HEMP. 85 



at the end and the other in the middle of the stalks, 

 serving thus the double purpose of keeping them 

 straight and of retaining them in the water. 



Immediately that the hemp is found to be suf- 

 ficiently macerated, it is transferred to the trough 

 without any previous drying; there it is gently rub- 

 bed, to promote still farther the separation of the 

 bark from the reed. The bark is then disengaged 

 from the stem at the root end ; keeping the hand and 

 the reed under water, and laying hold of the stem, it 

 is readily drawn out from the bark, like a sworcl from 

 its scabbard. In this way a skilful operator may 

 draw out six or more reeds at once. Should any of 

 the reeds be broken, then the board is taken off at 

 the upper end, and the remaining pieces are drawn 

 out at that side. 



When the fibres are thus freed from the reeds they 

 are readily disengaged from the remaining parts now 

 macerated into a jelly, which is removed by washing 

 and.rubbing, care being taken not to twist or displace 

 the threads. 



After the fibres have been disengaged by either of 

 the foregoing methods, the operation of scutching 

 commences ; this has been already described. The 

 usual allowance for waste in Russian hemp, under 

 this process, is estimated at four pounds per hundred 

 weight. A good workman can scutch from sixty to 

 eighty pounds of hemp per diem. Those fibrous 

 parts which are beaten out are carefully collected and 

 scutched separately, and the smaller pieces which 

 are shaken out form the coarse tow used for caulking 

 ships, making flambeaux, mops, and various other 

 articles. 



Before the hemp is heckled it is usually made to 

 undergo a previous operation called beetling. This 

 is performed by beating it with heavy wooden mallets 

 in order still more completely to separate the fibres, 



i 



