AND RURAL ECONOMIST. 95 



to redeem it. I shall endeavor to describe the general prac- 

 tice of the cultivators, without noticing all the deviations of 

 particular individuals. 



The district of country in which the plant is most exten- 

 sively cultivated, is the Elkhorn region around and near Lex- 

 ington, which derives its name from a stream discharging it- 

 self into the Kentucky river, whose branches are supposed 

 to resemble the horns of the elk. It is also produced in con- 

 siderable quantities in the counties of Jefferson, Shelby, 

 Mercer, Madison, Ciurke, Bourbon, and Mason. The soil of 

 that region is a rich, deep, vegetable loam, free from sand 

 and with but little grit. It lies on a bed of clay, interspersed 

 with small fragments of iron ore, and this clay in its turn re- 

 poses on a mass of limestone lying many feet in depth in 

 horizontal strata. The surface of the country is generally 

 undulating. The rich land (and there is but little that is 

 not rich) in this whole region is well adapted to the growth 

 of hemp, where it has not been too much exhausted by inju- 

 rious tillage. The lands which produce it best are those 

 which are fresh, or which have Iain some time in grass of 

 clover. Manuring is not yet much practised. Clover is 

 used in lieu of it. Lands which remain in clover four or 

 five years without being too constantly and closely grazed, 

 recover their virgin fertility. The character of the soil in 

 the other counties above mentioned does not vary materially 

 from that in the Elkhorn district. 



The preparation of the ground for sowing the seed is by 

 the plough and horses, until the clods are sufficiently pul- 

 verized or dissolved, and the surface of the field is rendered 

 even and smooth. It should be as carefully prepared as if it 

 were for flax. This most important point, too often neglected, 

 cannot bo attended to too much. Scarcely any other crop 

 better rewards diligence and careful husbandry. Fall or 

 winter ploughing is practised with advantage ; it is indis- 

 pensable in old meadows, or old pasture grounds, intended 

 for producing hemp. 



Plants for seed are ordinarily reared in a place distinct 

 from that in which they are cultivated for the lint. In this 

 respect, the usage is different from that which is understood 

 to prevail in Europe. The seeds which are intended to re- 

 produce seeds for the crop of the next year, are sowed in 

 drills about four feet apart. When they are grown suffi- 

 ciently to distinguish between the male and female stalks, 

 the former are pulled and thrown away, and the latter are 



