upon the ability of the Colony to produce tobacco, as the revenue from it had already grown to be of extraordinary proportions. The crop of 1686 was an unusually large one[1] and must have been sold at remunerative prices, as it is stated that in 1687 the planters enjoyed great peace and plenty.[2] Nothing illustrates more clearly the strict supervision of the English authorities over the agricultural interests of Virginia than the apology which Lord Howard addressed to the English Government in defence of the Act of Assembly, passed at the session of this year, prohibiting all planting after June 30th. The object which the Act had in view was eminently wise, as its enforcement would have prevented the production of a large quantity of inferior leaf, there not being a sufficient length of time after this date before the arrival of frosts to allow it to mature very thoroughly Without discussion, the Commissioners of the Customs, who looked only to the revenues of the King, irrespective of the welfare of the Colony, positively refused to recommend that the Act should be permitted to stand.
A curious scheme for the improvement of the quality of Virginian tobacco was brought to public attention at this time.[3] A person who had had an opportunity of studying the methods of curing the leaf in Brazil, which rendered it more valuable in Europe and on the coasts of Africa than the product of other countries, arrived in the Colony and tried an experiment with the Virginian staple which convinced him that, by the employment of the Brazilian methods, the sweet-scented variety particularly could be
- ↑ Nicholas Spencer to Secretary Sunderland, British State Papers, Colonial Papers; Sainsbury Abstracts for 1686, p. 13, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Nicholas Spencer to Lords of Trade and Plantations, British State Papers, Colonial Entry Book, No. 83, pp. 125-133; Sainsbury Abstracts for 1686, p. 31, Va. State Library.
- ↑ Palmer’s Calendar of Virginia State Papers, vol. I, p. 25.
