CIi. XXVII.] ON HEMP. 325 



as by the seeds benrinning to turn brown, and tlie pods whicli contain tliem 

 bursting open. Tiiere is, however, this advantage arising from having the 

 crop pulled when green — that it conies off the ground sufficiently early in 

 many seasons for turnips, which are frequently made to follow it; or, that 

 it allows ample time for the sowing of wheat. 



If allowed to stand for seed, the harvest must then of course be later, 

 and the crop is seldom taken off the ground until Michaelmas, or per- 

 haps the middle of October, when it is shocked in the manner of corn till 

 dry, and thrashed upon cloths in the field, the sheaves being afterwards 

 stacked until the spring, when the retting takes place in the same mode as 

 that of flax, as already described. The pulling is commonly effected by 

 women, and the stalks are tied up at both ends in bundles as large as the 

 two hands can grasp. The charge is usually from 2s. 6d. to 3s. 6d. per 

 100 bundles; amounting to from 17s, 6c?. to a guinea per acre, as the 

 average ])roduce may be calculated at about 500 bundles ; breaking is 

 usually effected at about Is. per stone, varying, however, with their length, 

 and the ease or difficulty of effecting their separation. The standing for 

 seed lessens the quantity as well as the quality of the hemp ; the " maiden- 

 liemp," or that which is pulled green, producing generally from 40 to 50 

 stone, which is one-fourth more than the seeded-hemp, and the price is 

 usually from 1^. 6d. to 2s. per stone higher. The average produce of the 

 seed may be estimated at about 12*, but, in many instances, amounts to 

 20 or 30 bushels per acre t- The husk serves only for fuel, but the chaff is 

 said to be equal to the tail of the common oats, and horses eat it with great 

 avidity +. The expense and profit of rearing and harvesting the crop, 

 exclusive of the cost of heckling, have been variously estimated §. The 

 cultivation of both hemp and flax is, however, frequently carried on upon 

 joint account between the farmers and jobbers, who are peculiarly ac- 

 quainted with its management ; the usual agreement being for the former 

 to lay the requisite quantity of manure upon the land free of all charge, 

 and for the latter to find seed and labour. 



It has excited the surprise of many writers upon agriculture, that the 

 culture of flax and hemp has not been further extended in this country, and 

 calculations have been brought forward, showing the vast advantage which 

 would accrue to the nation by the saving of the immense sum annually 

 paid to foreigners for their importation. But putting aside the question 

 regarding the supposed national gain, with the discussion of which we 

 have no concern, and looking solely to the farmer's profit, it may yet be 

 justly doubted whether they can ever be here made an object of general cul- 

 ture ; for they not only require land of a peculiar nature, but the crops 

 demand more minute attention than farmers generally choose to bestow on 

 them, and, independently of the opinion that they are exhausting, return 

 nothing in the shape of manure to benefit the ground. On peaty soils, 

 however, and especially on those bogs in Ireland, the drainage and culti- 

 vation of which have of late justly attracted so much attention, we are of 



* Cambridge Report, p. 161. 1- Somersetshire Report, .'Jrd edit. p. 218. 



J Hampshire Report, p. 208. 



§ Thus the profit and expense are slated in the different County Reports to be — 

 Expenses. Profit. 



In that of Lincolnshire £10 18 6 £0 12 6 2nd edit. p. 184. 



Suffolk, &c. I 14 11 5 9 ol^"'^ ^'^^^•PP' 1'^'^' ^'^^' 



Cambridgeshire 9 16 8 3 13 4 p. 164. 



