virginia: What crop of colonial Virginia became the major export of Virginia to the Old World? Surgarcane is incorrect.|||Tobacco|||Tobacco was introduced to Europe by Sir Walter Raleigh, and was at the time promoted as being healthy and a cure-all for any number of ailments. Tradition says that, since smoking was unknown outside of the New World at the time (and even there it was used more as a ceremonial thing, an example being the tradition of the peace pipe among some Native American groups), one of Raleigh's servants walked in upon his employer enjoying a pipe, thought Sir Walter was on fire, and promptly doused him with a nearby bucket of water.|||The clue is in the word 'Virginia'|||Tobacco.