HEMLOCK. 



HEMP. 



the shrubby kinds, taken off when young, rea- 

 dily strike in the same kind of soil. (Paxton's 

 Hot. Did.) 



HEMLOCK (Conium maculatnm). A her- 

 baceous biennial plant distinguished for its 

 poisonous qualities, very common in hedges, 

 orchards, and waste ground, especially near 

 towns and villages. The root is tape-shaped, 

 whitish, and fleshy ; from 6 to 12 inches long, 

 not unlike a young parsnip. 



HEMLOCK, THE WATER. See Cow- 



II \\ K. 



HEMLOCK, SPRUCE (Abies Canadensis). 

 See FIRS. 



HEMP (Dan. hamp. Cannabis saliva). A 

 very valuable plant of the nettle tribe, Urtica- 

 cece, which came, it is believed, originally from 

 India, but has long since been naturalized in 

 various parts of Europe. The chief cultiva- 

 tion is now, for the most part, confined to the 

 Russian empire, where it is grown by the peas- 

 ants in small plots. It there forms an article 

 of export of very considerable commercial 

 importance. Of 530,820 cwts. of undressed 

 hemp, imported into England in 1831, 506,803 

 came from Russia, 9472 from the East Indies, 

 7405 from Italy, 2262 from the Philippine is- 

 lands, 2248 from the United States. (M'Cu//ocA.) 

 As Great Britain is principally dependent on 

 other countries for a supply of hemp, it fol- 

 lows as a natural consequence, that, in periods 

 of war, its price is very considerably increased. 

 The hemp plant is grown in some parts of 

 Lincolnshire, Suffolk, and Norfolk, and in Ire- 

 land (where it reaches a height of 6 or 7 feet) ; 

 but it is not nearly so much cultivated in the 

 British islands as formerly, and it is believed 

 by some of the best of the English farmers to 

 be a crop that cannot be profitably grown in 

 England, although the quality of the best Brit- 

 ish hemp is much superior to that of Russia. 

 In Oriental countries it sometims attains a 

 height of 16 to 18 feet. The hemp plant re- 

 quires for its growth a fair, highly manured 

 soil, but it is not particular as to the quality. 

 Old deep meadow lands, all rich alluvial, and 

 even peaty soils, are adapted to its growth. 

 Its leaves are strongly narcotic, and in the 

 eastern climates are used like opium, and 

 smoked like tobacco. From its seeds (which 

 are greedily devoured by birds) is extracted 

 an oil, generally employed by painters. The 

 Russians and Poles, even of the higher classes, 

 bruise or roast the seeds, mix them with salt, 

 and eat them on bread. The hemp plant is fine 

 and graceful ; its tough and elastic fibres are 

 adapted, above those of every other plant, for 

 the making of cordage, canvass, netting, and 

 various cloths, used in domestic economy, such 

 as towels, and coarse table-cloths. Besides 

 the strong cloth and other articles made from 

 it, hemp is of considerable utility for other 

 purposes. The refuse, called " hemp sheaves,' 

 affords an excellent fuel ; and the fine oil, ob- 

 tained from the seed, is peculiarly adapted for 

 burning in chambers, as it is perfectly limpid 

 and possesses no smell. Another valuable 

 property of hemp is, that it effectually expels 

 vermin from plantations of cabbages ; if it be 

 sown on the borders of fields, &c., planted 



with that vegetable, no caterpillar will infest 

 t. (Willich's Dom. Ency.) It possesses the 

 anomalous property of growing, without dege- 

 nerating, for a series of years, on the same 

 ground, provided the land is well manured. 

 [t is what is called a smothering-crop, for its 

 copious foliage kills every thing that is at- 

 empted to be sown with it. It may be grown 

 n the following rotation, as suggested by Pro- 

 fessor Low: I. Fallow; 2. Wheat; 3. Grasses; 

 4. Hemp ; 5. Oats. The land intended for 

 hemp should be brought, by repeated plough- 

 ings, into a fine tilth. The seed may be sown 

 in April and May, from two to three bushels 

 per acre, either broadcast, and hoeing out the 

 plants to a distance of 16 or 17 inches, or by 

 the drill, at a distance of 30 inches. In the 

 autumn, the plants are pulled, the male plants 

 first, and the female plants six or seven weeks 

 afterwards, when they have ripened their seed. 

 Thus there are two harvests of the hemp crop. 

 The male plants are readily known by their 

 faded flowers, and yellowish colour. They are 

 then tied in small bundles and carried to the 

 pool, where they are to be steeped. Hemp, 

 like flax, poisons the water in which it is 

 steeped. The same process is followed when 

 the female plants are pulled ; only these, be- 

 fore they are steeped, have their seeds beaten 

 out. 



The process of steeping commonly lasts 

 four or five days, and is continued until the 

 outside coat of the hemp readily separates. It 

 is then carefully and evenly spread on some 

 grass turf, where it remains for three or four 

 weeks, being turned over about twice every 

 week, by which the decomposition of the 

 woody part of the stem is materially accele- 

 rated. It is next carried to the barn, where it 

 is bruised by the break, a machine constructed 

 for the purpose; it is then bound up into 

 bundles, and carried to market. (Low's Prac. 

 Agr. p. 348.) There is a paper on a species 

 of African hemp by Mr. A. Hunter (Trans. 

 High. Soc. vol. iii. p. 87) ; others on the culti- 

 vation of hemp in America, by Mr. W. Tonge 

 (Ann. of Agr. vol. xxiii. p. 1 ) ; in Italy (ibid. vol. 

 xvi. p. 439, and vol. ii. p. 216), and in Catalo- 

 nia. (Ibid. vol. viii. p. 243.) It seems that 100 

 parts of Indian hempseed yield 20 to 25 per 

 cent, of oil. (Com. Agr. Asiat. Soc. 1838, p. 69.) 

 See FLAX. 



Hemp being an article of extensive utility, 

 various plants have been tried as substitutes ; 

 among which are the Canada golden-rod (Soli- 

 dago Canadensis), a perennial plant that might 

 easily be cultivated in Britain ; its stalks are 

 numerous, straight, and grow above five feet in 

 height ; they afford very strong fibres, if treated 

 in the same manner as hemp. The sun-flower 

 (Heliant tins') also affords single filaments or 

 fibres, which are said to be as thick, and in all 

 respects as strong, as small pack-thread. The 

 fibrous stalk of the common nettle (Urtica 

 dioica) has been advantageously manufactured 

 into cloth. Others of the nettle tribe, such as 

 the Chinese, or white-leaved nettle (U. nivea), 

 and the Siberian, or hemp-leaved nettle (U. can- 

 nabina), yield tough and durable fibres ; and 

 the Syrian swallow-wort (Aschpias Syriaca) is 

 3F 613 



