FARMER'S MANUAL. 89 



ferent. When you observe the under leaves upon 

 your male hemp begin to turn yellow, and fall 

 off, after the period of blossoming is over, divide off 

 your hemp field into rows, 4, 5, or 6 feet wide, by 

 pulling up the hemp clean in alleys of 2 feet wide, in 

 the intermediate spaces ; bind up the hemp as you pull, 

 and carry it out, and set it up to dry, 10, 15, or 20 

 bundles in each bunch, and house it as soon as it will 

 answer without heating. You may then go on to pull 

 out the male hemp from the female, (which bears the 

 seed,) by passing in the alleys, and reaching into the 

 rows, and pulling up each male stalk separately ; 

 bind, and carry out, and stack as before, until you 

 have separated the male from the female hemp ; house 

 when dry as before. After 10 or 15 days, when the 

 burs in your seed-hemp begin to open, and the black 

 seeds appear, lose no time in pulling, binding and 

 stacking your hemp, as before ; the hemp-birds will 

 become numerous and busy in quest of seed : your 

 hemp will shell, and your loss will be great. In bind- 

 ing your hemp, select two spires of the shortest of the 

 best coated hemp for bands ; for if you use the short 

 undergrowth, which has but a thin coat, your bands 

 will fail you in rotting, and your hemp will suffer waste 

 by becoming loose, besides the difficulty, trouble and 

 expense of bindirtg over again your bundles when 

 wet and heavy. When you are ready to put your 

 hemp into water, say about the first of October, 

 (which should always be in some river, or brook, 

 where the water changes often, and not in a pond, or 

 any stagnant water ; this will become foul and putrid, 

 and the stench so great, that few persons can be found 

 to (Jraw your hemp,) you may thresh off the seed with 

 a flail, as in flax, or hold a bundle with one hand 

 across a flax or hemp brake, and whip out the seed 

 with a hand-staff, upon a tight floor : the seed is va- 

 luable for the same purposes as your flax-seed, either 

 for the home consumption, or a foreign market. The 

 rotting of your hemp is also critical, like your fla#> 



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