No. 23. —Vol. VII. 



AND HORTICULTURAL JOURNAL. 



179 



and especially the monks, were still greater im- 

 provers than t!ie nobility. The monks of every 

 monastery retained such of their lands as lay most 

 convenient to their own possessions, wliich they 

 cuUivate<l with great care under their own inspec- 

 tion, and fi-e(|uently with their own hands. The 

 famous Thomas Beeket, after he was archbishop 

 of Canterbury used to go out into the field with 

 the monks of the monastery where he happened 

 to reside, and join with them in reaping their corn 

 and making their hay. The imiilements of agri- 

 culture in this period, were similar to those in niost 

 common use in modern times. The various op- 

 erations of husbandry, such as iTianuring, plough- 

 ing, sowing, harrowing, reajiing, threshing, win- 

 nowing, &c. are incidentally mentioned by the 

 writers of those da^s ; hut it is impossible, to col- 

 lect from them a definite account of the manner in 

 which those operations were perforjued. 



The first English treatise on husbandry was 

 published in the reign of Henry VIII. by Sir A. 

 Fitzherbert, Jtulge of tlic common pleas. It is 

 entitled The Book of Husbandry, and contains di- 

 rections for draining, clearing and enclosing a 

 farm, and for enriching and reducing the soil to 

 tillage. Lime, marl and fallowing are strongly re- 

 commended. " The author of The Book of Hus- 

 landry" says Mr Loudon, " writes from his own 

 experience of more than forty j'ears, and if we 

 excc;)t his biblical allusions, and some vestiges of 

 the sujkerstition of the Roman writers about the 

 influence of the moon, there is very little of his 

 work which sluudd be omitted, and not a great 

 deal that need be added, in so far as respects the 

 culture <)f corn, in a manual of husbandry adapted 

 to the present time." 



Agric'ulture attained some eminence d'uing the 

 reign of Elizabeth. The princi[>al writers of that 

 |ieiiod were Tusser, Googe, and Sir Hugh Piatt. 

 'i'usser s Five Hundred points of Husbandry was 

 published in 1562, and has been recommended to 

 be taught in schools. The treatise of Barnuby 

 Googe, entitled IFltole Art of Husbandry, was print- 

 ed iu 1-558. Sir Hugh Piatt's work was entitled 

 Jcwrl Houses of Art and JVature, and was printed 

 in 1594. In the former work, says Loudon, are 

 in.iny valuable hints on the progress of husbandry 

 in the early ])artof the reign of Elizabeth. Among 

 other curious things he asserts that the Spanish 

 or Merino sheep was originally derived from Eng- 

 land, j 

 Several writers on agriculture appeared in Eng- [ 

 !;:i;d during the Commonwealth, whose names, 

 notices of their works maybe seen in Lou- ! 

 s JinJ:yetopedia of Agriculture. From the res- 

 : lion down to the middle of the eighteenth ccn- 

 very little iinprovement took place. Immedi- 

 y after that period a considerable melioration 

 .. ;!ie process of cidture was introduced by Jethro 

 Tii!l, a gentleman of Berkshire, who began to drill 

 xv'.!>at and other crops about the year 1701, and 

 V. liose Horse-hoeing Husbandry was published in 

 ' 1. Though this writer's theories were in some j 

 ects erroneous, j'et, even his errors were of I 

 ■cc by exciting inquiry, and calling the atten- 1 

 of husbandmen to important objects. His j 

 11 -utility to manures, and attemjjting in all cases 

 to substitute additional tillage in their place, were 

 prominent defects in his system. 

 (To he continued.) 



Maj. A. Perkins has printed for 127 Banks, the 

 bills of which, it is said, have never been .lucces.j- 

 fully counterfeited. 



From the Sunrly Hill Sun. 



CULTURE OF HEMP. 



In republishing from the Franklin Tclegrai)h 

 the following article on the culture and cleaning 

 of Hemp, it is proper to remark: that though much 

 credit is due to the writer for his voluminous and 

 useful com])ilation of facts, still he is mistaken in 

 the belief that hemp will not grow, " or grows but 

 feebly on sandy or gravelly land ; " and that its 

 culture is alone confined to low or " moist soils." 

 That "sandy or gravelly lands" maybe |)rofitably 

 devoted to the culture of hemp, if thej' be natur- 

 ally rich, or made .so by manure or plaister, many 

 of the farmers of this comity and Saratoga can 

 certify iiom actual e.xperiment. Hemp, it is most 

 clear, like all other crops, is produced more abun- 

 dantly on strong or fertile lands : and it is equally 

 clear that there is nothing in the soil itself pecu- 

 liarly adapted to the culture of this article. Much, 

 however, depends on the season, in the production 

 of ditVerent soils of the same strength and state of 

 cultivation. It is an axiom among farmers that 

 their u|)lands, of equal richness produce corn, 

 wheat, potatoes, &c. more luxuriantly in cold and 

 wet seasons, than their bottom or lowlands ; and 

 that the latter produce best in dry and hot seasons. 

 The same remark is also applicable to the hemp 

 cro[i, as experiment has abundantly demonstrate(l. 

 Last season, it will be recollected, was imnsually 

 wet in this section of the country, and while the 

 "sandy and gravelly lands" produced a fine growth 

 of hemp and of a good quality, the alluvial, or 

 " moist soils," produced " but feebly." In our 

 last number we gave satisfactory evidence, it is 

 believed, of the erroncousness of the opinion which 

 had so generally obtained, of hemp being an ex- 

 tremel}' exhausting crop. And we liojie soon to 

 see exploded the equally unfounded but too gene- 

 rally accredited notion that low lands or " moist 

 soils," are alone adapted to the culture of this new 

 but profitable crop to the American farmer. One 

 other position assumed by the writer in the Tele- 

 graph, it might not bo improper to notice. The 

 ploughing of land early in the fall, if it be sward 

 or stubble ground, is considered b}' him as indis- 

 pensable in preparing it for the reception of the 

 seed for agood crop of hemp. This, too, must be 

 mere matter of opinion with the writer, and not 

 founded in experiment, the correctness of which 

 we very much doubt. Last season we were in- 

 terested in planting for seed about four hundred 

 acres of hemp, and nearly that number of acres 

 which were sown broad cast for the lint ; and we ] 

 can state that the greater part of the whole was | 

 on green sward land, turned over in the months ] 

 of May and June at the time of planting and sow- I 

 ing the seed — some of which was put in as late ' 

 as the last of June or first of July. After plough- 

 ing, the turf was laid smooth and compact by 

 means of a roller; and harrowed lengthwise of 

 the furrows until siifiiciently mellow for the work- 

 ing of the drill. And we have no hesitancy in 

 saying that our crops from late sowing and plant- 1 

 ing on lands thus prepared, were equal and in j 

 some cases preferable, to those put in earlier and 

 on lands prepared in the mauiier advised by the ' 

 Telegraph writer. From experiment therefore, 

 as well as information derived from our most ex- ' 

 perienced and intelligent farmers, wo arc fully 

 r-repared to say, that there is no precise and inva- j 

 liable rule to be observed in fitting land for a, 

 hemp crop, as it must be done xeell — the surface ' 



should be rendered smooth and mellow ; and 

 while some lands will require to be ploughed and 

 harrowed three or four times to subdue them 

 properly, others will be better ]>repared by the 

 first or second operation. No matter whether the 

 process be begun in the fall or the spring, provided 

 it be completed before the sowing or the pluntinir 

 of the seed. As regards the h'me for sowini'- and 

 planting : this must depend entirely on the state 

 or conditio:! of the land, in reference to its dryness 

 and warmth — say between the first of May and 

 4lh of July. 



Hemp, is cajiable of being cultivated in almost 

 all climates ; but flourishes best and is most valu- 

 able iu northern latitudes. It requires a strong 

 moist soil ; and grows but grows but feebly on 

 sandy or gravelly lands. The rich soils of this 

 region seem peculiarly adapted to it ; as any one 

 may have observed its luxuriant growth where it 

 has accidentally been sown. 



Like flax it exhausts the soil ; but successive 

 crops can without difficulty be raised, if manure 

 be plentifully used. The better way, however, is 

 to cultivate it in rotation with grasses and grain. 

 The land must be well prepared so that it will be 

 light and free from weeds. Stubble or sward 

 land should be ploughed and harrowed three times; 

 the first early in the fall ; then as soon as the frost 

 is out iu the spring ; and again immediately before 

 putting in the seed. The time for sowing depends 

 upon the state of the soil. It is usually about the 

 time of corn planting. When the object is to pro- 

 cure the seed, it is sown iu drills about three feet 

 apart. Soon after the plant is up, it is dressed 

 like Indian corn, with an instrument called a cul- 

 tivator or horse shoe. When ripe it is cut or 

 pulled, dried and threshed ; and the stem affords 

 a coarse lint for cordage. But when cultured for 

 manufacture solely, two bushels should be sown, 

 broadcast, ujion the acre, and carefully covered, 

 to prevent the birds from plundering it. The 

 hemp is cut with a cradle about the time the seeds 

 begin to fill, at which time the leaves turn white. 

 It is tlieu bound up in small bundles, and set up 

 in the field like grain. It was formerly rotted on 

 the ground, iu the way farmers now prepare flax 

 for bleaching. But this is a dilatory anil expensive 

 method, and greatly injures the material for manu- 

 facture. The "water rot" was afterwards sub- 

 stituted as an improvement, and is still practised 

 in Europe. 



By this process the hemp is taken to pits of 

 standing water, and immersed four or five days, 

 when it is taken out and spread on the ground 

 for three or four weeks — care being taken to turn 

 it often, to prevent the mildew or insects from 

 destroyiug the fibre. This process is also tedious 

 and precarious iia bad weather. The hemp was 

 then diessed in the ordinary method of dressing 

 fla.\-. 



A great improvement, however, has lately been 

 introduced into the business. The new hemp and 

 flax machine supersedes the necessity of rotting 

 before breaking. When the stem is sufliciently 

 dried, in the field or kiln, to render the woody 

 substance brittle, it is run through the breaking 

 machine, which consists of a succession of fluted 

 rollers, which oi)erate upon every part of the stem 

 several hundred times, with sufficient force and 

 velocity to break and dislodge it from the lint. 

 The glutinous vegetable matter with a portion of 

 the shives still adheres to the lint ; to ieparate 

 which, the hemp is sunk into running or standing 



