1S6 



THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



the lime of eowing. Some sow at difFerpnt pe- 

 riods, in order thar llie crop may not all lipcn at 

 the same lime, and tliat a press o( labor in rear- 

 ing it may be thus avoided. The raaturiiy of 

 the plant is determined by the evaporaiion of the 

 farina, already noiicrd, and the leaves of the 

 plant exhibiting a yellowish hue : it is then gene- 

 rally supposed to be rii)e, but it is safest to wait a 

 li^vv days longer. Very little attentive observa- 

 tion will enable any one to judge when it is lully 

 ripe. In thai respect it is a very accommcdaling 

 crop, for if gathered a little too soon, the lint is 

 not ma-erially injured, and it will wait the leisure 

 ol' the larmer some ten days or a Ibrtnighl alter 

 it is entirely ripe. 



Two modes of gathering the plants are prac- 



overa whole year, before the plants are exposed" 

 to be rotted. By rrniaining that period in sialics, 

 ihp plants iro through a s\veat, or some other pro- 

 cess, that improves very much the appearance, 

 and, 1 believe, the quality of the lint, and this 

 improvement lully compensates the loss ol time 

 in bringing it to market. TI.e lint has a soft 

 texture and a lively hue, resembling water-rotted 

 hen)p ; and I once sold a box of it in the Bidii- 

 mcre market at the price of Russia hem)). In 

 every oiher respect, the plants are treated as if 

 they were not Kept over a year. 



'i'he method ofdew-roiling is that which ia 

 Generally practised in Kentucky. The lint so 

 spread i.s not so good lor niany purposes, and 

 especially for rigging and ships, as when the 



Used, one by pulling them up by the roots, an { plants have been rolted by immersion in water, or 



easy operation by an able-bodied man, and the 

 other by cutting them about two inches (the 

 nearer the belter) above i he sarliace ol the trround. 

 From a quarter to a third of an acre is the com- 

 mon task of an average laborer, whether the one 

 or the other mode is practised. The objections to 

 pulling are, that the plants with their roots re- 

 maining connected with them, are not afterwards 

 so easily handled in the several operations which 

 they must undergo ; that all parts ol' the plant do 

 not rot equally and alike, when expo>ed to the 

 dew and rain: and, fmally, that belore you put 

 ihem to the brake, when the root should be sepa- 

 rated from the stalk, the root drags oH' with it 

 some of the lint. The objection to cutting is, 

 that you lose two or three inches of the best part 

 of the plant nearest the root. Pulling being the 

 most ancient method, is most generally practised. 

 ] prefer, upon the whole, culling ; and 1 believe 

 the number who [irefer it is yearly increasing. 

 When pulled, il is done with the hand, which is 

 better for the protection of an old leather glove. 

 The laborer catches twenty or thirty plants toge- 

 ther, with both hands, and by a sudden jerk draws 

 them without much difficulty. The operation of 

 cutting is performed with a knile, ollen made out 

 of an old scythe, resembling a sickle, though not 

 so long, but broader. This knile is applied much 

 in the same way as the sickle, except that the 

 laborer stoops more. 



Whether pulled or cut, (he plants are carefully 

 laid on the ground, the evener the better, to cure; 

 which they do in two or three days, in dry wea- 

 ther. A light rain falling on tliem whilst lying 

 down is thought by some to be beneficial, inas- 

 much as the leaves, of which they should be 

 deprived, maybe easier shaken off or detached. 

 When cured, the plants are set up in the field in 

 which they were produced, in shocks of conve- 

 nient size, the roots or lust-ends resting on the 

 ground, and the lops uuiied above by a band 

 made of the plants themselves. Previous to 

 putting them up in shocks, most cultivators tie the 

 plants in small hand bundles of such a size as 

 that each can be conveniently held in one hand. 

 Before the shocks are lormed, the leaves of the 

 plants should be rapidly knocked otl with a rough 

 paddle or hooked stick. Some sufler the plants 

 to remain in these shocks until the plants are 

 spread down to be rotteil. Others, again, collect 

 the shocks together as soon as they can command 

 leisure, (and it is clearly the best,) and form them 

 into stacks. 



A k\v farmers permit these stacks to remain 



as it is generally termed, water-rotted. The 

 greater value, and consequently higher price of 

 the article, prepared in the latter way, has 

 induced more and more of our firmers every year 

 to adopt it ; and if that prejudice were subdued, 

 which every American production unlbrtunately 

 encounters wlien it is first introduced and comes 

 in contact with a rival Eurofiean commodity, I 

 think it probable that in a few years we should 

 he able to dispense altogether with Ibreign hemp. 

 The obstacles which prevent the general practice 

 of water-rotting are, the want of water at the 

 best season for the operation, which is the month 

 of September; a repugnance to the change of an 

 old habit ; and a persuasion, which has some 

 Ibundation, that handling the plants after their 

 submersion in water during that month is injurious 

 to health. The first and last of these obstacles 

 would be removed by wafer-rotting enrly in the 

 winter, or in the spring. The only dilference in 

 the operation, performed at those seasons and in 

 the month of September, would be, that the 

 plants would have to remain longer in soak be- 

 fore, they were sufRcieniiy rotted. 



The plants are usually spread down to be dew- 

 rotted from the middle of October to the middle 

 of December. A farmer who has a large crop 

 on hand puts them down at difltirent limes for his 

 convenience in handling and dressing them. 

 Autumnal rotting is more apt to ffive the lint a 

 dark and unsightly color than winter rolling. The 

 best ground to expose the plants upon is meadow 

 or grass land, but they are not unfrequentfy 

 spread over the same field on which they grow. 

 The length of time they ought to remain exposed 

 depends upon the degree of moisture and the 

 temperature of the weather that prevail. In a 

 very wet and warm spell five or six weeks may 

 be Ions enough. Whether they have been 

 sufficiently rotted or not is determined by experi- 

 ment. A handful is taken and broken by the 

 hand or applied to the brake, when it can be ea- 

 sily ascertained, by the facility with which the 

 lint can be detached from the stalk, if il be pro-, 

 perly rotted. If the plants remain on the ground 

 too long, the fibres lose some of their strength 

 though a few days longer than necessary, in cold 

 weather, will not do any injury. If they are 

 taken up too soon, that is, beiore the lint can he 

 easily separated from the woody pan of the stalk, 

 it is harsh, and the process of breaking is difficult 

 and troublesome. Snow-rolling, that is, when 

 the plants, being spread out, remain long enough 

 to rot, (which however requires a greater length 



