[ 128 3 
ON THE CULTURE OF HEMP. 
In a letter from JAMES GEDDES^ Esquire^ of Onondaga 
COUNTY, to E. .U HOMMEDIEU^ Vice Pres, of the Society o 
Onondaga, March 6thf 1803. 
Sir, 
•.^^.CCORDING to your request, I send you the 
result of my observations and enquiries on raising 
hemp. 
Soil. —The soil must be very loose and light, 
and of the very first quality, or it will not, in its 
natural state, produce good hemp. And it ought 
then (though new) to be prepared the season before, 
with a good crop of turnips, potatoes or Indian 
corn. There is a great deal of land in the lake 
country, which has the appearance of a good hemp 
soil; and our warm moist seasons, which we call 
good corn years, will be likewise good hemp years. 
The humidity of our atmosphere will, if we can 
have a sufficient degree of warmth with it in the 
months of May and June, be very favorable to the 
growth of hemp. Notwithstanding the similarity 
of hemp to flax in every other respect, it differs 
from it in growing well on the same ground, for 
several years successively, without manure, if the 
soil be good. As to a soil for hemp, “ It is wor- 
tiiy of observation, as a fact established by much 
experience, that under proper clover and plaister 
management, the poorest soil, if not too wet and 
