CULTURE OF HEMP-SEED. 
17 
quantity of hemp-seed may be produced from an 
equal quantity of ground, all other circumstances 
being equal,'by suffering only one stalk to grow 
in a hill, than any number above one. Assuming 
that only one stalk should be left in a hill, I would 
recommend the following mode of cultivation. 
The ground, intended for hemp-seed, should be 
highly manured. This should be applied late in 
the fall, and plowed under by a good plow, turn¬ 
ing up the soil to the depth of at least six inches, 
and it should be suffered to lie rough till spring, 
allowing no stock to run on it. The winter freez¬ 
ing will completely pulverise the soil, a point of 
much importance in the cultivation of hemp-seed. 
The ground should again be plowed in the spring, 
about the latter part of March, or early in April 
(in our latitude). But care should be taken not 
to do this, until the soil is sufficiently dry to pul¬ 
verise completely. A light harrow should then 
be run over it to level the ground slightly, and it 
should be chequered off immediately, three feet 
each way, with a light one-horse plow, and plant¬ 
ed by dropping fifteen or twenty seeds at the 
crossing of each furrow, somewhat scattering 
them, and covering with a hoe one or two inches 
in depth. It is proper to remark here, that hemp- 
seed ground should be kept as light as possible; 
and hence it should be trod as little by horses in 
plowing, harrowing, etc., as may be, and never 
when the soil is so saturated with water, as to 
cause the particles to adhere, in the form of 
mortar. 
Early sowed hemp-seed generally succeeds 
best; and as hemp is a hardy plant, standing se¬ 
vere white frosts without injury, it may be plant¬ 
ed as early in the spring as the season will admit 
of, the ground being prepared as above directed. 
In our climate hemp will appear above ground 
Hi about a week after planting, and when eight 
or ten days old, a light harrow should be run 
over the hemp, drawn by a single horse, walking 
in the space between the rows, so as not to tread 
on the young shoots. The harrow, by running 
over the hemp may destroy a few of the plants, 
but there will remain, uninjured, more than will 
be necessary to leave, and those left will be great¬ 
ly benefited by the harrow loosening the soil 
among the plants. My practice is then to harrow 
immediately, in the same way, in the opposite di¬ 
rection. This, however, should only be done, 
when the first harrowing shall have left more 
than enough plants, and when there is just rea¬ 
son to believe the second harrowing will leave at 
least four or five plants in each hill. If the hemp- 
seed shall have come up well, it will readily ad¬ 
mit of this second harrowing, without danger of 
too much reducing the number of plants in a hill. 
The two harrowings, if performed when the soil 
is not too wet, will leave the ground in fine con¬ 
dition, and perfectly free from weeds. Before this 
operation is performed, if any of the hills are 
found without hemp, in consequence of the cut¬ 
worm, or other insects destroying it, they should 
be replanted. The plants left after the harrow¬ 
ing, will grow off with surprising rapidity, and 
will get far ahead of the weeds, which will 
thereafter make their appearance. The hemp 
should now be thinned out by hand, so as to 
leave not more than five stalks in a hill, and 
these not crowded together. When the hemp 
shall have attained the height of ten or twelve 
inches, it should be worked over with a light one- 
horse plow, or cultivator, narrow enough to pass 
between the rows, without endangeringthe hemp. 
If the ground is not very clear of weeds, and very 
light, it will require to be worked over again 
when the hemp is between two and three feet 
high ; and if the hills shall have become any¬ 
way foul with grass or weeds, they should be 
worked over with the hoe. It is generally best 
to perform this operation immediately after the 
first plowing. But if the hill is then clear of 
weeds, etc., it may be postponed till the second 
plowing. After the second plowing as above, 
the hemp should be again thinned, so as to leave 
not more than three stalks in a hill. In general 
nothing more will be necessary till the hemp gets 
into blossom: but if the ground is very foul, 
more work maybe necessary. Great care should 
be taken to keep seed-hemp perfectly clear of 
weeds, until it shall have attained such a growth 
as to shade the ground completely. Weeds that 
shall thereafter grow will be so puny as to do no 
harm. If some scattering ones shall have been 
left when worked over by the hoe, and are likely 
to attain such a size as to injure the hemp, they 
should be carefully cut out. I use the common 
hemp-hook for this purpose. In working hemp- 
seed with the hoe, only a little earth should be 
put about hemp plants. 
It is necessary that the female hemp should be 
impregnated by the pollen of the male stalks, to 
enable it to produce good seed. But if there are 
hemp-fields in the vicinity of the seed-hemp, 
pollen, in abundance, will be furnished by them. 
If there are none, then I would recommend, that 
one week after the hemp planted for seed begins 
to blossom, all the male stalks, which can be 
distinguished as such, should be cut down, in or¬ 
der to give more room and air for the residue. 
The male hemp, which thereafter blooms, should 
be suffered to remain until it shall have shed its 
pollen, when it also should be cut; and at the 
same time , the most unthrifty female plants, 
where more than one shall be found in a hill, 
should also be cut down. After this last and 
complete thinning shall have been effected, there 
will be left only one stalk in a hill; that is, one 
plant for each square yard, or 4,840 per acre, if 
none be missing. It sometimes happens, though 
rarely, that all three of the plants left, at the 
second thinning, will be of the male species. 
Supposing there shall be forty such hills per acre, 
there will be left 4,800 seed-bearing plants, if no 
untoward circumstance shall have destroyed part 
of the others. If the ground be very rich, the 
cultivation complete, the thinning out accom¬ 
plished in due time, and the season very favor¬ 
able, each stalk will yield, upon an average, one 
pint of seed, and consequently, under very favor¬ 
able circumstances, there may be a yield of 600 
gallons, or 75 bushels per acre. This great yield 
can only be expected where everything turns out 
to the very best advantage ; but, as many con- 
