After six to ten weeks, the seedlings are transplanted to fields that have been combed clean. Tobacco is also dependent on the weather. Too much rain, too much sun, or a hailstorm can destroy a crop. The position of leaves on the stalk controls their properties and their commercial value. Growers of flue-cured tobacco recognize two grades, leaf and lugs.
Lugs are the leaves on the lower half of the plant.
In preparation for market, leaves are sorted. Sales by auction at warehouses have been the means of selling tobacco since the 1840's. Tobacco use and abuse have fascinated writers for centuries. Despite ongoing debates between smokers and nonsmokers, governments and corporations, tobacco has enjoyed a place in the pages of novels, satires, rhymes, poetry, plays, and essays. Throughout history, pipes, cigars, snuff, and cigarettes have played the role of enticing devil or trusted confidant, of deadly disabler or delicious enabler.