Starting about 1720, for the First Colony, and about five or six years later, for the Second Colony, the Germans grew tobacco as the major cash crop. Once the tobacco was inspected and placed in a bonded warehouse, a receipt for it would be issued. This could be spent. For example, the tithe due to the Church of England was expressed in so many pounds of tobacco. One did not have to hand over the tobacco literally; one wrote a "check" for so many pounds of tobacco drawn against the account at the warehouse.
The Germanna colonists were at a disadvantage, compared to most of the people in Virginia, because of the distance they were from the markets and warehouses. The warehouses were built on the rivers, where ships could sail. Getting the tobacco to the warehouse was a problem. One way was to pack the tobacco tightly into a barrel, and then roll the barrel to the warehouse. To do this, a very strong barrel was required, and the tobacco had to be packed in very tightly. Otherwise, the tobacco would move about in the barrel and erode itself into dust, which was very undesirable.
A corollary to this technique was the need for good roads that avoided the grades. Some of the barrels, when packed, weighed several hundred pounds. An upgrade in a road made it hard for the draft animal to pull the barrel. On the other hand, a downgrade was dangerous, because the barrel would tend to overtake the draft animal. And the road needed to be very smooth, so the barrel would roll easily.
The tobacco grown closer to the mountains was not considered as good as the Tidewater, even as it came from the field. With the problems of transporting it up to 25 miles over land to the warehouse, the tobacco got a little worn. It was hard to get the premium price for it.
There was a tremendous demand for barrels. At least two of our Germanna colonists were described as coopers, Christopher Zimmerman and Frederick Kabler. Both of these men lived outside the area of the majority of the Germans, by about twenty miles. I believe it might have been because that would put them closer to the major market for the barrels. The need for barrels ran into the tens of thousands per year in Virginia.
I have not seen tobacco being grown in Virginia, but it is grown here in Pennsylvania. in the next county over. The Amish, who generally have a supply of labor, tend to grow small quantities of it. The young plants are set in the ground about the last week of May. Previously, they have been started from seed in a "hothouse". As each plant is set into the ground, it is fed with a cup of water, a typical procedure for setting plants. The expression "grows like a weed" certainly applies to tobacco. By the end of August, harvesting commences.
(19 May 01)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.