Ä Area: FidoNet - Marijuana Chat ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Msg#: 1688 Date: 06-09-93 22:24 From: Northcoast OH NORML Read: Yes Replied: No To: All Mark: Subj: Fairbanks Comp. #4 ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ [...continued from previous posting] It may be asked, why not transport it to the place of rotting and immerse it in the water, immediately after it is pulled, or as soon as it is dry, and save the trouble of securing it from the weather? I am not prepared to say that this cannot be done with safety, under vigilant care and attention. It is believed, however, that it would be exposed to greater hazard of loss, than at a later period. At the time of pulling, the weather is hot, and the water warm. Putrefaction proceeds with great rapidity. If the hemp should remain in the water a little too long, or if, after it is drawn from the water, there should be a long rain, or a continuance of damp weather to prevent its drying, it would be rotted too much, and the fibre would be materially injured, if not destroyed. But when the hemp is immersed later in the season, after the weather and water have become cool, there is no risk in suffering it to remain in the water a short time longer than is necessary. It is also supposed that when the hemp is rotted in hot weather, there will be a greater proportion of tow -- and after it is drawn from the water, the bands must be opened and the hemp spread, in order that it may dry quickly. It is also a busy season with the farmer, and he can attend to it at a later period, with less interruption to other branches of husbandry. These are the reasons which have induced our farmers to postpone the rotting till the latter part of October. As I have never tried any experiments in reference to this part of the process, and indeed have had but little experience in the culture of hemp on my own farm, I will not give an opinion whether their reasons are well founded or not. I have not undertaken to point out the best method, in relation to any part of the process, but only to describe the course pursued in my own neighborhood. It has sometimes been made a question, whether running or stagnant water was to be preferred. The former has been universally applied here. -- A place is selected near the margin of some brook or small stream, which will afford a basin in which the hemp can be deposited, and where by erecting a dam across the stream, the hemp can be covered with water. to prevent it from floating. Having deposited the hemp and secured it from rising, the gateway may be closed and the water raised upon the hemp. It will be observed that the level of the hemp must be lower than the gateway, so that the whole body may be immersed in water, and continued so, until it is rotted. The length of time necessary to complete the rotting process depends much upon the weather, and the temperature of the water. It may be ascertained whether it has lain in the water long enough, by taking out one of the bundles, drying and breaking it. If the stem cracks easily, and the rind and harl readily separates from the wood, it is sufficiently rotted. So also, if while it lies in the water, the roots will twist off easily. Hemp put into the water the last week of October, will generally require about three weeks. When put in later, I have known it lie seven weeks. If put into stagnant water, soon after it is pulled, five or six days is enough. When the hemp is rotted, open the gateway and drain off the pond. The hemp must then be removed to a piece of grass land -- the bundles laid upon the ground singly, and, after two or three days, turned over. When partially dried, it is carried and set up, inclining, against a fence where it remains until it is fit for the brake. It may then be carried to the building or shed where it is to be dressed; or the brake may be carried to the hemp, as is generally the case here, and after it is broken, it is removed to the barn for the finishing process -- or if the weather is not too severe, it may be dressed where it is broken. A cheap vehicle or sled, for the removal of the hemp from the pond, may be made of two pieces of slit work, about 9 feet in length, with three cross beams of the same material. The stakes driven closely through each beam and runner, will serve the double purpose of holding the sled together, and keeping the hemp from falling off. No tongue will be necessary. It may be drawn with chains. If however the grass ground is at any considerable distance from the pond, wheels may be necessary. In dressing, two brakes are used. The first, coarser than a common flax brake, the second, as fine as a flax brake, at the head, with one additional bar in each jaw. If the hemp is well rotted and faithfully broke, but little remains for the swingling board. A man accustomed to the business, will brake and dress from 50 to 75 lbs per day. The labor required to prepare a crop of hemp for market, is not considerable. But it will be observed, that but a small portion of the labor comes at a season, when the farmer is most busily occupied in gathering and securing his other crops. The pulling comes on soon after the hay and grain are secured. The rotting does not commence till after Indian harvest, and the winter grain is sown. The dressing is wholly done in cold weather, when the farmer has little occupation besides that of taking care of his stock and providing fuel. Every considerable farmer who has land suitable for hemp, might raise a few acres, without greatly interfering with his ordinary course of husbandry. The average crop is six or seven hundred to the acre. I have raised nine or ten -- but this is an unusual crop. The land was strong, and in very fine tilth. The hemp grew to a great height and was very uniform throughout the piece. The price of hemp in market has varied, of late years, from $10 to $12,50 a hundred. Scarce any crop of field culture can be put upon the land, which will produce so great a result. It is not uncommon for the farmer to let out his land upon shares. In that case, the usual terms are, that the owner of the land prepares the ground, and furnishes one half the seed. The occupant furnishes the other half of the seed and performs all the labor, after the seed is harrowed in, and returns to the owner one-half of the seed, and one-half of the hemp, prepared for market. In one instance, I have received, for the use of my land, more than forty-five dollars an acre, clear profit. The moiety of the seed returned tome, was amply sufficient to pay my part of the seed furnished, and the labor of preparing the ground. QUALITY.-- The hemp grown in this neighborhood, when well dressed, commands the highest price of the best Russia hemp, and is readily purchased by the manufacturers of cordage. Our farmers sometimes mistake their own interest, by neglecting to hatchel out the tow, through fear of too much diminishing their weight. An experiment was made in 1824, by direction of the Commissioners of the Navy, to try its strength in comparison with the Russian. "Two ropes, 2 1-4 inches in circumference, one made of hemp grown in this town, broke with 3209 lbs. The other made of clean St. Petersburg broke with 3118 lbs." I mention this fact for the purpose of satisfying the doubting -- if any such there are -- that our soil and climate are as well adapted to the cultivation of this article, as those of Russia, and that no one need be deterred from entering upon its cultivation, under any apprehensions that his crop, if rightly managed and well prepared, will be of inferior value. At a time when the supply of the ordinary products of the farm exceeds the demand, and consequently the price is so low as almost to discourage agricultural enterprise, it deserves the consideration of farmers in different parts of the country, whether their interest does not require them to turn a part of their land and to apply a portion of their labor, to the cultivation of hemp. The annual import from Russia does not probably fall short of half a million of dollars. This amount might, in a short time, be brought to market, from our own soil. In addition to this, we annually import in duck, and other manufactures of hemp, exclusive of cordage, to the amount of more than a million and a half of dollars. These manufactures might be carried on in our own country, as well as those of cotton and woollen goods. The present rate of duty on imported hemp is $45 a ton, which is sufficient to afford adequate protection, to the extent of the demand. If the continuance of this duty should not come within the rule prescribed by our present chief Magistrate, which "requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and manufactures should be equally favored," it may perhaps come within his exception to the rule of giving "peculiar encouragement to any products of either of them, that may be found essential to our national independence." I am yours, &c. SAM. LATHROP. West Springfield, March 16, 1829. [Continued on next posting...] Help Fight Back - Support Your Local NORML Chapter! 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