35(5 farmers' and mechanics' journal. 



tion. Great care should be taken that no dampness comes upon 

 it, for this would make Ihe fibre rot. and when this takes place, it 

 will be likely to communicate to the whole heap. 



Mode of Dressing. — The ingenuity of man has devised a areat 

 variety of machines for dressinsi; or breakino: hemp and flax. The 

 most simple kind, however, and one that may be made by any 

 fanner, is a modification of the common brake, by Mr. Bond. This 

 brake is made heavier than common, which may be done by using 

 heavier materials, or by loading a common kind by weights. A 

 piece projects behind, and a wheel is attached with cogs, or kan)s, 

 to raise or move it, in the same way that a tri-^-hammer is moved. 

 The moving power may be either horses or water. 



If the hemp be very long, — say eight or ten feet, some recom- 

 mend to cut it in two. Care should be taken to keep the long 

 and short hemp separate, and the butt and seed ends ought not to 

 be put together. It should he dressed perfectly clean. About 

 twelve handfuls make a head, which should be tied by a small band 

 near the head, or largest end, and then packed into bales of surh 

 sizes as suits the convenience of ihe farmer or nurchaser. Great 

 tare should also be taken to keep it perfectly dry. 



GENERAL REMARKS. 



Some people have objected to the raising of hemp because it 

 IS an exhausting crop. It is not, probably, more exhausting than 

 wheat. The following letter aflfords good evidence that it need 

 not be feared on that account. 

 " To the Editor of the Bellows Falls Intelligencer : 



it Sir, — In answer to the questions you have been pleased to ask 

 in relation to the culture of hemp, &c.. I can briefly remark, that 

 during the years 1813, 14 and i5, I sowed upon m\ farm about 

 one acre of hemp : it was sowed upon what it is termed meadow 

 land, upon the Conhectiout river, and was continued upon the 

 same piece of land three years successively. There apoeared to 

 be no very essential ditrerence in the several crops, either as to 

 quantity or quality. It may be proper to remark, that d.iring this 

 time no manure was put upon the land. The great labor then re- 

 quired to water-rot it in the stem, rendered the growing of hem[) 

 both expensive and burthensome and finally induced me to relin- 

 quish it altogether PVom my own experience on the subject, 1 

 am fully satisfied, that a hemp crop v.9 not lohat would he called an 

 exhnusiing crop, but may be snccessfinv and profitab'v cultivated 

 upon good land, with the same attention that we usually bestow 

 Upon our grain and other crops. 



