That estrangement which at present subsists between Great-Britain and the American colonies, renders a supply of the article of which I treat, and which is become so essentially necessary to the happiness of a great number of his Majesty's subjects, very uncertain; it depends, in a great measure, on the prizes, freighted with this commodity, that happen to be taken, and on the quantities which are imported from other commercial states at a high price. It is therefore to be hoped that the legislature will take into consideration so important a concern, and pursue such measures as will conduce to remove this uncertainty. A remedy is at hand; that of cultivating it in these kingdoms; but this appears to be prohibited by the following ancient acts of parliament:

In an act of Charles the Second, entitled, "An act for prohibiting the planting, setting, or sowing tobacco in England and Ireland," the prohibition is thus expressed: "Your Majesty's loyal and obedient subjects, the Lords and Commons in this present parliament assembled, considering of how great concern and importance it is, that the colonies and plantations of this kingdom in America, be defended, protected, maintained, and kept up, and that all due and possible encouragement be given unto them; and that not only in regard great and considerable dominions and countries have been thereby gained, and added to the imperial crown of this realm, but for that the strength and welfare of this kingdom, do very much depend upon them, in regard of the employment of a very considerable part of its shipping and seamen, and of the vent of very great quantities of its native commodities and manufactures, as also of its supply with several considerable commodities which it was wont formerly to have only from foreigners, and at far dearer rates: And forasmuch as tobacco is one of the main products of several of those plantations, and upon which their welfare and subsistence, and the navigation of this kingdom, and vent of its commodities thither, do much depend; and in regard it is found by experience, That by the planting of tobacco in these parts your Majesty is deprived of a considerable part of your revenue arising by customs upon imported tobacco; Do most humbly pray, That it may be enacted by your Majesty: And it is hereby enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, and the Lords and Commons in this present parliament assembled, and by authority of the same, That no person or persons whatsoever, shall or do from and after the first day of January, in the year of our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred and Sixty, set, plant, improve to grow, make or cure any tobacco either in seed, plant, or otherwise, in or upon any ground, earth, field, or place within the kingdom of England, dominion of Wales, islands of Guernsey or Jersey, or town of Berwick upon Tweed, or in the kingdom of Ireland, under the penalty of the forfeiture of all such tobacco, or the value thereof, or of the sum of forty shillings for every rod or pole of ground so planted, set or sown as aforesaid, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity of ground; one moiety thereof to his Majesty, his heirs and successors; and the other moiety to him or them that shall sue for the same, to be recovered by bill, plaint, or information in any court of record, wherein no essoign, protection or wager in law shall be allowed.

"Provided always and it is hereby enacted, That this act, nor any thing therein contained, shall extend to the hindering of the planting of tobacco in any physic garden of either university, or in any other private garden for physic or chyrurgery, only so as the quantity so planted exceed not half of one pole in any one place or garden."

In this act all sheriffs, justices of the peace, or other officers, upon information or complaint made unto them, are empowered to cause to be burnt, plucked up, consumed or utterly destroyed all such tobacco, set, sown, planted or growing within their jurisdiction. But it not proving forcible enough to prevent the cultivation of tobacco; in the fifteenth year of the reign of the said King, a clause was inserted in an act, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of trade," to the following purport, clause 18.

"And forasmuch as planting and making tobacco within the kingdom of England doth continue and encrease, to the apparent loss of his said Majesty in his customs, the discouragement of the English plantations in the parts beyond the seas, and prejudice of this kingdom in general, notwithstanding an act of parliament made in the twelfth year of his said Majesty's reign for prevention thereof, entituled, An act for prohibiting the planting, setting or sowing of tobacco in England and Ireland; and forasmuch as it is found by experience, that the reason why the said planting and making of tobacco doth continue, is, That the penalties prescribed and appointed by that law are so little, as to have neither power or effect over the transgressors thereof; For remedy therefore of so great an evil, Be it enacted by the authority aforesaid, That all and every the person or persons whatsoever, that do, or shall at any time hereafter set, plant or sow any tobacco in seed, plant or otherwise, in or upon any ground, field, earth, or place within the kingdom of England, &c. shall, over and above the penalty of the said act for that purpose ordained, for every such offence forfeit and pay the sum of ten pounds for every rod or pole of ground that he or they shall so plant, set, or sow with tobacco, and so proportionably for a greater or lesser quantity of ground; one third part thereof to the King, one other third part to the poor of such respective parish or parishes wherein such tobacco shall be so planted, and the other third thereof to him or them that shall sue for the same." "Physic gardens excepted as before."

This penalty also proving insufficient to put a stop to the cultivation, it was found necessary in the twenty-second year of the reign of the said Charles the Second to enforce it by the following act, entitled, "An act to prevent the planting of tobacco in England, and regulating the plantation trade."

"Whereas the sowing, setting, planting and curing of tobacco, within divers parts of the kingdom of England, doth continue and increase, to the apparent loss of his Majesty's customs, and the discouragement of his Majesty's plantations in America, and great prejudice of the trade and navigation of this realm, and the vent of its commodities thither, notwithstanding an act of parliament made in the twelfth year of his Majesty's reign that now is, for the prevention thereof, entitled, 'An act for prohibiting the planting, setting, or sowing of tobacco in England and Ireland;' And also one other act of this present parliament, made in the fifteenth year of his said Majesty's reign, entitled, 'An act for the encouragement of trade.'

"And forasmuch as the remedies and provisions by these laws are found not large enough to obviate and prevent the planting thereof, Be it therefore enacted by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, That from and after the first day of May, which shall be in the year of our Lord, One Thousand Six Hundred and Seventy-one, all justices of the peace, within their several limits and jurisdictions, shall and do, a month before every general quarter-sessions to be holden for their respective counties, issue forth their warrants to all high-constables, petty-constables, and tything-men, within their several limits, thereby requiring the said high-constables, petty-constables and tything-men, and every of them, to make diligent search and inquisition, what tobacco is then sown, set, planted, growing, curing, cured or made within their several and respective limits and jurisdictions, and by whom; and to make a true and lawful presentment in writing upon oath, at the next general quarter-sessions to be holden for such county, of the names of all such persons as have sown, set, planted, cured or made any tobacco; and what the full quantity of land is, or was sown, set or planted therewith, and who are the immediate tenant or tenants, or present occupiers of the land so sown, set or planted, who are or shall be deemed planters thereof, to all intents and purposes.

"Which said presentment upon oath, shall be received and filed by the clerk of the said county in open sessions; and after such receipt and filing, shall be a sufficient conviction in law to all intents and purposes, of all such persons as shall be so presented for the sowing, setting, planting, improving to grow, making or curing tobacco, either in seed, plant, leaf, or otherwise, contrary to the said recited act or either of them; unless such person or persons so presented shall, according to the usual forms, traverse such presentment.

"And it is hereby further enacted, That all constables, tything-men, bailiffs, and other public officers, shall and do within their respective jurisdictions, from time to time, as often as occasion shall require, within fourteen days after warrant from two or more of the justices of the peace within such county, town, city or place, to them, calling to their assistance such person or persons as they and every of them shall find convenient and necessary, pluck up, burn, consume, tear to pieces, and utterly destroy, all tobacco seed, plant, leaf, planted, sowed, or growing in any field, earth or ground."

The other clauses relative to the cultivation of tobacco in this act, are, "A penalty on the officers of five shillings for every rod, perch, or pole of ground so set, planted, or sowed with tobacco, that shall be suffered or permitted to grow or be consumed in seed, plant or leaf, within their jurisdiction, by the space of fourteen days after the receipt of such warrant or warrants." "A penalty for refusing to assist the officers, and also for resisting them." And after making the same provision as before for the physic gardens, and reciting many other articles for regulating the plantation trade, the act thus concludes: "Provided always, and be it enacted. That this act shall continue in force for nine years, and from thence to the next session of parliament, and no longer."

By an act made the fifth of George the First, these acts are confirmed and rendered perpetual.

The repeated inforcement of them seems to prove, that large quantities of tobacco were raised at that period in these dominions, and that even the penalty of ten pounds per rod was not sufficient to deter persons from the cultivation of it.

As an application has just been made to parliament for an act to permit the growth of it in Ireland, the observations made in this Treatise will not, I flatter myself, be thought unworthy the notice of the legislature, that so advantageous a branch of agriculture may not be confined to one division of Great-Britain, but that every part of these united kingdoms may be allowed to share in the emoluments arising from it.

The advantages which will proceed from the permission, are too many to be enumerated in so short a Work. Whether a sufficient quantity can be raised in these kingdoms to supply the demand there was for it before the American trade became interrupted, (as a revival of the demand will be the certain consequence of a reduction of the price) time alone can discover: but if enough be only raised for home consumption, this will be no inconsiderable saving to the nation.

When the very great profits, arising to the planter from every acre of tobacco, come to be known, (they will appear chimerical if I inform my readers to what they amount) I doubt not but that tobacco will be considered as the most valuable branch of agriculture which can be attended to. An emulation, heightened by the prospect of gain, being once excited in the breasts of the landholders of these kingdoms, large tracks of land that now lie unimproved, will be cultivated, and, after some years, enough may probably be raised to answer the usual demands for exportation.

By this means the revenue, which has been so greatly diminished by the unhappy divisions between Great-Britain and the colonies, will be in a great measure restored. The duties to be collected for this purpose may either be laid on the plants before they are gathered, or during the time of cure, as on the article of malt; the collection of which would be attended with very little additional expence, and probably, at no distant period, amount to as much as was heretofore received on imported tobacco. When the happy Æra arrives that will unite once more Great-Britain to the American colonies (an event, I fear, more to be wished than expected) and a constant uninterrupted supply of this necessary exotic provided, the wonted restraint might be renewed, as far as is consistent with the situation of both countries at that time.

By pursuing the rules laid down in the preceding chapters, which I have endeavoured to give in as explicit terms as possible, country gentlemen and landholders in general will be enabled to raise much better tobacco than that which is usually imported from Maryland or Virginia: for notwithstanding there are not wanting prohibitory laws in those countries to prevent the planters from sending to market any but the principal leaves, yet as most other commodities are subject to abuse or adulteration, they frequently, to increase their profit, suffer the sprouts to grow, and mix the smaller leaves of these with the others, which renders them much inferior in goodness.

The crops that I have reason to believe may be raised in England, will greatly exceed in flavour and efficacy any that is imported from the southern colonies: for though northern climates require far more care and exactness to cultivate and bring tobacco to a proper state of maturity than warmer latitudes, yet this tardiness of growth tends to impregnate the plants with a greater quantity of salts, and consequently of that aromatic flavour for which it is prized, than is to be found in the produce of hotter climes, where it is brought to a state of perfection, from the seed, in half the time required in colder regions.

A pound of tobacco raised in New-England or Nova-Scotia is supposed to contain as much real strength as two pounds of Virginia; and I doubt not but that near double the quantity of salts might be extracted from it by a chymical process.

Good tobacco, the produce of the northern colonies, is powerful, aromatic, and has a most pleasing flavour. The fumes of it are invigorating to the head, and leave not that nausea on the stomach that the common sort does. As much time would be required to smoke one pipe of it, as three of that which is generally used: before so great a quantity of the vapour could be drawn from it as to prove hurtful, the smoker, from intoxication, would be unable to continue his amusement. I can truly say, after a residence of several years in England, that I never met with any tobacco, though I frequently smoke, that in strength or the delicacy of its flavour, is to be compared with that which I have been accustomed to in New-England.

Many authors have given accounts of the bad effects proceeding from an immoderate use of tobacco. Borrhi mentions a person, who through excess of smoking, had dried his brain to so great a degree, that after his death there was nothing found in his skull but a small black lump confirming of mere membranes. From the use of good tobacco this could not have happened; for, as I have just observed, the fumes which only prove noxious from an immoderate continuance, could not have been repeated so often as to produce such dreadful effects.

To the instructions already given I shall add, that I would advise the planter, in his first trials, not to be too avaricious, but to top his plants before they have gained their utmost height; leaving only about the middle quantity of leaves directed before, to give it a tolerable degree of strength. For though this, if excessive, might be abated during the cure, by an increase of sweating, or be remedied the next season by more leaves being suffered to grow, it can never be added; and without a certain degree, the tobacco will always be tasteless and of little value. On the contrary, though it be ever so much weakened by sweating, and thereby rendered mild, yet it will never lose that aromatic flavour which accompanied that strength, and which greatly adds to its value.

In the directions before given for raising the plants from the seed, I have omitted to mention the size of the beds on which a specified number of them may be produced. I apprehend that a square yard of land, for which a very small quantity of seed is sufficient, they being so diminutive, will produce about five hundred plants, and allow proper space for their nurture till they are fit to transplant.

I shall also just add, though the example can only be followed in particular parts of these kingdoms, that the Americans usually chuse for the place where they intend to make the seedling-bed, part of a copse, or a spot of ground covered with wood, of which they burn down such a portion as they think necessary. Having done this, they rake up the subjacent mould, and mixing it with the ashes thus produced, sow therein the seed, without adding any other manure, or taking any other steps. Where this method cannot be pursued (though it is much the best, as it destroys at the same time the weeds) wood ashes, which are most proper manure for this purpose, may be strewed over the mould in which the seed is designed to be sown.

The Author presumes that the preceding instructions will be found sufficient for any person inclined to enter upon the cultivation of tobacco; yet if any nobleman or gentleman wishes to consult him upon the subject, he will give his attendance on receiving a line at his Publisher's.

FINIS.

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