HEMP. 



417 



is but of short duration, for as soon as tlio hemp 

 lias put forth a few leaves, it is no longer in 

 danger from the attacks of its former assail- 

 ants. 



After this period, the hemp ground requires 

 very little care or labour till it is fit for pulling. 

 This plant is never overrun with weeds, but on 

 the contrary, has the remarkal)le property of 

 destroying their vegetation. The cause of its 

 producing this effect is attributed by some cul- 

 tivators to a peculiar poisonous quality residing 

 in its roots; by others it is considered to be so 

 great an impovcrisher of the soil as to draw off 

 all the nourishment, which would otherwise 

 contribute to the growth of weeds. 



Agriculturists sometimes take advantage of 



this well known fact, and by sowing a crop or 



two of hemp on the rankest soils, they subdue 



all noxious weeds, and entirely cleanse the ground 



from these troublesome intruders. One of the 



greatest difficulties attending the clearing a tract 



of ground in the vicinity of Naples, the swamp 



near the Lago di Patria, was to rid it of an ex- 



i uberant growth of canne, or reeds, that rose con- 



! sidcrably above the head of a man on horseback. 



\ The sowing of hemp was found to be by far the 



most efficacious means. After hemp, Indian 



corn was very successfully sown in some of the 



fields. 



It is said that this plant has likewise the pe- 

 culiar property of destroying caterpillars and 

 other insects which prey upon vegetables; it is 

 therefore very usual, in those countries where 

 hemp is much cultivated, for the peasantry to 

 secure their vegetable gardens from insects, by 

 encircling the beds with aborderof hemp, which 

 in this manner proves a most efficient barrier 

 against all such depredators. 



The male hemp is known to be ripe by the 

 flowers feding, the farina falling, and the stems 

 turning partially yellow. It is the frequent 

 practice to pull these before they are quite ripe, 

 for after having an-ived at their full maturity, 

 the fibres adhoi-e so tenaciously to the reed as 

 not to be readily separated without injury. The 

 Suffolk cultivators gather both male and female 

 plants at the same time, reserving a small part 

 for seed. In Lincolnshire and on the Continent 

 they gather the male plant a month earlier than 

 the female, and therefore small paths are made 

 at intervals through the field, in order that the 

 persons emjjloyed may pluck the plants which 

 are ripe without trampling down those which 

 are to remain. 



Tlio ripeness of the female hemp is known by 

 the same indications as that of the male, and 

 also by the calyx partially opening and its seed 

 beginning to change colour. They arc both less 

 injured by pulling too soon than too late, but 

 when very young, though the fibres are more 

 flexile and fine, the ropes which are made with 



them are found not to be so lasting as when the 

 plants are gathered in a more matured state. 



Hemp is never suffered to remain ungathered, 

 till the seed is perfectly ripe, as at this period 

 the bai-k becomes woody, and so coarse that no 

 subsequent process can reduce its fibres to a 

 proper degree of fineness. Some plants should 

 therefore be preserved for seed. These require 

 no particular cultivation, but the male hemp is 

 likewise left rather longer than usual that it may 

 attain to maturity and shed its farina upon the 

 seed-bearing plant. The most careful cultiva- 

 tors, however, generally plant out a piece of 

 ground for the purpose of raising seed, as it 

 proves much more prolific when the plants are 

 set at a greater distance from each other. 



This has been fully ascertained by the experi- 

 ments of M. Aimen, who found that forty plants 

 raised in the common way yielded only a pound 

 and a half of seed, whereas from a single plant 

 which grew by itself seven pounds and a half 

 were obtained. 



When the hemp is pulled it is taken up by 

 the roots, and before the plants are taken from 

 the field, the leaves and flowers, and sometimes 

 the roots, are taken off with a wooden sword; 

 these are left on the ground, as they greatly con- 

 tribute to enrich it for the succeeding crop. The 

 stalks are then arranged as nearly as possible in 

 equal lengths, the root ends being laid all on the 

 same side of each handful or bundle, which ie 

 then tied round with one of the stalks. 



When the hemp is gathered from which seed 

 is to be preserved, it is exposed eight or ten days 

 to the air, after which the heads are cut off, and 

 the seed is thrashed and separated in the same 

 manner as lintsecd. 



The processes to which the hemp is subjected 

 before it is rendered marketable, and in a state 

 fit for spinning, are very similar to those practised 

 with flax. The same end is required to be at- 

 tained, that of separating and cleansing the fibres 

 from the woody and gummy matters which ad- 

 here to it, and the means used are therefore the 

 same, — the time and degree of each operation 

 being proportionate to the different nature of 

 the two fibres. 



The plant is generally dried previously to 

 being watered, but this is objected to by some 

 of the most intelligent cultivatore. Mills, in 

 his work on husbandry, gives some very excel- 

 lent reasons for dissenting from the general prac- 

 tice; he observes, "Those that are for drying it 

 first, say that the hemp thereby becomes stronger 

 than when it is steeped, without having been 

 previously dried. For my part, I confess that 

 this drying seems to be a needless trouble; for as 

 it is necessary in the steeping of hemp that a 

 certain degree of putrefaction should arise suffi- 

 cient to destroy the texture of that glutinous 

 substance which connects the fibres to the woodv 

 8G 



