336 CULTURE AND PREPARATLON OF HEMP IN EUROPE. 
the concurrence of soil, of seasons, and of climate, the mode of sowing and 
of culture, and the degree of ripeness. es 
Drying after Watering.—When the Hemp is sufficiently retted, it is taken 
carefully out of the water, and then carried to a field of aftermath or any 
other grass (hence called grassing) that is clean and free from cattle. Here 
it is spread out very evenly, and will probably require to lie there for 
three weeks or more, in order to bleach, and the fibre to become free; during 
which time it must be carefully turned over, with light long poles, every 
three or four days. Mr. Rowlandson says it is sufficiently bleached when 
pink spots appear on the stem. It is sometimes dried along a wall, or on 
rocky ground, and sometimes artificially, in ovens and kilns, When dry, 
the Hemp is tied up in bundles again, and carried to the barn or rick. 
Peeling and Breaking—When the Hemp is sufficiently dried, the next 
process is either to peed it, by taking one stalk after the other, breaking the 
reed, and slipping off the bark. The process is simple but tedious, and will 
give occupation to those who are without any. But it comes off in ribbons, 
which do not heckle so well as Hemp that has been broken, and they are apt 
to retain some of the thick parts next the root, hence the saying, that this 
mode is better for the seller than the buyer. ’ 
The term of breaking or braking Hemp, applies rather to the boon or 
reed than to the fibre, for this only bends under the hand of the dresser, and 
does not break. The operation is performed either by beating the Hemp, 
which is a laborious and tedious work, or by the break, which may be moved 
either by hand or by a spring or treddle attached to the upper jaw of the 
break, or by fluted rollers, worked by horse-, wind-, or water-, and now 
sometimes by steam-power. When Hemp has undergone the process of 
breaking, it is ready, like Flax, for the process of scutching, in which 
scutching mills are now used, as in the case of Flax. By rubbing, beetling, 
and striking the Hemp with reiterated blows, the longitudinal fibres are 
separated from one another, and in proportion to the greater or less degree 
of that separation the Hemp becomes more or less fine, elastic, and soft to 
the touch. (Du Hamel.) 
Dew-retting (p. 199), Mr. Rowlandson says (1. c., p. 180) will produce 
the most valuable white Hemp. The stems, after being pulled, are al- 
lowed to stand in the stooks for two or three days; they are then spread 
out on land where the grass is plentiful, and may require to be there for 
six weeks, and to be frequently turned. The process will be completed 
when the pink spots appear, as before noticed, which must be carefully looked 
for, when it will be ready to gather and tie up in bundles, to form stooks, in 
order to dry ; the fibre will not sustain any damage before the pink spots 
appear. Snow-retting is practised in Russia and Sweden. After the first 
fall, they spread the Hemp (which has been dried in the sun or otherwise) 
on the snow, and leave it there to be covered with other falls of snow, until 
spring, when it is usually found to be sufficiently retted. (Wisset, p. 194.) 
In Livonia they steep their Hemp in a manner which is a medium between 
still and running water, in a series of basins, one above the other, but as 
has already been observed, the French, for whom this information was origi- 
nally obtained, do not avail themselves of it. (v. 1. ¢., p. 204.) 
In addition to the ordinary methods of preparation of 
Hemp, we may briefly refer to others, most of which, however, 
have in improved forms been already noticed under the head 
of Flax. 
The Abbé Brulles recommended the use of soap in the pro- 
