180 



ON HEMP. 



ciously accurate Memoirs of the Society, which the States of 

 Britanny have established for the improvement of Agriculture, 

 Commerce, and Arts, are more particular in this respect, and 

 consequently more satisfactory. After observing, * that it is 

 still undetermined, whether Hemp ought to be steeped in running 

 or in standing water, that each cultivator of this plant gives the 

 preference to the method he has been used to follow, and' that 

 naturalists have not yet written any thing decisive in the choice of 

 the waters fittest for this preparation (the most important of any 

 that Hemp undergoes, because it is on this that the ease and good- 

 ness of the heckling, spinning, and fabrication, in a great measure, 

 depend) ; — the Memoirs, 1 say, of these zealous patriots, inform 

 us, that one of the Members of their Office, at Rennes, thought 

 that this diversity of opinions and customs might proceed, from 

 running water being in fact always preferable in some cases, and 

 from standing water being always the best in others. For example, 

 in cold and rainy years, the plants must be weaker, longer green, 

 and fuller of juice than in dry years, in which last, the Hemp will 

 be stronger, but at the same time harder and more woody : why 

 then, say they very judiciously, should it be expected that the 

 same water applied to so different productions should have a similar 

 effect upon each ? 



To remove all doubts in this respect, the Society ordered some 



Hemp 



* Corps cT Observations de la Society d'Agriculture ? de Commerce, et des 

 Arts, 6tablie paries Etats de Bretagne. 



