HEIVfP. 83 



the common method of retting, and with much 

 less waste, producing in the proportion of four 

 ounces from one pound of plants, while in the or- 

 dinary way only three ounces were obtained. On 

 the other hand, the utensils required, and the soap 

 and fuel consumed, might be adduced as counter- 

 vailing objections, which, however, were believed not 

 only by the inventor, but by those who investigated 

 the method, to be more than compensated by the great 

 advantages attendant on this process *. 



After watering or macerating the hemp, it is some- 

 times dried in the same manner as flax, but this 

 operation is more usually hastened by means of an 

 oven or kiln. In this case the heat must be very 

 carefully applied, as too great a degree will injure 

 the fibres by drying up the oil which they contain, 

 leaving them harsh and brittle. Combustion is so 

 easily excited in dry hemp, that when a kiln is em- 

 ployed, great care is taken that no fuel is used which 

 can blaze or sparkle ; coke is therefore considered 

 most proper for the purpose. 



The drying place is sometimes a kind of cavern, 

 so situated as to be sheltered from the north and 

 north-east winds, and open to the south, that 

 it may receive the full benefit of the sun. 

 About four feet above the floor, bars of wood are 

 fixed across this cavern, on which the hemp is laid 

 six inches thick. Under the hemp so placed, a 

 small fire is kindled, which is usually fed by the 

 fragments of the reeds of plants, which have been 

 already peeled ; this is tended by a careful person, 

 who must always be on the alert to replenish the 

 fire, for the fuel used quickly consumes, and a con- 

 stant and regular heat should be kept up in the 

 cavern or oven, while very great caution is required 

 * Nichol. Jour, llth vol. 



