GATnEEIXG THE CEOP. 131 



dry, it sometimes lies a month without showing itself. 

 The latter case is exceedingly adverse : for even if it ger- 

 minated at a later period, which does not always happen, 

 the plant would be deficient in the requisite vigour. 

 Moreover, the longer it lies in the ground, the more it is 

 destroyed by its various enemies. On that account it is 

 often a matter of regret when the seed is not sown on 

 the very day of the last ploughing ; for the land has then 

 sufficient freshness at its surface to cause the seed to 

 germinate. For the same reason, when the hemp-field is 

 contiguous to water, it is often a wise piece of economy 

 to water with scoops, with garden-engines, &c. If the 

 plant comes up too thick in patches, it may be slightly 

 thinned ; but whatever be done to it, it oVight not to be 

 touched after it is once six inches high. Violent winds, 

 and the cataracts of rain which sometimes fall during 

 severe thunder-storms, often do great damage to standing 

 hemp, especially when it is tall and thick. Transverse 

 poles fixed to upright posts, four feet high, are the only 

 means of preventing the evil. M. Bose relates a curious 

 and startling fact, which some would pronounce incredible. 

 A Piedmontese farmer, M. Barberis, having a hemp-field 

 seriously injured by hail, cut half of it to the level of the 

 ground, and left the other half standing for the sake of 

 comparison. The portion cut yielded a crop not only 

 more abundant than the other, but more than the same 

 extent of ground would yield in seasons when #o hail 

 had fallen. The experiment, which is said to have been 

 repeated several times with success, certainly deserves 

 the attention of hemp-growers, even if they feel no incli- 

 nation to make the trial. 



GATHEEISTG THE CEOP. 



Olivier de Serres tells us that "the hemp will be 

 gathered when it is ripe, which will be known by the 

 whiteness of the stem, and by other signs to be learned 

 by practice. But in pulling it, the male plants must be 

 distinguished from the female, drawing the former first ; 

 K 2 



