136 HEMP. 



sowing. What remains is then rippled off by hand, by 

 means of a sort of iron comb fixed on a bench. This 

 method is a good one, but gives extra work, which might 

 be avoided by leaving the hemp a little longer in the 

 shock. Nowhere is the flail employed, lest it should 

 crush the seed. 



Hemp-seed is winnowed, like wheat, to cleanse it from 

 fragments of leaves and husks, and also from sterile seeds 

 which happen to be mingled with it. The latter are 

 often very numerous, and may be known by their pale 

 colour and lightness. They ought never to be left mixed 

 with the good seed, as slovenly hemp -grower soft en allow 

 them to be, because they serve no useful purpose ; and 

 when the seed is intended to be crushed for oil, they 

 absorb a portion of what is expressed, and so occasion an 

 actual loss. The refuse of the winnowing may be thrown 

 into the poultry-yard, where whatever nutritious grains 

 are left, are sure to be found by the fowls and the 

 pigeons. The winnowed seed is carried to the granary, 

 where it is laid in small heaps, which ought to be shifted 

 at least once a week at first, to dry it thoroughly. For 

 if fermentation takes place, it would turn black and good 

 for nothing. It will be as well to keep a sharp look-out 

 after rats and mice. At the end of a month's time, 

 the hemp-seed will be fit to put into sacks, or into tubs 

 that are open at one end. 



In large towns, the consumption of hemp-seed for cage 

 birds is very considerable in amount. Hemp-seed oil is 

 excellent for burning in lamps ; it is used in painting 

 and the manufacture of soft soap. The oil-cake left 

 after the crushing process is eaten with avidity by many 

 domestic animals, and is often employed as manure. 



The thrashing over, the hemp is ready to undergo the 

 important operation of steeping, which requires to be 

 detailed somewhat at length. One precaution before 

 harvesting ought to be mentioned. As the hemp-seed 

 begins to ripen, clouds of small birds will flock to prey 

 upon it ; rodent vermin are also very fond of it ; and 

 unless the farmer takes decisive measures, these parasites 



