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I think a good deal of the pipeweed mentioned had to do with the fact that Tolkien equated hobbits with some groups of people who dwelt in Kentucky ... As I have read a few different places, Tolkien had a student (or was it a fellow teacher?) who hailed from Kentucky, and was questioned deeply about the simple lives the people lived there.
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Can you give a reference for that, Knight, as it is not something that I have ever come across before? Mind you, Kentucky is a major tobacco producing area.
As I understand it, the Shire is based upon the countryside around Birmingham, where Tolkien was brought up. And the prevalence of pipeweed derives from the fact that, as has been said, Tolkien was a pipe-smoker. He regarded pipe-smoking and ale drinking as activities conducive to relaxation and good conversation. Seems fair enough to me. But then again, I'm a Hobbit at heart. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img] [img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img]