ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND FACTS FOR THE PEOPLE. 511 



son. In setting out the plants, give them 

 room according to their size. Taking 

 them up or dividing them does not pre- 

 vent them from fruiting if the roots are 

 not badly bruised nor dried by exposure 

 to the weather. Where one has but few 

 plants, open boxes or barrels can be set 

 over them, filling in with straw or dirt. 

 The simple process of protecting the 

 plants in winter should not deter any 

 from growing and enjoying such delicious 

 fruit. 



FRUIT TREES, to Protect from Rab- 

 bits. — To protect fruit trees in the win- 

 ter from rabbits, it is recommended to 

 make a strong decoction of tobacco, 

 simmer it down in lard to the consistency 

 of thin paint, add a little soft soap, stir 

 well, and it is ready for use. Apply with 

 a little brush or swab from the root of 

 the tree upwards until above the reach ot 

 the rabbits. This dose would seem 

 calculated to spoil the appetite of the 

 hungry depredators of whatever kind. 

 "See, also, " Apple Trees, to Keep Rab- 

 bits from Barking." 



HEMP, Culture of.— Hemp is a plant 

 of very great importance ; its tough, 

 ■durable and elastic fibres being better 

 ■suited for making cordage and canvas for 

 shipping than any other substance yet 

 known. The quantity required to supply 

 the navy and commercial marine of the 

 United States alone is immense. 



This country is well adapted to the 

 cultivation of hemp, which is a very profit- 

 able crop, well rewarding the careful and 

 judicious cultivator; yet the supply is far 

 short of the demand for home consump- 

 tion, a great quantity having to be 

 annually imported. 



The soil most suitable, ana always to 

 be preferred, are those of a deep, black, 

 vegetable kind, and which, from the loca- 

 tion, are slightly inclined to moisture; 

 such soils are easily found, particularly in 

 the western country. Mellow, rich, clayey 

 soils do very well, and none answer any 

 better than old meadow land. Hemp 

 may be raised on the same ground for 

 successive years without degenerating, 

 and without exhausting the soil, espe- 

 cially if the shives are returned to the 

 the land in the form of manure. 



Hemp may either precede or follow a 

 crop of grain, as its tendency is to 

 smother and choke all other plants; in 



fact, nothing else so well cleans and pre- 

 pares the ground for other crops, especially 

 for small grain or grasses. It eradicates 

 all weeds, and when it is taken off, leaves 

 the field clean, smooth and even. 



The ground intended for hemp should 

 be plowed in time to receive the influence 

 of frosts, and after a crop of grain ; be- 

 sides a deep plowing before winter, it 

 should be plowed at least twice in the 

 spring, so as to reduce the soil to a fine 

 tilth, as it is all important that it be 

 thoroughly pulverized. To insure a good 

 crop the seed must 'be fresh, which may 

 be known by its being heavy and of a 

 bright color. 



When hemp is intended to be culti- 

 vated for seed for the crops of the next 

 year, it is to be raised in a place distant 

 from that in which it is raised for the fibre 

 only, and sowed in drills about four feet 

 apart. In the blooming season the male 

 plants should be mostly pulled up and 

 thrown away, and the female plants 

 thinned out, leaving the stalks seven or 

 eight inches apart. The male and female 

 plants are easily known apart, as only the 

 male plants blossom, and, when agitated, 

 throw off farina — a yellow dust — which 

 falls and colors the ground, or any other 

 objects with which it comes in contact. 

 A few of the male plants should be left 

 scattered through the drills, until the 

 farina is completely discharged. Between 

 the drills a plow should be run sufficiently 

 often to keep the ground from weeds, 

 and between the stalks in each drill the 

 hoe is to be used for the same purpose. 

 The plants are generally cut after the 

 first smart frost, between the middle of 

 September and the middle of October, 

 and carried to the barn, where the seed is 

 easily detached by the common flail; the 

 stalks which bear the seed, being too large, 

 coarse, and harsh to produce good fibre, 

 are usually thrown away, but they might 

 be profitably made into charcoal for the 

 use of powder-mills. 



After the seed is threshed out, it is ad- 

 visable to spread it thinly on the floor, to 

 cure properly and prevent rotting, before 

 being finally put away for use the next 

 spring. The seed should be sown, the 

 weather permitting, in April, or early in 

 May ; when the plant first shoots up it is 

 very tender, and liable to be injured by 

 frost, if sown too early. 



