196 PLANTS USED IN THE ARTS. 



are now superseded. For the fibre the plant is cut as 

 soon as the blossoms begin to fall, but if the object be to 

 secure both seed and fibre, it should be left till the bolls 

 have turned yellow. 



689. When the flax plant is cultivated for the fibre, 

 from ten to fifteen bushels of seed may also be expected 

 per acre, depending on the character of the land and the 

 thoroughness of culture. 



690. Hemp, another textile plant, is cultivated princi 

 pally for the sake of its fibre, which is used in the 

 manufacture of ropes and coarse cloths. It belongs to 

 the same family of plants as the hop and the nettle. 



691. The soil best adapted to hemp is a deep rich 

 mould of loam and vegetable matter, with fine sand and 

 clay intermixed. The rich alluvial lands of Kentucky, 

 Missouri, and other western States, are admirably fitted 

 for it. 



692. The seed is sown broadcast early in spring, at the 

 rate of from one and a half to two and a half bushels 

 per acre, according to the fineness of the fibre desired. 

 Thick sowing, as in the case of flax, produces a finer 

 fibre. When the blossoms begin to fall in July or 

 August, it is cut up and sorted into different lengths, 

 and bound up into bundles six or eight inches in diameter, 

 and put into pools or cisterns of water for rotting. After 

 being sufficiently rotted, the bundles are taken out, dried 

 and stacked, till ready for the mechanical processes of 

 breaking and manufacture which follow. 



693. Osier Willows. Among the plants used in various 

 manufacturing industries, and which form a considerable 

 item in the agricultural interest of the country, may 

 be mentioned the Osier willow, broomcorn, and the 

 hop. 



