154. FARMER'S ASSISTANT, 



In the bogmeadows of Orange county, the hemp is cut 

 close to the ground, with an instrument made for the pur- 

 pose ; but in uplands, which have any little stones in the 

 way, it is best to pull it. In cuting, or pulling, each one 

 takes a swath wide enough to spread the hemp as he goes 

 along. When sufficiently dried, which in good weather 

 will require about a week, it is to be gathered in bundles 

 and bound with straw, and carefully stacked in the field till 

 about Christmas. 



It is then to be carefully spread on the snow, and, by 

 being covered with other snows, it will be bleached and 

 improved in its color. When the snows dissolve in March, 

 it will generally be found sufficiently roted ; and is then to 

 be taken up and set in small loose shooks in the field. 

 When sufficiently dry, it is to be broken with a coarse 

 break, then carried to the barn to be again broken with the 

 common flux-break, and then dressed in the manner of flax, 

 but more gently, as it will waste with hard beating. 



The above is the Orange county method ; but the hemp 

 may be roted in the Fall, and then dressed out agreeably to 

 the above directions. It may also be water-roted, which is 

 to be done shortly after it is pulled, and about five days are 

 generally requisite for this purpose. When sufficiently 

 roted in this way, a small handfull may be pulled asunder 

 with a little exertion ; and then it must be taken out very 

 carefully, so as not to injure the coat, and dried. 



The water in which it is roted should not run rapidly, as 

 such will wash away the coat. Let the sheaves be laid 

 lengthways across the stream, and sunk completely under. 

 Standing water is good for roting ; but unless the hemp be" 

 once turned,' .while roting, that which lies uppermost will 

 be roted most, owing to the water near the surface being 

 warmer than that below. 



A new method of roting hemp has been communicated 

 by M. Bralle, as follows: 



Put fifty pounds of hemp, in the stalk, into a vessel filled 

 "with water, sufficient to cover the hemp, and previously 

 heated as high as two hundred degrees of Fahrenheit, 

 and into which has been mixed at least one pound of good 

 soft-soap; take away the fire, and let the hemp remain in 

 the vessel two hours ; then take it out and cover it with 

 straw, so that it may cool gradually. The next day, spread 

 it evenly on a floor, and run a heavy roller over it several 

 times, which serves to break it ; spread it out on the grass 

 for five or six days to bleach ; then take it up, dry it, and 

 clean it. By this management, it is stated, that one-fourth 

 more of cleaned hemp may be obtained, than by roting in 

 any other way ; the hemp is much softer, stronger, of better 

 quality; and the process of cleaning is much less expensive 



