

HEMP. 225 



Company, to obtain some of the seeds 

 from China, which were procured in 1785; 

 but few of the plants ripened their seed 

 in this country. Dr. Hinton made a more 

 successful trial of raising the Chinese hemp 

 in 1787, which produced one-third more 

 of marketable hemp than the best English 

 hemp was ever known to yield on the same 

 quantity of ground. Few of the hemp-seeds 

 will vegetate if two years old; to this cir- 

 cumstance may be attributed the failure 

 of many attempts to raise this new variety 

 of hemp. 



The English hemp is much superior in 

 strength to that which grows in any other 

 country. Suffolk is the principal county 

 where hemp is grown and manufactured ; 

 this is seldom or ever used for cordage. The 

 cloth made from this hemp is more durable 

 than the flaxen linen, as well as warmer ; 

 and has the advantage of becoming whiter 

 by age and use than that made from flax, 

 which will not maintain its bleached white- 

 ness. 



We import a considerable quantity of 

 sheeting from Russia, which has this great 

 advantage over our own hempen cloth, that, 

 being drawn from the distaff* the fibres are 



VOL. 1. Q 



