243 



HEMP, 



MR. MARCANDIEES HINT FOR A SECOND WATERING. 



Mr. Marcandier (after remarking, that the fibres of Hemp 

 have as much occasion to be washed and purified from their gum, 

 to make good thread and fine cloth, as the finest wool to be cleaned 

 and purged of the sweat that cleaves to it, in order to be spun, and 

 undergo the necessary preparations to its being made into fine stuffs) 

 adds, " After having long considered the various means that might 

 be found to relieve those who work upon Hemp, and observed in 

 the Hemp itself those admirable qualities, of which, hitherto, no 

 improvement has been made ; we found that the common watering 

 of Hemp was nothing but the dissolution of a tenacious gum, natu- 

 ral to the plant, the parts whereof are joined together merely by 

 means of it ; and that, in order to this first preparation, it was 

 sufficient to leave the Hemp in the water, in proportion to the 

 quantity and tenacity of this gum. That, after having prepared it 

 only for being peeled or braked, it seemed very proper to give it a 

 second watering, to soften the bark, that still remains hard, elastic, 

 and incapable of being brought to a proper degree of fineness. Ac- 

 cordingly, by the different experiments we made, in the presence 

 and under the direction of Monsieur Dodart, Intendant of Berry, 



i i 2 we 



