30 



ON HEMP. 



In Italy Hemp is sown on their best lands, which are rich,, 

 strong loams, on which they are at all possible pains to procure a 

 fine friable surface. For manure they use dung, pieces of rotten 

 cloth, feathers and horns, brought from Dalmatia. The plant, 

 however, may be cultivated upon ground of every kind : the poor 

 land producing that which is finer in quality though in smaller 

 quantity ; whereas strong and rich land produces a great quantity, 

 but coarser. It does not exhaust the land on which it grows, like 

 flax ; whence it is probable, that, if properly managed, and care 

 be taken in the cultivation, it might be found to supersede flax en- 

 tirely. A Suffolk Manufacturer, who has treated of this subject 

 in the Annals of Agriculture, stales, that it may be raised for many 

 years successively on the same gound, provided it be well manured. 

 A variation in the quality of the soil makes an alteration, both in 

 the quantity and quality of the Hemp. 



Young's Annals of Agriculture. 



Hemp requires to be cultivated in a deep, rich, moist soil : 

 black moulds, and the feculent earths deposited by the overflowings 

 of rivers are particularly recommended. The soil should neither 

 be wet nor too dry, but in such a state as to retain a sufficient quan- 

 tity of moisture. It should be as open and as free as possible, that 

 the roots which are disposed fo take deep hold of the ground, may 



have freedom to push forth their fibres every way. 



Sinclair's Treatise on Hemp and Flax. 



In 



