botany: A genus of the pentandra order, belonging to the dioecia clas of plants; and in the natural method ranking under the 53rd order, Scabride. The calyx of the male is quinquepartite, with no corolla. In the female the calyx is monophyllous, entire, and gaping at the side; there is no corolla, but two styles; the fruit is a nut, bivalved, within the clofed calyx. Of this there is but one species, viz. the sativa. This is propagated in the rich fenney parts of Lincolnshire in great quantities, for its bark, which is useful for cordage, cloth, &c. and the seeds abound with oil. Hemp is always sown on a deep, moist, rich, foil, such as is found in Holland, Lincolnshire, the fens of the island of Ely, where it is cultivated to great advantage, as it might be in many other parts of England where there is a foil of the same kind; but it will not thrive on clayey or stiff cold land. The ground on which hemp is designed to be sown, should be well ploughed, and made very fine by harrowing. About the middle of April the seed may be sown; three bushels is the usual allowance for an acre, but two are sufficient. In the choice of the seed, the heaviest and brightest coloured should be preferred; and particular care should be had to the kernel of the seed. For the greater certainty in this matter, some of the seeds should be cracked, to see whether they have the germ or future plant perfect: for, in some places, the male plants are drawn out too soon from the female, i.e. before they have impregnated the female plants with the farina; in which case, though the seeds produced by these females may seem fair to the eye, yet they will not grow*, according to the doctrine of Linnaeus. When the plants are come up, they should be hoed, leaving them two feet apart; observe also to cut down all the weeds, which, if well performed, and in dry weather, will destroy them. This crop, however, will require a second hoeing, in about six weeks after the first; and, if this is well performed, the crop will require no further care. The first season for pulling hemp is usually about the middle of August, when they begin to pull what they call the fimbled hemp, being that which is composed of the male plants; but it would be the much better method to defer this for a fortnight or three weeks longer, until those male plants have fully shed their farina or dust, without which the seeds will prove only empty husks. These male plants decay soon after they have shed their farina. The second pulling is a little after Michaelmas, when the seeds are ripe. This is usually called karle hemp, and consists of the female plants which were left. This karle hemp is bound in bundles of a yard compass, according to statute measure, which are laid in the sun for a few days to dry; and then it is flaked up, or houed, to keep it dry till the seed can be threshed out. An acre of hemp, on a rich soil, will produce near three quarters of seed, which, together with the unwrought hemp, is worth from six to eight pounds. Hemp is esteemed very effectual for destroying weeds; but this it accomplishes by impoverishing the ground, and thus robbing them of their nourishment; so that a crop of it must not be repeated on the same spot.

Some seeds of a large kind of hemp growing in China were lately sent by the East India Company to the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, who distributed them to the members and other gentlemen who appeared likely to cultivate them; and from experiments made in consequence, Cannabis, Canna.

quence, the plant has been found to succeed perfectly in this climate. The first trials were rather unpro-

mising, the hemp produced from the foreign seeds proving of very little value. But the Reverend Dr Hinton of Northwold, who made the above trial in 1786, having accidentally saved some ripe seeds of that crop, sowed them in May 1787 on a spot of good land. They came up well, and attained as much perfection as ordinary hemp. The produce, when dressed, weighed at the rate of 95 stone 7 pounds and 12 ounces per acre, (being above 30 stone more, he says, than the usual crops of hemp in that neighbourhood); and at the rate of three bushels two pecks and half a pint of seed per acre were saved. Dr Hinton supposes that the seeds brought from China failed principally, if not entirely, by having been two years old, at which age hempseed seldom vegetates. Now that it is found to ripen with us, fresh seeds can always be obtained. It will yet, however, require a few years to determine whether this species will continue to retain its great size, or will degenerate and become the common hemp of Europe.

From the leaves of hemp pounded and boiled in water, the natives of the East Indies prepare an intoxicating liquor of which they are very fond. The plant, when fresh, has a rank narcotic smell; the water in which the stalks are soaked, in order to separate the tough rind for mechanic uses, is said to be violently poisonous, and to produce its effects almost as soon as drank. The seeds also have some smell of the herb, and their taste is unctuous and sweetish: they are recommended, boiled in milk, or triturated with water into an emulsion, against coughs, heat of urine, and the like. They are also said to be useful in incontinence of urine, and for restraining venereal appetites; but experience does not warrant their having any virtues of that kind.