180 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER, 



DECEMBER 19, 1833. 



From the N. Y. Farmer. 

 AMERICAN HEMP. 



The following article has been politely handed 

 to us for publication, by Gen. Lynch. It was 

 written to accompany the Hemp, exhibited at the 

 Fair of the American Institute last year ; but is 

 equally applicable to that exliibited at the recent 

 Fair. 



To the American Institute of the City of JVeic 



York. Abr.iham Varick, of Utica, [jrescnts for 



exhibition and competition at the Fair ui the city 

 of New York, a bale of water rotted Ilemp, con- 

 tainui"; about 400 lbs. raised, rotted, and manufac- 

 tured by Dr. Samuel Allen, of Copenhagen, in 

 the county of Lewis, as his Agent the present year. 

 In compliance with the request of the Managers of 

 the Fair, Mr. Varick submits a brief statement of 

 the process of culture, and preparing the Hemp for 

 market, and will cheerfully furnish any further in- 

 formation which may tend to promote that branch 

 of agriculture, which is attended with such bene- 

 ficial results to the agricultural interest in partic- 

 ular. 



It has been supposed that He(|^p requires a very 

 deep and extremely rich soil ; but it is now satis- 

 factorily ascertained, that laud which is well adapt- 

 ed to wheat or corn, is equally so to the raising of 

 Hemp, and that the same preparation and fertility 

 whicli will produce a good crop of wheat, is suffi- 

 cient to produce a good crop of Hemp. The quan- 

 tity of the seed to the acre, should be from two to 

 three bushels, according to tlie rickness of the soil, 

 to be sown as early in the spring as the state of 

 the land will admit ; but it mayj be sown at any 

 time until the usual time of planting Indian corn. 

 It is of importance that a' full comiiliment of seed 

 shoidd be used, to the end tliat the sti\lk should be 

 small, otherwise if the stalk is l.-u-ge, the quality of 

 the Hemp is coarse, the quantity produfced is less, 

 and the process of manufiicture more difficult. The 

 Hemp is fit to be cut when the male He«ip begins 

 to wither, inul as soon as the seed of tie female 

 hemp is formed, and before it acquires kny hard- 

 ness. 



The Hemp is to be cut with an instrimeiit re 

 renibliug the common grant cradle, bii witli a 

 scythe and fingers much shorter, the scyilie being 

 onjy two feet four inches long. The Hlmp is to 

 remain in the swartli for one day, and tlen to be 

 turned and remain oue day, and on the liird day 

 to be bound near the butt in very small mmdles, 

 with a band of the Hemp. Then to be sit up on 

 the butts in shocks, until it becomes perfatly dry 

 — the quantity produced, will be from twolto four 

 tons per acre, which will yield about onc-lixth of 

 clean hemp fit for market. Vats are piepared 

 near the mills of about six feet deep, and eight feet 

 wide ; the length to be varied at pleasuie, the 

 bundles of hemp are then to be carefully laid in 

 lengthwise, until the vat is full, and pressedjdown 

 with any sufficient weight to keep it solid. Water 

 is then to be let on the top, until the vat is ^lled, 

 and to remain for two days to saturate the piass, 

 after which it is to be dra^vn oft', and a supply of 

 running water to be introduced, until the ivat is 

 filled, which is to run off contunially imtil the 

 hemp is properly rotted. The time ^vUl dep^d on 

 the temperature of the water, and will be from six 

 to twenty days ; the water is then to be fet ofl", 

 and after about eight hours the hemp is to betaken 

 out and set up in the field on its butts, after open- 

 ing the bundles against a fence or ropes runnmg 

 through stakes fastened in the ground for that pur- 



pose. When perfectly dry, it is bound up and 

 taken to a dry-house where it is to be kihi dried 

 for about two days, from which it to be taken to 

 the mills for breaking and dressing. The mills 

 used by Mr. Allen, are a patented machine by 

 Daniel Ball, which is found to break and dress 

 hemp better than any that is known in this country, 

 and by the use of it, one man can jiroliably do as 

 much as ten men could by hand. With very litde 

 hand labor it is put in heads and packed m bales 

 for market, as the one presented at the Fair. 



The quantity prepared for market, at these mills 

 the present year, will amoimt to about sixty tons, 

 which will probably be increased the? next year to 

 about two hundred tons. 



Great difficulty has been found in indticing 

 farmers in the neighborhood, to enter into the c\il- 

 ture until the proprietor of the mill oft'ered a fixed 

 price according to the quality of the hemp dried as 

 it came from the field — in consequence of which 

 they have gone extensively into the business, and 

 find it a more profitable crop than any other they 

 can raise. SAMUEL ALLEN, 



Agent for Abraham Varick, Copenhagen. 



Lewis Coxmfy, A*. Y., Oct. 5, 1832. 



From Ike I'etershurs: Inldligemer. 



extraordinjVrt productions oe the 



SEASONS. 



We were a few days since presented with an 

 Apple of the second crop of this season's growth 

 from the same tree, in Blandfort, the eastern 

 suburb of Petersburg. It was one of the early 

 sweet species, rather elongated though dwarfish, 

 without seed, yet very fragrant. 



Abingdon (Va.) Rcpuhlican mentions a beef 

 which weighed twenty pounils and eight ounces! 

 Likewise a Potato weighing five pounds and eight 

 ounces.'! Also, a Radish weighing ten pounds 

 and twelve ounces ! ! ! Verily, this remote conn r 

 of South West Virgiiua, has beaten the Kicli- 

 mond Norfolk and North Carolina Beets, as well 

 as the Winchester Potatoes, all hollow, as the 

 Back- Woods-Men say ! 



The Raleigh Register speaks of two Cabbages 

 whicli were presented to the Editors a few days 

 ago, the average weight of each of Which «as 

 more than thirty pounds ! And the Philade|)l)ia 

 National Gazette acknowledges the receipt of a 

 Purple Cape Brocoli, which measured three-quar- 

 ters of a yard in circmiifercnce. 



A New York paper mentions a Cherry Tree 

 belonging to Mr. William Phelps, of A'einen, 

 which has produced two crops of ripe cherries of 

 good flavor the past summer : and on the 8th 

 of Sept. it was the third time in full blossom ! 



HTio can beat this '} So asks the Columbus 

 (Ohio) Journal, in noticing a Radish, raised in 

 Franklin co. in that State, and left at that office. 

 It is 23 inches long, 23 round, and weighing 15 IIjs. 

 4 oz. With the exception of a Pumpkin, weigii- 

 ing 196 lbs. and brought into Chihcothe, a i'vw 

 years since, it says, it is " the greatest vegetable 

 curiosity it has ever seen." 



The Fredericksburg Arena, of Wednesday last, 

 says : — " Vegetables, this season, are disposed ' to 

 o'er step the modesty of nature.' We were called 

 yesterday to see a monstrous ■Cabbage, which 

 grew upon the farm of Mr. Fielding Lucas, about 

 six miles from town. It measures more than five 

 feet in circumference, and Would make Sour 

 Krout enough to support ' honest George Kremer,' 

 for a month or more." 



From the New York Farmer. 

 SEED WHEAT. 



Middlesex, Sept. 4, 1832. 

 Mr. Editor, — The prciiaratioii of wheat for seed, 

 seems to have divided the attention of our farmers 

 to a very considerable extent. I know no prac- 

 tice better than the one I have used for some years 

 past. It is as follows : — 



Take two wash tubs, fill one of them two thirds 

 full of cold water, put in as much common salt as 

 the water will dissolve cold, pour uito this brine 

 about a bushel of seed wheat and stir it about for 

 two minutes. All the chess and light and imper- 

 fect grains will rise to the top and may be 

 ^kimnied off. Then lay two sticks across the 

 JDinpty tub, on which set a large basket, and pour 

 (he wheat and brine into it, tlie brine will run into 

 he empty tub, leaving the wheat in the basket, 

 hieli may be emptied on a clean floor ; then put 

 another bushel of seed wheat, stir and skim as 

 fore, and so proceed till you have the quantity 

 named. Your wheat may then be spread two or 

 :liree inches thick over the floor, and about two 

 quarts of lime the bushel sifted over it stiring it 

 jfifjquently with a rake, in order to bring each 

 grain in contact with the lune. Let it lie from 

 pvelve to twenty-four hours and it is fit for use. 

 |If cockle is in the seed wheat, it should be run 

 jtluough a screen before it is wet ; if any rye, it 

 may he cut out before harvest in the field. — The 

 piaiu c*)ject of putting salt in the water is to in- 

 crease its specific gravity, so as to enable it to 

 iBoat the trush and light grains. 



By this method, none but the best grains will 

 be coniinitted to the eartli, and I believe the smut 

 Mill eggs of the hessian fly are eflfectually de- 

 sdoycd by tlie .salt and lime, and that the suc- 

 ceeding crops will be more likely to be clean than 

 by any other mode of preparing the seed. 



Yours, &c. R. M. W. 



From the Northern Farmer. 

 VA1.WE OF science TO THE PRACTICAl, MAN. 



That an iudividual may not become a tolerably 

 successful farmer or mechanic, by serving a long 

 apprenticeship in his particular calling, we will 

 not deny. So long, as he shall precisely follow 

 the sane beaten track, and find the same combina- 

 tion ofcircumstances, which had all along attend- 

 ed on lis formfer success, he will not feel the want 

 of that science, which explains the why and where- 

 fore ; l|ut whenever a different combuiation of cir- 

 cumstances shall arise he will meet with phenome- 

 na which he cannot explain, tmd with obstacles 

 which jio cannot overcome. He will, like a man 

 who has lost himself in the wilds of a forest, with- 

 out conqiass or pilot, and without confidence in 

 himself be found at every step, to be wandering 

 still further from the right road. 



As strongly illustrative of the correctness of the 

 position here laid down, we will relate a single 

 fact. Some thirty jears ago, we knew a mechan- 

 ic, respectable for skill m the business which he 

 pursued. He had learned the business of making 

 common suction pumps : knew well how to con- 

 struct every part of the machinery, in a workman- 

 life manner ; his pumps had always worked well ; 

 and he had become the most popular pump-maker 

 ui the whole countr)'. At length unfortunately 

 for him, he was employed to make a pump for a 

 well something like forty feet deep. Tlie well be- 

 ing thus deep it was necessai-y to splice the timber 

 of which the pimip was formed ; this he did in 



