FARMERS' REGISTER— CULTURE OF HEMP. 



669 



platform was laid by his grandfather, in a corner of 

 the yard, and used n^ore or less every ye.ir fjr (he 

 purpose of a " mortar bed." His lutlier tonlinued 

 it in the same use; himself, tlie grandson, contin- 

 ued it for a time, as long as he had occasion ; aftei- 

 whicii, it lay some some years unused, and over- 

 grown with grass and weeds; at length, wanting 

 the ground for another purpose, he had it torn up 

 and removed, expecting to find the planks entirely 

 rotten — -but, to his surprize, found them sound, 

 and, to use his forcible expression, ''as hard as a 

 bull's horn." This was after they had Iain in con- 

 tact with the surface of the ground, exposed to all 

 the vicissitudes of the atmosphere, 1 think he said, 

 about sixty years ! 



It is now near 15 years since I received these ac- 

 counts from the old gentleman, and I have never 

 seen him since: my recollection, therefore, may 

 not be perfectly accurate in the details of his state- 

 ments, but of their substance I fee! certain. When 

 I saw (he notice referred to in the beginning of 

 this article, respecting the preservation of timber 

 by means of hydrate of lime, these facts at once re- 

 curred fbrcil)ly to my mind, and I was led to the 

 inference that, in the cases mentioned, there had 

 been so much water present as to destroy the caus- 

 tic properties of the lime, convert it to a hydrate, 

 and hold so much of it in solution, and in such a 

 situation, as tiiat it might ahva,ys he presented to 

 the wood for its absorption, until it had fecome en- 

 tirely saturated, and the wood thus elTectually {)re- 

 serve<l. 



Will some of your corresj)ondents recollect, and 

 furnish for publication in the Journal, such fiicts as 

 may confirm or correct this inference, and trace 

 out its legitimate consequences if confirmed.^ 



G. 



To llie Eilitnr of the American Railroad .Journal. 



Sir — I am induced to communicate a f^ict cor- 

 roborative of the opinion of your correspondent G. 

 in the 3d number of the 3d volume of your Jour- 

 nal, that lime is a preserver of timber. Some fif- 

 teen years ago a friend of mine removed a decay- 

 ed mill trunk in order to replace it with a new one. 

 The trunk had been laid under ground, and wlien 

 it was covered with earth, a few scattered lumps of 

 lime were accidentally thrown upon it. On its re- 

 moval, it was discovered that every part of the 

 wood which was in contact with lime was as per- 

 fectly sound as it was when it was first laid, whilst 

 every other part was more or less decayed. In- 

 deed, those parts exhibited a freshness and sound- 

 ness which were truly remarkable. 



XEXOPHON. 



CULTURE OF HEMP. 



By' Leonard E. Lathrop, Esq. 



From Goodsell's Farmer. 

 Some farmers, well informed in the business of 

 practical agriculture, are of the opinion that hemp 

 may ultimately become one of the most important 

 and valuable exports from the interior of New- 

 England, as well as the western and southern 

 States ; and that it is as natural and valuable a sta- 

 ple, and every way adapted to our climate and soil, 

 as cotton is to the climate and soil of the south. 

 Some of them say that it will produce more pounds 

 to the acre than cotton, and with much less manu- 

 al labor; and will command in market, if proper- 

 ly prepared and handled^ a price as great as the 

 short stapled cottons, by the pound. And to in- 



duce our northern farmers to engage in it, it has 

 been oliservecl, that before the introduction of cot- 

 ton into the interior of tlic Carolinas and Georsia, 

 corn and provisions \vere, as tliey now are among 

 us, a mere drug, utterly unconvertible into cash, 

 even at a very low price; and that, as the intro- 

 duction of cotton there, raised the demand and the 

 price, and made a ready market for grain, so that 

 of raising hemp may in New-England and the 

 western States. 



Could the introduction of Ijcmp become the 

 means of diverting, in some n;easure, the market 

 of rye and corn from the distilleries, (hose engines 

 of corruption, disease and misery, it certainly 

 would be a valuable improvement to (he condi(ion 

 of our country. 



We now purchase great quantities of Russian 

 hemp at enormous prices, f()r (he calls of our com- 

 merce and naval estaldishnicnts, because we have 

 not it is said, sufficient that is fit for use. 



Our surplus rye and corn now sjo to the retailing 

 merchant, a great proportion of if, and from the 

 merchant to the distiller. But if heiup were in- 

 troduced as one of the staples of our agricultural 

 system, the growers of it would be in a condition 

 to |)ur(.hase much of the grain which is now sold 

 for fiireign merchandize, and to pay cash for it, 

 which would better promote the interest of those 

 who cultivate it. 



xls the culture of this jjlant has not been much 

 attended to in the northern Stales, the follov»'ing 

 remarks, by a writer who appears to have been a 

 practical farmer, are worthy of consideration : — 

 "This plant nourishes most in a mellow, dry soil,* 

 and the richer the better. It affords little or no 

 profit on lands of ordinary fertility. In soils na- 

 turally adapted to its culture, or in those suffi- 

 ciently manured, it is one of the surest and most 

 profitable crops, as the plant is subject to»no dis- 

 e.ise, nor is it liable to be annoyed by any insect. 

 Droughts do not sensibly affect its growth, and it 

 is in no danger of being destroyed by cattle. 



From two to tliree bushels of seed are requisite 

 to the acre, proportioned to the fertility of (he soil, 

 as in other crops. 



The seed must be of the year next preceding, as 

 it quickly loses its germinative powers. 



A (on of hemp when dressed, may be raised 

 from two acres of land, of the highest fertility. 



It is believed that in this crop, as in almost eve- 

 ry other, material benefit is to be derived from 

 soaking the seed, in a solution, not too strong, of 

 common salt, or salt petre, or in a moderate ley of 

 wood aslies, and then rolling the seed in gypsum, 

 before sov.'ing. The application of gypsum, as 

 manure, after the seed is sown, is also beneficial, 

 if the soil is suitable. 



The ground should be harrowed before the seed 

 is sown, as by that means the seed may be sown of 

 a more even depth, that it may all start together; 

 otherwise a part of the plants will outgrow and 

 keep down the rest. 



Ii should be sown as early in the spring as the 



*The editors of the Agncuiturallilncyclopedia, how- 

 ever, say that the soils most suited to the cuUure of this 

 plant, are those of the deep, black-putrid, vegetable 

 kind, that are low, and rather inclined to moisture, as 

 well as those of the deep, mellow, loamy or sandy des- 

 criptions ; and that the quantity of produce is general- 

 ly much greater on tlie former tht\n on the latter, but it 

 said to be greatly inferior in quality. 



