﻿218 
  History 
  of 
  Durham. 
  

  

  With 
  a 
  virgin 
  soil 
  of 
  great 
  fertility, 
  the 
  planter 
  who 
  did 
  

   bis 
  work 
  well 
  was 
  amply 
  repaid, 
  lis 
  cultivation 
  was 
  com- 
  

   menced 
  by 
  tbe 
  colonists 
  in 
  tbe 
  historic 
  town 
  of 
  Jamestown, 
  

   in 
  James 
  City 
  county, 
  and 
  John 
  Rolfe 
  produced 
  the 
  first 
  to- 
  

   bacco 
  exported 
  from 
  the 
  colon3\ 
  

  

  Captain 
  John 
  Smith 
  describes 
  the 
  soil 
  of 
  tidewater 
  Vir- 
  

   ginia 
  as 
  he 
  saw 
  it 
  in 
  1607: 
  "The 
  vesture 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  in 
  

   most 
  places 
  doth 
  manifestly 
  prove 
  tbe 
  nature 
  of 
  thesoyle 
  to 
  

   be 
  lusty 
  and 
  very 
  rich." 
  

  

  The 
  culture 
  of 
  tobacco 
  rapidly 
  spread 
  as 
  the 
  colonists 
  

   built 
  houses 
  and 
  cleared 
  lands, 
  the 
  tobacco-patch 
  often 
  tak- 
  

   ing 
  precedence 
  of 
  the 
  corn-field, 
  and 
  its 
  production 
  being 
  

   carried 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  excess 
  as 
  seriously 
  to 
  threaten 
  subsis- 
  

   tence 
  of 
  the 
  colonists, 
  the 
  colonial 
  legislatures 
  of 
  Virginia 
  

   and 
  Maryland 
  passed 
  sumptuary 
  laws 
  that 
  " 
  every 
  person 
  

   planting 
  one 
  acre 
  of 
  tobacco 
  shall 
  plant 
  and 
  tend 
  two 
  acres 
  

   of 
  corn." 
  As 
  tobacco 
  grows 
  better 
  on 
  new 
  soil 
  than 
  corn 
  or 
  

   other 
  crops, 
  it 
  was 
  the 
  first 
  to 
  utilize 
  the 
  fresh 
  cleared 
  land. 
  

   New 
  soil 
  produces 
  a 
  finer 
  and 
  better 
  flavored 
  article 
  than 
  

   old 
  land 
  ; 
  therefore 
  thousands 
  of 
  acres 
  of 
  forest 
  were 
  annually 
  

   cleared. 
  Thus 
  extensive 
  areas 
  in 
  Virginia 
  and 
  Maryland 
  

   were 
  early 
  denuded 
  of 
  forest 
  growth, 
  and 
  the 
  continued 
  cuL 
  

   tivation 
  of 
  tobacco 
  for 
  many 
  years 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  lands 
  without 
  

   manure 
  greatly 
  impoverished 
  the 
  soil 
  ; 
  for 
  a 
  Virginian 
  

   never 
  thinks 
  of 
  reinstating 
  or 
  manuring 
  his 
  land 
  with 
  econ- 
  

   omy 
  until 
  he 
  can 
  find 
  no 
  more 
  new 
  land 
  to 
  exhaust 
  or 
  wear 
  

   out" 
  (William 
  Tatham, 
  Historical 
  Essay 
  on 
  the 
  Culture 
  of 
  To- 
  

   bacco: 
  London, 
  1800). 
  

  

  Tobacco 
  raised 
  on 
  cow-penned 
  land 
  was 
  considered 
  of 
  only 
  

   second 
  quality, 
  and 
  was 
  sold 
  accordingly. 
  Tatham 
  states 
  

   that 
  tobacco 
  at 
  first 
  was 
  cultivated 
  continuously 
  for 
  twenty 
  

   years 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  land, 
  and 
  describes 
  the 
  spots 
  selected 
  for 
  

   seed-beds 
  as 
  those 
  preferred 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  da}^ 
  — 
  " 
  rich, 
  moist, 
  

   fine 
  soils, 
  with 
  sunny 
  exposure." 
  The 
  " 
  fly" 
  was 
  a 
  trouble 
  

   then, 
  as 
  now 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  remedy 
  then 
  practiced 
  was 
  " 
  to 
  sow 
  

   mustard 
  around 
  the 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  plant-bed, 
  and 
  as 
  the 
  fly 
  

   prefers 
  the 
  mustard 
  to 
  the 
  tobacco 
  plants 
  the 
  latter 
  will 
  es- 
  

   cape 
  injury." 
  But 
  of 
  late 
  years 
  this 
  irrepressible 
  insect 
  

   takes 
  more 
  kindly 
  to 
  the 
  tender 
  tobacco 
  plants, 
  and 
  plan- 
  

   ters 
  find 
  it 
  hard 
  work 
  to 
  coax 
  or 
  to 
  drive 
  them 
  off. 
  

  

  The 
  primitive 
  mode 
  of 
  harvesting 
  tobacco 
  in 
  Virginia 
  

  

  INSURE 
  YOUR 
  LIFE 
  WITH 
  J. 
  SOUTHGATE 
  & 
  SON. 
  

  

  i 
  

  

  