f 



ON HEMP. 



235 



The price of braking varies with the length, and the ease or 

 difficulty with which the cambuck separates from it. From twelve 

 to eighteen or twenty pence is paid : twelve and fourteen pence are 

 the most common prices. The refuse is only fit for burning, and is 

 sold at from one penny to two pence per sack. 



I have been informed, there are mills erected for braking flax ; 

 and as the mode of braking is similar, I imagine they might be 

 applied to Hemp. In some parts of the country, where much 

 Hemp is grown, this might prove a considerable saving. But as 

 Hemp is very bulky before it is broken, and small quantities only 

 are grown in each village in general, I fear it would not answer the 

 expense to erect many of them. 



When the Hemp is broken, it is fit for market, and is purchased 

 by the hecklers. Diss, Harleston, and Halesworth, are considerable 

 markets for Hemp ; but the greatest quantity is sold to the neigh- 

 bouring hecklers, without being carried to market. 



A Stowmarket Manufacturer, Suffolk Report. 



The stalks are broken, and the bark wholly freed from them by 

 an instrument called a braker. The art of braking it would be learned 

 by a labourer of common capacity in a few hours ; and the swing- 

 ling of it which follows, requiring some sleight as well as labour, 

 though more difficult, might be easily acquired. After brak- 

 ing and swingling, it is tied up in stones, and it is sent to the 

 heckler. — In the state Hemp comes from the brake it will fetch 

 from six shilling and sixpence to seven shillings and sixpence per 



h h 2 stone. 



