tliefe roots through the winter in a green-houfe, but would 
not fueceed ; for, though tome eIca.ped, yet they v\ere lo 
much weakened by the cold, as not to recover their 
Inength tlie following fummer, fo as to flower in any to¬ 
lerable degree of perfection ; lo that you (liould conftant- 
Iv keep them in winter in a moderate (love, where they al¬ 
ways flower in that feafon, at which time they make a 
tine appearance ; and in the fummer, place them abroad 
in a (heltered lituatiori with other tender exotic plants, 
where they flower again, and produce ripe feeds annually. 
The fecond variety, which is much hardier than the 
others, lltould have a different treatment. The young 
plants ot this in lift be earlier inured to the open air, where . 
they may remain till the froft begins ; then they mull be 
placed in the green-holife, arid lhould have but little wet 
in winter ; and the beginning of May, thefe lhould be 
turned out of the pots, and planted in a warm louth bor¬ 
der, in a drv (oil, where they will thrive and produce 
flowers annually ; but, as there is little beauty in tips fort, 
a few plants for variety will be lufficient. Sometimes it 
lias variegated leaves. This may be propagated by part- 
big the roots, but having little beauty, it is lcarcely 
v. orth cultivating. 
The young plants which arc raifed from feeds of this 
fort, do more certainly flower than the old roots, or the 
offsets taken from them ; for the foots fend out many off- 
lets, which will fpread to a conliderable diftance where 
they have room, but feldom produce flowers ; fo that it is 
the belt way to raifea fucceflion of plants from feeds, and 
to throw out the old ones after they have perfected their 
feeds. 
CANNABI'NA,/ in botany. See Bidens, Datisca, 
rind Verbesina. 
CAN'N ABIS,/". [Kara,Sot, are foul fprings, wherein 
hemp, Ac. grow naturally..] Hemp, in botany, a genus 
of the clafs dioecia, order pentandria; natural order lea- 
bride. The generic characters are— 1 . Male. Calyx: pe- 
rianthium .five-parted; leaflets .oblong, acuminately ob- 
tufe, concave. Corolla: none. Stamina: filaments .five, 
capillary, very fhprt. Antherae^oblong, four-cornered, 
ll! Female. Calyx: Perianthium one-!eafed, oblong, 
acuminate, gaping longitudinally on one (ide, permanent. 
‘Corolla : none. Pifiillum : germ very fmall. Styles two, 
fnbulate, long. Stigmas acute. Pericarpium : very fmalt; 
■calyx tightly doled. Seed : nut globofe deprefled, bi¬ 
valve— P.JJential CharaB.tr. Male. Calyx, five-parted; co¬ 
rolla, none. Female. Calyx, one-leafed, entire gaping 
on one fide ; corolla, none ; -fttyles two ; nut bivalve 
within the clofed calyx. 
There is only one fpecies, called, Cannabis fativa. 
The Item is the' height of a man or more, (fometintes 
eighteen feet,) branched, hairy, as are alfo the leaves, 
which are digitate, (lender, ferrate; the folioles (even, 
the outer ones (mailed. In the female plant the flowers 
are folitary in the, axillas : in the male, they are in thin 
pendulous fpikes, at the ends of tl\e Item and branches. 
Some female flowers ate frequently found among the males, 
and fome males among the females. It is therefore no ob¬ 
jection to the fexual fyftenv, that female plants of the 
hemp have produced perfect feed, when there have been 
no male plants near them. Mr. Miller however, affirms, 
that he made trial of this for feveral years, by removing all 
the male plants; and, although the female plants conti¬ 
nued 11 rung and flourilhing, yet they never produced any 
pood feeds. It may not be amil’s to obferve,- that all the 
old authors, ignorant of the true doCtrine of the fexes, and 
blindly following the ancients, are exactly wrong ; for 
they call the male plants female, and the females male. 
■Like many other plants generally cultivated, it is difficult 
to afeertain the original place of its native growth. We 
may however trace it, with molt ot the reft, to the Eaft. 
Linnaeus, in his Materia Medica, gives it to the Eaft-Indies 
and Japan. Thunberg lays it grows here and there, in 
Japan. Gmelin thinks it may be a native of Tartary, 
three he found it there, though the Tartars do not culti- 
C A N 
vate it, In the Species Plantarlum it is faid to grow w itd 
in India ; but in Reichard’s edition of the Syftema it is af« 
ligned to Perfia. Father Hennepin found it wild among 
the Illinois in America. Pliny and Diolcorides fpeak-ot* 
jt as a native of Europe. 
'1 lie ufes of hemp are well known, as well as its great 
importance to the navy for fails and cordage. Exceeding 
good huckaback is made from it, for towels and common 
table-cloths. '1 he low-priced hempen cloths- are a gene¬ 
ral wear for hulbandmen, lervantp, and labouring manu¬ 
facturers; the better forts (from iSd. to 2s. the yard) for 
farmers and tradefmen in tiie country ; and the finer ones,, 
feven-eighths wide, (from 2$. 6d, to 3s. 6d. the yard,) are 
preferred by fome gentlemen, for (Length and warmth. 
They pollcfs this advantage over Irilh and other linens, 
that their colour improves in wearing, whilft their’s de¬ 
clines. Englifli hemp, properly manufactured, (lands un¬ 
rivalled in itsftrength, and is fuperior in this re/pect to the 
Ruffian. Conliderable quantities of cloth are imported 
from that country for (fleeting, merely on account of its 
ftrength, for it is coarlerat the price than other linen. Our 
hempen cloth however is preferable, being itronger from- 
the fuperior quality of the thread, and at the fame time 
lighter in walhing. The hemp railed in England is not of. 
lo dry and fpongy a nature as what we have from Rullia, 
and therefore it requires a (mailer proportion of tar to ma¬ 
nufacture it into cordage. Tar being cheaper than hemp,, 
the rope-makers prefer foreign hemp to ours, becaufe they 
can make a greater profit in working it : but cordage mult, 
certainly be Itronger in proportion as there is more hemp 
and lefs tar in it, provided there be a fufficient quantity of 
the latter to unite the fibres. An oil is extracted from tlte 
feeds of hemp. The leeds themfelves are reckoned a good, 
food for poultry, and are ftippofed to occafion liens to lay 
a greater quantity of eggs. Small birds in general are very, 
fond of them, but they fhould be given to caged birds 
with caution, and mixed with other feeds. A very lin¬ 
gular effect is recorded, on very good authority, to have 
been fometimes produced by feeding bullfinches and gold¬ 
finches-on hemp-feed alone, or in too great quantity ; viz,, 
that of changing the red and yellow 011 tliofe birds to a 
total blacknefs. It does not fee in that the bangne of the 
Eaft-Indies, or the great Chinefe hemp, or the large fort, 
which Paikinfon received from Virginia, are different 
from our hemp, except in fize. Hemp is flamed in Ger¬ 
man, kanf or hampf; in Dutch, hennip, or kennip ; in 
Danifti, Aamp; inSwedifti, hampa ; in French, chanvre ; 
in Italian, canapa ; in Spanifti and Portugueze, canamo 
in Ruffian, konapli, honopel, katfaple ; in Polilli, kanop ; 
in Illyrian and Sclavonian, konoplija ; in Walachian, kcz- 
nepe ; in Hungarian, kinder ; in Tartarian, kinder ; in Ar¬ 
menian, kanop; in Arabian, Jja<anck ; in Perfian, cannab; 
in Chinefe, ma fuen, chu tfao. There can be no doubt but 
that the Greeks took their name from the Eatiern ka- 
vop or caanab, and that the plant originally migrated into 
Europe from tliofe countries, notwithftanding what Pliny 
and Diolcorides affirm of its growing wild in Europe. 
Propagation .and Culture. Hemp is commonly low n on a 
deep, rich, moift, foil, fuch as is found in the traCI called 
Holland in the county of Lincoln, and the fens of'the i 11 e 
of Ely, where it is cultivated to great advantage ; as it 
might in many other parts of England, where there is the 
like foil ; but it will not thrive 011 clay, or (lift'cold land. 
It is liowever found that it will do very well after turnips 
on,friable loams, and good fund’s, provided it be well ma¬ 
nured. Spalding-moor, in Lincolnfhire, isa barren land, 
and yet, with proper cate and culture, it produces as fine 
hemp as any in England, and in large quantities. In the 
idle of Axholme, in the fame county, the culture and 
management of it is the principal employment of the in¬ 
habitants ; and, according to Leland, it was fo in the reign 
of Henry VIII. In the county of Suffolk, in the dillrnT 
extending from Eye to Beccles, it is cultivated on a fandy 
loam, with great fnccefs. On fucli foils, the quantity is 
not fo great as in a black rich mould, but the quality is 
- , much 
