URT 



OR, BOTANICAL DICTIONARY. 



URT 



781 



and the base of the leaves in autumn are frequently disfigured 

 by tubercles which contain small maggots producing Musca 

 Urticte. Common throughout Europe, as well as in North 

 America and Asia, flowering in the middle of summer. The 

 growth of Nettles is general throughout this country, particu- 

 larly in strong fertile soils, where, on every bank, ditch, and 

 place, which cannot be reduced to tillage, they are produced 

 in such abundance, that the quantity, if collected, would be 

 of great magnitude. The cultivation of them might be en- 

 couraged in such waste places, or a vast quantity of land of 

 that description might, at a moderate expense, be made to 

 produce a valuable crop of a useful article heretofore re- 

 garded as a nuisance. The shady places in woods, parks, 

 and coppices, are. particularly favourable to their growth, and 

 they are accordingly found in such situations in the greatest 

 perfection. The harl or fibre of this plant is very similar to 

 that of Hemp or Flax, inclining to either, according to the 

 soil and different situations in which it grows ; and it has 

 been shewn by experiment, that they may be used for the 

 same purposes as hemp or flax, from cloth of the finest tex- 

 ture down to the coarsest quality, such as sail-cloth, sack- 

 ing, cordage, &c. Another use, of great magnitude, is the 

 application of the fibres of Nettles to the manufacture of 

 paper of various qualities. For the purpose of writing and 

 printing papers, the Nettles might be gathered twice in one 

 season ; as for these purposes an extraordinary length of 

 staple is not required, and the fibre would be increased in its 

 fineness; and in point of colour, the prudent use of bleaching 

 would render them a delicate white, without injuring them. 

 The most valuable sort, in regard to length, suppleness, fine- 

 ness of the lint, brittleness of the reed, which dresses most 

 freely, with least waste of fibre, and yields the greatest pro- 

 duce of fine strong harl, is most common in the bottom of 

 ditches amongst briers, and in shaded valleys, where ihe soil 

 has been a blue clay, or strong loam. In such situations, 

 the plant will sometimes attain the height of twelve feet, and 

 upwards of two inches in circumference; in general they are 

 from five to nine feet in height; and those growing in patches 

 on a good soil, standing thick and in a favourable aspect, 

 will average about five feet and a half, will work kindly, and 

 the stems are thickly clothed with lint. Those which grow in 

 poorer soils, and in less favourable situations, with rough and 

 woody stems, and have many lateral branches, run much to seed, 

 are stubborn, and work less kindly; they produce lint more 

 coarse, harsh, and thin. In every situation and different soil, 

 the most productive Nettles are found to be those which have 

 the smoothest and most concave tubes, the largest joints, the 

 fewest leaves, and which produce the least quantity of seed. 

 In gathering them, as they are perennial plants, they should 

 not be pulled up by the roots, but cut down, with a view to 

 obtain a second crop where the situation will allow of it, and 

 to secure the propagation of them the subsequent year. 

 The most favourable time for collecting them is from the 

 beginning of July to the end of August; but it may be con- 

 tinued even to the end of October, only the lint of those which 

 remain growing till that time will be less supple, and will 

 not work so freely: and if the season happens to be unfavour- 

 able, it is probable there would not be sufficient time to 

 steep and grass them, in which case they should be dried by 

 the heat of the atmosphere, or if the state of the weather 

 would not permit that, then by means of artificial heat; pnd 

 when dried, they should be housed or stacked till the spring, 

 when they might successfully undergo the same operation of 

 steeping as those of the first col lection. Such as grow in grass- 

 fields, where the grass is intended for hay, should be cut 

 when the hay is cut, in order to prevent their being spoiled 



by the cattle when feeding ; the harls of which would be 

 fine in quality, and well suited to be wrought up with the 

 second crop, and which crop may be obtained after those of 

 the first cutting, where the situation will admit of their being 

 preserved. After the Nettles are gathered, they should be 

 exposed to the atmosphere till they gain some firmness, in 

 order to prevent the skin being damaged in the operations of 

 dressing off the leaves, the lateral branches, and seeds, which 

 should be done a handful at a time, and afterwards sorted, 

 viz. those which are both long and fine by themselves, those 

 which are both long and coarse by themselves, and those 

 which are both short and coarse by themselves ; then made 

 up into bundles as large as can be grasped with both hands, 

 a convenient size for putting them into water, and taking 

 them out: for this purpose, a place should be previously 

 prepared, and may be either a pond or a pit free from mud, 

 or a brook or river. The bundles should then be immersed, 

 and placed aslant with the root end uppermost; and to pre- 

 vent their floating on the surface, some weight should be 

 laid upon them. The time required for steeping them is 

 from five to eight days ; but it is better they should remain 

 rather too long in the water than too short a time ; yet great 

 care should be taken they are not underdone. When the 

 fibre approaches to a pulp, and will easily separate from the 

 reed, and the reed becomes brittle, and assumes a white 

 appearance, that operation is finished. The bundles should 

 then be taken out singly, very carefully, to avoid damaging 

 the fibres, and be rinsed as they are taken out of the water, 

 to cleanse them from the filth they may have contracted ; 

 they must next be strewed very thinly upon the grass, and 

 be gently handled. When the surface has become sufficiently 

 dry, and the harl hfis obtained a degree of firmness, they 

 should be turned repeatedly till they are sufficiently grassed ; 

 the time required is known only by experience, so much 

 depends on the state of the weather during the process ; 

 when they are sufficiently done, the hard blisters on the 

 stems become brittle; they must then be taken up and made. 

 into bundles, and secured from the weather. The harl is 

 now to be separated from the reed, after the manner practised 

 on flax and hemp, either by manual labour, or machinery now 

 in use in those manufactories. The harl being separated 

 from the reed, it requires next to be beaten, that it may 

 become more ductile for the operation of dressing, and which 

 may be performed with such implements as are used in 

 dressing flax or hemp. This operation being accomplished, 

 the produce of the Nettles is arrived at a state ready for 

 spinning, and may be spun into yarn, either by hand, or by 

 machinery constructed for the purposes of spinning flax or 

 hemp, and which yarn may be successfully substituted for 

 the manufacturing every sort of cloth, cordage, &c. which 

 is usually made from hemp or flax; and this new material is 

 particularly calculated for making twine for fishing-nets, equal 

 to the best Dutch twihe imported for that purpose, the fibres 

 of the Nettles being stronger than those of flax, and not 

 so harsh as the fibres of hemp. The most favourable con- 

 dition of the lint, with a view to the paper manufactory, is 

 to begin with it after it is hackled; in order that the fibres 

 may be divested of the skins which enclose them; as, when it 

 is intended to make white paper, having gone through that 

 process would greatly facilitate the bleaching, and render it 

 more easily disencumbered of the gross particles. After the 

 lint is bleached, it should be reduced to a proper length for 

 paper, and then macerated in water after the manner of rags, 

 and undergo similar processes till the substance is converted 

 into paper, which may be easily accomplished by the manu- 

 facturers, and made to produce substantial paper of the first 



