The process is an intensive, tedious, year-round occupation, and for many years involved a series of grueling operations largely done by hand. Literature dealing with the subject of tobacco culture from the seventeenth century to the present is replete with complaints about the laborious nature of tobacco farming. Seeds are sown in beds with meticulous care. An ounce of seed planted in 100 square yards can produce 3 to 4 acres of flue cured tobacco or 2 to 3 acres of Burley. 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.