ooke" to "shoestring" 



As new settlers came into Windsor, and otliers estab- 

 lished themselves at Wethersfield and Hartford, some 

 tried liopefully to improve the native tobacco, called 

 "pooke" by the local Indians. It was a fruitless effort, 

 soon abandoned. Seeds were then obtained from Vir- 

 ginia and very possibly from Barbados. 



Small plots were cleared— just enougli at first to pro- 

 vide fuel for a man's pipe throughout tlie year. The leaf 

 that developed from imported seeds was prett>' anemic 

 by comparison witli the \ arieties commercially grown in 

 warm and tropical climates. At that, it provided a far 

 better smoke than "pooke." After a number of years of 

 plantings in the sandy soil near the Connecticut River, 

 the plant characteristics of the new type became fixed. 

 It differed from tlie major commercial varieties grown 

 in the soutliern Englisli colonies in its heavy, narrow 

 leaves with close veins almost parallel to the stems. Once 

 its special form was fully developed it acquired the name 

 of "shoestring" tobacco. 



rotectionist fathers 



Not all Connecticut colonists, particularly newcomers, 

 were satisfied with the tobacco that replaced the native 

 variety. When the desirable leaf of Virginia was unavail- 

 able through Massachusetts these exacting smokers be- 

 gan to import it directly from England. Exporters in the 

 home country were already sending Virginia leaf to 

 Roger Williams at Providence, Rhode Island. Williams 

 was "much exercised" over the loss of a shipment of 



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