WEW 



EWGI^A^^B FAilJm^^ 



JC!ijn.« 



PuhUs Ud hy John B. Russell, at JVo. 52 mriTMarM Street, (at the JlgHc ^MuraTm G. F^^';^^;~^^:ij;Z- 



VOL. YII. 



~ --ittiiflii 



BOSTON, FRIDAY , APRIl7Tori829: 



No. 38. 



AGRICULTURE. 



FOR THE NEW ENGLAND KARMER. 



CULTIVATION OP HEMP. 

 Mr J.B.Russell — I embrace the first inoinent 

 of leisure, to give you, in compliance with your re- 

 quest, ail account of the method pursued by our 

 fanners, in the cultivation of hemp. It has been 

 raised in niy neighborhood for more than twenty 

 years. It i.s considered as a sure crop ; and at 

 the prices which it has liorne for a few years past, 

 aifords a reasonable remuneration to tiie cultiva- 

 tor. In the account which I shall give, there will 

 probably be nothing new or instructive to those al- 

 ready acquainted with the process. If you think 

 it will be useful to others, you will malie such use 

 of it as you think proper. 



Hemp requires a deep and rich soil. Any at- 

 tempt to raise it upon a light soil, or upon "land 

 worn out and exhausted, until it is recruited by 

 manure, and a fertilizing course of husbandry, will 

 result only in disai)pointment. Nor can it long be 

 continued upon the same piece of ground, without 

 ail annual sui.ply of manure. But upon a -ood 

 sod, with an animal sprinkling of manure, at the 

 rate of eight or ten loads to the acre, it may be 

 continued for a succession of years, without'any 

 material diminution in the value of ths crop. 



The ground must be prei)ared for the seed, 

 much in the same manner as for flax. It must be 

 ploughed and harrowed sufficiently to break the 

 clod?, and to render the soil fine and mellow. A.s 

 different soils require diflcrent degrees of labor fc) 

 produce this cfiect, it must be left to the judgment 

 of the cultivator to determine when his ground is 

 io a proper state to receive tlie seed. I can safe- 

 ly say, that {ew farmers err, in ploughing and har- 

 rowing too much. 



The time for sowing is about the 10th of May. 

 A kw days earlier or later will make no difference. 

 It must not be so early as to expose the tender 

 plant to severe frosts, and if sown late in May, it 

 will produce a light crop— the stalks will have a 

 thin coat. 



The quantity of seed varies with the strength 

 and condition of the ground. Two bushals is the 

 usual quantity sown upon an acre— and this is 

 generally sufficient. Some have used more, and 

 upon very strong hind have gone as high as three 

 bushels. But I believe that few of o^ur farmers 

 have found their account in u 



tinguished by the names of the male and the fe- 

 male. The latter produces the seed, the former 

 the blossom and the farina. The male hemp has 

 but ftiw and slender branches. When this has 

 turned white, or ?. pale yellow, has shed its leaves, 

 and the farina has chiefly (alien oft; then it is time 

 to pull it. The female hemp has more and strong- 

 er branches, and continues fresh and green until 

 the seed is ripe. It is common to leave patches, 

 or narrow strips, where the seed hemp is most 

 abundant, until the seed has ripened, which will 

 be about a month after the time of pulling; in 

 which case, the economical farmer will pull out 

 the male hemp as far as it is practicable ; for the 

 fibres of the hemp, that stands in the field until 

 the seed is ripe, are always stiff and harsh, and 

 will bring less in the market, than that which has 

 been ])ulled at the proper season. 



The pulling is a heavy job. One-fourth of an 

 acre is considered as a day's work, though expert 

 hands will pull a third of an acre. No precaution 

 is necessary except to guard against breaking the 

 stalks. The laborer gathers a few stalks in his 

 hands and pulls them up, and having repeated 

 this three or four times, he^strikes the roots once 

 or twice with his foot, in order to kick oft" the 

 d It, then Ik Iding the whole loose in his hands, 

 lets the roots drop on the ground for the purpose 

 of making that end of his handful even. And in 

 spreading his hemp on the gronnd, he is careful 

 to lay the butts straight and true. This will great- 

 ly facilitate the labor of binding. 



Rain upon the hemp after it is pulled, produces 

 the same efl'ect as upon mown grass. It disco! 

 ors it and injures its quality. It must therefore 

 Vc. suffered to lie upon the ground no longer than 

 ■' " necessary for its preservation. As soon as it 



is suficiently dried, which, in warm and drying 

 weather, will be after two days sun, it must be 

 hound up in small bundles or sheaves. A htlle 

 rye straw is the cheapest and best thing tor bands. 

 Let the band be put on towards the top of the 

 bundle, ami then shoved down to about the mid- 

 dle, otherwise it will be difficult to bind close 

 enough to liold together, through all the subse- 

 <iuent handlings. Set up 15 or 20 bundles to- 

 gether, well braced at the roots to admit a free 

 circulation of air, and to prevent it from blowing 

 over, and let it remain in this situation, until it is 

 cured sufficiently to put into a stack or under cov- 

 er. This may be done, in good weatlier, after two 

 . '^'"g a greater quan- jor three days. In the construction of the stack, 



lity than that first named. When it exceeds that sreat pains must be taken, lest the rain should 

 quantity, the land must not only be strong, hut it <iud a passage into it. It is safest to put it under 

 must be reduced to a very fine tilth. Otherwise, cover, either under sheds about the barn, or by 

 When it comes to grow, there will be a great deal erecting one for the jiurpose. 

 oi under-brush -.h^l is, short, spindling, coatless i It may be asked, why not transport it to the 



Tav^f the" rr;; m iT"'^' ^,^!' °"'^ '" '" ^'"^ '""'^^ "'' ^''»"'^- ^^^ "~- ^""-'- -' ", ! 

 broad C.St I ,,, I .K "f ^''<';^«^'' ./^ ^°^" "-'''iately after it is pulled, or as soon as it is dry, 



no tuitner attention to the crop is required un- pr ? " 

 til the season of pulling and cuitino- 



ll:'l-'l™:i ^n!:™!!!''^'?^" r-" ";^^ "°--" - '^-='--"' '— er, that it would be ex 



foi 



the water there should be a long rain, or a contin- 

 uance of (lamp weather to prevent its drying, i: 

 would be rotted too much, and the fibre would 'be 

 materially injured, if not destroyed. But when 

 the hemp is immersed later in the season, after 

 the weather and water have become cool, there ia 

 no risk in sutFering it to remain in the water a 

 short time longer than is necessary. It is also 

 supposed that when the hemp is rotted in hot 

 weather, tlere will be a greater proportion of tow 

 — and after it is drawn from the water, the bands 

 must be cpened and the hemp spread, in order 

 that it miy dry quickly. It is also a busy season 

 with the firmer, and he can attend to it at a latet 

 period, w th less interruption to other branchea of 

 husbandr;. These are the reasons which have 

 induced air farmers to postpone the rotting till the 

 latter pan of October. As I have never tried any 

 cxperimeits iu reference to this part of the pro- 

 cess, and indeed have had but little experience in 

 the ciiltuiB of hemp on rny own farm, I will not 

 give an opinion whether their reasons are well 

 founded cr not. I have not undertaken to point 

 out the btst method, in relation to any part of the 

 (irocess, liut only to describe the course pursued in 

 my own teighborhood. 



It has sometimes heen made a question wheth- 

 er running or stagnant water was to be preferred. 



The Inttc- is more generally used in England 



The former has been universally applied here. A 

 place is selected near the margin of some brook or 

 small stream, which will afford a basin in which 

 the hemp can be deposited, and where, by erect- 

 ing a dam across the stream', the hemp can bo 

 covered with water. 



I am not prepared to say that this cannot be 

 Although done with safety, under vigilant care and atten- 

 is attended with less lion. It is believei 



.rpier -is the inol T.Z\T""Vu^^^ "'^"^^ "'" 1'"^"^^'^° greater hazard of loss, than at a later pe- 



a th' lOtVof lu' ^st TJ e r TT""' '■'"'• ""' ''" '""' "f I^""'""' ^'- --"'- - '-'- 



elern led V ht n^ T , '^""'"^ " ""' ""= ''''"'' ^"'■"'- I'"trefaction proceeds with 



Tl e e a e two ki^uls of b """ ' " '-"ip _ j,eat rapidity. If the hemp should remain in the 



a.e .wo kinds of hemp in every field, dis- water a little too long, or if, after it is drawn from 



In the first place, the dam is built of a sufficient 

 height to secure the requisite supply of water, 

 leaving a gate way in the natural course of the 

 stream, and the top of the gate a little lower than 

 the height of the dam, to let offlhe surplus water. 

 After the dam is completed, shut the gate and try 

 the dam, in order to ascertain whether it is water 

 tight, and will stand against the pressure produced 

 by raising the pond. If it proves sufficient, then 

 let oft' tho water and put in the hemp. A space 

 of two or three feet should be left between the 

 hemp and the dam, so that if a leak should be dis- 

 covered, there may be room to stop it. This pre- 

 caution may be unnecessary in an old and long 

 tried dam, but should not be omitted in a new 

 one. Put down a layer of hemp, laying the bun- 

 dles compactly, then a second course on the first, 

 in a transverse direction, and so on successively, 

 until the whole crop is deposited in the bed, or as 

 much as the basin will receive. Weights, consist- 

 ing of long and heavy timber, or plank, or slabs 

 with stones upon them, must then be laid across 

 the bed to prevent it from floating. Having de- 

 posited tho hemp and secured it fi-om rising, the 

 gateway may be closed and the water raised upon 

 the hemp. It will be observed that the level of 

 the hemp must he lower than the top of the gate- 

 way, so that the whole body may be immersed in 

 water, and continued so, until it is rotted. 



The length of time necessary to complete the 

 rotting process depends much on the weather, and 

 the temperature of water. It may be ascertained 

 whether it has lain in the water long enough, by 



