404 Of the Management of Hemp by tbe Break,[June

out a bundle and waſhing it; if the leaves come off freely, the coat opens and eaſily ſeperates from the rind or ſtalk, it is enough; if not, it muſt lie longer, under careful obſervation till ready. When the Hemp is found 6 be ſufficiently-ſteeped, the ‘bundles muſt be taken out, one by one, and waſhed to ſeparate the filth and looſe particles; it ſhould chen be ſet on the root- ends to drain, the bands be untied, and the Hemp placed againſt a fence expoſed to the ſun and air, that it may be thoroughly dried.

Where the convenience can be had of filling a pond with Water and letting it of at pleaſure, ſuch a ſituation ſhould be pre- ferred; but otherwiſe a common pond will anſwer.

In warm weather this operation of the water-ſteep may be performed in four or five days; in colder weather it will re- quire eight or ten, and in very cold weather, eighteen or twenty days may be neceſſary,

The intent of this proceſs is by a gentle fermentation to ſe- parate the gummy and mucilaginous matters from the fibres of the Hemp, with which they are intermixed, and to occaſion the bark or rind on the outſide of the fibres to be afterwards more ealily detached by the break.

OF THE MANAGEMENT OF HEMP EY THE BREAK.

After the Hemp las been watered and well dried, it is fit for the break: if it cannot be ſufficiently dried in the open air, it may be done by drying it carefully upon fticks placed acrofs, about four feet above a gentle fire; the Hemp may be laid there- on about ſix inches deep, and carefully turned, from time to time, to be equally dried. In the Hemp countries, wind and water- mills, with particular machinery for the purpoſe, are contrived to break and prepare the Hemp in a more cheap and expeditious manner; but in a country where a manufaQure is in its infancy, the moſt plain and ſimple methods muſt be adopted, and ſuch machinery be uſed as the farmer can make himſelf, I have therefore added a drawing and deſcription of a Hand-Break and other neceſſary implements for preparing Hemp, which will anſwer the purpoſe in Canada. To break the Hemp, the per- lon employed takes in the left hand a handful of Hemp, and in the other the upper jaw of the break; the Hemp is laid acroſs between the two jaws, and by raifing and letting fall the upper jaw ſeveral times with great force, it breaks the dry ſtems under the rind that ſurrounds them. By this means the gummy mat= ter and pith are made to guit the Hemp, and the operation 1s con- tiñued till the whole handful be perfe@ly broken; the Hemp is then ſtretched out on the ground or a table, and when 2bout two pound weight is thus prepared, it is made into a parcel by doubling and twiſting it ſlightly, and is then called a head of hemp or undrefled ſuff. A woman may break from 20 to, 30 Ibs, of Hemp in this manner in one day,