144 HEMP. 



their waist in water, for the purpose of washing the 

 hemp before taking it out of the routoir. 



" To steep the hemp, they place in these alleys the 

 bundles as carefully sorted as possible. The bundles are 

 laid lengthwise in the alleys; and as many are brought in 

 as will fill the whole breadth of the alley a couple of 

 bundles deep. They then take pieces of wood of the 

 same dimensions as the cross-bars, and about a foot 

 longer than the breadth of the alleys. One of the ends 

 of the piece of wood is introduced beneath one of the 

 cross-bars which- enclose the alley, passing over the 

 bundles of hemp ; then, by pressing the other end down, 

 they force the hemp to sink in the water, till the other 

 end can be* slipped under the cross-bar which is nearest 

 to it. It is evident that the cross-bar performs the office 

 of a lever, and obliges the hemp, in spite of its buoyancy, 

 to sink in the water and to remain submerged. Each 

 end of the bundles of hemp must be held down by one 

 of these pieces of wood. Up to this point, all the 

 operations connected with the steeping are performed by 

 men, who walk upon the tops of the stakes, on the cross- 

 bars, and on the hemp itself, without going into the 

 water. These men make use of poles, furnished with 

 iron hooks at their end, to lay hold of the bundles 

 and arrange them in the water according to their 

 convenience. 



" There are a few ponds on a different plan ; instead of 

 driving in stakes and making wooden benches, no more 

 is done than to pave the bottom, or to line it with bricks 

 and masonry ; all round it, the sides are kept up by walls, 

 also of masonry, and the hemp is sunk in the water by 

 means of great stones laid on the top of it. This is the 

 plan adopted in Spain. In general, the hemp which is 

 steeped in ponds like these is of still better quality than 

 that which has been treated in those of the former 

 description. 



" When the hemp-grower has no pond, of either one 

 sort or the other, he steeps his crop in runs of water, and 

 in the bed of rivers, fastening it with ropes, for fear lest 





