204 On Italian Hemp and Flax, 



successively. By breaking the ground, by means of the 

 plough, repeating the furrows, the hand work is spared, 

 but the soil is not so well prepared, as with the spade. 

 In the Bolognese they manure the ground in autumn, at 

 the time of the second digging. In other places, and 

 especially in Romagria, at the digging performed in 

 March, they sow beans, rather abundantly, and these 

 they dig up in autumn, oversetting all their plants. In 

 the next spring, they dig the ground over again, and sow 

 the hemp, when they are sure of having no white frosts. 

 Some shut up their sheep in the field, where they intend 

 to sow the hemp, and dig immediately, the spaces of 

 ground abandoned by them. The scraps made by the 

 silk worms, horses' dung, and animal muck of every 

 kind, are excellent for the hemp. The Bolognese prefer 

 catties' horns and hoofs, which are procured from the 

 butchers, and then, by means of a machine, they grind 

 them, like coarse sa^v-dust, and spread them as a ma- 

 nure. They make use also of fowls' and birds' feathers, 

 which they buy of the people who sell poultry in the mar- 

 ket, already dead, and picked. They keep these fea- 

 thers in the water for a space of time, in order to mace- 

 rate them, and prevent the wind from dispersing them. 

 They are then spread. Some cbltivators scatter on the 

 field, pigeons' or hens' dung at sowing time ; others 

 scatter it afterward, waiting for weather that has appear- 

 ances of rain. Care must be taken that the seed do not 

 get totally enveloped in the above manures, because 

 they would be hurt. The seed must be shining, high 

 coloured, and no more than one year old. As soon as 

 it is sown, it is covered up by a light harrow. It is ne- 

 cessary to preserve it from the rapacity of the birds, and 

 for that purpose, they put here and there about the field, 

 several moveable objects, exposed to the wind, to 

 frighten the birds away. Those who wish for long and 



