e colonists were probably acquainted with tobacco before they
landed at Jamestown and found the Indians cultivating and using it
under the name of uppowoc or apooke. However, it was not until 1612
that its cultivation began among the English settlers, even in small
patches. Previously their attention had been centered entirely on
products that could be used for food. Captain John Smith wrote that
none of the native crops were planted at first, not even tobacco.

The story of tobacco in Virginia begins with the ingenious John Rolfe.
He was one of the many Englishmen who had come to enjoy the fragrant
aroma and taste of the imported Spanish tobacco; and upon his arrival
at Jamestown in May, 1610, Rolfe found that tobacco could be obtained
only by buying it from the Indians, or by cultivating it. There seems
to have been no spontaneous growth then as now. Owing to the frequent
unfriendly atmosphere between the colonists and the Indians, Rolfe
probably decided to grow a small patch for his own use. He also had a
desire to find some profitable commodity that could be sold in England
and thus promote the success and prosperity of the settlers and the
London Company. Driven by these two motives John Rolfe became the first
colonist to successfully grow tobacco, the plant that was to wield such
a tremendous influence on the history of Virginia.

_Nicotiana rustica_, the native tobacco of North America, was found to
be inferior to that grown in the Spanish Colonies. Botanists state that
_Nicotiana rustica_ had a much greater nicotine content and sprouted or
branched more than that cultivated today. William Strachey, one of the
first colonists, gave the following description of the native plant
grown in 1616:

It is not of the best kynd, it is but poore and weake, and of a
byting tast, it growes not fully a yard above the ground, bearing a
little yellowe flower, like to hennebane, the leaves are short and
thick, somewhat round at the upper end....

In 1611 Rolfe decided to experiment with seed of the mild Spanish
variety. He persuaded a shipmaster to bring him some tobacco seed from
the Island of Trinidad and Caracas, Venezuela; and by June, 1612,
tobacco from the imported seeds was being cultivated at Jamestown. On
July 20, 1613, a Captain Robert Adams landed the _Elizabeth_ in England
with a sample of Rolfe's first experimental crop. In England, this
first shipment was described as excellent in quality, but it