specting.
Exporters and manufacturers frequently demanded that their tobacco be
reinspected by competent agents.

The inspection law was allowed to expire in October, 1775, but it was
revived the following October. During this period the payment of debts
in tobacco was made on the plantation of the debtor, and if the
creditor refused to accept the tobacco as sound and marketable, the
dispute was referred to two competent neighbors, one chosen by each of
the disputants.

Prior to 1776 tobacco that was damaged while stored in the public
warehouses was paid for by the colony, but provisions were made in 1776
that such a loss was to be borne by the owner of the tobacco. In 1778
this was amended to the effect that losses by fire while stored in the
warehouses would be paid for by the state. Four years later, owing to
the great losses that had been sustained by the owners of the tobacco,
the inspectors were held liable for all tobacco destroyed or damaged,
except by fire, flood, or the enemy. The state continued to guarantee
the tobacco against the fire hazard until well into the nineteenth
century.

The law requiring "refused" tobacco to be burned in the warehouse kiln
was repealed in 1805, and such tobacco could then be shipped anywhere
within the state of Virginia. Stemmers or manufacturers were required
to send a certificate of receipt of such refused tobacco purchased to
the auditor of public accounts in Richmond. These receipts were then
checked against the warehouse records of the amount of refused tobacco
sold. Finally, in 1826, the General Assembly legalized the exportation
of refused tobacco, provided the word "refused" was stamped on both
ends and two sides of the hogsheads in letters at least three inches in
length.

In 1730 three inspectors were appointed for each inspection by the
governor, with the advice and consent of the Council. This did not
always mean that there were three inspectors at each warehouse at all
times. Warehouses built on opposite banks of a creek or river were
frequently placed under the same inspection; that is, the three
inspectors divided their time at the two warehouses. In areas where the
production of tobacco declined from time to time, two warehouses were
frequently placed under the jurisdiction of one set of inspectors. And
if the quantity of tobacco produced in that particular area
necessitated separate inspections, the change was then made. The
inspection system was very flex