94 



®!)c iTarmcv's iHont!)hj bigitor. 



From F.llswovtli's Keport. 

 Flax and Hemp. 



The same dilliciilly Ims been e.V|ieripnccrI ihis 

 year in uriangiiis lliese ciops as alludeiJ to in 

 tlie foi-nier reporis. As lli« distinction lietween 

 lonsand pounds was not given in tin: oiijiinal 

 cunsns stalisliits. it is very diffii-nlt to li\ tlie esti- 

 mate will] even toleiahle acom'ai'y. There was 

 11 coiisiderahle f'alHng oft' of these crops iiitnost 

 oT the States. The Hax in New Hampshire is 

 said to, he "inferiiu- — not more than three Ibmtlis 

 ol' a crop ;" the canses of its failure weie im- 

 kjuiwu, hut " prol)alily it was owiii;,' to the «et- 

 iiess ot' the season." In some other parts of the 

 Slate, liowever, it is thought to liave been equal 

 to the erop last yc;ar. 



In the State of New YorK the crop lias advanc- 

 ed. This is partly owing to the fact that the 

 farmers of Seneca, and some other counties 

 liave been induced by the proprietors of two 

 oil-mills to sow about 1,000 acres of fla.x for the 

 seed ; the yield is said to he from 10 to 15 bush- 

 els per acre. The increase is thought to he as 

 h'ghasl5or 20 per cent. In New Jersey the 

 ii'ling otl' of the ll ix crop was '•from 50 to 75 

 percc!:!.," and it is said to have been "almost 

 an entire failure." In the otlier midille and 

 southern States, generally, there was an advance 

 on the crop of 1842, of lioni 5 lo 10 per cent. 



In Mississippi the cultivation of hemp is .said 

 to he increasing. The jnodnct raiseil is about 

 one-half a ton to the acre : whereas, iu Kentucky 

 800 lbs. is (!sleemed a good crop. One planter, 

 who in 1S12 raised 3 acres, intended to put in 15 

 acres for 1843. Siiil the crop fen- the past year 

 is saiil lo have been short, conjpared lo what it 

 might have been, had the weather lieen more fa- 

 vorable. The hemp crop of Tennessee was prob- 

 ably a small increase above that of 1842 — peihaps 

 .5 per cent. Kentucky is consideied H)remost iu 

 its crop of liemp. The accounts respecting its 

 production for the past year in this State repre- 

 sent it as in some parts a meiliuni crop, selling 

 for $i to $1 per 100 ll)s. In other sections, it is 

 thought to have been not an avera;;e crop, ami 

 "one-third less than in 1842," principally owing 

 to the heavy rains and hail-storms in the spring ; 

 the decrease IVom these canses is estimated to 

 |\ave been as much as 15 per i-enl. In Ohio the 

 crop of flax im.l hemp is considered to have ad- 

 vanced 10 per cent. From some |iarts, the in- 

 formation received placed it as high "as 20 per 

 cent.;" while, in others, it was reckoned "about 

 the same as in 1842." IMore is said to be raised 

 for seed than hn- lint. In Indijuja the accounts 

 vary; the flax in ihe souiheastern part of the 

 State is pronounceil to have been "a good crop;" 

 while on ihe western side of the Slate, near the 

 \Vabash, both flax and hemp l.iiled. In the 

 SDiuhwe.-tern section it is thought lo have been 

 '•20 per cent, more," iind in the mnihweslern 

 "25 per cent, short, owing to the ilronght." Not 

 a ^reat ileal of either flax or h.emp is grown in 

 Illinois ; in some parts the crop was " an average 

 one ;" " a (iiir crop ;' " good." In other iieclions 

 of the Slate, however, the information is more un- 

 iuvorable. Our informant says : " Kecently 

 nmch attention has been hestoweil on the raising 

 of hemp. No part of the United States is supe- 

 rior to Illinois for this production. 1 was horn anil 

 educated in the best hemp county in Kentucky ; 

 and I am satisfied the same immlier of hainis can 

 tend more hemp iu IHiiiois, and prepare it lor 

 market, than in Kenli.cky. Owing to the 

 drought last year, the crop was lighter than usu- 

 al, rendering it almost one-third below the aver- 

 age. The hemp is now transported chiefly to St. 

 Lonis ; lint inainiliicturing establishments are 

 now buginning in lUinojs, which will consume a 

 portion of what is raised in that State. Should 

 a rnuchiue be foimd which will ans.'.er the pur- 

 pose of breaking the henip cheaper than it can 

 i)e done by hand, jiruiois will soon raise more 

 hemp than any other State in the Union." The 

 \vliole averags decrease for tlie State was, prob- 

 ably, 10 per cent. The crop of liemj) in Misson- 

 I'i, thon;;h not as large as might have I. pen hoped 

 for, has somewhat gained on the previous year. 

 In a public journal, in September, we (iml the 

 following notice-: "The hemp crops in this sec- 

 tion of the State are proving to be iniich better 

 Ilian was anticipated some time since; many 

 •■rop-=, since cutting, have lieen fomni to he near- 

 ly, if not ipiile, as good as they weie last year. — 

 The crop5 in the prairies are, lo some extent, a 



failure; but, in tlie rich timbered hinds, they 1 hemp for exportation, which, if properly rotted, 

 mav be considered good." In so,me jiarts of | would bring S190 to ,9200 per Ion. 

 Michigan there was more flax sown than 



before 

 — even double that ol' last year — and the crop 

 was good ; hut in others it (ell short, owing to 

 the dry cold weather in June: [irobably there 

 was, on an average, a small increase. In Wis- 

 consin it was an average crop; while in Iowa, it 

 is said to have been uucomnionly good, and has 

 been estimated at an inciease of 25 per cent. — 

 which seems too high; the whole average may 

 have been 10 per cent. 



The wliole airgregate of these crops raised, as 

 appears by the iabular estimate, was lGl,007i 

 tons (or pounds.) 



A species of flax is mentioned as growing in 

 the Territory of Oregon, which is described as 

 resembling the common flax in everything except 

 that it is perennial. The natives are said to 

 use it in making tishing nets. The roots arc loo 

 large, and run too deep, lobe pulled like the 

 common flax, but flidils of it might he mowed 

 I ike grass ; and if IbumI to s.ncceed, it might be 

 raised without continual cultivation. Perliafis, it 

 may be worthy a tritil to introduce it among 

 us. 



A vjuiety of hemp, also, which is indigenous, 

 called the Indian hemp, is described in a scien- 

 tific journal iu 1826. It is said to grow profuse-_ 

 ly on our low lands. Its blossoms, like those of 

 the silk Wi'ed, are purple, and the pods contain a 

 qnaiilily of silk, though less than the silk weed ; 

 but the i-oat of us stem is far superior in strength 

 loihtf hemp. The gentleman who communica- 

 ted an account of it to the New York Society for 

 the Promotion of Useful Arts, in 1810, observes : 

 "I caused to he water-rotted a considerable 

 quantity in 1804, and obtained an excellent hemp 

 as white as snow, remarkable for its strength, 

 which proved lo be double that of common hem|). 

 I have been informed that the Indians who form- 

 erly inhabited the land where my |)lanlation is 

 situated, on the east hank of the Ilndson river, 

 made gi-eat use of this plant; and not many 

 years ago, were still iu the habit of coming from 

 the distant place, where they now duell, to col- 

 lect it. Several of my oldest neighbors have as- 

 sured me that the ropes .-mil yarn which they 

 made from the libres of that plant, were far su- 

 perior, for strnigth and durability, tojhose made 

 of flax and hemp." 



The plant, being perennial, could he cultivated 

 and miihifilied to the gieatest jidvanlage ; and 

 being more natural lo low and overflowed lands, 

 could render productive certain pieces of ground 

 which are now wholly unpiolilalile. It is fmlli- 

 er said lo grow common in every section of the 

 United State's — "along watercourses, ditches, tinil 

 borders of cultivated fields, flourishing best 

 where agricultural operations have di.-tinhed the 

 soil;" and lo grow "from 2lotj feet high, the 

 stem straight and hare, of a greenish red ; " and 

 the writer who nieiitions it in a western agricnl- 

 Imal journal, says, also: " I have never seen i; 

 grow with such luxuriance iu any region as on 

 oiir bottom prairies." A suggestion is also made 

 as lo a trial of its capabilities us a cultivated 

 crop. 



Bologna hemp is cultivated to a considerable 

 extent iu Kentucky, It is more easily Inoken 

 than common hemp, is of a white color, finer, 

 and stronger. The trials which liave been made 

 of .American hemp, as compared with Russian 

 hemp, are said to have resulted very favorably 

 for that raised in this country. The great difli- 

 culty experienced, still, is iu a suitable process 

 of water-rolling, lo render it adapteil to the pur- 

 pose of the manufacturer. 



The report of experiments making in this city, 

 under the direction of the Secretary of the Na- 

 vy, together with the translation from a recent 

 Russian work published by Congress, will prob- 

 ably do imich to obviate this difiiculty ; as the 

 appointment of agents iu the ijemp-growing 

 States for the purchase of the product Irir the 

 .'Vmerican navy will encourage its cultivation, by 

 bringing the market nearer to the growers of 

 this crop. 



The Louisville Journal states that 14,000 tons 

 of hemp were |irodnced in Kentucky the past 

 year. From this it required 8,500 tons lo sup- 

 ply her factories, which maimliicimed ()..500,000 

 yards of bagging, and 7,000,000 lbs. of bale rope, 

 suflicient lo rojio and cover 1,100,000 baits of 

 colton. This leaves Kentucky i^j.^OO tons of 



$113,024 

 451,673 



This, it will be seen, is a larger estimate than 

 we have felt compelled to fix upon if, from the 

 general informalion obtained respecting llie crop 

 in the State. Wiiat the data may be on whicli 

 it is based, we cannot say. The aniouiit of 

 hemp and cordage impoi-led into the United 

 Stales from 1838 to 1842, according to official 

 report, was : 

 2,374,373 lbs. of untarred cordage, 



valued at 

 7,605,226 lbs. of tarred cordage, 



valued at 

 2,735,733 lbs. of twine and pack- 

 thread, valued at 550,.^98 

 41,769,056 lbs. of henq), valued at 2,620,409 

 These are according to the custom house re- 

 tnrns; at least 40 percent, must be added, to 

 give the entire value to the market. It will ba 

 seen, iherefore, that there is room for a vast in- 

 crease of the cultivation of hemp in the United 

 States. Russia is said to raise 120,000 tons, one 

 half of which she exports lo other countries. 



The number of square yards of canvass for 

 our navy is calculated at 3159,431. All Ihis is 

 now said to be made of .\merican materials, but 

 the cordage is still made jiriiicipally from Rus- 

 sian heitqi. 



Our imports of flax .seed are very considerable. 

 A ship is noticed as having recently arrived at 

 New York from Calcntta, having 20,000 bushels 

 of flax seed on hoard. 



The First Saw-.Mill. — The old practice in 

 making boards was lo s|dit n|) the logs with 

 wedges ; and inconvenient as the practice was, it 

 was no easy matter to persuade the world ihe 

 thing could be done in any better way. Saw- 

 mills were first used in Europe in the i5tli cen- 

 tury ; but so lately as 1555, an English ambassa- 

 dor, having seen a saw-mill in France, thought 

 it n novelty which deserved a particular descrip- 

 tion. It is amusing to see how the aver«iiin to 

 labor-saving machinery has always agitated Eng- 

 land. The first saw mill was established by a 

 Dutchman iu 1603; but the public outcry against 

 the new fimgled machine was so violent that Ihe 

 proprietor was forced to decamp with more ex- 

 pedition than ever did a Dutchman before. The 

 evil was thus kept out of England for seveial 

 years, or father generations; but in 1768, an un- 

 lucky timber merchant, hoping that after so lon<» 

 alinie the public would be less watchful of its 

 own interest, made a rash :illem|)t to construct 

 another mill. The guardians of" the public wel- 

 fare, however, were on the alert, and a conscien- 

 tious mol) at once collected and pnlled the mill 

 to pieces. Such patriolic spirit could not always 

 last, and now, though we have no where seen the 

 fact distinctly stated, there is reason to believe 

 that saw-miUs are tjsed in England. 



Fkcit Trees. -The Newbury port Herald says, 

 a great fruit tree mania has been in'evalent for 

 l«o or three years past, and if llie trees are well 

 taken care ofj we shall have liiiil abundant and 

 cheap in a few years. Mr. Kenrick has sold up- 

 wards of 22,000 apple liees the [iresent -season. 

 Nurseries have innliiplied a.-tonishingly in all the 

 northern and iriiddle States, and ihcy have done 

 a large business. 



The Messrs. Winship, Breck & Co., Hovey & 

 Co., .Mr. Pond. Mr. Warren, .Mr. Eldridge, and 

 several others near ns, have done an iinmense 

 business in the sale of fruit Iree.s the present 

 spring, every thing in ihe shape of a fruit hear- 

 in a tree, has found ready purchasers. Besides, 

 an immense luimber hiive been sold here lit auc- 

 tion from the South. Dwarf trees are much 

 sought for, particularly pears, which bear a good 

 crop when not over tiuee fi;et high, occupying 

 very little room in the garden. They may bo 

 plaiued as close together as Dahlias, in fact not 

 occupying so much room, and being far more 

 profitable. Several of our amateur Dahlia grow- 

 ers, have their ground stocked with these dwarf 

 trees, whicli present a most beantifLd appear- 

 ance when iu flower or I'ruit. — Boston Tran- 

 script. 



To Dye Pl'hpi,e. — The purple paper that is 

 wrapped round loaf sugar, boiled in cider or vin- 

 egar makes a fine purph; slate color. Boil in iron 

 and put in a piece of idum. 



