effort to colonize a practical base was Rolfe's experiment 

 with "Spanish" seeds. 



Probably all that Rolfe obtained were some small 

 bags of seeds. Those were enough; there are over 350,000 

 tobacco seeds in an ounce. The tiny grains proved to be 

 the richest treasure ever taken from Spain. Although the 

 original planters in Virginia knew nothing about curing 

 tobacco, the type planted in the sandy soil around 

 Jamestown was clearly superior to the native tobacco. 

 (Botanically, this tobacco of commerce is Nicotiana 

 Tabacum. ) Writers of the time in Virginia described it 

 as "pleasant, sweet and strong." The prediction was con- 

 fidently made that it would shortly be accepted as the 

 "best tobacco under the sun." 



It was not clear at first to anyone concerned with 

 Virginia that the 1612 crop exported to England in 1613 

 was the beginning of a great industry. Even by 1616 the 

 planters were able to send out only 2,500 pounds of the 

 new leaf. Yet these shipments were the wedge that was 

 to crack Spain's control of the Enghsh market. Quite 

 apart from the excellent quality of Virginia leaf, that 

 product had a further competitive advantage over the 

 processed tobacco goods exported by Spanish colonies. 

 Except for some experimental rolls made up in Virginia, 

 leaf from the colony was sent in unmanufactured form. 

 This was welcomed by English importers who frequently 

 voiced suspicion of the contents of Spanish-colonial 

 twists and rolls. 



Virginia planters at first cured their leaf by throwing 

 it on the ground in heaps as they did hay and letting it 



11 



