HEMP. 



third of silex, one-third of lime and magnesia, and another 

 third of clay. " This mixture," he says, "forms a light 

 soil, which does not harden and form a crust. The seed, 

 sown thickly on such land as this, rises perfectly ; the 

 plants, finding themselves crowded, are unable to increase 

 in bulk and breadth, and therefore shoot up lank and 

 slender. Well-rotted manure, acting immediately, favours 

 and accelerates the development of the plant in an up- 

 ward direction/' 



Hemp is esteemed a clearing crop ; for it destroys all 

 weeds that spring beneath it by overshadowing them 

 and depriving them of their nourishment. As a general 

 rule, it should not be too often repeated on the same 

 ground. It may, however, be grown with success on the 

 same land many years, by manuring annually ; it is said 

 that it has been sown on the same for seventy years 

 together. There is no doubt that by the unsparing use 

 of fertilizers, almost any result can be attained in gar- 

 dening and agriculture. Hemp, if it stands for seed, is 

 on all hands acknowledged to be an exhausting crop ; but 

 if it be cut or pulled without the seed, it is on the con- 

 trary supposed by many to improve the land, and to be 

 an excellent preparation for wheat. 



" British husbandry" testifies to nearly the same effect. 

 " The soil best suited to hemp is a strong rich loam, and 

 it is more grown in the deep moist rich fens of Lincoln- 

 shire and the Isle of Ely, than in any other part of the 

 kingdom ; for it is always strong in the fibre in propor- 

 tion to the richness of the ground in which it has been 

 grown. It indeed requires even richer land than flax, 

 and is therefore generally grown upon alluvial soils, 

 although they should not be too moist, and a cold wet 

 clay will in no instance answer the purpose ; but it is in 

 other places grown upon ground of more ordinary nature, 

 the quantity produced being smaller, though the quality 

 is somewhat finer. 



" Opinions differ in regard to its effect upon the soil, 

 some considering it as a great exhauster, and others only 

 in case of its being allowed to stand for seed 5 there are, 



