HEMP CULTIVATION 115 



CULTIVATION 



The land is usually ploughed in the autumn and 

 harrowed and rolled in the following spring. . If the 

 soil lacks fertility, it should be treated with a heavy 

 dressing of farmyard manure, or a " green manure " 

 crop should be dug in. Chalk, gypsum and potash 

 manures are sometimes applied with advantage. 

 Experiments in the United States have shown that 

 nitrate of soda or sulphate of ammonia or a. mixture 

 of one of these salts with chloride or sulphate of 

 potash has a very beneficial effect. The leaves and 

 the refuse from the retting and scutching processes 

 should be returned to the soil, and the same land may 

 then be planted with hemp for several years in suc- 

 cession without becoming exhausted. Rotation with 

 other crops is advisable however, and is essential if 

 the crop has been attacked by the root-parasite, 

 Orobanche ramosa, which sometimes .causes con- 

 siderable damage. 



.The seed is sown in the spring as soon as all danger 

 from frost is over. The quantity of seed sown per 

 acre varies according to the quality of fibre desired. 

 For the production of fibre suitable for cordage or 

 coarse textiles, about one bushel per acre is used, 

 whilst if the finest hemp is required as much as 3 

 or 4 bushels per acre are sown. The seed is usually 

 sown broadcast, but in the United States machine 

 sowing in drills is commonly practised. After the 

 seed has germinated, little cultivation is required 

 beyond weeding during the early stages of growth 

 and thinning out the seedlings if they come up too 

 thickly. When the plants have reached a height of 

 8 inches, weeding may be discontinued. 



If the crop is grown for fibre only, both male and 

 female plants are harvested at the same time, but if 

 both fibre and seed are desired, the male plants are 

 first collected by hand-pulling, and the female plants 

 are left for about 3 weeks longer for the seed to ripen. 

 The male plants are ready for harvesting when their 

 colour changes from deep green to light brown. The 



