Voi^ III 
Ko. 2. 
AUGUSTA, GA., FEBRUARY 1, 1845. 
HEMP CULTURE. 
The following essay on the culture of Hemp 
was originally published iu the Western Agri- 
culturist. It is a complete treatise on the best 
manner of raising and preparing an article, 
which always commands cash sufficient to re- 
ward liberally the cultivator who proceeds cor- 
rectly in obtaining this valuable product. The 
author of the essay is not less favorably known 
as a statesman than as a practical and scientific 
agriculturist, and the signature of Henry Clay 
will give it that weight and currency with Ame- 
rican farmers v/hich is due to its intrinsic ex- 
cellence. 
CULTURE AND PREPARATION* OP HEMP. 
BY THE HON. HENSY CLAY. 
S.'r: — Having promised you some account 
of the method of cultivating and preparing hemp 
in this state, I now proceed to redeem it. I shall 
endeavor to descnbe the general pracrice of ihe 
<:uiti valors, without noticing all the deviations 
of particular individuals. 
The district of country in which the plant is 
most extensively cultivated, is the ElKhcro re- 
.gion around and near Lexington, which derives 
its namj from a stream discharging itself into 
the Kentucky river, whose branches are supposed 
to resemble the horns of the elk. It is also pro- 
duced in considerable quantities in the counties 
of Jefferson, Shelby, Mercer, Aladison, Clarke, 
Bourbon, and Mason The soil of that region 
is a rich, deep, vegetable loam, free from sand 
and with but little grit. It lies on a bed of clay, 
interspersed with smalt fragments of iron ore’ 
and this clay in its turn reposes on a mass of 
Hmestone lying many feet in depth in horizon- 
tal strata. The surface of the country is gene- 
raHy_ undulatiEg. The rich land (and there is 
but little that is not rich) in this whole region is 
well adapted to the growth of hemp, where it 
has not been too much exhausted by injurious 
tillage. The lands which produce it best are 
those which are fresh, or which have lain some 
time in grass o" clover. Manuring is not yet 
much practised. Clover is used in lieu of it. 
Lands which remain in clover four or five jmars 
without beinj too constantly and closely grazed 
recover their virgin fertility. The character of 
the soil in the other counties above mentioned 
does not vary materially from that in the Elk- 
horn district. 
The preparation of the groaiid forsowingthe 
seed is by the plow and horses, until the clods 
are sufficiently pulverized or dissolved, and the 
surface oi the field is rendered even and smooth. 
It should be as carefully prepared as if it were 
for flax. This most important point, too often 
neglected, cannot be attended to too much. 
Scarcely any other crop betterrewardsdilio'ence 
and careful husbandry. Fall or winter plowing 
is practised with advantage j it is indispensable 
in old meadows, or old pasture grounds, inten- 
ded for producing hemp. 
Plants for seerl are ordinarily reared in a place 
distinct from that in which they are cultivated 
Lr the lint. In thi< re.spect. the usage is differ- 
p' - ' '=mod to prevail in 
1^1 ''pe. ne -seeds which are intended to re- 
pr ,dn.. .ee u r,,, 
in drills about four feet apart. When they are 
grown sufficiently to distinguish between the 
male and female stalks, the former are pulled 
and thrown away, and the latter are thinned, 
leaving the stalks separated seven or eight inch- 
es from each other. This operation is usuaMy 
performed in the blooming season, when the 
sexual character of the plants is easily discerni- 
ble; the male alone blossoming, and, when agi- 
j tated, throwing off fariaa, a yellow dust or flour, 
■ which fails and colors the ground, or any other 
I object that comes in contact with it. A few of 
1 the male plants had better be left, scattered 
j through the drill, until the farina is complete- 
I ly discharged, for an obvious reason. Between 
I the drills a plow is run sufficiently often to keep 
I the ground free from weed;.- and grass; and be- 
j tween the stalks in each drill the hoe is employ- 
ed for the same object. The seed plants are 
I generally cut after the first smart frost, between 
the 25th September and the middle of October, 
and carried to a barn or stack-yard, where the 
I seeds are easily detached by the common flail, 
j They should be gathered after a slight, but be- 
I fore a severe frost; and, as they fall out very 
j jasily, it is advisable to haul the plants on a 
sled, and, if convenient, when they are wet. If 
j transported on a cart or wagon, a sheet should 
be spread to catch the seed as they shatter out. 
After the seed.s are separated, the stalks which 
bore them being too large, coarse, and harsh, to 
produce lint, are usually thrown away; they 
may be profitably employed in making charcoal 
for the use of powder-mills. In Europe, where 
the male and female pianis are promiscuously 
grown together in the same field, both for seeds 
and fur lint, the male stalks are first gathered, 
and the female suffered to remain growing un- 
til the seeds are ripe, when they are also gather- 
ed; the seeds secured and lint obtained, alter 
the rotting, from both descriptions. 
After the seeds are threshed out, it is advisa- 
ble to spread them on the floor, to cure properlv 
and prevent their rotting, before they are finally 
put away for use the next spring. Seeds are 
not generally used unless they were secured the 
tail previous to their being sown, as it is be- 
lieved they will not vegetate if older; but it has 
been ascertained that when they are properly 
cured and kept dry, they will come up after the 
first year. It is important to prevent them from 
heating, which destroys the vegetating property, 
and tor that purpose they should be thinly spread 
on a sheltered floor. 
The seeds, whether to produce seeds only, or 
the lint, are sowed about the same time. Opin- 
ions vary as to the best period. It depends a 
good deal upon the season. The plant'is very 
tender when it first shoots up; and is affected by 
frost. Some have sowed as early as the first of 
April; but it is generally agreed, that all the 
month of May, and about the 10th of it especial- 
ly, is the most favorable time. An experienced 
and successful hemp grower, in the neighbor- 
hood cf Lexington, being asked the be.st time 
to sow hemp, answered, immediate, y before a 
rain. And undoubtedly it is very fortunate to 
have a moderate rain directly after sowing. 
M'hen the object is to make a crop of hemp. 
* Would it not be well to soak the seed in water a 
few hours previou-- to sowiojj ? Wg have found this 
f’’ ^ ■ v'-ii y a> _ - .-t pa.'p..,.e as rai.i atier . o..-- 
iiig. With all seeds with which we have tried it. The 
vegetation of mangel-wurizel is wonderfully accele- 
rated by il.— Ed. Am. Farmer. 
the seeds are sown broad-cast. The usual quan- 
tity is a bushel and a half to the acre ; but here 
again the farmers differ, some using two bu- 
sh.e]s or even two and a half. Much depends 
on the strength and fertility ol the soil, and the 
care with which it has been prepared, as 
well as the season. To these causes mai’’ be 
ascribed the diversity of opinion and practice. 
The ground can only sustain and nourish a cer- 
tain quantity of plants; and if that limit be pas- 
sed, the surplus will be smothered in the growth. 
When the seeds are sown, they are plowed or 
harrowed in; plowing is best in old ground, as 
it avoids the inj uric -is effect of beating rain, 
and the consequent baking of the earth. It 
would be also beneficial subsequently to roll the 
ground with a heavy roller. 
After the seeds are sown, the labors of the 
cultivator are suspended, until the plants are 
ripe, and in a state to be gathered; everything 
in the intermediate time being left to the 
operations of nature. If the season be favora- 
ble until the plants are sufficiently high to shade 
the ground, (which they will do in a few weeks, 
at six or eight inches’ height,) there is strong 
probabiliw uf a good crop. When they attain 
that height, but lew articles sustain the effect of 
bad seasons better than hemp. 
It is generally ripe and ready to be gathered 
about the middle of August, vailing according 
to the time of sowing. Some sow at different 
periods, in order that the crop may not ripen 
at the same time, and that a press of labor in 
rearing it may be thus avoided. The maturity 
of the plant is determined by the evaporation of 
the farina, already noticed, and the leaves of 
the plant exhibiting a yellowish hue ; it is then 
generally supposed to be ripe, but it is safest to 
wait a lew days longer. Ver_v little attentive 
observation will enable any one to judge when 
it is fully ripe. In that respect it is a very ac- 
commodatieg crop, for if gathered a little too 
soon, the lint is not materially injured, and it 
will wait the leisure of the farmer some ten 
days or a fortnight after it is entirely ripe. 
Two modes of gathering the plant are prac- 
tised, one by pulling them up by the roots, an 
easy operation with an able-bodied man, and 
the other by cutting them about two inches (the 
nearer the better) above the surface of the 
ground. Each mode has us partisans, and I 
have pursued both. From a quarter to a third 
of an acre is the common task of an average la- 
borer, whether the one or the other mode is 
practised. The objections to palling are, that 
the plants with their roots remaining connected 
with them, are not afterwards so easily handled 
in the several operations which they must un- 
dergo; that all parts of the plant do not rot 
equally and alike, when exposed to the dew and 
rain ; and, finally, that before you put them to 
the brake, when the root should be separated 
from the stalk, the root drags off with it some of 
the line. The objection to cutting is, that you 
lose two or three inches of the best part of the 
plant nearest the root. Pulling being the most 
ancient method, is most generally practised. I 
prefer, upon the v.-hole, cutting; and I believe 
the number who prefer it is yearly increasing. 
When pulled, it is done with the hand, which 
is better for the protection of an old leatherglove. 
The labo.ver catches iweiuy or thirtv plants to- 
gether, with both har.ti?, ana by asuduenjerk 
ffiaws them without mucli difficulty. The ope- 
ration ol cutting i.s performed with a knife, oft 
