140 HEMP. 



root sooner than the head; and that hemp which has 

 been pulled a long time and has become thoroughly dry, 

 requires a much longer time to steep than that which, 

 pulled the moment it is fit, is carried directly from the 

 field to the water. If it is absolutely impossible to steep 

 the hemp a few days after gathering it, it ought not to 

 be delayed later than the middle of October, on account 

 of the cold and rain ; moreover, the rapid drying in the 

 sunshine or in the open air, which is so strictly necessary 

 after the steeping, is not easily attainable at a more ad- 

 vanced period of the season. 



The time of steeping in different districts varies as 

 much as the vintage and the fermentation of the ex- 

 pressed juice does. It is made to go on according to 

 people's fancy; and is very often regulated by the custom 

 of the country and the purpose for which the hemp is 

 intended to be applied. As a general rule, it takes from 

 four to five days in July and August, from five to eight 

 in September, and from nine to fifteen in October, if the 

 error has been committed of waiting till then. 



The signs that the steeping is complete, are the easy 

 separation of the bark from the woody stem, entirely from 

 one end to the other, and the disappearance of the pith. 

 Authorities are not agreed as to the number of ribbons 

 into which the bark ought to separate when it is stripped 

 off; some are satisfied with two, others require three. 

 According to E/ozier, two are best. These various details 

 of practical observation cannot lay claim to an equal 

 degree of importance; nevertheless, there can be no 

 doubt that water-retting is a process which varies accord- 

 ing to the nature of the water, the maturity of the plant, 

 and the culture to which it has been subjected. Steeping 

 can only be successfully practised by a careful reference 

 to these three circumstances, which must be attentively 

 noticed, and the subsequent treatment adapted to them. 

 All merely general rules must be made subordinate to 

 the above conditions. 



Ead management in steeping diminishes the value of 

 the crop to the amount of one-sixtL, and often of one- 



