HEMP. 



HEMP. 



aiuther of the textile plants; but no conclu- 

 sively satisfactory experiments of their culture 

 appear to have been made. 



"Various common plants," says Professor 

 Low (El. of Prac. Jlgr. p. 351), "yield fibres 

 of sufficient toughness to be made into thread; 

 as the Esparto-rush (Stipa tenacissima), which 

 is used in Spain for obtaining coarse thread ; 

 the common broom (Cylisus scoparia) ; the Spa- 

 nish l>room (Spar/nun juiircntn) ; different r po- 

 cies of aloe, and several plants of the lily tribe. 

 The wanner regions of the world abound in 

 plants possessing a fibrous structure of the 

 bark, which renders them capable of being 

 employed in making ropes, thread, and cloth." 



In Mexico and South America, the famous 

 centennial American aloe (Jlgave Americana), 

 which there grows spontaneously, is extensively 

 used in the manufacture of cordage of various 

 kinds. There is no doubi. that this plant would 

 do well if introduced into the Florida Penin- 

 sula, as it even bears the winters at Charleston, 

 South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia. "If," 

 says a correspondent of the Farmers Jfri^Wcr, 

 (vol. ii. p. 6,) "any additional material for cord- 

 age is requisite or desirable in this country, we 

 have one in a native plant, probably not in- 

 ferior, for that purpose, to the Agave Americana. 

 I allude to the Yucca filamentosa, which grows 

 spontaneously in light saridy soils, (and often 

 on the very poorest) from Virginia to Florida, 

 and is commonly known under the name of 

 bear grass, and sometimes under that of silk 

 grass. The fibres of this plant are remarkable 

 for their strength, and I have seen ropes made 

 of it equal in strength and appearance to any 

 other. To obtain the fibres, the leaves are 

 'rotted' in water, or by burying them in the earth. 

 Mr. Elliot, in his Sketch of the Botany of South 

 Citrolina and Georgia, says of this plant, that it 

 appears to possess the strongest fibres of any 

 vegetable whatever; and, if it can be raised 

 with facility, may form a valuable article in 

 domestic economy. The root is also a substi- 

 tute for soap in washing woollens. 



" Of the facility of its production, I entertain 

 no doubt. No plant is more hardy, or bears 

 transplanting better. Its roots are extensive, 

 having numerous eyes, or buds, and each one 

 of these will produce a plant. There are mil- 

 lions of acres in the Southern States unfit for 

 the ordinary purposes of agriculture, which 

 would produce this plant very well." 



In the Western United States, and especially 

 in the upper part of Kentucky, hemp is exten- 

 sively cultivated, and constitutes a staple crop. 

 A very interesting communication was made a 

 few years since to the " Western Agriculturist," 

 upon the mode of conducting the various pro- 

 cesses connected with the hemp culture in 

 Kentucky, by the distinguished statesman and 

 agriculturist, Mr. Clay. The correctness of his 

 views and recommendations are fully confirm- 

 ed by those who have put them to the test of 

 experience ; and as the subject is one of great 

 agricultural importance, we shall extract nearly 

 the whole of Mr. Clay's essay. 



Though raised in other parts of the state of 

 Kentucky, hemp is most extensively cultivated 

 in the Elkhorn region around and near Lex- 

 ington. 



614 



The soil of that region, says Mr. Clay, is 

 a rich, deep, vegetable loam, free from sand and 

 with but little grit. It lies on a bed of clay, 

 interspersed with small fragments of iron ore, 

 and this clay in its turn reposes on a mass of 

 limestone lying many feet in depth in horizon- 

 tal strata. The surface of the country is ge- 

 nerally undulating. The rich land (and there 

 is but little that is not rich), in this whole re- 

 gion, is well adapted to the growth of hemp, 

 where it has not been too much exhausted by 

 injudicious tillage. The lands which produce 

 it best, are those which are fresh, or which 

 have lain some time in grass or clover. Ma- 

 nuri^g is not yet much practised. Clover is 

 used in lieu of it. Lands which remain in 

 clover four or five years without being too 

 constantly and closely grazed, recover their 

 virgin ferti ity. The character of the soil in 

 the other parts does not vary materially from 

 that in the Elkhorn district. 



The preparation of the ground, for sowing 

 the seed, is by the plough and horses, until the 

 clods are sufficiently pulverized or dissolved, 

 and the surface of the field is rendered even 

 and smooth. It should be as carefully r repared 

 as if it were for flax. This most important 

 point, too often neglected, cannot be attended 

 to too much. Scarcely any other crop better 

 rewards diligence and careful husbandry. Fall 

 or winter ploughing is practised with advan- 

 tage it is indispensable in old meadows, or old 

 pasture-grounds intended for producing hemp. 



Plants for seed are ordinarily reared, in a 

 place distinct from that in which they are cul- 

 tivated for the lint. In this respect, the usage 

 is different from that which is understood to 

 prevail in Europe. The seeds which are intend- 

 ed to reproduce seeds for the crop of the next 

 year, are sowed in drills about four feet apart 

 When they are grown sufficiently to distin- 

 guish between the male and female stalks, the 

 former are pulled and thrown away, and the 

 latter are thinned, leaving the stalks separated 

 seven or eight inches from each other. This 

 operation is usually performed in the blooming 

 season, when the sexual character of the plants 

 is easily discernible ; the male alone blossom- 

 ing, and, when agitated, throwing off farina, a 

 yellow dust or flour which falls and colours 

 the ground, or any object that comes in contact 

 with it. A few of the male plants had better 

 be left, scattered through the drill, until the 

 farina is completely discharged, for an obvious 

 reason. Between the drills a plough is run 

 sufficiently often to keep the ground free from 

 weeds and grass ; and between the stalks in 

 each drill the hoe is employed for the same 

 object. The seed plants are generally cut 

 after the first smart frost, between the 25th 

 September and the middle of October, and car- 

 ried to a barn or stackyard, where the seeds 

 are easily detached by the common thrail. 

 They should be gathered after a slight, but 

 before a severe frost ; and, as they fall out very 

 easily, it is advisable to haul the plants on a 

 sled,'and, if convenient, when they are wet. It 

 transported on a cart or wagon, a sheet should 

 be spread to catch the seed as they shatter out 

 After the seeds are separated, the stalks which 

 bore them being too large, coarse, and harsh 



