CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 169 



their location, are slightly inclined to moisture. Such soils are 

 abundant in the country, particularly in the west. Mellow, 

 rich, clayey loams do well; and nothing answers better than 

 old meadow land. Hemp, too, possesses the anomaly of grow- 

 ing on the same spot for successive years without degeneracy. 



Preparation of the ground. For hemp, the land may be 

 prepared in precisely the same manner as for flax. It is all 

 important that the ground be thoroughly pulverized. But 

 hemp, unlike flax, may either precede or follow a grain crop 

 in the rotation; and the reason is, that while flax invariably 

 renders the land more foul, the tendency of hemp is to smother 

 and choke all other plants. Grass-seeds are not to be sown, 

 with hemp, as they would be destroyed under the shade of its 

 thick foliage. The land intended for hemp, should always be 

 ploughed in time to receive the influence of frosts; and when 

 it follows a grain crop, besides a deep ploughing before winter, 

 it should receive two or more ploughings in the spring, so as 

 to reduce the soil to a fine tilth, and free it of all root weeds and 

 extraneous substances. 



Seed and sowing. A certain crop cannot be calculated on, 

 whatever may be the culture unless the seed sown \sfresh 

 this may be known by their being heavy and of a bright 

 colour. The common method of sowing hemp is broadcast, 

 requiring generally from two to three bushels of seed to the 

 acre, according to the quality of the land. Hemp is well 

 suited to be sown in rows. This method possesses many ad- 

 vantages; it requires less seed, the plants are more regular, 

 allowing the intervals to be well tilled, and admitting air freely 

 to the plants. The distance between the rows may be thirty 

 inches, which will afford room for the operations of the culti- 

 vator. As hemp is more easily injured by the frosts of spring, 

 than flax, it is sown later. The most suitable period is per- 

 haps from the 20th of April, to the 10th of May. 



In the after culture of hemp, the hand-hoe and cultivator 

 may both be employed to advantage; the latter can be used 

 only when the row-system of cultivation has been adopted. 

 In the first hoeing the plants should be hoed out to the distance 

 from one another of a foot in the rows, and after the interval 

 of a month or six weeks, another horse and hand-hoeing should 

 be given, which will complete effectually the summer culture 

 of the hemp, if planted in rows. But the common practice in. 

 some hemp districts is to sow broadcast, hoeing the plants to 

 the distance from one another of twelve or sixteen inches, and 

 giving a second hoeing after an interval of four or six weeks. 

 Some cultivators give no other culture than to pull up the 

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