79 



earth, and planttKl iu a lield, far reniovtMi from mulberry trees, about four inches 

 apart. It may form a border to the ceroalia and vei^etables, protecting them from the 

 depredations of domestic animals, wliich all avoid the "7>w." In dry weather, the 

 field is to be watered every three or four days until the second decade, when it may bo 

 watered every tenth day. 



In November and December manure it with horse or buffalo dung, earth, straw, or 

 any rubbisli, a foot or more thick to protect it from the cold. Iu March rake it away 

 and expose the plant, watering it in dry weather, and using rubbish- of any kind for 

 manure. A caution is given never to use s wines' dung, as it is " saltish" and hurtful 

 to the "ma." In the third or fourth year, some say the second, the plant may be cut 

 and used. 



Plaxtln'G tiik Roots. — The roots are to be cut in pieces of three or four fingers' length, 

 and are to be planted in May, half a yard apart, and watered every three or four days. 

 On the appearance of the blades, use the hoe, and water them ; they will l)e niaturo 

 for cutting in the second year. In the course often years tlie roots become unfruitful ; 

 the shoots may then be cut off, and, if enveloped in earth and covered with matting, 

 can be transplanted in places thirty or forty inches distant. The ground should be 

 first well prepared with manure, and freely manured afterward, the manure being 

 half water. Hero, as before, the plants should be hoed from time to time. In many 

 cases fresh earth, pulverized bricks, ashes, &c., are use<l for manure. Some years the 

 husbandman has his cropinjure<l by worms; he needs, therefore, to seek for and destroy 

 them as they appear by picking them off. It not unfrequently liappens that the crop 

 is in some places remarkably small, and sometimes the produce is very great without 

 assignable cause. 



CWiiNG. — It yields three crops every year. The first cutting takes place in June. 

 Care is to be taken not to cut the young shoot* ; keep, therefore, an inch from the 

 ground. In a month or two the shoots are seven or eight feet high, when the second 

 cutting takes place ; do not cut the original stem. During the latter part of September, 

 or in October, the last cutting is performed, from which the finest cloth is made, the 

 first being inferior, coarse and hard. After each cutting, the plant is to be covered 

 with manure and watered, but not day by day, unless it be cloudy. At Canton, the 

 plant is pulled up by the roots every year, from which it is evident that it differs widely 

 fi'om the "ma" just described. 



Pkeling. — On being cut, the leaves are carefully taken oft" with a bamboo knife, by 

 women and children, generally on the spot. It is then taken to the house, and soaked 

 in water for an hour, unless it is already wet by recent showers ; in cold weather the 

 water should bo tepid. After this tlie' plant is broken iu the middle, by which the 

 fibrous portion is loosened, and raised from the stalk; into the interstice thus made the 

 operator, generally a woman or child, thrusts the finger nails and separates the fiber 

 from the center to one extremity, and then to the other. ' The stripping juocess is very 

 easy. It appears to be difficult to remove the fibers from the Canton " ma," as it is 

 eoaki'd in water for more than forty-eight hours before peeling, which is done bj' men.^ 

 They first cut off the roots, and then, separating the fiber from the stock, strip it oft' 

 by drawing it over a pin fixed in a plank. In either process half of the fiber is taken 

 off at one stroke. The next process is scraping the hemp, to facilitate which the fiber 

 is first soaked in water. Tlie kuife or scraper is aliout two inches long ; its back is in- 

 serted in a handle of twice its length. This rude implement is held in the left hand ; 

 its edge, which is dull, is raised a line above the index finger. Strips of hem]) are then 

 drawn over the blade from within outward, and being pressed ujion by the thumb,, 

 the pilous portion of one surface and the mucilaginous part of the other are thus taken 

 ofl". The hemp then " rolls up like boiled tendon." After being wiped (Iry, it is ex- 

 posed to the sun for a day, and then assorted, the whitest being selected for the finest 

 cloth. 



Blkaching and Dividing. — A partial bleaching is eftected on the fibers before they 

 undergo further division, sometimes by boiliugandat others by pounding on a i)lank with 

 a mallet. These are in some places repeated. After being dried in the sun, an im- 

 portant operation then succeeds by women and children, to whom is intrusted the 

 tedious process of splitting the fibers, which they do with their finger nails. Expert 

 hands are able to carry this division very far. When this process is ])receded by hack- 

 ing, the shreds are finer and softer. The threads are formed into balls, and subject to 

 frecjuent soaking and washing. The ashes of the uiulberry leaf are recommended to 

 be put into the water with the hemp ; others use lime for a whole night. Some simply 

 ox])08e it to dew and sun. In rainy and cloudy weather it should be ex]>osed to a cur- 

 rent of air in the house; moisture darkens it. The threads are now ready for splicing, 

 the ^^•ork of the women and children, the labors of the agriculturist being concluded, 

 when the threads are rolled into balls, ai'Uir being sized or stiffened with rice water. 

 Before the thread is ready for the weaver, the balls are steamed over the vapor of boil- 

 ing water in a closed oven. They are then sjiread out to dry. The subse<|uent stages, 

 nntil the clotli is removed from the loom, include nothing which interests, or at least 

 instructs artisans in tlie West, 



