agriculttthal museum 299 



bundles anri arraiioe them on the borders of the field, ta- 

 king care not to injure the fcai.iie stalk, vvhidi '^ust 

 remain unpulled sometime lunger, to bring ;o m itu. ity its 

 seed. 



B ■fore the male hemp is gatheicd, seme persons sow 

 turnip seed, whicii buries itself in the holes from w Ir.oh 

 the stalks wcve extrac ed, and in those made hy the 

 footsteps of p 'rsoiis employed tlicrein. Turnip seed 

 is also sown when the female sialics are g.ithered, in or- 

 der to have two ^roj)s ; but this part of husbaudy, not 

 belonging to our subject, we dismiss it. 



It has been already observed, that the male hemp was 

 bundled up after being gathered. lii djing this, they 

 put siuiks of a like length together and place the roots 

 even. Each buiidle is Lied wilh a hemj) stalk. 



They are then exposed to the sun to dry the leaves 

 and tiowers, and when well dried, each bundle is beaten 

 against the trnr.k of a trre or against a wall, and t!i 'y 

 then attach togetiier sevei'al bundles, and make one suffi- 

 ciently large to cany to the Routoir, 



Tiie place called the Routoir, in which the process of 

 rotti!]g is performed, is a ditch of from eigiileento twen- 

 ty-four feet long, from twelve to eighteen ieet broad, 

 and from three to four feet deep, filled with water This 

 is often sujiplicd by a spring, Vv'hieh after filling, the ru- 

 toir is let otf through a ehauMel prepared for it. Some 

 rutoirs are only a ditch made on the border of a rivr^r; 

 some, even in contemi)t o; the laws, use no othei- lu'oirs 

 than the bed of a river. In fact, when there is no spring 

 nor river at hand, they deposit t\)c hemp in tlie ditciies 

 that are fiHcd wilh water, and in ihe meadows. Let as 

 now take a view of the end they propose by this method 

 of rotting. To do it they arrange it at the bottom of (he 

 water, tlsey cover it with a layer olsti'aw, they secure it 

 under water by pieces of wood and stone, it thus re- 

 mains until the bark, from which the thread proceeds, is 

 detached with ease irom the stalks. Tni is asceitained 

 by trying from time to time wiiether tiie adherency of 

 the bark to the stalk still coutiiuics. When it i» sever- 



