216 TOBACCO PRODUCTION IN THE UNITED STATES. 



In August, 1033, the price of tobacco in barter was fixed at Qd. per pound, () all accounts and contracts 

 being required to be kept in money, (b) and the rate of freight was fixed at 3 per ton. (c) January 0, 1039, 

 "tobacco, by reason of the excessive quantities made, being soe low that the planters could not subsist by it," was 

 required to be inspected and the rotten and unmerchantable and half the good to be burnt, so that the whole 

 quantity be reduced to 1,500.000 pounds, without stripping and smoothing, and for the two next years 170 pounds 

 per poll, stripped and smoothed, was to be made, which would make in the whole about 1,300,000 pounds, "and all 

 creditors are to take 40 pounds for the hundred," and " noe man to be obliged to perform above half his covenantb 

 about freighting tobacco in 1039". Debts were to be satisfied in tobacco at 3d. per pound, and merchants were 

 only allowed to advance 30 per cent, on their goods, (d) A toil of tobacco was to consist of four hogsheads, and 

 freight was fixed at 6 per ton. (e) 



The tobacco made in 1040 was not to be sold under 12fZ., and that made in 1041 not under 20<Z., on forfeiture 

 of the whole crop. (/) In 1046 the culture of tobacco was introduced into the Dutch colony of New York. In 

 1049 the quantity of tobacco had so increased that the price had fallen to 3d. a pound, (g) In 1052 the cultivation 

 of tobacco was forbidden in England, and all plantations there were ordered to be destroyed. In 1055 the crop 

 in Virginia failed through drought. In March, 1C57-'5S, by enactment, its planting after the 10th of July was 

 forbidden under forfeiture of 2,000 pounds of tobacco, aud a duty of 2s. per hogshead was levied on all tobacco 

 exported, in lieu of the poll-tax, (h) Collectors were to be appointed for the several rivers, and fraudulent practices 

 are manifested by the following provision: 



In case anie person or persons whatsoever shall false pack anie tobacco, that is pack any ground leaves to the quantity of five pounds 

 in a hogshead, among his top tobacco, it shall be lawful to give order for the burning it.' Hening, i, p. 4'J2. 



In March, 1659-'60, a duty of 10s. per hogshead was levied on all tobacco not discharged in the English 

 dominions in Europe, (i) 



In 1GOI the price of tobacco in Maryland was fixed at 2s. per pound, (j) In March, 1C01-'G2, tobacco was 

 forbidden to be planted after the last of June (/<;), and in 1002 its price in Virginia fell from 12s. to 10s. per 

 hundred weight. (1) To the detriment of Virginia, it appears that the colonies of Nesv York and Maryland 

 were in this year also engaged in a secret trade in tobacco with the Dutch, and upon complaint Lord Baltimore 

 gave his promise to the English board of admiralty that all such tobacco so discovered in the province of Maryland 



Lazy, and Shoestrings, but it is stated that "all the tobacco in the country, when brought to the warehouses, conies under one of two 

 denominations, viz, Aronoke and sweet-scented. The latter is distinguished by its scout and flavor, is most valued, and grows in greatest 

 plenty in the lower parts of Virginia, viz, James river and York river, and begins now to be planted on Rappahamiock and the south 

 side of the Potomac. The planters used to strip a great deal of it, by taking the stem out of the leaf, which then gets the name of 

 stemmed tobacco, as before the stripping it was called leaf. Aron >ke, denominated by an Indian name, is generally planted up 

 Chesapeake bay and the back settlements on all the rivers. It is the sort the merchants generally purchase ; they do not deal much in 

 the sweet-scented, and any of that sort they buy is commonly leaf. The planters seldom or never strip the Aronoke as they do the 

 sweet-scented". The account in Harris' Voyages is to the same effect, both as regards the kinds and the excellence of the sweet-scented 

 tobacco which grows on the York river (Ed. 1764, ii, p. 331). General Washington also recognizes the two great classes, and speaks of his 

 own areful experiments to test the value of different kinds (Sparks' WrU'mijs, xii, pp. 253, 257, 258, 260). The Oroonoko is no longer 

 confined to the richest soil, nor is it now thought to be less sweet-scented than its rivals. Some years ago the fresh, sandy highlands of 

 Fluvanna not more fertile than many others produced it in high perfection, and, being a favorite with the manufacturers, the growers 

 reaped unusual profits. The Pryor tobacco is still also cultivated largely on the south side of James river (N. F. Cabell, p. 21). 



a Hening, i, p. 210. 



4 Ibid., p. 216. This was not observed, for accounts of clerk's fees and other charges were kept chiefly in tobacco until 1754, as 

 evidenced in the statutes. 



e Ibid., p. 217. 



d The advance of the Virginia merchants upon the goods imported by them, as is exhibited by M. S. account books in our possession, 

 varied from 25 to 50 per cent., and in some accounts against John Baylor, 1758-'70, the advance in 1758-'C5 is 100 per cent., and in 176G-'70, 75 

 per cent. Mair's Bookkeeping, p. 334, states that in 1761 it was from 35 to 40 per cent. The pound, Virginia currency, rated with the pound 

 sterling as two to three the first being only worth two-thirds as much as the last, or decimally 3.33J per cent. A valuable article on 

 colonial exchange, entitled "Virginia Colonial Money, and Tobacco's Part Therein", was published by W. L. Royall, esq., now of New 

 York city, in the Virginia Law Journal for August, 1877. 



Hening, i, pp. 224-225. 



/ Ibid., p. 226. 



g "A Perfect Description of Virginia", Force's Tracts, ii, No. 8, p. 4. 



h Hening, i, p. 448. 



Ibid., p. 536. 



j ScharPs History of Maryland, ii, p. 35. 



ft Honing, ii, p. 30. From the Diary of Colonel William Cabell, Sr., of Union Hill, (now) Amherst county, Virginia, kept prior 

 to, during, and immediately after the revolutionary war, it appears that plant patches were generally burnt in January and the seed 

 sowed for a succession in February and March, though in 1769 he drew and planted from a patch sowed by the llth of April. He 

 finished planting his crop June 20, 1774, from seed sown 7th of May. Tobacco seed were sown by him on the 9th of May, 1785, and tobacco 

 hills were made in February and March, generally in new ground. Coltered planting commenced the first season (rain) in May and was 

 generally finished by the last of June, though replanting is mentioned as late as 24th of July. The earliest planting mentioned is the 

 6th of May, 1787. Cutting commenced about the middle of August aud ended about the last of September; but in 1770-'87-'88 and '00 

 tobacco was cut in July, "on account of its firing." The latest cutting mentioned is the 28th of October, 1786. Prizing commenced the last 

 week in October, and sticking and stripping the first week in September. 



I A Letter to the Clergy of Virginia. Richard Bland, 1760, p. 12. 

 810 



