PRACTICAL PAPERS—HEMP CULTURE. 
2G1 
is to be hoped that some of the reaper men will construct ma¬ 
chines that will cut hemp as low as grass is now cut, and yet 
lay the green stalks in a continuous swathe or in even bunches, 
and thus substitute horse for human muscle in harvesting this 
crop. 
The proper period to harvest for fibre may be known by the 
male plants. When they have shed their pollen and com¬ 
mence to turn yellow, the crop is then ready for cutting. The 
female plants will remain green some three weeks longer in 
maturing their seeds, but their fibre would decrease in value, 
and that of the male plants would become almost worthless. 
Curing the Crop. —If the crop is cut with the hemp hook 
or cradle, the width of each swathe must be sufficient to allow 
the plants to be spread in a continuous line on the ground 
where they grew; if cut with a machine and cast off like 
grain, the bunches should be gathered by hand, made even at 
the butts, and spread in straight lines across the field, covering 
the ground as much as possible. As soon as the leaves are 
dried so that they will shell off in handling, the hemp must 
be gathered, either with a rake or fork, agitating the stalks 
sufficiently to break off all the leaves, keeping the butts even. 
Bundles of convenient size for handling are bound with cords, 
or with hemp stalks.' If rains have beaten down the plants, 
so that the underside lies on the ground with wet stalks and 
leaves, the swaths may be turned over with a slim pole, ten 
feet long, slightly bowed, and the point so trimmed that it can 
be easily pushed under the swathes ; then, if the pole be lifted, 
the butts will form a focus on which to turn the swathe. It 
will then lie up loose, and will dry in a few hours. The hemp 
can be bound and shocked or stooked, and afterwards placed 
in the rick or shed if need be, more compactly without than 
with the leaves. No time should be lost after the stalks are 
cured in getting them into the stooks, as every day’s exposure 
to the sun and dew afterwards deteriorates the quantity and 
quality of the lint. The brighter the stalks can be secured, 
the better; the same rule applying here as in hay. 
