HEM 



HEM 



193 



doing it. Or the machinery nnay 

 be an appendage to some other 

 mill. Two brakes should be mo- 

 ved together, a coarser and a finer, 

 placed head to head, that the hand- 

 fuls may be easily shifted from one 

 to the other. It is light work for 

 two bo}s to tend them. But the 

 breaking of large hemp by hand, is 

 severe labour for the strongest 

 men. 



If no convenient stream be at 

 hand, a mill may be constructed to 

 be worked by a horse. 



It was formerly the custom to 

 beat hemp abundantly with mal- 

 lets, or with pestles in large mor- 

 tars, or in fulling mills, to make it 

 soft and tit for spinning. But Mr. 

 Mercaiidier has shewn how it may 

 be more easily done, by steeping it 

 in warm water, or in lie, and wash- 

 ing it. See his Treatise on Hemp. 



The great profit on a crop of 

 hemp, and its being an article that 

 will readily command cash, should 

 recommend the culture of it to all 

 our farmers. Besides the hemp it- 

 self, of the value of twenty pounds 

 per acre, after it is dressed, the 

 seed of an acre must be allowed to 

 be of considerable value. Persons 

 need not fear their crops will lie 

 upon their hands, when they con- 

 sider the vast sums of money which 

 are yearly sent to other countries 

 for this article, almost enough to 

 deprive the country of a medium, 

 and how naturally the demand for 

 it will increase as it becomes more 

 plenty. There is no reason to 

 doubt of success in raising hemp, if 

 the soil be suitable, and well pre- 

 pared; for it is liable to no dis- 

 temper ; cattle will not destroy it, 



unless it be with their feet ; and it 

 is an antidote to all sorts of devour- 

 ing insects. Neither is the plant 

 difficult as to climate. Though the 

 hottest climates do not suit it, tem- 

 perate and cool ones do ; and it 

 has been found, by the small trials 

 that have been made, to thrive 

 well in the various parts of New- 

 F]ngland. The most northern parts 

 are very suitable for the growing 

 of hemp. The southern are equal- 

 ly so. 



A new method of rotting hemp 

 was communicated by M. Bralle, 

 and published in a foreign Journal, 

 and is, in substance as follows. To 

 25 gallons of water boiling hot, add 

 1 2 ounces of green soap, and when 

 the soap is dissolved, 22 pounds of 

 hemp are to be immersed, so as to 

 be entirely covered with the liquor, 

 the vessel closed, the fire put out, 

 and the hemp left to macerate 

 for two hours. Several steepings 

 may be made in succession, care 

 being taken to add soap, each time, 

 to replace what has been absorb- 

 «^d, and to heat the water to the 

 former temperature. The same 

 water may be employed for fifteen 

 days continually. 



When the bundles of hemp are 

 taken out, they are covered with 

 straw, that they may cool gradual- 

 ly, without losing their humidity. 

 Next day they are to be spread on 

 a floor, the hands shifted, and a 

 heavy roller passed over them, af- 

 ter which the hemp separates easi- 

 ly from the reed by beating. The 

 hemp thus separated, is spread on 

 the grass, and turned, and after five 

 days removed to the ivare-house. 

 In steeping the hemp, the bundles 



