350 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



Virginia since we first planted colonies in that 

 part of the world. Wynne says, in his History 

 of that province, published in 1770, that the 

 Virginians export annually above forty thou- 

 sand hogsheads of this leaf, each hogshead 

 containing eight hundred weight. This au- 

 thor says, " wherever they have planted this 

 article, their lands are so exhausted by it, 

 that they will hardly produce the bare neces- 

 saries of life, and much less such an exhaust- 

 ing weed. It is for this reason, that most of 

 our tobacco plantations are broken up, and 

 the people have been obliged to quit them, 

 and retire to the mountains, where they find 

 fresh lands fit to produce this plant, which is 

 the support of their trade, and has been of 

 more importance to them than all the other 

 productions of North America put together, 

 so long as their lands were fresh and fertile." 



Traders distinguish two sorts of tobacco ; 

 Aranookoe from Maryland, and the northern 

 parts of Virginia, is strong and hot in the 

 mouth, but sells well in the markets of Hol- 

 land, Germany, and the north. The other 

 sort is called sweet-scented, the best of which 

 comes from James's and York river, in the 

 southern parts of Virginia. 



The tobacco seeds are first sown in beds, 



