Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
The statistics for four
arrondissements
of
the Charente tell of the production of some
646,000 m of canvas. This was composed of
material of different qualities: canvas,
brin
(a fine canvas), tow,
réparane
(tow seconds),
sarpillière
(a large canvas made of tow fibres)
and
recrue
(a larger and lighter tow used for
packaging).
Some 100
corderies
, or rope makers,
manufacturing everything from string to rope,
together with a number of bell foundries requir-
ing 20-25 pounds per bell (in order to rein-
force the moulds), absorbed this production.
Local production was inadequate to meet
the needs of the department and it became
necessary to import material from Normandy,
Brittany and the Limousin.
Quénot, in his statistics, talks of
500,000 m, but these figures do not differenti-
ate between flax and hemp. We know,
however, that in this region flax was known as
a crop that exhausted the soil. It was not
recommended to plant flax in the same field
more than once in 6 years. We can surmise,
then, that a significant portion of Quénot's
figure consists of hemp.
Products made from hemp were of sig-
nificant economic importance. The peasants
visited neighbouring villages to sell their weav-
ing. Their wares included canvas, flat string
and sewing thread. These wares were exported
as far as Spain via La Rochelle. Other des-
tinations included Bordeaux, as well as the
merchants of Paris, Picardy and Normandy.
Hemp also made up part of the remuneration
of domestic servants in addition to their mon-
etary wage.
Even hemp seed was the object of a curi-
ous and lucrative trade (generating profits of
200-300%). The Dutch bought up the seed
and stored it in barrels for sale in Flanders and
the UK. Windmills were used to transform the
seed into oil and this was then exported back
to Saintonge!
Let us now examine an inventory after
death, in order to shed further light on the
presence of hemp in daily life during this
period. This example concerns the
Seigneur
likely to have led a luxurious life that would
have been beyond the imagination of peasants.
The inventory itemized what this nobleman left
behind after his death in 1668. The document
is a lengthy one, extending to 474 pages. The
word 'hemp' appears no less than 62 times.
Among these, we can highlight:
•
165 new shrouds of six
aunes
in length
(approximately 7 m) made of hemp. In old
French, the word
linceul
means not so
much a shroud but a bed sheet. It was
customary to bury the dead in a bed sheet
and so the terms were used interchange-
ably. It is worth noting that this stock
represented some 1000 m of sheets.
65 dozen serviettes, some specified as
•
being of fine cloth.
62 tablecloths measuring 1.5-1.75
•
aunes
(approximately 2 m).
The
Seigneur de Jarnac
was the most impor-
tant of the Charente noblemen, and his
lifestyle reflected this. This example highlights
the role played by hemp in the household linen
department.
CULTIVATION IN THE AISNE
.
In northern France, or
more specifically, in the Commune of
of interesting documents regarding hemp.
A report appearing in the
Cahiers de l'Histoire
tells us that, between 1681 and 1880, records
were kept of the number of weavers.
In 1812, some 1200 ha were planted.
The hemp produced was short and thin and
suitable only for making cleaning cloths. The
crop appears to have been used locally. Brayer's
statistics show that, in the
arrondissement
of
Laon, the products of hemp were exported,
although their destination was not specified.
These documents provide us with some
details of the oil extracted from the hemp seed.
The seeds were first pressed in a
tordoir
. Sales
records inform us that a
tordoir
was made up of
a press, a heating chamber and a mill,
comprised of one stationary stone and one
moving stone. This was usually installed in the
cellar of the house.
The
tordeur
was recognized as a trade or
profession. There were 56 working in the
region and they would spend a third of the year
there. Records show the names of several of
these men during the period 1800-1859, after
which the trade came to an end. The same
document tells how this oil replaced walnut oil
