3N On the Culture of Hemp. 



pit the better) where it is laid bundle upon bundle, direct and 



across thus ; which is termed a bed of hemp; and after it is 



| piled to such a thickness as to answer the 



T depth of the water, which is usually five or 



-j — j — j— — j — . — r six feet, it is loaded with blocks and logs of 



J ' '_LJ_L_Lwood until all of it is totally immersed ; after 



I remaining in this state four or five days as the 

 weather shall direct, it is taken out and carried to a mown 

 grass field, or anv other grass land that is cleaai and free from 

 stock ; the bundles being untied, it is spread out thin, stalk 

 by stalk ; in this state it must be turned every other day, 

 especially in moist weather, lest the worms should injure it. 

 Thus it remains for six weeks, or more, then it is gathered 

 together, tied in large bundles, and kept dry in a house or stack 

 till wanted for use. It is known to have enough of the water 

 by the rind separating easily from the stalk. It is better the 

 time should be too long than too short ; the slenderest 

 requires the longest time. When the quantity is small, the 

 bark may be separated from the reed by pulling out the reed 

 from every stalk by the hand ; when large, by drying and 

 breaking it like flax. After it is reeded, it must be separated 

 from the mucilaginous matter by pouring water upon it, and 

 squeezing it several times; taking care not to lee the threads 

 entangle in each other, as this produces waste. 



The business of preparing hemp for the heckle, is by 

 having recourse, first to a coarse, then to a fine break. 

 When the hemp happens not to be properly watered, it is 

 often necessary to peel off the rind from the boon with the 

 hand. The hemp-mill used in America is also a good in- 

 strument. It consists of a large heavy stone shaped like a 

 sugar-loaf, with the small end cut off; a body of that form 

 will go round in a circle if it be moved on a plane ; the hem}} 

 being laid on the floor in its way, is bruised by the weight of 

 the stone passing over it. 



After the hemp has been broken, it undergoes a second 

 operation, which is termed swingling or scutching. The 

 intention of which is to separate the reed from the hemp, 

 and this is done by one or other of the following ways : — In 

 the first, the workman takes a handful of hemp in his left 

 hand, and holding it over the edge of a board, strikes it 

 with the sharpened edge of a long, flat, and straight piece of 

 wood, commonly called a swingle-hand or scutcher. But 

 as this method is very tedious, water-mills have been erected, 

 in which several scutches fixed in the same axle-tree, are 

 moved with great velocity. Here the work is performed with 

 great expedition, and with much less fatigue to the work- 

 men ; but a greater waste is made of the hemp, owing to the 

 velocity with which the engine is turned. Before the hemp 

 thus prepared is heckled, it undergoes a third operation 



