HEMP. 



ty, and yield, by expression, from 25 

 to 30 per cent. oil. The leaves of the 

 plant are poisonous, and a steep made 

 witli them is of great use in the gar- 

 den to annoy insects. 



CuUimtio'n. — Hemp requires a rich, 

 deep soil, aboundmgin vegetable mat- 

 ter , a grass ley is admirable ; it is to 

 be well ploughed and made fine ; the 

 seed, to the amount of U to 2 bush- 

 els, is commonly sown broad-cast in 

 April and Maj', when the frosts have 

 disappeared. The seed is either har- 

 rowed or ploughed in shallow. The 

 hemp is ready for cutting from the 

 middle of August, as soon as the 

 leaves of the male plants tuni yellow 

 and drop off. It is cut with a harp 

 hook or short scythe. Half an acre 

 can be cut and an acre scythed in the 

 day by a good hand when it is not 

 overgrown. The cut stalks are even- 

 ly laid on the ground, and require a 

 week of good weather to dry : a show- 

 er is no disadvantage. Some persons 

 pull the hemp, but this is slower work, 

 and produces less perfect lint, while 

 the roots are a great inconvenience. 



The dried plants are next to be tied 

 into sheaves, and put up into a rick 

 to preserve them from the etTects of 

 moisture during hot weather. The 

 roof must be closely made of long 

 hemp, the leaves of which are beaten 

 off. Some beat all the leaves off, 

 Hh2 



hut this is unnecessar>' labour, for if 

 the plants are well dried, they will 

 be knocked off in handling. The best 

 time to spread the hemp for dew rot- 

 ting is December, but where the crop 

 is large, a commencement is made in 

 the middle of October. The hemp 

 stems may be kept without injury in 

 stacks for one or two years. Judge 

 Beatty urges that the proper rotting 

 ground is the hemp field, for the la- 

 bour of hauling is much diminished ; 

 the plants manure the land, and it is 

 kept free from the treading of cattle. 

 The tcmter-rotlcd is lighter and better 

 than that of autumn ; the hemp is 

 sufficiently rotted when the stems 

 lose their rigid appearance, the bun- 

 dles of fibres begin to be disengaged 

 from the cellular tissue, and the lint 

 begins to separate from the stalk. 

 When ready to he taken up, it should 

 be put in uprightshocksof 150 pounds; 

 as soon as it is dried the tops may be 

 bound with a hemp band sufficiently 

 tight to keep out rain. It is now to 

 be broken, frosty weather being best ; 

 this should be completed before the 

 warm weather of spring : 100 pounds 

 per day is fair work with the com- 

 mon brake. Good lands yield from 

 750 to 1000 pounds of Max. the acre ; 

 and if it be rotted on them, and no 

 seed taken, seven or ten crops may 

 be taken after one another. For the 

 production of seed, the hemp is sown 

 in drills or hills ; if the latter, they 

 are placed four feet apart ; a dozen 

 seeds are dropped in each hill, and 

 covered an inch. The soil must be 

 very rich, and well prepared ; the 

 ground is to be kept free of weeds at 

 first by the plough, and subsequently 

 by hoeing ; the plants are next to be 

 thinned to four or five when six inch- 

 es high, and again to three in a hill. 

 As soon as the plants are in full blos- 

 som and the farina spread, the males 

 or flowering plants are to be cut from 

 each hill. The seed will be ripe in 

 September, when the plants are to be 

 cut early in the morning, and with- 

 out much jarring, or the seed will he 

 scattered. The plants are taken from 

 the ground when dry and set up in 

 shocks, the butts towards the earth. 



365 



