ON HEMP. 



The method of Drying in Russia, as given by the French 

 Ambassador at that Court, is as curiously complicated as their mode 

 of steeping. They tie up the plants in bundles, about the size of a 

 man's thigh at the knee. These bundles are placed upright, supported 

 by a stake in the centre, and then are left one day to drain. The next 

 day they are spread abroad to dry ; after which they are made up in 

 heaps, and covered over with straw or hawlin of any kind to make 

 them sweat ; and when they have sweated enough, they are laid again 

 m small heaps, so that the air may dry them in the shade by blowing 

 through them ; after which they are most effectually dried by fire 



» 



kiln, or oven, and immediately put under the brakers whilst yet 

 hot : and be it observed, that the Livonians say, it is in this opera- 

 tion of sweating that their good or bad quality of the Hemp depends. 



This then, it should seem, is the great arcanum we are seeking 

 for ; at all events, this is a point for us to ascertain and verify by ex- 

 periment. It makes, says Mr. Frushard, a strong impression on my 

 mind as something like the truth. We all know how essential this 

 sweating is to the well curing of every thing green that we preserve, 

 whether itis herb, fruit, or grain. They do not appear to know the full 

 force or management of this in India, though they are not entirely 

 ignorant of it. The reason why their tobacco falls so much to dust 

 is owing to its not being sweated enough. When properly sweated, 

 as they manage kin America, it becomes tough like a bladder; and 



toughness 



in the act of spinning. This led to the forming of spinning-walks under the shade 

 of trees ; and of late years under covered walks^ where the parties hare been 

 enabled to encounter the expence. 



