HEMP 



307 



Seeding is done a little before planting time, and the seed is 

 sown broadcast at the rate of five or six pecks per acre. This 

 should be on well prepared soil, but if the ground has been plowed 

 the same spring the seeding should be followed with a roller to 

 make the soil firm again. 



As the growth of the plants is very rapid, they soon smother 

 out any weeds and no trouble is likely to be found from this 

 source. 



When the first seed begins to ripen, about 100 or 110 days 

 from seeding time, the crop is cut, if wanted for fibre, but for seed 

 it is left until a larger proportion of the seed is ripe. The methods 



FIG. 200. Harvesting hemp. Most of the hemp in the United States is cut with self- 

 rake reapers, leaving it in gavel on ground. After drying it is either cured in shocks to be 

 retted later or in the North spread for retting immediately. (U. S. D. A.) 



of harvesting are varied to suit the rankness of growth. Heavy, 

 thick stems are usually cut with a corn knife and the crop is laid 

 in piles on the ground to ret or rot. If the stems are not so coarse, 

 a reaper or self -rake mower is preferred. After exposure for a few 

 weeks to the rains and dews, the stems are tied in bundles and 

 put in shocks or small stacks, or as usually practiced in America, 

 the stems are broken in the field and the waste parts are not 

 hauled in. The fibre is tied in bundles for marketing. 



A better grade of fibre is produced when the retting process 

 is carried on under water in a stream, but this method is much 

 more expensive as more handling is required. 



