246 THE YEAR-BOOK OF AGRICULTURE. 



the experiment are those in which the cultivation of flax formerly flourished, and in which 

 the agricultural population are not wholly strangers to its management. 



Canadian Hemp. 



It may, perhaps, not be generally known that hemp grows spontaneously in Canada, par- 

 ticularly in all the lower or eastern districts of the country. And it is stated, upon respectable 

 authority, that, under good cultivation, the quality is equal to Russian hemp. The soil and 

 climate of Canada are believed to be eminently adapted to the growth both of hemp and flax. 

 Very many years ago, the culture of hemp in Canada was commenced, with all the earnest- 

 ness and vigor which a well-grounded confidence in the capabilities of the country for such 

 production warranted ; but, owing solely, it is believed, to the want of efficient modes of 

 converting the raw produce into a prepared state, and thus securing an immediately profitable 

 market, the culture of hemp in Canada, upon any extensive scale, was then abandoned. 

 The quantity of hemp and flax produced in Canada, taken together, as officially returned, 

 amounted, in 1852, to 1,917,660 pounds. The value placed upon this by the government 

 board of registration and statistics in Canada is 3c?. currency, or £28 currency per ton, 

 which, reduced to sterling, is £23 3*. The total value of the hemp and flax grown in Canada 

 in 1852, was, therefore, according to this official valuation, £23,971 provincial currency; and 

 very nearly the whole was the growth of Lower Canada. 



Production of Vegetable Textile Fibres in China. 



A correspondent of the London Athenccum furnishes the following memoranda respecting 

 the cultivation of various vegetable textile fibres in the province of Chekiany, China. lie 

 says: Besides rice, the staple summer crops in this district are those which yield textile 

 fibres. A plant well known by the name of jute in India — a species of Corohoros — which 

 has been largely exported to Europe of late years from India, is grown here to a very large 

 extent. In China this fibre is used in the manufacture of sacks and bags for holding rice 

 and other grains. A gigantic species of hemp, [Cannabis,) growing from ten to fifteen feet 

 in height, is also a staple summer crop. This is chiefly used in making ropes and string of 

 various sizes, such articles being in great demand for tracking the boats up rivers, and in the 

 canals of the country. Every one has heard of China grass-cloth — that beautiful fabric 

 made in the Canton province, and largely exported to Europe and America. The plant which 

 is supposed to produce this [Urlka nivea) is also abundantly grown in the western part of 

 tli;- province, and in the adjoining province of Kiangsee. Fabrics of various degrees of 

 fineness are made from this fibre, and sold in these provinces; but I have not seen any so 

 fine as that made about Canton. It is also spun into thread for sewing purposes, and is 

 found to be very strong and durable. The last great crop which I observed was that of a 

 species of Jnnous, the stems of which are woven into beautiful mats, used by the native* for 

 Bleeping upon, for covering the floors of rooms, and for many other useful purposes. This 

 is cultivated in water, somewhat like the rice-plant, ami is therefore always planted in the 

 lowc-t parti of these valleys. At the time of my visit, in the beginning of July. Hie harvest 

 of this crop had just commenced, and hundreds of the natives were busily employed in diving 



it. The river banks, uncultivated land, the dry gravelly bed of the river, and every other 

 available spot, were taken up with this operation. At gray dawn of morning the Bheaves or 



bundle-- were taken out of temporary sheds erected for the purj of keeping off the rain 



and dew, and shaken thinly over the surface of the ground. In the afternoon, before the 

 sun had -unk very low in the horizon, it was gathered Op again into sheaves and placed 



under cover for the night. \ watch was then set iii each of the shed-: for, however quiet 

 and harmless the people in these parts are, there is no lack of thieve-, who are very honest, 

 if they have no opportunity to steal And so the pi f winnowing went on day by day, 



until the whole of the moisture was dried out of the reed-. They were then bound op firmly 



in round bundle-, and either gold in the markets of the country, or taken to Ningpo and 



other town-, where the manufacture of mate Is carried on on a large scale. It seems to me 



