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 1,917,666 pounds. The value placed upon this by the government 

 board of registration and statistics in Canada is 3c7. 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 AthencKum furnishes the following memoranda respecting 

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

 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 Corchorus 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 ( Urtica nivea) is also abundantly grown in the western part of 

 this 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 Juncus, the stems of which are woven into beautiful mats, used by the natives for 

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

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

 lowest parts of these valleys. At the time of my visit, in the beginning of July, the harvest 

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

 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 sheaves or 

 bundles were taken out of temporary sheds erected for the purpose of keeping off the rain 

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

 sun had sunk very low in the horizon, it was gathered up again into sheaves and plaoc-l 

 under cover for the night. A watch was then set in each of the sheds ; for, however quiet 

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

 if they have no opportunity to steal. And so the process of winnowing went on day by day, 

 until the whole of the moisture was dried out of the reeds. They were then bound up firmly 

 in round bundles, and either sold in the markets of the country, or taken to Ningpo and 

 other towns, where the manufacture of mats is carried on on a large scale. It seems to me 



