is remained the standard size until the 1790's. In
1796 the legal size was increased to 54" x 34"; this remained the legal
size until the 1820's. The weight of the hogshead increased from time
to time. In 1657 a hogshead of tobacco weighed about 300 pounds, 600 in
the 1660's, 800 by 1730, 950 by 1765, and around 1,000 in the 1790's.
These were supposed to have been the standard or legal weights, but
regulations were not strictly enforced. As early as 1757 some of the
hogsheads weighed as much as 1,274 pounds. By 1800 hogsheads averaged
about 1,100 pounds.

VARIETIES

A complete story on the origin of the early varieties of tobacco would
be a very significant contribution, since very little is known about
them. Most writers agree that the tobacco cultivated by the English
settlers was not the same _Nicotiana rustica_ grown by the Indians, but
_Nicotiana tabacum_, the type found growing in South America and the
West Indies. The difference between these two types was profound, both
in taste and size. The plant native to Virginia was small, growing to a
height of only two or three feet, whereas _Nicotiana tabacum_ grew from
six to nine feet tall. As to taste, George Arents remarked, "the same
difference in taste exists between these two species, as between a crab
apple and an Albemarle pippin."

All during the colonial period tobacco was classified into two main
varieties, Oronoco and sweet-scented. Oronoco had a large porous
pointed leaf and was strong in taste. Sweet-scented was milder, the
leaf was rounder and the fibers were finer. We are also told that
sweet-scented grew mostly in the lower parts of Virginia, along the
York and James rivers, and later on the Rappahannock and on the
southside of the Potomac. Oronoco was generally planted up the
Chesapeake Bay area and in the back settlements on the strong land
along all the rivers.

Oronoco is thought to have originated in the vicinity of the Orinoco
River valley in Venezuela. After being brought to a different
environment and climate in Virginia, various varieties or strains of
Oronoco were developed or came about naturally. In the late 1600's a
very fair and bright large Oronoco, Prior, and Kite's Foot were
mentioned. As the years passed planters came to distinguish other
varieties such as Hudson, Frederick, Thick-Joint, Shoe-string,
Thickset, Blue Pryor, Medley Pryor, White Stem, Townsend, Long Green,
Little Frederic, and Browne Oronoco.

A type of tobacco r