Hemp Cultivation in Europe. 



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is practised, hemp alternating" with grain crops, although 

 it is also allowed to grow continually upon the same land ; 

 deep ploug^hing and the annual use of an abundance 

 of fertilisers keeping the ground sufficiently enriched for 

 the demands which are made upon it. If the soil is not 

 sufficiently rich in phosphates or potassium salts, these are 

 supplied by the use of lime, marl, ground bone, animal 

 charcoal, or ashes mixed with prepared animal compost. 

 Even hemp-cake, the leaves of the plant, and the " shive " or 

 " boon are returned to the land with benefit. 



In Italy, the cultivation of hemp is one of the most impor- 

 tant agricultural pursuits of the provinces of Bologna and 

 Ferrara, where the industry has greatly developed owing to 

 the favourable conditions of the climate and soil. Bologna 

 hemp is generally manufactured into yarns for canvas and 

 twines ; the Ferrara hemp is principally worked up by rope 

 spinners. The former has a softer and brighter, but less 

 strong, fibre than the latter, but both kinds are held in high 

 esteem in textile centres. It appears that the diversity of 

 quality in hemp for yarns and canvas and that for rope does 

 not arise from the difference in the plants, but from the 

 results of vegetation, culture, steeping, and general manipula- 

 tion. The same hemp bed will produce, in its central portion, a 

 good, long, resisting fibre, while from the sides of the same 

 bed a short, hard fibre, fit only for the rope spinner may be 

 obtained. 



The aim of the grower is to obtain slender and erect 

 stems, which are produced by thick sowings, so that the 

 plants may reciprocally shade each other and thus yield a soft, 

 silky, bright, and strong fibre. The seed sparingly sown pro- 

 duces thick stems, especially at the root end of the jilant, and 

 yields 15 per cent, less fibre than thickly-sown seed. Isolated 

 or wild plants do not thrive on poor and badly-tilled soil. 

 On the other hand the plants may reach a height of 20 feet 

 in a deep rich and well-prepared loam, but such stems are 

 rough, thick, and branchy, producing coarse and barky fibre 

 which is fit only for the manufacture of rope. 



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