298 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



April 10, 1829. 



taking out one of the bundles, drying and braking 

 it. If the seed cracks easily, and the rind, or harl 

 readily separates from the wood, it is sufficiently 

 rotted. So also, if while it lies in the water, the 

 roots will twist off easily. Hemp put into the 

 ■water the last week in October, will ge;ierally re- 

 quire about three weeks. When put hi later, I 

 have known it lie seren weeks. If put into stag- 

 nant water, soon after it is pulled, five oi six days 

 is enough. 



When the hemp is rotted, open the gateway and 

 drain ofl' the pond. The hemp must tien be re- 

 moved to a piece of grass land — the bundles laid 

 upon the ground singly, and, after two or three 

 days, turned over. When partially dried, it is car- 

 ried and set up, inclining, against a ferce, where 

 it remains until it is fit for tlie brake. It may then 

 be carried to the building or shed wheie it is to 

 be dressed ; or the brake may be cairiei to the 

 hemp, as is generally the case here, and after it is 

 broken, it is removed to the barn for the finishing 

 process — or if the weather is not too levere, it 

 may be dressed where it is broken. 



A cheap vehicle or sled, for the removal of the 

 hemp from the pond, may be made of two pieces 

 of slit work, about 9 feet in length, wih three 

 cross beams of the same material. Tlis stakes, 

 driven closely through each beam and miner, will 

 serve the double purpose of holding the sled to- 

 gether, and keeping the hemp from fulliig off. — 

 No tongue will be necessary. It may b< drawn 

 with chains. If however the grass ground is at 

 any considerable distance from the pond, wheels 

 may be necessarj-. 



In dressing, two brakes are used. The first, 

 coarser than a common flax brake, the second, as 

 fine as a flax brake at the head, with one addi- 

 tional bar in each jaw. If the- hemp i.s well 

 rotted and faithfully broke, but little remains for 

 the swingling board. A man, accustomed to the 

 business, will brake and dress froHi .50 to 75 lbs. 

 a day. 



The labor required to prei)aic a crop of hemp 

 for market, is not inconsiderable. But it will be 

 observed, that but a small iinrtion of the labor 

 comes at a season, when the farmer is most busily 

 occupied in gathering and securing liis other crops. 

 The pulling comes on soon after the hay and 

 grain are secured. The rotting does not com- 

 mence till after Indian harvest, and the winter 

 grain is sown. The dressing is wholly done in 

 cold weather, when the farmer has little occupa- 

 tion besides that of taking care of his stock and 

 providing fuel. Every considerable fanner who 

 has land suitable for hemp, might raise a few 

 acres, without greatly interfering with his ordina- 

 ry course of husbandry. 



The average crop is six or seven hundred to 

 the acre, I have raised nine or ten — but this was 

 an unusual crop. The land was strong, and in 

 very fine tilth. The heni)) grew to a great height 

 and was very uniform throughout the piece. The 

 price of hemp in maiket, has varied, of late years, 

 from SIO to $12,50 a hundred. Scarce any crop 

 of field culture can be put upon the land, which 

 will produce so great a result. 



It is not uncommon for the farmer to let out 

 his land upon shares. In that case, the usual 

 terms are, that the owner of the land prepares the 

 grouiul, and furnishes one half the seed. The oc- 

 cupant furnishes the other half of the seed, and 

 jierforms all the labor, after the seed is harrowed 

 in, and returns to the owner one-half of the seed, 



and one-half the hemp, prepared for market. In 

 one instance, I have received, for the use of my 

 land, more than forty-five dollars an acre, clear 

 profit. The moiety of the seed returned to me, 

 was amply sufticient to pay my part of the seed 

 furnished,"and the labor of preparing the ground. 

 The hemp grown in this neighborhood, when 

 well dressed, comiuands the highest price of the 

 best Russia hemp, and is as readily purchased by 

 the nianulacturers of cordage. Our fiirmers some- 

 times mistake their own interest, by neglecting to 

 hatchel out the tow, through fear of too much 

 diminishing the weight. An experiment was made 

 in 1824, by direction of the Commissioners of the 

 Navy, to try its strength in comparison with the 

 Russian. " Two ropes, each 2 J inches in cir- 

 cumference, one made of hemp grown in this 

 town, broke with 3209 lbs. The other made of 

 clean St Petersburg, broke with 3118 lbs." I 

 mention this fact for the purpose of satisfying the 

 doubting, if any such there are, that our soil and 

 climate are as well adapted to the cultivation of 

 this article, as those of Russia, and that no one 

 need be deterred from entering u])on its cultiva- 

 tion, under any apprehensions, that his crop, if 

 rightly managed and well prc])ared, will be of in- 

 ferior value. 



At a time when the supply of the ordinary 

 products of the farm, exceeds the demand, and 

 consequently the price is so low, as almost to dis- 

 courage agricultural enterprise, it deserves the 

 consideration of farmers in difterent parts of the 

 country, whether their interest does not require 

 them to turn a part of their land, and to apply a 

 portion of their labor, to the cultivation of hemp. 

 The annual import from Russia, does not probably 

 fallshort ofhalf a million of dollars. This amount 

 might, in a short time, be brought to market, from 

 our own soil In addition to this, we annually 

 import in duck, and other manufactures of hemp, 

 exclusive of cordage, to the anioiuit of more than 

 a million and a half of dollars. These manufac- 

 tures might be carried on in our own country, as 

 well as those of cotton or woollen goods. The 

 present rate of duty on imported hemp is $45 a 

 ton, which is sufficient to aflbrd adequate protec- 

 tion, to the extent of the demand. If the contin- 

 uance of this duty should not come within the 

 rule prescribed by our present chief Magistrate, 

 which " requires that the great interest of agri- 

 culture, counnerce, and manufactures should be 

 equally favored," it may perhaps come within his 

 exception to the rule, of giving ■• peculiar encour- 

 agement to any (iroducts of either of them, that 

 may be found essential to our national indepen- 

 dence." I am vours, &c. 



SAM. LATHROP. 

 n'esl Springfield, March 16, 1829. 



nary one. He says that if you have got the true 

 kind, of early jiotato and wish to keep it pure, 

 ' You must take care that no other sort grow with 

 or near it, for potatoes of this kind mix the breeil 

 more readily than any thing else, though they 

 have no bloom' ! ! Will you be kind enough to 

 tell me through the medium of your Magazine, 

 whether the statement of Cobbett be really cor- 

 rect ? " 



To this Loudon briefly answers — " JVot cor- 

 rect." 



We have then Mr Loudon's testimony (and bet- 

 ter authority cannot be found,) and testimony of 

 the querist who thought the operation extraordi- 

 nary, in corroboration of my 0])iiiion. Let me add, 

 my experience applied |)recisely to early potatoes, 

 wliich have been planted promiscuously for many 

 years without deterioration or change. 



I will now, make a remark which I have fre- 

 quently made to you, Mr Editor, in conversation, 

 tliat I know of no guide more unsafe than Cob- 

 bett's American Gardener. Not that it is desti- 

 tute of merit — not that it does not j)Ossess some 

 of the best traits of Cohbett's works, but it has 

 many mistakes, and partakes of the defects of 

 Cohbett's writings as well as of their beauties. 



Roxbury, March 31. A FARMER. 



FOR THE HEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



NUT TREES. 



Sir — It seems astonishing that two such valu- 

 able fruit trees are so little cultivaled as the Span- 

 ish Ches7int and the Madeira JVut, or English Wal- 

 nut. The former produces very large fruit of ex- 

 cellent <piality, in the greatest abundance, and in 

 the South of France, Spain, Portugal, and Italy, it 

 forms a most valuable article of food for the poor- 

 er classes, and is a regular article of sale for that 

 purpose. It is but seldom this fruit finds its way 

 to our markets from Europe, but a |)leiilifnl sup- 

 [>ly might easily be furnished by planting orchards 

 of this tree, the same as we do with the apple — 

 or by planting them along avenues and highways, 

 and there is no doubt they would as well rejiay 

 the iiroprietor as an orchard of any other kind. 



The Madeira nut may be planted in the same 

 manner, and would yield also an ample remunera- 

 tion, as the nuts are sold, when green, for a dollar 

 llie luuidred, for pickling ; and when ripe, are in 

 great request for the table. HORTUS. 



dJ^Tiees of the Spanish Chesnut, with large 

 eatable fruit, can be delivered at the New Eng- 

 land Farmer Seed Store, Boston, at from 50 to 

 ^5 cts each, or $40 per 100 — with the addition of 

 (he cost of freight from New York, which is but 

 tt-ifling. The Madeira nut at the same price. 



rOK THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



DEGENERATION OF POTATOES BY IN- 

 TERMIXTURE. 



Mr Editor — I expres~!ed a strong conviction 

 in a late number of your .Fournal, that there was 

 not the slightest fnimdation for the opinion that 

 jiotatoes degenerated by juxta-jjosition, or being 

 planted even in the same hills. I remarked that 

 I had never seen it suggested in a Eurojican work. 

 1 would now ask leave to state, that in Loudon's 

 Magazine, No. xi. is the following paragraph in 

 a communication to Loudon. " I observed in Coh- 

 bett's American Gardener an assertion respecting 

 early potatoes, which appears to me an extraordi- 



FUR THE NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



MUSTARD. 



Mr Fessenden — I wish to make inquiry 

 tlirongh the medium of the New England Farmer, 

 (t)f any gentleman who may jiossess the informa- 

 tion) relative to the cultivation of fllustard, (Sina- 

 |fs.) Answers to the following questions through 

 tlie New England Farmer, as soon as convenient, 

 tould be verj" gratefully received. 



1. Vfliat soil is best adapted to its culture .' 



2. Its preparation and time of sowing — quanti- 

 ty of seed per acre, if sown in drills ? 



! 3. What attention to weeding and hoeing is 

 ijequisite ? 



