Cereals, Cotton, Tobacco.
The flora of Virginia is rich and abundant. Cereals, grasses, and
other plants that have been introduced have found favorable soil and climate.
Here grow and yield abundantly "plants good for food" and
suited for needed manufactures. A comparison of the production of
cereals with the products of other countries presents Virginia in a most
favorable light, while nearness to market gives a most decided advantage.
The climate and soil of Virginia favor the growth of nearly all the useful
and profitable productions of the world. Wheat, corn, rye, buckwheat
and Indian corn are raised in abundance. It is the native home of
tobacco, and from it planters, manufacturers and the general government
realize large sums of money.
Cotton is grown in the southern section, and in all parts of the State
cultivated grasses are successfully grown, and in some parts of the State
the native grasses make the best grazing. Commodore Maury (good
authority) says: "Everything which can be cultivated in France, Germany,
or England, may be grown here equally as well, with other things
besides, such as Indian corn, cotton, tobacco, peanuts, broom corn, and
sweet potatoes, etc., which are not known as staples there. The climate
and soil of Virginia are as favorable to the cultivation of the grape and the
manufacture of wine, as they are in France and Germany.
Tobacco is a staple product of Virginia. "The Virginia Leaf" is
known the world over for its excellence—the result of manipulation as
well as soil and climate. Piedmont and Middle Virginia lands are best for
the growth of good tobacco; those of Middle Virginia produce the finest
tobacco and most valuable; Tidewater is the region of Cuba and Latakia
varieties, while immense crops of coarse, heavy tobacco are raised in the
upper Counties on the rich lands of the Blue Ridge, the Valley, and Appalachia.
Virginia tobacco cannot be substituted either by new methods,
new varieties, or adulteration; it will always, in a series of years, maintain
its position of superiority in foreign markets. Whenever all restrictions and
burdens are removed from tobacco, Virginia's brights, her sweet-fillers, and
her rich shipping will assert their natural superiority and receive again the
chief place in the market.
