Plate 4 – Scutching
‘A Treatise on Hemp’, book by Robert Wissett in 1808
“Of the various productions of nature, which are alike conducive to the comforts, to the opulence, to the security, and to the independent existence of maritime nations, there are few, perhaps, at the present crisis, of greater moment, or which more imperiously demand our attention, than those vegetable productions, the culture and general management of which form the subject of the following pages.”
Title page
Plate 1, germination of hemp plants
Refers to the Germination of the plants.
a. The Hemp seed
b. The shell which encloses the kernel
c. The kernel
d. The radicle coming forth from between the lobes
e,f,g,h. The same in different stages of its growth
i. The seminal leaves
k. The leaves of the plant beginning to appear; and the lateral roots beginning to shoot out
l. A stalk of hemp, in a more advanced stage of growth
m. A small piece of the bark of the hemp plant, macerated, directed, and viewed through the microscope
Plate 2, the male hemp plant
The second plate represents the male hemp.
A. Represents a detached leaf with its stipules
B. Represents the top of the stem of a male hemp plant
C,F,G. Represents the clusters of flowers, the leaflets, and the stipules, which grow on that stalk
H. An unexpanded flower bud
I. A flower bud, beginning to expand
K. Full blown or expanded flowers, exposing to view the stamina L.
M,N. A stamen
M. The filament
N. The anthera
Plate 3, the female hemp plant
The third plate represents the upper part of a stalk of female hemp.
D,E,O,P,Q . The clusters of seedbuds, the stipules, and the leaves
Plate 4 – Scutching
A. Is a scutch, inclined against the upright board of a double scutching-frame; in which is to be observed, the handle, by which the workman holds it; and the blade, with the edge of which he strikes the Hemp.
E. A single scutching-frame, consisting of a piece of wood placed horizontally, which serves for a foot-board; and the upright board with a semicircular incision or notch at top, in which the workman lays the handful of Hemp to be scutched, as is seen at B.
D. A double scutching-frame, consisting of two uprights (with their semicircular incisions or notches), fixed to a horizontal plank, resting on the floor of the workshop.
B. A workman holding a parcel of Hemp in his left hand, and preparing to strike it with a scutch of another description, which he holds in his right hand.
C. A workman shaking a handful of Hemp, in order to detach the boon or reedy particles from it. Some scutched Hemp is laid across the foot-board of the scutching-frame.
G. A workman tring the scutched Hemp in a bundle in which state it is carried to the hecklers.
H. A workman in the operation of Beating, as described under the head of Beetling.
Plate 5 – Heckling
