﻿158 
  History 
  of 
  Durham. 
  

  

  iF'-^izeT 
  III 
  

  

  The 
  TebacGQ 
  Interests 
  ef 
  Rorth 
  Gareliria. 
  

  

  CHAPTER 
  I. 
  

  

  Map 
  OF 
  Yellow 
  Tobacco 
  Belt 
  — 
  Early 
  History 
  — 
  Modern 
  

   Progress 
  — 
  Area 
  of 
  Tobacco 
  — 
  Mode 
  of 
  Conducting 
  

   Trade 
  — 
  Culture 
  and 
  Curing— 
  Grades, 
  Prices, 
  Soil, 
  

   Analyses, 
  Etc 
  

  

  Prior 
  to 
  the 
  discovery 
  of 
  America, 
  liistoiy 
  nowhere 
  inti- 
  

   mates 
  the 
  use 
  or 
  existence 
  of 
  such 
  a 
  weed 
  as 
  Tobacco. 
  It 
  is 
  

   therefore 
  fair 
  to 
  conclude 
  tljat 
  it 
  is 
  purely 
  an 
  American 
  

   plant. 
  Its 
  almost 
  universal 
  adoption 
  by 
  mankind, 
  as 
  soon 
  

   as 
  its 
  merits 
  were 
  ascertained, 
  is 
  a 
  conclusive 
  evidence 
  that 
  

   it 
  had 
  not 
  been 
  known 
  — 
  as 
  tobacco 
  — 
  anywhere 
  in 
  the 
  civil- 
  

   ized 
  world. 
  It 
  was 
  first 
  discovered 
  by 
  the 
  followers 
  of 
  

   Columbus 
  about 
  the 
  year 
  1492 
  or 
  '93. 
  The 
  Aborigines 
  

   were 
  found 
  smoking 
  and 
  chewing 
  the 
  fragrant 
  weed 
  Tlie 
  

   name 
  of 
  this 
  plant, 
  according 
  to 
  the 
  best 
  authority, 
  is 
  de- 
  

   rived 
  from 
  the 
  Island 
  of 
  Tobago, 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  West 
  Indies, 
  

   where 
  it 
  was 
  cultivated. 
  It 
  was 
  first 
  discovered 
  in 
  use 
  

   among 
  the 
  natives 
  of 
  Cuba, 
  and 
  was 
  first 
  cultivated 
  by 
  the 
  

   colonists 
  in 
  Virginia 
  about 
  the 
  year 
  1614. 
  King 
  James 
  

   wrote 
  and 
  published 
  a 
  book 
  violently 
  opposing 
  its 
  use; 
  but 
  

   notwithstanding 
  this 
  high 
  and 
  royal 
  opposition, 
  it 
  soon 
  

   became, 
  and 
  still 
  continues, 
  an 
  important 
  factor 
  in 
  the 
  com- 
  

   merce 
  of 
  the 
  world. 
  It 
  was 
  first 
  introduced 
  in 
  England 
  in 
  

   1573, 
  through 
  samples 
  brought 
  by 
  Sir 
  Francis 
  Drake. 
  It 
  

   is 
  claimed 
  that 
  Sir 
  Walter 
  Raleigh 
  not 
  only 
  practiced 
  but 
  

   encouraged 
  its 
  use. 
  It 
  soon 
  became 
  very 
  popular, 
  insomuch 
  

   that 
  not 
  even 
  the 
  opposition 
  of 
  the 
  English 
  potentate 
  could 
  

   impede 
  its 
  rapid 
  introduction 
  and 
  use. 
  

  

  