merset.

"These counties are, perhaps, best adapted to the culture of Hemp, without any material derangement of their present system of husbandry, so far as regards the growth of corn; because Hemp is generally admitted to be a most excellent preparative for wheat. Thus it leaves the far greater part of South Britain and Wales, together with the whole of North Britain, in the undisturbed possession of their present mode of cultivation. A large proportion of Ireland also, from its climate, and the strength of its soil, is admirably adapted to the growth of Hemp.

"This crop may be sown on strong land without manure, and on inferior soils with it; and, unless it is suffered to stand for seed, it does not, in the opinion of the best judges, impoverish the soil.

"It requires clean tilth, and is sown to the middle of May, after which neither the foot of man nor beast must be admitted upon the crop. The expence of seed, three bushels per acre sown broadcast, did not formerly exceed one pound sterling. The average return was seven guineas per acre. The price of seed must, of course, at the present crisis, be enhanced, and whether a sufficient quantity can be obtained this season, to sow such a tract of land as is here suggested, I presume not to affirm. I think, however, that in the course of the present year, a sufficiency might easily be procu

red.

Hemp is usually sold to the dressers in the same manner as flax, and its management is in some degree similar. The details of practice now adopted in the counties of Lincoln and Dorset, are subjoined to this communication.

"On the whole, it is evident, that any species of land which has not a cold subsoil, will grow Hemp with the aid of manure, and strong land, in very good tilth, without it; it is also apparent that every person may grow a little, and, the quantity in demand considered, that none need grow a great deal; and that, if cultivated on this principle, it cannot diminish the quantity, nor impede the growth, of bread corn in these kingdoms. ANN. REV. VOL. VII.

Nor ought the speculation to be regarded, that, in the existing and probable state of our national affairs, less Hemp may be needed for the mercantile service; since, in such case, it is clear, that the demand for the royal navy will be proportionably encreased.

"Whilst our properties, our lives, and (which ought to be more dear to us) the freedom and glory of our country, depend on the superiority of our navies, this subject should not for a day be neglected."

"Hemp should be sown about the last week in April. It requires a good soil, and will not thrive in clays or cold stiff lands. To produce Hemp, the land should be plentifully manured, in the proportion of about twenty-two loads per acre. The manure is spread and ploughed in a short time previous to the sowing. In this country one ploughing is thought sufficient. Three bushels of seed are generally allowed for an acre. The land should be cleared of weeds before sowing. It seldom happens that any further weeding is requisite; if weeds do appear, the Hemp itself soon chokes them. About the end of September Hemp ripens; it is then pul led up by the roots, and tied in sheaves, of the size of ordinary corn sheaves. Wages for pulling are, upon an average, about a shilling per score of sheaves. In a few days the sheaves are formed into shocks, each of which consists of one hundred

sheaves. A cloth is laid between every three sheaves for the convenience of threshing, and to receive the seed which may casually fall out. The shocks are covered with Hemp-lop, i. e. barren and withered stalks, to protect them from the weather, birds, &c. In this state they stand about three weeks or a month (as it is termed to moulter); should the weather prove wet, a longer time will perhaps be

necessary.

"The seed is then threshed out in the field, into the cloths, which were before stated to be placed between every three sheaves. After threshing, the Hemp is covered close with sods in stagnant wa ter.

Care must be taken to exclude all fresh water after the immersion of the hemp, otherwise the tendency to peel, which is the intent of this process, would be delayed. After having been thus steped about three weeks, Hemp is usually Ccc

bears the seed the male hemp, is

noticed.

In page 16 the uses of hempseed are pointed out.

"Besides the use of the oil drawn

from it, in Physic, it is employed with much advantage in the lamp, and in coarse painting. They give a paste made of it to hogs and horses to fatten them; It enters into the composition of black soap, the use of which is very common in the ma nufactures of stuffs and felts, and it is also used for tanning nets.”

In p. 18 it is stated from Marcandier, that "the fibres of hemp (taken from a thread thoroughly bleached) are nothing different from those of cotton and silk :" this seems to us a very hasty and erroneous opinion, for in its properties of taking different colours in dyeing, hemp, prepared by any mechanical means, differs materially from either cotton or silk, and is essentially distinct from the latter in the products it yields in chemical analysis.

In p. 45 the good effects of watering hemp, while growing, is shown from Du Hamel, who proposes that hemp fields shall be immersed or overflowed for this purpose, which he states to be the practice in some places.

The necessity of watching the field for some time after it is sown, to prevent depredations of the birds is shown in p. 87 and in several other places, as the seed rises entirely out of the ground when it begins to grow, and it is then peculiarly liable to the depredations of birds, from which it is not safe till the first leaves are fully expanded.

In p. 89 the old opinion of a nitrous substance remaining on the ground after the melting of snow, is seriously quoted, though it has so often been proved erroneous by re. spectable authority.

A good reason for immediately watering hemp after it is pulled, is quoted from Sir John Sinclair's essay, in p. 161;" By drying, the

mucilage of the plant hardens, and requires a more severe operation to develope the bark, than when macerated immediately after being pulled, and which must prove injurious to the fibre.”.

The quotation from Mill's husbandry, in p. 163, deserves notice, which recommends that places for steeping hemp should be so contrived, that the water from them should run off upon pasture grounds; as "the quantity of putrid vegetable matter which the water, wherein hemp has been steeped, carries along with it, would greatly enrich these grounds."

A part of the process used in the preparation of hemp in Russia, not generally known, is mentioned in p. 223. from the consultations of the board of trade, which is called the sweating. "The Russians after steeping, tie up the plants in bundles of the size of a man's thigh at the knee. These bundles are placed upright, supported by a stake in the centre, and left to drain for one day. The next day they are spread abroad to dry: after which they are made up in heaps, and covered with straw or haulm of any kind to make them sweat, and when they have sweated enough, they are laid again in small heaps, so that the air may dry them in the shade by blowing through them: after which they are most effectually dried by fire in a kiln or oven, and immedi ately put under the breakers, while yet hot; and it is observed, that the Livonians say, it is on this operation of sweating that the good or bad quality of the Hemp depends."

The writer of the Consultations farther observes—

"This then, it should seem, is the great arcanum we are seeking for; at all events, this is a point for us to ascertain and verify by experiment. It makes, says Mr. Frushard, a strong impression on my mind as something like the truth. We all know how essential this sweating is to the

well curing of every thing green that we preserve, whether it is herb, fruit, or grain. They do not appear to know the full force or management of this in India, though they are not entirely ignorant of it. The reason why their tobacco falls so much to dust is owing to its not being sweated enough. When properly sweated, as they manage it in America, it becomes tough like a bladder; and toughness and suppleness are the qualities wanted in Hemp. It does not appear from the French Authors, that they avail themselves of this information, or perhaps their writers with-hold it as a secret, though it may be practised and promulgated among themselves. Savary, though he says but little on hemp, mentions sweating as necessary; and, on trial, it may perhaps be found, that the Livonians are not only ingenious, but ingenuous in declaring the quality to depend on this operation being well or ill perform

ed."

Five plates accompany the treatise; the first three, of a botanical nature, are extremely well executed; the last two, descriptive of the operations of scutching and heckling, seem to be copied from French prints.

We have before stated that this work resembles a collection of notes made preparatory to writing a trea tise on the subject; we beg leave to suggest to the trade the expediency of considering it in this light, in order that some of them may direct a proper treatise to be composed from it, which may be very well done in less than two sheets octavo. This we think would

be an useful work, and one which would meet the present demand for a publication on hemp fairly and creditably.

in a work where all the "tediousWe were surprized to find that ness" of the author seems to have been fully exerted, the remarkable properties of the New Zealand hemp should meet no adequate notice, and those of the Kentala of Bengal not be mentioned: the latter has been found to succeed very well at St. Domingo, from whence a supply of it may hereafter be obtained; rope made of it is stronger than that from the sunn plant; and one of an inch in girth, brought over by Captain Goodall, sustained 3 cwt. at the point of breaking, which according to Mr. Chapman (in whose treatise on cordage the fact is mentioned) was equal to 7 cwt. for an inch

rope.

A supply of materials for cordage may probably also be obtained from Africa; the negroes we understand are now eager to raise any article to barter for European goods, since the inhuman slave trade has been abolished: there can be little doubt that their attention might easily be turned to the cultivation of plants fit for making cordage, which could be obtained

from them much cheaper and more expeditiously than from the East Indies, whence hemp is now imported for the use of

our navy.

THE copious title page, copied above, leaves nothing to add as to the general contents of this volume.

The author asserts in the preface that the information contained in even the best works hitherto pub