THE FARMERS' REGISTER. 



137 



ol time,) bleaches the lint, improves the qualiiy, 

 and makes il nearly as valuable as if it had been 

 waicr-rottod. 



After the operation of rotlinfr is performed, the 

 plants are again collecied togeiher, jjiit in shocks 

 or stacks, or, which is still belter pnt under a shed 

 or some covering. When it is designed to break 

 and dress them immediately, they are freciuenily 

 set np against some neighboring fence. The 

 best period for breaking and dressmg is in the 

 months of February and March, and the best 

 sort of weather, frosty nights and clear lliawing 

 days. The brake cannot be used advantageously 

 in wet or moist weather. It is almost invariably 

 used in this state out of doors and without any 

 cover; and to assist i's operation, the laborer 

 often makes a large fire near it, which serves the 

 double purpose of dr3'inij the plants and warming 

 himself It could not be used in damp weather 

 in a house without a kiln or some other means of 

 drying the stalks. 



Tlie brake in general use is the same liand 

 brake whicli was originally introduced and has 

 been always employed here, resembling, though 

 longer than the common flax brake. It is so well 

 known as to render a particular description of it, 

 perhaps, unnecessary. It is a rough contrivance, 

 set upon lour legs, about two and a half feet hiirh. 

 Tlie brake consists ol two jaws with slits on each, 

 the lower jaw hxed and immovable, and the 

 upper one movable, so that it may be lifted up 

 by means of a handle inserted into a head or block 

 at ihe front end of it. The lower jaw has three 

 slats or teeth, made ol' tough while oak, and the 

 upper two, arranged approaching to about two 

 inches in front, and in such manner that the slats 

 are about six or seven (eet in lengih, six inches 

 in depth, and about two inches in thickness in 

 their lower edges; they are placed edgewise, 

 rounded a little on their upper edges, which are 

 sharper than those below. The laborer takes 

 his stand by the side of the brake, and grasping 

 in his left hand as many of the stalks as he can 

 conveniently hold, with his right hand he seizes 

 the handle in ilie head of the upper jaw, which 

 he lifis, and throwing the handlLiI oi" stalks be- 

 tween the jaws, repeatedly sirikes them by lilting 

 and throwing down the upper jaw. These suc^ 

 cessive strokes break the woody or reedy part ol 

 the stalks into small pieces or shoes, which (all 

 oft during the process. He assists their disengage- 

 ment by striking ihe handfiil against a stake^or 

 with a small wooden paddle, uniil the lint or bark 

 is entirely clean, and completely separated from 

 the Avoody particles. 



After the above operation is performed, the hemp 

 may be scutched, to sofien il, and to strengthen the 

 llireads. That process however, is not thoufht 

 to be profitable, and is not therelbre generally j^er- 

 ibrmed by the grower, but is leli to the nianufaciure-r, 

 as well as that of beating and hackling it. Scutch- 

 ing is done by thelaboi'or taking in his left hand 

 a handful of the lint, and grasping it firmly; then 

 laying the middle of it upon a semi-circular notch 

 or a perpendicular board of the scutching-frame, 

 and striking with the edge of the scutch tliat part 

 ol the hni which hangs down on the board. After 

 giving It repeated strokes, he shakes the handful 

 of lint, replaces it on a notch, and continues to 

 strike and turn all parts of it, until it is sufficiently 

 cleansed, and the fibres appear to be even and 

 Btraifiht, 



The usual dnily task of an able-bodied hand at 

 the brake is eiixhty pounds weight ; but there is a 

 greater diflierence not only in the state of the wea- 

 iher and the condition of the stalks, produced by 

 the greater or less degree in which they iiave 

 been rotted, but in the dexterity with which ihe 

 brake is emfiloyed. Some hands have been 

 known to break li'oni one hundred and filly to two 

 hundred pounds per day. The laborer ties up in 

 one common l>uiidle the v/ork cl one day, and in 

 ihis state it is taken to market and sold. From 

 what has been mentioned, it may be inferred, as the 

 lact is that the hemp of some growers is in a much 

 belter condition than that of others. When it has 

 been carelessly handled or not sufficiently cleansed, 

 a deduction is made Irom ihe price by the |)urchaser. 

 It is chiefly bought in our villages, and manufac- 

 tured into cotton bagging, bales, and other kinds 

 of unlarred cordage. Ttie price is not unilorm. 

 The extremes have been as iow as ihiee and n,s 

 high as eight dollars (or the long hundred, the 

 customary mode of selling it. The most general 

 price during a term of many years has' been 

 Irom lour to five dollars. At five dollars it com- 

 pensates well the labor ol' the grower, and is 

 considered more profitable than any thing else 

 the farn er has cultivated. 



The quantity ol net hemp produced to the acre 

 is from six hundred to one thousand weight, v;iry- 

 ing according to the lerliiily and preparation of the 

 soil and the slate of the season. It is said ihal 

 the quantity which any field will f)roduce may be 

 anticipated by ihe average height of the plants 

 throughout Ihe field. Thus if Ihe plants will ave- 

 rage eight feet in height, the acre will yield eight 

 hundred weight of hemj); each foot in height 

 corresponding to a hundred weight of Ihe lint.° 



Hemp exhausts the soil slowly, if at all. An old 

 and successful cultivator told me that he had ta- 

 ken thirteen or Iburteen successive crops Irem the 

 same field, and ihat the last was the best. That 

 was, however, probably owing to a concurrence 

 of favorable circumstances. Nothing cleanses 

 and prepares the earth better for other crops (es- 

 pecially lor small grain or grasses) than hemp. 

 It eradicates all weeds, and when it is taken ofl', 

 leaves the field not only clean, but smooth and 

 even." 



IMPROVED BUEED OF HOGS. 



From tlio Kentuclvv KarintT. 

 There has l)een much controversy in Kentucky 

 in reference to the relative merits of the various 

 breeds of improved hogs; and the subject has in- 

 deed engendered some of the spirit ofpartizan- 

 ship. It is not our purpose to take a side in the 

 controversy; being determined to deal with the 

 utmost impartiality towards the advocates of each 

 of ihe various breeds. Our object shall be, in 

 conducting this paper to take such a course as 

 will serve to bring out tUefacfs referring to the 

 merits of all subjects in which the farmer is inter- 

 ested. While we deem an honest collision of 

 sentiment favorable to the investigation of truth ; 

 we deprecate that parlizan epirit which has an 

 exceedingly keen vision in looking at one side of 

 a subject and is utterly blind in viewing the other. 

 Long ago, and repeatedly since, we proposed a 

 test f)y which the relative merits of the various 

 breeds of hogs could be satisfactorily ascertained ; 

 and that was, to rear a large number of each 



