yield was less it brought a better price on the market.
Hugh Jones, in his _Present State of Virginia_, in 1724, mentions one
of the many localities in Virginia which became noted for a
particular variety of tobacco grown there. To quote: "For on York
River in a small tract of land called Digges Neck, which is poorer
than a great deal of other land in the same latitude, by a particular
seed and management, is made the famous crop known by the name of E
Dees, remarkable for its mild taste and fine smell."

Topping the growing tobacco plants was a practice originated by the
colonists. The main purpose was to limit the production to the large
lower leaves and to do away with the small immature leaves at the top
of the stem. The General Assembly often specified the number of
leaves which could be left; the number, varying with the value placed
on the leaf in England, ranged usually from six to nine.

Tobacco is a soil exhausting crop. The Jamestown planters soon
learned that continuous crops of tobacco, on the same land, soon
reduced both the quantity and quality of the leaf. The only resource
left to the tobacco farmers was to clear new fields. The more
well-to-do planters began to seek favorable locations of uncleared
land. The depleted fields were abandoned and the task of restoring
their productivity was usually left to nature. Much of the best
tobacco soils of Virginia have been cropped and then allowed to go
back to brush and tress and again cleared several times. Finding the
remains of old tobacco rows out in dense woods is not an uncommon
experience. This exhaustion of tobacco lands had a beneficial
influence on the agricultural development of Virginia. By the time
the fields were abandoned, most of the stumps had decayed and the
soil could be prepared for seeding to other crops with plow and
harrows. It was found that these depleted fields were still capable
of producing satisfactory crops of grain. Many of the colonists who
were not financially able to clear new grounds could often buy or
rent these abandoned fields for a nominal price.

CROPS OTHER THAN TOBACCO

While tobacco played a very important part in building a prosperous
colony at Jamestown, there were several other staples that also
contributed to this result. Of prime importance should be rated maize
or Indian Corn. Maize saved the colony from starvation on several
occasions. Maize became an export commodity to the New England and
West Indian col