228 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



bourer cannot obtain a living on his own per- 

 sonal exertions; and to economize, when they 

 once use the public purse, seems against the 

 nature of their mortified spirit. 



Hemp is said to possess a property which 

 renders it almost invaluable to the farmer as 

 well as the gardener : viz. that of driving 

 away all insects that feed upon other vege- 

 tables. It is a common practice in many 

 parts of the Continent to sow a belt of hemp 

 round their gardens, or any particular spot 

 where they wish to preserve their crops from 

 the mischievous attacks of flies or caterpil- 

 lars. We would wish this experiment to be 

 frequently made in turnip fields ; for, should 

 it succeed in protecting those crops from the 

 ravages of flies, as well as the cabbages from 

 the caterpillar, it would accomplish a most 

 desirable end. 



It is presumed that Tusser made his ob- 

 servation, that, where nettles will grow, hemp 

 will thrive and destroy the nettle, from the 

 opinion of the ancients as to assimilated 

 juices, an opinion really not deserving the 

 contempt it is generally treated with by plan- 

 ters. Plants requiring the same nourish- 

 ment never thrive in neighbourhood, and the 

 hemp is nearly allied to the nettle ; from the 



