xii AGRICULTURE 



rapidly than in (3) the dark or fire-cured belt, which is con- 

 fined wholly to the Middle and Piedmont sections of south- 

 ern and -central Virginia; (4) the bright or flue-cured 

 belt, in southern Virginia. Within these areas, nearly or 

 quite all of the tobacco produced in the state is grown. 



The dark, shipping type produced south of the James 

 River and east of the Blue Ridge is generally grown on 



FIG. 223. A TOBACCO FIELD IN MIDDLE VIRGINIA, 

 where Tobacco is a Staple Crop. 



rich land and cured with open fires. In the vicinity of 

 Petersburg, the soil is mostly gray in color, becoming 

 more red and containing a larger percentage of clay as the 

 Blue Ridge is approached. The gray soils, in the eastern 

 end of the dark belt, produce a coarser but thinner leaf than 

 the red clay lands. 



Seed bed. The first thing to be done in the winter or 



