2S2 APPENDIX. 



No. II. 



On the Cultivation of Hemp, as now practised at Crowland, in Lincolnshire, com- 

 municated to Lord Someroille by Mr. Wing, Land J gent to His Grace the Duke 

 of Bedford, 



Hemp should be sown about the last week in April. It requires a good 

 soil, and will not thrive, in clays or cold stiff lands. To produce Hemp, the land 

 should be plentifully manured, in the proportion of about twenty-two loads per 

 acre. The manure is spread and ploughed in a short time previous to the sowing. 

 In this country one ploughing is thought sufficient. Three bushels of seed are 

 generally allowed for an acre. The land should be cleared of weeds before sow- 

 ing. It seldom happens that any further weeding is requisite ; if weeds do ap- 

 pear, the Hemp itself soon chokes them. About the end of September Hemp 

 ripens ; it is then pulled up by the roots, and tied in sheaves, of the size of ordi- 

 nary corn sheaves. Wages for pulling are, upon an average, about a shilling 

 per score of sheaves. In a few days the sheaves are formed into shocks, each of 

 which consists of one hundred sheaves. A cloth is laid between every three 

 sheaves for the convenience of threshing, and to receive the seed which may 

 casually fall out. The shocks are covered with Hemp-lop, i. e. barren and wi- 

 thered stalks, to protect them from the weather, birds, &c. In this state they 

 stand about three weeks or a month (as it is termed to moutter); should the wea- 

 ther prove wet, a longer time will perhaps be necessary. 



The seed is then threshed out in the field, into the cloths, which were before 

 stated to be placed between every three sheaves. After threshing, the Hemp is 

 covered close with sods in stagnant water. Care must be taken to exclude all 

 fresh water after the immersion of the Hemp, otherwise the tendency to peel, 

 which is the intent of this process, would be delayed. After having been thus 

 steeped about three weeks, Hemp is usually fit to peel j it is then placed in the 



fields 



