94 A.GRICULTURAL RErORT. 



The hemp can be shocked or stookcd (as the Yankee would say) witli more 

 compactness without the leaves than with them, and any operation having au 

 influence upon the future security of the staple from dampness or atmospheric 

 influence is certainly important ; the perfect detachment of all the leaves should, 

 then in nowise be omitted. No time should be lost, after the stalk is cured, in 

 getting the crop up and into neat shocks ; every additional day's exposure to 

 sun, wind, rain, or dew is deteriorating its quality and subtracting from its 

 quantity. The brighter the stock can be secured the better. 



The same rules will apply to hemp that obtain in securing good hay. The 

 operator, in taking up the hemp, uses a rude stick cut from the branches of the 

 nearest tree, about the length and weight of a heavy hickory walking cane, 

 having at the end of the stick a small branch making a hook. With this 

 primitive but very effective tool he can rapidly draw the stalks into bunches 

 of the proper size for sheaves. In operating he throws his rude hook forward 

 to its full length, and suddenly draws it towards him, each motion making a 

 bunch. This he raises quickly from the ground, and with his hook, by a few 

 well-directed strokes, divests the plant of its leaves. He then binds his sheaf 

 with its own stalks, and passes on to repeat the operation. Other laborers follow, 

 and place the hemp into neat, close shocks of convenient size, securing the top 

 by a neat band made of the hemp stalks themselves, after the manner of shock- 

 ing corn. Here it is suffered to remain until the whole crop is thus secured 

 as soon as possible, selecting clear, dry weather for the operation. The 

 whole crop is to be secured by ricking or stacking. The same mles to be 

 observed in stacking as with grain, the object being to keep the crop secure 

 and dry until the proper time for rotting arrives. In the latitude of Kentucky 

 about the middle of October is the proper time. The crop must be retained in 

 the rick or stack until the summer heats and rain have passed, and frost appears 

 instead of dew. The whole crop is then removed from the rick, and hauled 

 back to the same gi-ound on which it grew, there to be spread in thin swaths 

 for rotting, where it remains without turning until properly rotted. This is 

 indicated by the fibre freely parting from the stalk, and the dissolution by the 

 action of the elements of the peculiar substance that causes it to adhere thereto. 



This stage is only to be learned to perfection by practical experience ; yet 

 the novice must have some information to enable him to begin, and it is easily 

 acquired by a little observation. 



When the operator finds his hemp sufficiently rotted, the wooden hook is 

 again brought into requisition for once more drawing the swaths into conve- 

 nient bunches. The hemp will have lost much of its weight, and can be 

 bunched and shocked with less labor than at first; besides, at this last shock- 

 ing, the binding is to be omitted entirely, the hemp is to be carefully and neatly 

 handled, all tangling to be avoided, and placed again in shocks, and firmly 

 bound at the top. 



Then comes the last and crowning operation — breaking and dressing the 

 fibre or lint for the market. The peculiar break to be used, like the knife or 

 hook for cutting, needs no description, being manufactured in the old hemp 

 regions, at a cost of about five dollars each, and from long experience has been 

 found perfectly adapted to the uses required. The beginner would save time and 

 money by ordering a sample break, from which any carpenter can manufacture 

 as desired. 



The crop is broken in this climate directly from the shock in the open field 

 by the removal of the break from shock to shock as fast as broken. In lowsi, 

 owing to the severity of the climate, it would probably be necessary to remove 

 the rotted hemp to the barn, where the labor of breaking could be more 

 certainly performed. The coldest and clearest weather is the best for this 

 operation ; in fact, excess of dampness in the atmosphere suspends this labor 

 altogether. The breaking process is laborious, yet more depends on the skill 

 than on the strength of the laborer. 



