HEMP

(Germ, linnf.) The fibres of the bark of the Cannabis gativa. It is prepared for spinning in the same way as flax, and is made into strands or yarn for ropes, rail cloth. . This plant is supposed to be a native of India, but it has long been nnturnlized and extensively cultivated in Italy, and ninny other countries of Europe, particularly Ru ia and Poland, where it forms an article of primary Commercial importance. It is also cultivated to a considerable extent in many parts of America; but in the United Kingdom it is but little grown, except in a few districts of Suffolk and Lancashire. [s. 567]