Immigrant Europeans, particularly in North America, 

 had noted with envy and admiration Virginia's success 

 with tobacco. That sole commodity had not only saved 

 England's original colony from failure; it had developed 

 an aflfluent export trade for Virginians. Perhaps, it was 

 thought, that success could be repeated elsewhere. It is 

 a curiosity of history that the original Dutch and English 

 settlements in Connecticut were in the very areas that 

 some two and a half centuries later were to become the 

 heart of Connecticut's valuable tobaccoland. 



In the initial years of settlement, ejfforts to produce 

 tobacco suitable for smokers at home and abroad were 

 defeated by the forces of nature. The ancient native type 

 stubbornly retained its pungent characteristic despite 

 European methods of culture designed to tame it. Even 

 later, when seeds were imported from Virginia or, possi- 

 bly, the West Indies and planted in Connecticut, the 

 resulting leaf did not provide a flavorful smoke. Time 

 was to show that the soil of the Valley was excellent for 

 several types of tobacco. But it was to take imagination 

 and experimentation and the knowledge of patient agri- 

 culturists before Connecticut farmers could establish 

 themselves among the important producers of fine 

 tobaccos. 



Tc 



obacco map 



Almost all tobacco agriculture in Connecticut is con- 

 fined to the attractive, fertile valley through which the 

 Connecticut River runs. This farming area is locally 

 known as Tobacco Valley. An air view would show it 

 roughly in the shape of an elongated cone. With its base 



