ON HEMP, 



95 



exclusion of the free circulation of the air about its roots, occasioned 

 by the largeness of the leaves, killing or suffocating all sorts of weeds 

 or under-growths. Duma. 



Hemp is so great an enemy to weeds, that some farmers, of 

 no mean esteem for knowledge in their profession, sow Hemp upon 

 their rank-growing soils, on purpose to subdue them. When the 

 Hemp rises and branches out, it covers the ground so thick, that 

 every weed is choaked that cannot keep pace with it in its growth. 

 Docks, sow-thistles, thistles, and other rank-growers, should be 

 hoed out, or plucked up, while the Hemp is in its infancy. In 

 that state it may be trampled upon, and even rolled ; but when it 

 begins to branch, it should be left to itself. Indeed, in very dry 

 seasons, if watering is practicable, Hemp should be watered ; for 

 which reason the soils that suit it best are those contiguous to lakes 

 or slow running waters. It requires a continual supply of nourish- 

 ment, but at the same time that nourishment must be tempered 

 with a proportionable degree of heat. Miller advises hoeing, as 

 soon as the plants begin to appear, and also thinning like turnips. 

 Dr. Hill advises the horse-hoeing culture, and with some shew of 

 reason ; for, as in Hemp there is always a double harvest, and in 

 the first one part of the plants is to be pulled and the other left to 

 ripen, his opinion is, that _the intervals between the rows give room 

 for that operation to be performed with the least waste possible : and 

 it must be owned, that where the plants grow promiscuously, as 



they 



