DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE. 



109 



the filaments together. Formerly pool, or water, retting was practiced in a very 

 small way in Kentucky and to a slight extent later in Illinois. The hemp is allowed 

 to remain in stack until Novemher or December, or about two months, when it is 

 spread over the ground until retted. No rule can be given regarding the proper 

 length of time that the hemp should lie, as this varies according to the weather, 

 sudden freezing, followed by thaws, hastening the operation. It is usually allowed 

 to lie until the bast separates readily from the woody portion of the stalk. When 

 there is a large crop there may be an advantage in spreading the hemp earlier than 

 November, in order that the breaking may be done in the winter months. Winter- 

 retted hemp is brighter, however, than that retted in October. It is usually stacked 

 and spread upon the same ground upon which it is grown, and when sufficiently 

 retted, as can be determined by breaking out a little, it is again put into shocks. If 

 the hemp be dry, the shocks should be tied around the top tightly with a band of 

 hemp to keep out the rain. The shocks are made firm by tying with a band the first 

 aimful or two, raising it up and beating it well against the ground. The remainder 

 of the hemp is set up around this central support. By flaring at the bottom, and 

 tying well, a firm shock 

 can be made that will 

 stand firmly without dan- 

 ger of being blown over 

 by the wind. 



As the best hemp which 

 comes to our market is 

 that grown in Italy, a 

 few words on the Italian 

 practice will not be out 

 of place. Several varie- 

 ties are cultivated in 

 Italy, the soil chosen 

 being a soft, deep, sedi- 

 mentary formation, and 

 this is twice plowed in 

 November, fifteen days 

 intervening between the 

 two plo wings. The quan- 

 tity of seed sown varies according to the soil, climate, and variety of hemp, but in 

 Lombardy the average quantity is 200 liters per hectare, or about 2-J bushels per acre. 

 The crop is well fertilized, but not excessively, and regard is had to economy of cost. 

 In addition to other fertilizers, in Bologna, Professor Marconi names the following: 

 First, manure and olive husks (after the last pressing) ; second, manure and excre- 

 ment from hens (little used but very efficacious) ; third; manure and chrysalides of 

 worms, i. e., silk worms; fourth, manure and olive husks with one or more of the 

 others. The guide for harvesting the crop is the state of maturity of the tops, which 

 become yellow, and the white appearance at the foot of the stalks. First, the male 

 plants are harvested and twenty or twenty-four days later the female plants. These 

 two operations are never retarded nor precipitated. After cutting, the stalks are 

 removed to a shady place and the tops inclined over a sort of trestle to dry. Ten or 

 twelve handfuls of stalks form a bundle of equal length stems for the operation of 

 macerating. 



In favorable soils Italian hemp averages a yield of 1,700 to 2,200 pounds of dry 

 stalks per acre, which produce from 450 to 530 pounds of fiber. "In general, 100 

 kilos of raw hemp furnish 25 kilos of raw filasse, and 100 kilos of ordinary filasse 

 (fiber) give 65 kilos combed filasse and 32 kilos of tow; 100 kilos of seed furnish 27 

 kilos of oil." (Savorgnan.) A kilo is 2.2 pounds. 



The stalks are retted in water and either dried in the open air, in furnaces, or in 

 trenches, the last practice being rarely followed. Drying in the open air has advantages 





Fig. 



. — Kentucky hemp brake. 



