154 lines
9.6 KiB
Plaintext
154 lines
9.6 KiB
Plaintext
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<EFBFBD> Area: FidoNet - Marijuana Chat <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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Msg#: 1688 Date: 06-09-93 22:24
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From: Northcoast OH NORML Read: Yes Replied: No
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To: All Mark:
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Subj: Fairbanks Comp. #4
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<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
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[...continued from previous posting]
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It may be asked, why not transport it to the place of rotting and immerse
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it in the water, immediately after it is pulled, or as soon as it is dry, and
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save the trouble of securing it from the weather? I am not prepared to say that
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this cannot be done with safety, under vigilant care and attention. It is
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believed, however, that it would be exposed to greater hazard of loss, than at
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a later period. At the time of pulling, the weather is hot, and the water warm.
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Putrefaction proceeds with great rapidity. If the hemp should remain in the
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water a little too long, or if, after it is drawn from the water, there should
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be a long rain, or a continuance of damp weather to prevent its drying, it
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would be rotted too much, and the fibre would be materially injured, if not
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destroyed. But when the hemp is immersed later in the season, after the weather
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and water have become cool, there is no risk in suffering it to remain in the
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water a short time longer than is necessary. It is also supposed that when the
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hemp is rotted in hot weather, there will be a greater proportion of tow -- and
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after it is drawn from the water, the bands must be opened and the hemp spread,
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in order that it may dry quickly. It is also a busy season with the farmer, and
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he can attend to it at a later period, with less interruption to other branches
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of husbandry. These are the reasons which have induced our farmers to postpone
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the rotting till the latter part of October. As I have never tried any
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experiments in reference to this part of the process, and indeed have had but
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little experience in the culture of hemp on my own farm, I will not give an
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opinion whether their reasons are well founded or not. I have not undertaken to
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point out the best method, in relation to any part of the process, but only to
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describe the course pursued in my own neighborhood.
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It has sometimes been made a question, whether running or stagnant water
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was to be preferred. The former has been universally applied here. -- A place
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is selected near the margin of some brook or small stream, which will afford a
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basin in which the hemp can be deposited, and where by erecting a dam across
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the stream, the hemp can be covered with water.
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to prevent it from floating. Having deposited the hemp and secured it from
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rising, the gateway may be closed and the water raised upon the hemp. It will
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be observed that the level of the hemp must be lower than the gateway, so that
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the whole body may be immersed in water, and continued so, until it is rotted.
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The length of time necessary to complete the rotting process depends much
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upon the weather, and the temperature of the water. It may be ascertained
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whether it has lain in the water long enough, by taking out one of the bundles,
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drying and breaking it. If the stem cracks easily, and the rind and harl
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readily separates from the wood, it is sufficiently rotted. So also, if while
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it lies in the water, the roots will twist off easily. Hemp put into the water
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the last week of October, will generally require about three weeks. When put in
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later, I have known it lie seven weeks. If put into stagnant water, soon after
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it is pulled, five or six days is enough.
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When the hemp is rotted, open the gateway and drain off the pond. The hemp
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must then be removed to a piece of grass land -- the bundles laid upon the
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ground singly, and, after two or three days, turned over. When partially
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dried, it is carried and set up, inclining, against a fence where it remains
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until it is fit for the brake. It may then be carried to the building or shed
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where it is to be dressed; or the brake may be carried to the hemp, as is
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generally the case here, and after it is broken, it is removed to the barn for
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the finishing process -- or if the weather is not too severe, it may be dressed
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where it is broken.
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A cheap vehicle or sled, for the removal of the hemp from the pond, may be
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made of two pieces of slit work, about 9 feet in length, with three cross beams
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of the same material. The stakes driven closely through each beam and runner,
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will serve the double purpose of holding the sled together, and keeping the
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hemp from falling off. No tongue will be necessary. It may be drawn with
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chains. If however the grass ground is at any considerable distance from the
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pond, wheels may be necessary.
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In dressing, two brakes are used. The first, coarser than a common flax
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brake, the second, as fine as a flax brake, at the head, with one additional
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bar in each jaw. If the hemp is well rotted and faithfully broke, but little
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remains for the swingling board. A man accustomed to the business, will brake
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and dress from 50 to 75 lbs per day.
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The labor required to prepare a crop of hemp for market, is not
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considerable. But it will be observed, that but a small portion of the labor
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comes at a season, when the farmer is most busily occupied in gathering and
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securing his other crops. The pulling comes on soon after the hay and grain
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are secured. The rotting does not commence till after Indian harvest, and the
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winter grain is sown. The dressing is wholly done in cold weather, when the
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farmer has little occupation besides that of taking care of his stock and
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providing fuel. Every considerable farmer who has land suitable for hemp,
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might raise a few acres, without greatly interfering with his ordinary course
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of husbandry.
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The average crop is six or seven hundred to the acre. I have raised nine
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or ten -- but this is an unusual crop. The land was strong, and in very fine
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tilth. The hemp grew to a great height and was very uniform throughout the
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piece. The price of hemp in market has varied, of late years, from $10 to
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$12,50 a hundred. Scarce any crop of field culture can be put upon the land,
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which will produce so great a result.
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It is not uncommon for the farmer to let out his land upon shares. In that
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case, the usual terms are, that the owner of the land prepares the ground, and
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furnishes one half the seed. The occupant furnishes the other half of the seed
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and performs all the labor, after the seed is harrowed in, and returns to the
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owner one-half of the seed, and one-half of the hemp, prepared for market. In
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one instance, I have received, for the use of my land, more than forty-five
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dollars an acre, clear profit. The moiety of the seed returned tome, was amply
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sufficient to pay my part of the seed furnished, and the labor of preparing the
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ground.
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QUALITY.-- The hemp grown in this neighborhood, when well dressed, commands
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the highest price of the best Russia hemp, and is readily purchased by the
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manufacturers of cordage. Our farmers sometimes mistake their own interest, by
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neglecting to hatchel out the tow, through fear of too much diminishing their
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weight. An experiment was made in 1824, by direction of the Commissioners of
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the Navy, to try its strength in comparison with the Russian. "Two ropes, 2 1-4
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inches in circumference, one made of hemp grown in this town, broke with 3209
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lbs. The other made of clean St. Petersburg broke with 3118 lbs." I mention
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this fact for the purpose of satisfying the doubting -- if any such there are
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-- that our soil and climate are as well adapted to the cultivation of this
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article, as those of Russia, and that no one need be deterred from entering
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upon its cultivation, under any apprehensions that his crop, if rightly managed
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and well prepared, will be of inferior value.
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At a time when the supply of the ordinary products of the farm exceeds the
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demand, and consequently the price is so low as almost to discourage
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agricultural enterprise, it deserves the consideration of farmers in different
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parts of the country, whether their interest does not require them to turn a
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part of their land and to apply a portion of their labor, to the cultivation of
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hemp. The annual import from Russia does not probably fall short of half a
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million of dollars. This amount might, in a short time, be brought to market,
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from our own soil. In addition to this, we annually import in duck, and other
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manufactures of hemp, exclusive of cordage, to the amount of more than a
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million and a half of dollars. These manufactures might be carried on in our
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own country, as well as those of cotton and woollen goods. The present rate of
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duty on imported hemp is $45 a ton, which is sufficient to afford adequate
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protection, to the extent of the demand. If the continuance of this duty
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should not come within the rule prescribed by our present chief Magistrate,
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which "requires that the great interests of agriculture, commerce, and
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manufactures should be equally favored," it may perhaps come within his
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exception to the rule of giving "peculiar encouragement to any products of
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either of them, that may be found essential to our national independence."
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I am yours, &c. SAM. LATHROP.
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West Springfield, March 16, 1829.
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[Continued on next posting...]
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Help Fight Back - Support Your Local NORML Chapter!
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Northcoast Ohio NORML Chapter
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Contact: John Hartman
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Phone: +[1]-216-521-WEED
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-!-
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! Origin: Amiga University +[1]-216-637-6647 [Cortland, OH] (1:237/533.0)
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