91 S 



PRACTICE OTF AGRICULTURE. 



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i, --(-.I In Mime gentlemen (be strength and warmth I hej po s ses s this advantage over Irish and other 



linens, that tluir colour Iraprovi wearing, while thai of linen decline*. English hemp, properly 



manufactured, stands unrivalled In IU strength, and i> superior In t li i» respect to the Russian. Consider, 

 able quantities ofrlotli are Imported Orom Russia h.r sheeting, merely on account ol it* strength ; tor it is 

 culver .it tin' price than linen: <>ur hempen cloth, however, is preferable; being stronger, from the 

 superior quality of the thread, and al the same tune lighter In washing. The hemp raised in England is 



not of so dry and *i gy ■ nature as what we have from Russia and India, and therefore it requires a 



sm tiler proportion ol tar t anufacture it Into cordage Tar being cheaper than hemp, the rope-makers 



prefer foreign hemp to ours; because they can make a greater profit in workingit: but cordage must 

 certain!) be stronger in proportion as there is more hemp and less tar in it, provided there is a sufficient 



quantity Of the latter to mute the fibres. An Oil extracted from the seeds of hemp is used in cookery in 



Russia "and by painters in tins country. The seeds themselves are reckoned a good food for poultry, and 

 are supposed to invasion hens to lay a greater quantity of eggs. Small birds in general are very fond oi 

 them but they should be given to caged birds with caution, and mixed with other seeds. A very singular 

 ell'ect'is recorded, on very good authority, to have been sometimes produced by feeding bullfinches and 

 goldfinches on hempseed alone, or in too great quantity, — that of changing the red and yellow on those 

 birds to a total blackness. 



5934. The hemp lias few or no diseases. 



Subsf.ct. •:>. The Fuller's Thistle, or Teasel Dipsacusfullonwn L. ; Tetrandria Ma- 



nogynia L., and DipsdcetB J. Chardon a foullon, Fr. ; Kardendistel, Ger. ; JJissaco, 

 Itai. ; and Cardencha, Span. (fig. 799.) 



5935. The fuller's thistle is an herbaceous biennial, growing from four to six feet high ; 

 prickly or rough in the stem and leaves, and terminated by rough burr-like heads of 

 flowers. It is a native of Britain, flowers in July, and ripens its seed in September. It 

 is cultivated in Hssex and the west of England, for raising the nap upon woollen cloths 

 bv means of the crooked awns or chaffs upon the heads ; which, in the wild sort, are said 

 to be less hooked. For this purpose they are fixed round the circumference of a cylinder, 

 which is made to turn round, and the cloth is held against them. In the Journal of a 

 Naturalist we are informed, that the teasel forms an article of culture in cottage gardens 

 in the clothing districts of Gloucestershire. 



5936. There are no varieties of the cultivated teasel, and the wild species is not mate- 

 rially different from it, and may be used in its stead, though its chaff is not quite so rigid. 



5937. The soils on which the teasel grows strongest are 

 deep loamy clays, not over-rich. The situation should be 

 rather elevated, airy, and exposed to the south. In a 

 rotation it may occupy the place of a green and corn crop, 

 as in the first year the plants are treated like turnips, and 

 in the second the crop is ripened. The soil should be 

 ploughed deep, and well comminuted by cross-ploughings, 

 or stirrings with pronged implements, as the cultivator. 



5938. The soiling season is the beginning of April : the 

 quantity of seed is from one peck to two pecks per acre, 

 and in quality it should lie fresh and plump. 



5939. The mode of sowing is almost always broad-cast, but no crop is 

 better adapted for being grown in drills, as the plants require hoeing 

 and thinning. The drills may be either sown on ridgelets or a flat 

 surface, in the manner of turnips, or by ribbing. The distance between 

 the rows may be from eighteen inches to two feet. In Essex, caraway 

 is commonly sown with the teasel-crop; but this is reckoned a bad 

 plan. 



5910. The after-culture of this crop consists the first 

 year in hoeing and stirring the soil, and in thinning out the 

 plants to the distance of one foot every way, if sown broad-cast, or to the distance of six 

 inches if sown in rows. Vacancies may be filled up by transplanting; and a separate 

 plantation may be made with the thinnings, but these never attain the same vigour as the 

 seedlings. The culture in the second year consists also of hoeing, stirring, and weeding, 

 till the plants begin to shoot. 



59U When the teasel is grown broad-cast, the intervals between the plants are dug by means of spades 

 which have long narrow blades, not more than about four inches in breadth, having the length of sixteen 

 or eighteen inches. With these the land is usually worked over in the intervals of the plants three or tour 

 times during the summer months ; and in the course of the following winter, as about the latter end of 

 February the land between the plants is to be again worked over by the narrow spades, care being taken 

 that none of the mould falls into the hearts of the plants. Again about the middle of May, when they 

 begin to spindle, another digging over is given, the earth being raised round the root-stems ot the plants, 

 in order to support and prevent them from being blown down by the wind. Some cultivators perform 

 more frequent diggings, that the ground may be rendered cleaner and more mellow ; consequently the 

 growth of the plants will be the more effectually promoted. This business, in Kssex, has usually the name 

 of spaddling, and is executed with great despatch by labourers accustomed to perforin it. 



5942. The taking of the teasel crop, when no regard is had for seed, commences about 

 the middle of July" when the blossoms begin to fall from the top, or terminating heads 

 of flowers. 



5043 // i« the bc<t method to have the heads cut as thev become ripe ; but the work is mostly executed 

 at three times at the distance of about ten davs or a fortnight from each other. It is performed by means 

 of a knife, contrived for the purpose, with a short blade and a string attache,! to the haft. J [his last is done 

 in order that it may be hung over the hand. A pair of strong gloves is likewise necessary, lhus prepared, 



