would in England be worth 16. sterling each, or 48/. for the three, the two South-downs at the highest rate of wool and price at 12f3, and nearly as cheap as two Bakewells, tho' in this experiment the Bakewell is 14 per cent. better than the Southdown, the next best sheep in England. But what is more remarkable, the merino also gained more flesh, with less food than the other sheep with which he was compared in another set of experiments mentioned above.

LETTER

ON THE CULTIVATION OF HEMP.

By WILLIAM THOMPSON, Esq.

I

DEAR SIR,

GOSHEN, November 30th, 1803.

My absence from home, and some inquiries I

found it necessary to make respecting the culture of hemp (having but lately commenced the business myself) before I could answer you fully on the subject of your favor of the 5th ult. has occasioned the delay of my not answering you sooner. The importance of encouraging the raising of hemp in this country, and particularly in the western part of this state, where I am persuaded many large tracts of land, well adapted to the culture of that valuable article, are to be found, and which is almost the

only article that will bear the expense of transporta tion from those remote parts, induces me with cheerfulness to give you every information in my power to enable you to inform those who are desirous of undertaking the business...

THE land in this county generally made use of for the raising of hemp, is our sunken swamps and bog-meadows, of which we have a number, and many of large extent, the loose black soil of which is frequently from 2 to 10 feet deep, before you reach the clay; this we find of importance, in order to lay the lands sufficiently dry. When we commence the draining of one of those pieces of land we begin by removing all obstructions in the outlet, and frequently cutting through old beaverdams, and clearing out the creek, or cutting a sufficient new ditch, wide enough, if possible, to carry the whole stream in the time of a freshet, and to lay the water from 2 to 3 feet below the surface, when the freshet is over; for we find that hemp is an article that will by no means bear overflowing, and does not succeed well unless you can keep the water in your ditches at least two feet below the surface. After your main outlet is compleated, your swamp must be ditched into small lots, of from 2 to 5, 6 or 7 acres, and generally long and narrow; and if there care any springs, they must be led off by a ditch, and it requires generally a shore ditch, to be cut a small distance from the shore, across the heads of the lots, to carry off the land springs. The division ditches

are generally 4 or 5 feet wide, and about 2 feet deep. The fall or spring after our lands are thus drained, and the ground a little settled, we begin to clear, by cutting up the bogs, hassacks and bunches of elders, &c. The most effectual way of doing which is to cut them up by the roots, and may be easily done, if you have proper instruments for the purpose. Besides the bog-hoe, which is in common use, we have two instruments, one called the bog-hook and the other the bog-knife-the hook is from 20 to 24 inches long, about as crooked as a common scythe, but wider, made very thick and substantial in the back, with a strong round eye twisted a little upwards, so that the edge lies flat on the ground, when a man holding the handle stands half erect. With this instrument, if properly and substantially made, a man, acquainted with using it, will be able to cut more in a day than two or three men with the common bog-hoe, and with more ease to himself. The bog-knife is an instrument, in my opinion, preferable to the bog-hook; it is made about 20 or 22 inches long, and about 5 inches broad, and round at the point; it is laid all around with the best of steel, and in plating it out it is left thicker in the middle to give it sufficient strength. At the other end is made a strong tine with a hole punched through it to fasten it on a strong handle in the same manner of the common pitchfork; the tine is bent a little upwards, and the instrument made a little crooked, so that a man strikes hori zontally with it when he stands half erect. With

this instrument, if you cannot cut off a bog or hassack at the first stroke, you may generally do it with a back handed stroke without moving from the spot. With those instruments saplings, as thick as a man's leg, may be taken up with great facility. When the ground is thus cleared in the month of May, when the weather is pretty dry and warm, the bags will be dry enough to burn in eight or ten days, when they may be heaped and burnt. The ground may then be ploughed, the share and coulter being ground sharp, and well harrowed with an iron tooth harrow till it is sufficiently mellow. The time for sowing old land is generally from the middle till the last of May, depending on the dryness of the season; but I have known new lands, and sometimes old, in wet seasons, sowed as late as the middle and even the last of June, and still produced good crops. It is common to sow about 1 bushels of seed to the acre, if the seed is good. If the hemp is thrifty and sowed in season, it is generally fit to cut about the middle of August, and is often from 5 to 8 feet high. It requires a little judgment in determining the proper time for cutting, but a little experience will be sufficient to inform the observer. The male hemp shoots out in sundry small branches at the top, and appears to bear a small blossom hardly perceivable, and when nearly fit to cut turns a pale yellowish color, and when stirred by the wind emits a dust, which, in the morning, will appear like a faint fog rising from it, and the leaves for some distance up the stalk will begin to

coat.

fall off. If let stand too long, the male hemp dies, the stalk turns blackish, and will yield but little When the hemp is fit for cutting, the instru ment made use of for that purpose is called a hemphook. It is made by our common blacksmiths, something shaped like a sickle, but not so crooked, the edge is smooth, and ought to be made of, the best of steel; the blade is better than an inch broad, made thin, and holds its width to the point. There is a small set of about an inch, just where the tine is formed, that goes into the handle, in order to set the edge a little lower, to prevent the cutter from being obliged to stoop too much in the act of cutting. There is a considerable art in cutting hemp, which is acquired by use. The hemp is cut close to the ground, and supported and gathered with the left arm, and the length of the knife across the swath generally collects enough to spread at a time, which is carefully done by the cutter in the manner you spread flax when pulled. If the weather proves dry, the hemp will get dried through in 6 or 8 days, and then is forked up into small bundles about the size of rye sheafs, and bound with the hemp, and then carefully stacked in the field until about Christmas, when it is opened and carefully spread on the snow, and if a foot deep the better, and by other snows falling on it, it is bleached, and makes the hemp appear of a bright silver color when dressed. When the snows dissolve, in the month of March, the hemp will generally be found sufficiently rotted, and must then be taken