During the French and Indian War the belligerents agreed to continue +the tobacco trade, but in spite of this arrangement there were unusual +price fluctuations owing primarily to inflation and occasional poor +crops. In 1755 a period of inflation was created when Virginia resorted +to the printing press for currency. At the same time war operations +hampered production and only about one-half of the usual annual crop +was produced, and tobacco prices rose to twenty shillings per hundred +weight. During the years of peace just prior to the American +Revolution, tobacco averaged about three pence per pound and never fell +below two pence. With the outbreak of hostilities the General Assembly +prohibited the exportation of tobacco to the British Empire. + +Frequent overproduction and the numerous wars during the eighteenth +century seem to have caused more violent price fluctuations than those +of the previous century. Although the American colonies did not +participate in all of the wars involving England, all of them had their +effects upon the colonies. Virginia depended primarily upon England to +transport her tobacco crop and during the war years there was a +frequent shortage of ships used for the tobacco trade. As this cut off +the tobacco supply to the foreign markets, many of them began to grow +their supply of tobacco. + +The tobacco crops were small almost every year during the Revolution. +Owing to the increase in the demand for foodstuffs many of the planters +switched from tobacco to wheat. During the first year of the war +tobacco exports dropped from 55,000,000 to 14,500,000 pounds. It has +been said that for the entire period 1776-1782 Virginia's exports were +less than her exports of a single year before the Revolution. Wartime +prices and inflation caused tobacco prices to increase from eighteen +shillings per hundred pounds in 1775 to 2,000 shillings, in Continental +currency, in 1781. An official account in the latter part of 1780 +related that twenty-five shillings per hundred pounds in specie was +considered a very substantial price. A very small crop in 1782 was +followed by one that topped any of the pre-war crops, and by 1787 +prices had fallen to fifteen pence per pound. Prices dropped to $12.00 +in 1791, and a period of relatively low prices continued until 1797 +when prices increased as a result of an extensive shift from tobacco to +wheat. In 1800 prices dropped to $7.40 per hundred pounds as Virginia +exported a near record crop of over 78,000 hogsheads of tobacco. + + +VIRGINIA TOBACCO PRICES AND EXPORTS, 1615-1789 + +A complete and accurate price table would be virtually impossible to +compile. Some of these averages represent only single individual +quotations, or the average of only two or three such quotations. These +charts are intended to give the reader a general picture of the prices +during the Colonial period. + +Year Average Price Average Price Pounds Exported + per Lb. per Cwt. + +1615 3s 2,300 +1617 3s 20,000 +1618 3s 41,000 +1619 3s 44,879 +1620 2s 6d 40,000 +1621 3s 55,000 +1622 3s 60,000 +1623 2s +1625 2s 4d +1626 3s 500,000 +1628 3s 6d 500,000 +1629 1,500,000 +1630 1d 1,500,000 +1631 6d 1,300,000 +1632 6d +1633 9d +1634 1d +1637 9d +1638 2d +1639 3d 1,500,000 +1640 12d 1,300,000 +1641 2d 1,300,000 +1642 2d +1644 1-1/2d +1645 1-1/2d +1649 3d +1651 16s +1652 20s +1655 2d +1656 2d +1657 3d +1658 2d +1659 2d +1660 2d +1661 2d +1662 2d +1664 1-1/2d +1665 1d +1666 1-1/5d +1667 1/2d +1669 20s +1676 1-1/2d +1682 1-1/5d +1683 2d +1684 1/2d +1685 2-1/2d +1686 1-1/5d +1688 18,295,000 +1690 1d +1691 2d +1692 1d +1695 1-1/2d +1696 1-1/5d +1697 1/2d 22,000,000 +1698 20s 22,000,000 +1699 20s 22,000,000 +1700 10s average +1701 average +1702 20s +1704 2d 18,000,000 +1706 1/4d +1709 1d 29,000,000 +1710 1d +1713 3s +1715 2s +1716 11s +1720 1d +1722 3/4d +1723 1d +1724 1-1/2d +1727 9d +1729 10d +1731 12s 6d 34,000,000 +1732 9d 34,000,000 +1733 2d 34,000,000 +1736 2d 34,000,000 +1737 9d average +1738 3d average +1739 2d average +1740 34,000,000 +1744 2d 47,000,000 +1745 14s 38,232,900 +1746 2d 36,217,800 +1747 37,623,600 +1748 16s 8d 42,104,700 +1749 2d 43,880,300 +1750 15s 43,710,300 +1751 16s 43,032,700 +1752 2d 43,542,000 +1753 20s 53,862,300 +1754 45,722,700 +1755 2d 42,918,300 +1756 20s 25,606,800 +1757 3d +1758 3d 22,050,000 +1759 35s 55,000,000 +1760 55,000,000 +1761 22s 6d 55,000,000 +1762 11d 55,000,000 +1763 2d 55,000,000 +1764 12s 6d 55,000,000 +1765 3d 55,000,000 +1766 4s average +1767 3s 10d average +1768 22s 6d average +1769 23s average +1770 25s average +1771 18s average +1772 20s average +1773 12s 6d average +1774 13s average +1775 3-1/4d 55,000,000 +1776 12s 14,498,500 +1777 34s 12,441,214 +1778 70s 11,961,333 +1779 400s 17,155,907 +1780 1,000s 17,424,967 +1781 2,000s 13,339,168 +1782 36s 9,828,244 +1783 40s 86,649,333 +1784 30s 10d 49,497,000 +1785 30s 55,624,000 +1786 19d 60,380,000 +1787 15d 60,041,000 +1788 25s 58,544,000 +1789 15d 58,673,000 + + +CONCLUSION + +The history of tobacco is the history of Jamestown and of Virginia. No +one staple or resource ever played a more significant role in the +history of any state or nation. The growth of the Virginia Colony, as +it extended beyond the limits of Jamestown, was governed and hastened +by the quest for additional virgin soil in which to grow this "golden +weed." For years the extension into the interior meant the expansion of +tobacco production. Without tobacco the development of Virginia might +have been retarded 200 years. + +Tobacco was the life and soul of the colony; yet a primitive, but +significant, form of diversified farming existed from the very +beginning especially among the small farmers. Even with the development +of the large plantations in the eighteenth century, there were quite a +number of small landowners interspersed among the big planters in the +Tidewater area, and they were most numerous in the Piedmont section. +They usually possessed few slaves, if any, and raised mostly grains, +vegetables and stock which they could easily sell to neighboring +tobacco planters. The negligible food imports by the colony indicates +that a regular system of farming existed. Nor was tobacco the sole +product of the large tobacco plantations. This is indicated by the fact +that practically all of the accounts of the product of one man's labor +were recorded as so many pounds or acres of tobacco plus provisions. +And had the plantations not been generally self-sufficient, the +frequently extremely low prevailing tobacco prices would have made the +agricultural economy even less profitable. + +Tobacco was a completely new agricultural product to most, if not all, +of the English settlers at Jamestown. There were no centuries of vast +experience in growing, curing, and marketing to draw upon. These +problems and procedures were worked out by trial and error in the +wilderness of Virginia. Tobacco became the only dependable export and +the colony was exploited for the benefit of English commerce. This +English commercial policy, plus other factors, caused the Virginia +planter to become somewhat of an agricultural spendthrift. For nearly +200 years he followed a system of farming which soon exhausted his +land. Land was cheap and means of fertilization was limited and +laborious. By clearing away the trees he was able to move north, south, +southwest, and west and replace his worn-out fields with rich virgin +soil necessary to grow the best tobacco. + +While struggling with the problems involved in producing an entirely +new crop about which they knew little or nothing, the colonists also +had to feed themselves, deal with their racial problems, and maintain a +stable local government as they continually expanded in a limitless +wilderness. Out of all this chaos grew the mother and leader of the +American colonies. + +Tobacco penetrated the social, political, and economic life of the +colony. Ownership of a large tobacco plantation could take one up the +social ladder; many of the men responsible for the welfare of the +colony were planters, and everything could be paid for in tobacco. In +1620 the indentured servants were paid for with tobacco, the young +women sent to the colonists to become wives were purchased by paying +their transportation charges with tobacco. The wages of soldiers and +the salaries of clergymen and governmental officials were paid in +tobacco. After 1730 tobacco notes, that is warehouse receipts, +representing a certain amount of money, served as currency for the +colony. + +The development of the inspection system with its chain of tobacco +warehouses hastened urbanization. Around many of these warehouses grew +villages and settlements; some of these eventually became towns and +cities. Richmond, Petersburg, Danville, Fredericksburg, Farmville, +Clarksville and others were once merely convenient landings or +locations for tobacco warehouses. Even today the fragrant aroma of +cured tobacco still exists in a number of these places during the +tobacco marketing season. The tobacco trade was largely responsible for +the birth and growth of Alexandria, Dumfries, and Norfolk into +important export-import centers. For her birth, growth, and colonial +leadership, Virginia pays her respect to John Rolfe and the other brave +settlers at Jamestown. + +Tobacco is still a vital factor in Virginia's economy. Of approximately +2,000,000 acres of cropland (pastureland excluded) in 1949, 115,400 +were planted in tobacco which produced 124,904,000 pounds valued at +$55,120,800 or twenty-three percent of the total value of all +agricultural crops. Of the four largest agricultural products--poultry, +tobacco, meat animals, and milk--tobacco ranked second only to poultry +in terms of income in 1955. Poultry produced an income of $99,935,000, +tobacco $84,128,000, meat animals $80,564,000, and milk $70,681,000. +Peanuts and fruits were tied for fifth place, each producing an income +of about $21,000,000. + +Of the many different industries in Virginia today only five--food, +textile, wearing apparel, chemical, and the manufacture of +transportation equipment--employ more workers than the tobacco +manufacturers. In 1953 a total of $40,000,000, in salaries and wages, +was paid to production workers in the tobacco manufacturing industry in +Virginia. + +Although tobacco is no longer "king" in the Old Dominion, Virginia +farmers produce enough of the "golden weed" each year to make one long +cigarette that would stretch around the world fifty times. + + +ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS + +This is to acknowledge the sources for the following illustrations: +Methods of Transporting Tobacco to Market and Plantation Tobacco Houses +and Public Warehouses--William Tatham, _An Historical and Practical +Essay on the Culture and Commerce of Tobacco_, London, 1800; An Old +Tobacco Warehouse--courtesy of Mrs. H. I. Worthington, Directress of +the Ralph Wormeley Branch of the Association for the Preservation of +Virginia Antiquities, Syringa, Virginia; Tobacco cultivated by the +Indians and Tobacco imported from the West Indies--these two pictures +were reproduced by permission of George Arents and courtesy of the +Virginia State Library. The pictures were found originally in _Tobacco; +Its History Illustrated by the Books, Manuscripts and Engravings in the +Library of George Arents, Jr., together with an Introductory Essay, a +Glossary and Bibliographic Notes_, by Jerome E. Brooks, Volume 1, (The +Rosenbach Company, New York, 1937). However, the two pictures in this +pamphlet were reproduced from _Virginia Cavalcade_, by courtesy of the +Virginia State Library. + +I am also grateful to Dr. E. G. Swem for his critical reading of the +manuscript and his helpful suggestions, and to my wife for her +proficient typing of the manuscript. + + +G. M. H. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOBACCO IN COLONIAL VIRGINIA*** + + +******* This file should be named 27117-8.txt or 27117-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/7/1/1/27117 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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