Hemp: Lifeline to the Future, by Chris Conrad, 1994, pp. 192-193, part of Chapter 16, "A World of Cannabis Cultures." Creative Xpressions Publications, Los Angeles, ISBN 0-9639754-1-2, $12.95 from FS Book Company, Sacramento, 1-800-635-8883 credit cards, 916-771-4203 customer service. - American High Society - (The year 1765) - Did the Founding Fathers of the United States of America smoke cannabis? Some researchers think so. Dr. Burke, president of the American Historical Reference Society and a consultant for the Smithsonian Institute,
1824 Machine for breaking flax & hemp.Compiled by: E. Fairbanks Printed at: The Farmer's Herald Office by Jewett and Porter in St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1829. The following certificates from Messrs. Cookes of Ohio will be read with interest, as they are gentlemen of extensive acquaintance, highly respected for their intelligence and practical knowledge in agriculture, particularly in the culture and manufacture of hemp. One of them has been a member of the Legislature of that state, and the other is, and has long been, Post-Master of the village in which he resides, and extensively engaged in mercantile and agricultural pursuits:
The Ropewalk Pubdate: 1859 Source: The Courtship of Miles Standish, and other poems Author: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Publisher: Ticknor and Fields Pages 171-174 THE ROPEWALK - IN that building, long and low, With its windows all a-row, Like the port-holes of a hulk, Human spiders spin and spin, Backward down their threads so thin Dropping, each a hempen bulk.
Pubdate: 1874 Source: Report of the Commissioner of Agriculture for the year 1873 Author: Hon. Horace Capron, Formerly U.S. Commissioner of Agriculture Pages: 372-373 - AGRICULTURE IN JAPAN - HEMP & FLAX
THE ENGLISH HOUSEWIFE: McGill-Queen's University Press 1886; Chapter V of wool, hemp, flax, and cloth, and dyeing of colours, of each several substance, with all the knowledges belonging thereto; paragraphs 23: "Of linen cloth": The next thing to this, which our English housewife must be skilful, is in the making of all sorts of linen cloth, whether it be of hemp or flax, for from those two only is the most principal cloth derived, and made both in this, and in other nations." Paragraph 24: "The ground best to sow hemp on". 25 "The tillage of the ground." 26 "Of sowing of hemp or flax." 27 "Of weeding of hemp and flax." 28 "The pulling of hemp or flax." 29 "The ripening of hemp and flax." 30 "The watering of hemp or flax." "Now for the watering of the hemp or flax, the best water is the running stream, and the worst is the standing pit; yet because hemp is a poisonous thing, and infecteth the water, and destroyeth all kind of fish, it is more fit to employ such pits and ditches as are least subject to annoyance, except you live near some good broad and swift stream, and then in the shallow parts thereof you may water without danger; touching the manner of the watering thereof, and shall, according to the quantity, know\ck four or six strong stakes into the bottom of the water, and set them square wise, then lay your round beats and bundles of hemp down under the water, the thick end of the bundle one way, and the thick ends of another bundle another way; and so lay beat upon beat thill you have laid in all, and that the water covereth them all over; then you shall take overlyers of wood, and binding them overthwart; to the stakes, keep the hemp down close, and especially at the four corners; then take great stones, gravel, and other heavy rubbish, and lay in between, and over the overlyers, and so cover the hamp close that it may by no means stir." 31 "The time it shall lie in the water": "and so let it continue in the water four days and nights, if it be in a running water, but if it be in a standing water, then longer, and then take out one of the uppermost beats and wash it; and if in the washing you see the leaf come off, then you may be assured the hemp is watered enough: as for flax, lesstime will serve it, and it will shed the leaf in three nights. 32 "Of washing out of hemp or flax." 33 "Special ordering of flax." 34 "The braking of hemp or flax." 35 "The drying of hemp or flax." 36 "When it is braked enough". 37 "Diversity of brakes". 38 "Of swingling hemp and flax." "After your hemp is braked, you shall then swingle it, which is upon a swingle tree block made of an half inch board about four foot above ground, and set upon a strong foot or stock that will not easily move and stir, as you may see in any housewife's house whatsoever better than my words can express; and with a piece of wood called the swingle tree dagger, and made in the shape and proportion of an old dagger with a reasonable blunt edge; you shall beat out all the loose buns and shivers that hand in the hemp, opening and turning it from one end to the other, thill you have left no bun or shiver to be perceived therein, and then strike a twist and fold in the midst, which is ever the thickest part of the strike;..." 39 "Use of swingle tree first hards." "and then lay them is some safe dry place till occasion of sue: These are called swingle tree hards, and that which comes from the hemp will make window cloth, and such like coarse stuff." 40 "The Second Swingling." 41 "Of beating hemp." 42 "Of heckling hemp". "When your hemp hath been twice swingled, dried, and beated, you shall then bring it to the heckle, which instrument needeth no demonstration, because it hardly unknown to any woman whatsoever; and the first heckle shall be coarse, open and wide toothed, because it is the first breaker or divider of the same, and the layer of the strikes even and striaght:...then you shall heckle it the second time through a good strait heckle made purposely for hemp,..." 43 "Now there be some very principal good housewives, which use only but to heckle their hemp once over, affirming that if it be sufficiently dried and beater, and once going over through a strait heckle will serve without more loss of labour, having been twice swingled before." 44 "Dressing of hemp more fine". "Now if you intend to have an excellent piece of hempen cloth, which shall equal a piece of very pure linen, then after you have beaten it as before said, and heckled it once over, you shall then roll it up again, dry it as before, and beat it again as much as at the first; then heckle it through a fine flaxen heckle, and the tow which falls from the heckle will hame a principal hemping, but the tear itself a cloth as pure as fine housewives' linen, the endourance and lasting whereof is rare and wonderful; thus you see the uttermost art in dressing of hemp for each several purpose in cloth making till it come to the spinning." 45 "Of heckling flax." 46 "The dressing of flax to the finest use." 47 "Of the spinning of hemp." (has picture drawing from The Universal Magazine of Knowledge and Pleasure "After your tear is thus dressed, you shall spin it either upon wheel or rock, but the wheel is the seifter way, and the rock maketh the finer thread according to the nature of the tear, and as long as it is even it cannot be too small, but if it be uneven it will never make a durable cloth. Now forasmuch as every housewife is not able to spin her own tear in her own house, you shall make choice of the best spinners you can hear of, and to them put forth your tear to spin, weighing it before it go, and weighing it after it is spun and dry, allowing weight for weight, or an ounce and a half for waste at the most: as for the prices for spinning, they are according to the natures of the country, the fineness of the tear, and the dearness of provisions: some spinning by the pound, some by the lea, and some by day, as the bargin shall be made. 48 "Of reeling yarn." 49 "Of the scouring of yarn." 50 "Bucking of yarn." 51 "Whitening of yarn." 52 "Of winding yarn." 53 "Of warping and weaving." 54 "The scouring and whiting of cloth."
Kentucky Agricultural Experiment Station-State College of Kerntucky: Bulletin # 55-April, 1895: Explanations-The leading elements of plant food are nitrogen, phosphoric acid and potash. 54) The experiment was made on ten I-20 acre plots. The land had been in English blue-grass (Festuca elatior) in 1889-91, in 1892 in corn, in 1983 potatoes. The hemp was planted April 19th - Charts shows height as they grow. 55) shows the type of fertilizer, and pounds per acre yeild in hemp returned. Greatest yeilds were from muriate of potash 1130 lbs hemp, Muriate of Potash & Nitrate of Soda 1,170 lbs hemp, Muriate of Potash, Double Superphosphate 1,160 lbs hemp.
Flax, Hemp, Ramie & Jute: Library of Congress March 12, 1897; US Department of Agriculture: Charles Richards Dodge, Special Agent: The Hemp Industry in France "A rotation of crops is practiced, hemp alternating with grain crops, -it is also allowed to grow continually upon the same land. Regarding this mode of cultivation, they consider that it is not contrary to the law of rotation, as by deep plowing and the annual use of an abhundance of fertilizers the ground is kept sufficiently enriched for the demands which are made upon it. If the soil is not sufficiently rich in phosphates or the salts of potassium, these must be supplied by the use of lime, marl, ground bone, animal charcoal, or ashes mixed with prepared animal compost. Even hemp cake, the leaves of the plant and the "shive" or "voon," may be returned to the land with benefit. This high fertilizing is necessary, as "the hemp absorbs the equivalent of 1,500 kilos of fertilizers per every hundred kilos of fiber obtained. The deep plowing is absolutely essential, as the hemp roots require a mellow soil. The final plowing is done in the autumn, the land being thrown into ridges, and a couple of weeks later carefully leveled with the roller. Some farmers take this time to apply their fertilizer, or a portion of it at least, and also sow beans to form a green compost. When the beans are up the land is plowed a second time between the rows, and after making furrows to carry off the excess of water it is left until spring. *Best Seeds come from Piedmont, France- because it deteriorates rapidly *The closer the plants can be grown the better the fiber; and to this end a large quantity of seed is used 60 liters of seed to 44 aces, 40 aces being equal to an acre. This would give as the proper rate to sow about one and a half bushels to the acre, though four bushels are sometimes put in where fine fiber is desired. *Sewing last of April *250 plants to a square meter of ground is considered the right average when the fiber is grwon for cordage; fabrics at least four hundred plants *by the double harvesting and double retting, we find that there is greater advantage in having but one harvest without reference to the see. Dried in the air, the male hemp contains an average of 26 % of stripped hemp, and the female plants from 16 to 22%. The striped hemp dried in the air does not yield more than 60 to 75 per cent, of textile fiber, the remainder being foreign matter soluble in leached alkali, so that 100 parts of green hemp do not produce more than 5 to 8 parts of textile fiber. *France practices to systems of retting. Open field - water retting (pools nad running streams). 29) From all I could learn there is lettle pool retting in the Sarthe district, although public opinion is generally against river retting, on the score of its rendering the waters of the streams foul and detrimental to health as well as destroying all animal life with which they should abound. *Where pool retting is followed the pols are specially constructed, dug out of the earth to the depth of a yard or more, walled up or the sides made solid, and lined and floored with cement usually, in order that the water shall remain clean and the hemp retain its color. The stalks are watched very closely after the third or fourth days, the farmer breaking and examining a few at intervals to guard against over retting, which weakens the fiber. *Hemp farm Le Mans, at that time in operation, may be described as a circular brick structure some 10 or 12 feet in height, resembling a smoke house in our country. It was built on a side hill, the door opening into the chamber where the hemp was drying being on one level, the higher, while the floor to the fire pit, at the back of the building, was on the lower lever. As no evidence of a fire was observed, I infer that the fire is drawn when the right tremperature has been reached, and the hemp introduced upon the grated floor to dry slowly by moderate heat. *The stalks are of creamy whiteness, as brittle as pipe stems, and the filasse, particularly next the wood, so bright in color that no tinge of yellow is observable. *Farmer can break out 30 to 35 kilograms of fiber per day (say 60 to 75 pounds. Scutch-mill - Lem Mans, France, hand scutching - mill was run by water power, the fiber being manipulated on a circular platform a couple of feet in height and perhaps eight in diameter, made of solid oak timber, the end-wood forming the surface. To a heavy spindle in the center was attached a short conical cylinder of iron weighing some 2,400 pounds. The "streaks" or ropes of fiber as received from the farmer are made up into bundles weighing perhaps 6 1/2 pounds each, and these to the amount of 130 pounds are arrangfed over the surface of the circular bed or platform. The heavy iron cone is then made to revolve or travel around in a circle at the rate of speed equal to thirty-five times minute, the softening process requiring from half an hour to one hour and a half, dependent upon the ocndition of the hemp under treatment. Only the finest fiber is softened, the product going to the spinning mills for the manufacture of coarse sheeting, shirting, canvas, and similar fabrics, the peasantry of Brittany, for the most part, employing hemp instead of flax in the domestic economy. ...............While on this subject I would add that the softened hemp is not used in its whole length, but is broken (pulled apart) into three pieces on a mechanical device for the purpose found in all hemp mills. The bottom third is the best, and is kept separate for use in the finest numbers of yarn. 64) In November, 1888, I visited the "Blue Grass region" of Kentucky, which is the center of hemp production, and through the courtesy of W.B. Hawkins. Mr. Hawkins has raised as high as 1,648 pounds per acre. His average yield for the season of 1888 was 1,400 pounds per acre for a field of 65 acres. Hemp is grown in rotation, small grain followed by clover putting the ground in the very best condition for the growth of the fiber. The cleaning is done in the field in order that the waste portion or "shive" may be returned to the soil again. This is burned and the askes spread over the land; as the waste in its unrotted state would be injurious to the soil. (Speaking with Mr. Hawkins of the need of improved machinery for cleaning hemp, it was stated that the old method suited the colored people better, as breaking hemp in the winter was the main dependence for many of them.) 66) The approximate cost of an acre of hemp in Kentucky, counting man and team worth $3.50 per day, is as follows: Plowing $2.00 Harrowing 1.00 Seed, at $3.00 2.50 Cutting 3.00 Taking up and shaking 3.00 Spreading 2.00 When retted, shocking 1.00 Breaking, $1 per 100 (the usual crop being 1,000 pounds) 10.00 Total 24.00 "There is no reason why hemp culture should not be extended over a dozen States and the product used in manufactures which now employ thousands of tons of imported fiber. American hemp twine is said to run 100 feet more to the pound than sisal, 5 pounds of american hemp twine, at the same price per pound as sisal, going as far as 6 of sisal, an advantage of about 17 per cent, in favor of American hemp. 67) "A surer relief for the farmers would be distributing amoung them of the $4,000,000 or $5,000,000, which the production of this fiber would mean, with a possible saving of two or three millions more in the difference between the price for which a good hemp twine could be sold and the prices paid last year for a twine of foreign fiber." "I am informed, upon reliable authority, that the proportion of hemp twine to twine of manila, sisal, ect, that will enter into the present year's supply will not be over 10 per cent., or about 5, 000 tons. This twine, in car-load lots, can be sold at 12 1/2 cents per pound against 16 cents for manila. If only one- half of the binder-twine out-put were made of hemp, at these prices there would be a clear saving of $1,750,000 to the consumers in a single year from difference in prices alone. And I am informed upon equally reliable authority that the machine binders work with hemp twine quite as readily as with the stiffer twines from sisal and manila when a well-made hemp twine is used." "A great deal has been said on this subject, the principal objections coming from those who are especially interested in manila and sisal, but the fact is, and it can be proved by abundant evidence, that the "prejudice" against hemp twine has no substantial foundation. In this connection I can but present a letter on the subject, received while this report is in press, which explains itself.
(D.M. Osborne & Co., Manufactures of Harvesting Machinery.) Auburn, N.Y., March 29, 1890.
Dear Sir: We have your esteemed favor of the 26th instant, making inquiry as to our judgment of the value of American hemp twine, commonly known and called as "Kentucky hemp binding twine" for harvesting machinery. We have sold several thousand tons of this twine, and without exception it has given the best of satisfaction to the farmers using it on their self-binding harvesters. The standards for binding twine are, pure sisal, 500 feet long; half manila and half sisal, 550 feet long, and pure manila 600 feet. American hemp when spun 525 feet long is the equal of sisal, half each sisal and manila or pure manila, of the lengths given above. There is no fiber in the world better suited to this use than American hemp. It is our judgment, based upon nearly ten years' experience with large quantities of binder twine each year, that the entire supply of this twine should be made from American hemp. it has been demonstrated that this hemp can be grown in the States of Kentucky, Missouri, Kansas, Southern Iowa, Southern Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, and New York, and probably several other States that are adapted to raising winter wheat. There are 50,000 tons of this binding twine used annually, every pound of which could and should be made from this home product. Your department can do no greater service to the farming community than by widely disseminating the information as to the extent of the use of this twine for binding purposes, and the fact that American hemp is not a difficult crop to raise, and that the usual average yield upon good soil is from 1,000 to 1,500 pounds of hemp per acre. Very truly yours, D. M. Osborne & Co. by G. W. All, Treasurer Chas, Richards Dodge, Esq.,Special Agent Fiber Investigations, "It is further evidence were desirable, the testimony of farmers themsleves, who use and prefer hemp twine, could be given from the large correspondence of the Department, but it is not necessary. One of the strongest of these is signed by the president of the Alliance organization in Minnesota." It is claimed that if manila, sisal, sunn, New Zealand, and other hemp substitutes are placed upon the list of free raw materials it will be because some of the farmers in the West have demanded it, in view of the present agricultural depression, to cheapen the present cost of binder-twine. No doubt should this occur the few manufacturing firms in the United States who produce binder- twine from foreign fibers will thank these farmers who have actually aided them in the accomplishment of a much desired object that they have been unable to bring about through their own eforts. There are many Western farmers, however, who look at this matter in its true light, as is shown by the large correspondence of the Department relating to fiber matters, received since the fiber investigation began. These farmers see what is the fact, that every pound of binger-twine used can be made of native grown fibers, that the twine will be as good as the best manila, run as many feet to the pound, and can be produced at a saving of at least 4 cents a pound from the present prices. With free foreign fiber the saving to the farmers by the removal of the duty will not be over a cent a pound, and it remains to be seen whether the farmer will get any advantage, as the production is not limited to a few manufactures, who, it is claimed, even control the supply of raw material, thus shutting off all competiution. At lowest estimates we are now importing raw fibers and fiber manufactures to the extent of $26,000,000 (out of some $44,000,000. total imports), that could be saved to the country. The Department of Agriculture has just initiated an effort to re- establish the fiber industry in the United States, that the farmers of the country may gradually secure to themselves this $26,000,000 through the cultivation of two easily grown crops. It is needless to say that if these foreign hemp substitutes, and jute especially, are placed upon the free list, these efforts in a measure will be hampered and the farmers themselves will be the losers. Both binder-twine and cotton bagging should be made from flax and hemp grown on American Farms." 68) New York - Cable Flax Mills at Schaghticoke, are furnished the seed and pay $12 per ton of 2,000 pounds for the stalks delivered. - Farmers agree to sow the seed on good ground, at the rate of about 1 bushel per acre, to cut the hemp at maturity, and whn properly cured or dried, to deliver the same, in bundles about 10 inches in diameter, "dry and free from tree or bush hemp, weeds, thistles, grass or other objectionable matter." They also agreed to a reduction of $3. per bushel for the seed when the yield of stalks was more than 4,000 pounds per bushel, no charge for see being made when a less quantity was produced. ----Their records show the best for income net proceeds per acre , cost of seed deducted, was $76.48. The second best was $58.38, and the best five crops averaged $49.71 per acre, exclusive of the cost of seed. 70)The question of rotation is little regarded, as the production of hemp is not considered exhaustive to the soil. As Mr. Hartshorn suggests, however, it can hardly be claimed that the production of an annual plant growing from 6 to 14 feet high does not exhaust the soil, though it is certain that hemp contributes more than any other crop towards repairing the damage done by its own growth through the return of the leaves to the soil, beside other matters while it is undergoing the process of retting. ....As a proof of its weed killing powers a North River farmer makes the statement that thistles hertofore had mastered him completely in a certain field, but after sowing it with hemp not a thistle could be found, and while performing this excellent service the hemp yielded his nearly $60. per acre, where previously nothing valuable could be produced." "Regarding soil exhaustion by this crop, Henry Clas was of the opinion that it exhausted the soil slowly, if at all, thirteen or fourteen successive crops sometimes having been taken from the same land. It is interesting in this connection to note that in France, where a fine quality of hemp is produced, the plant is often grown on the same land without rotation, although the soil is kep up in a high state of fertility." "It should be stated that most of the crop of North River hemp grown last year was retted by the Cabie Flax mills on grass ground. A portion was retted on the stubble ground which produced the hemp. A smaller portion was reted in stagnant water and some in running water. Experiments were also made at the Cable Flax mills in hot-water retting and likewise by a patened serial retting process consisting of: (1) Hot-water pressure; (2) A cold air blast; (3) Steam pressure; (4) A cold water bath, all done in a revolving iron tank or boiler in about three hours. The treatment required no chemicals. As the drying is done under cover the process can be carried on with absolute safety to the fiber at all seasons of the year." Mr. Hartshorn says: The shives or hurds from the hemp when broken out (which is the next process of the industry), furnishes an excellent fuel, quite sufficient to make steam for retting, drying, and breaking the hemp; hence this process can not be very expensive, while the fiber produced is lighter in color and more valuable than by the old out-door process. Aside from the cost of building and maintaining a plant for this process, and the hauling of the straw instead of the cleaned fiber to market, (as when retted and broken by hand in the field), there can be but little difference in the cost of the two processes, while the additional value of the fiber and the very present risk of spoiling entire crops by over-retting out doors, the new process will speedily supersede the old." The Flax and Hemp Spinners and Growers'Association of America, to stimulate to greater interest in the cultivation of hemp, haver offered a reward for the present year to the farmers of Renssclaer and Washington Counties, as follows: Fifty dollars to the farmer who produces the greatest number of acres, and $25 for the second largest. Also, $50 for the largest production per acre, and $25 for the second largest. By hand, 8 to 10 toons of hemp per day are taken care of. Mr Heany has invented a device of his own. As to the facts he says: I can furnish the clean fibver at 4 cents per pound at a profit. I am no theorists; I have 800 acres of hemp this year betwist this place and Peotone, Ill. I have hsipped already 60 tons of the fiver to the spinning mill this fall and winter, from Buckley. I have one field of 140 acres from which I am expecting to get 1,500 pounds of fiber to the acre. It usually costs $15 per acre for rent and labor - on the product of an acre delivered on board cars. If the people would but take 3,000,000 acres of land out of grain at home and save the millions we annually pay out for fibers. it would relieve the present agricultural depression wonderfully. All this fine country can raise good hemp wherever it can raise a good crop of anything else. 73) Has diagram of a Power Break. The machine, operated by three men, I was told, has already demonstrated a capacity of 10,000 pounds of stalks, or 30 cwt, of cleaned fiber in ten hours. One man feeds the hemp stalks, while a second man, or boy, recieves the fiber, which is given out in a continuous stream at the other end. The fiber is delivered in its full length. In Cable-Mills it is run in connection with the shell-card and hacking machine, which takes the cleaned fiber at once and prepares it for the next processof manufacture. ...In the past two men cleaned 100 pounds of retted hemp stalks, yielding 33 1/2 pounds of well-cleaned fiber, in five and three-quarters minutes. From the practical working of the machine during the past fall it is claimed that it will reduce the cost of hemp-breaking from $1.25 to 25 cents per hundred weight. The "shive", "hurds" are used for fuel in place of the best quality of bituminous coal, and the fact was demonstrated that when used under one boiler of the series, less coal was consumed under the other boilers using coal as fuel tan when coal was employed for all.
RETTING OF HEMP IN TANKS G. Loppens, & J/ DfSwarte; carried on in the experimental establishment at Neerpel T. Limbourg, Belgium; 1896 - Library of the U.S. Department of Agriculture - class 73 R 31: 4) Advantages to tank retting: 1)The possibility of natural retting in running water, that is to say, the best. 2)The greatest uniformity obtainable in retting 3)Larger yield of fibre than any other system 4)The results are certain and invariable 5)It saves labour 6)It limits the water consumption to what is strictly necessary to natural fermentation. 7)Full benefit is derived from the water used in retting. Wolff, in his book on "Manures," sets down 34 kilos of phosphoric acid, and 9,175 kilos of potash as lost in retting, per 1,000 kilos of dry straw, in stagnant water, he does not indicate the amount of azote. And, whereas in that system of retting there must be considerable loss of azote, owing to the amount of ammonia given off; in the system under consideration, on the contrary, no ammonia, is produced in the tanks and cannot be produced afterwards, owing to the water being immediately spread on the adjoining land. The average composition of flax-straw includes 4- 8 kilos of azote, 3.99 k of phosphoric acid, and 9.426 k of potash; if 85 per cent of phosphoric acid, and almost all the potash remain in the water in retting blue, it is certain that 3/4 of the azote will be seved in this system of retting, seeing that it purifies the stalks much better. Admitting this yeild as certain, it gives us a weight of at least 3-6 k of azote 3.9 k of phosphoric acid, and 9.426k of potash; if 85 percent of phosphoric acid, and almost all of the potash remain in the water in retting blue, it is certain that 3/4 of the azote will be saved in this system of retting, seeing that it purifies the stalks much better. Admitting this yield as certain, it gives us a weight of at least 3-6 k of azote. These elements being dissolved in water and delivered on the spot have an agricultural value of a kilo of 1.50 francs for azote, 0.40 francs for phosphoric acid; and for potash, that is to say for above weights, 5.40 francs; 1.36 francs and 3.67 francs respectively, or 10.43 francs (8/4) per 1,000 kilos (1 ton) of dry stray. The manure thus distributed has therefore a considerable value, and the distribution takes place during the warm season, which not only increases the value of the water but insures the rapid assimulation of the manures. The samll quantity of water is easily absorbed by the earth if it is not clayey, and all the fertilizing elements remain in the earth that is watered. 8. Rivers are not contaiminated. 9. It is suitable for every part of the world where flax or hemp is cultivated. The only requirements are an unfailing supply of water and the necessary means of communication. *page 6 & 7 have actual results of these tests: The balance of yield in favour of the Tanks is therefore 15.4 percent. Conclusion From the facts adduced above the superiority of this system is proved beyond a doubt, not only compared with all systems of retting in dams, but even compared with retting in the Lys-the best hitherto. As a matter of fact the system is use at the lys was the model, and the object was to realize for the straw, while retting, the same conditions under very different circumstances, and this was achieved; advantage is also secured from the absence of disturbing causes arising from working in a river, and all the flax is sold as flax from the Lys, one difference being that it is more uniform and exceptionally strong.
*One bale = 100 kilos
OREGON AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION May 1898; Bulletin # 54; Agricultural College Printing Office Tells about buying seeds from over seas and how to plant & harvest them.
Pubdate: 1900 Source: 1899 Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture Author: James Wilson, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture Page: 64 - REPORT OF THE SECRETARY - HEMP
THE REIGN OF LAW, A TALE OF THE KENTUCKY HEMP FIELDS, By James Lane Allen, With Illustrations by Harry Fenn & J.C. Earl, New York The MacMillan Company London: MacMillan & Co., LTD. 1900
Sears Roebuck & Co.Catalog - Sears’ Roebuck & Co., sold Medical Marihuana. According to their 1901 catalog [courtesy of the U.C. Santa Barbara University Library], sears sold the following [note that the first two were sold via house brands]: Sears, Roebuck & Co. [1901] Chicago ILL. U.S.A. Tinctures - No. 8R8936 --- Cannabis Indica. U.S.P. No. 8R8328 Neuralgic, Kenyon Proprietary and Patent Medicines - Battle’s Bromidia Proprietary and Patent Medicines - Piso’s Consumption Cure -----(sidebar Feb, 2007) And while normally this would not be big news [remember Cannabis medicines at one time were as common as aspirin is today] what makes Sears so different is what else they sold -- (During the Reefer Madness Era).. According to their encyclopedia: -----MARIHUANA, the Mexican name for a narcotic drug obtained from the leaves of the hemp plant CANNABIS and generally used in cigarettes. Introduced from Mexico about 1910, probably at New Orleans or in the southwestern states, its use has spread at an alarming rate in the United States Known by a variety of local terms, . . . “The Weed,” it is considered by many authorities to be the most potent drug in common use. - Although the effect of marihuana is often unpredictable, and may range from extreme elation to profound melancholy, the result is almost invariably accompanied by a loss of restraint and self-control, with subsequent erratic behavior. Hallucinations of sight and hearing are not uncommon, and delusions of strength may lead to feats of endurance without sense of fatigue. Although the long-run effects of the continued use of the drug are disputed by medical authorities, it is thought by some that chronic addiction leads to a loss of mental ability, stupor, and indolence, and that in such cases irreparable damage is done to brain tissue and nerve centers, and insanity may be the result. - Marijuana smoking did not become a problem in the United States until about 25 years ago and has caused serious concern only in the past 12 to 15 years. Its use has spread to all sections of the country, being especially prevalent in large cities. In 1937 it was estimated that there were over 100,000 marijuana addicts in the United States, the majority being of high school and college age. An index of the great increase in the use of marijuana since that year is the number of arrests for violation of narcotic drug laws, which more than doubled between 1937 and 1950.
FIXED OILS, FATS, BUTTERS, & WAXES, and the manufacture therefrom of Candles, Soaps, and other products; C.R.Alder Wright; London: Charles Grifin & Co, Limited; Exeter Street, Strand, 1903. 62) Refractometer Readings of 244 Samples of Oils Hemp seed - at 22 degrees C. - # of Samples Examined - Deviation + - Highest 37.5 - Lowest 34.0 - Average 35.5 Heat of Combustion @ pure cane sugar (=3959 cals. per gramme). The results obtained were reduced to constant pressure by adding (1/2 p - q) M/T Calories per Gramme, where p represents the number of atoms of hydrogen; q the number of atoms of oxygen in the molecule; M, the molecular weight of the substance; and T, the absolute temperature of the calorimeter. The following corrections were required: For American petroleum, 22 cals; sperm oil, 18 cals.; castor oil and rosin oil, 14 cals.; and all oils consisting essentially of non-hydroxylated gylcerides, 15 cals. In making the combustion the oil was taken up with absorbent fibrour asbestos and ignited directly in the platinum crucible by means of an electrically fused iron wire. The following table gives some of the chief results.........................63) From these results Sherman and Snell concluded that castor oil, boiled linseed, and old oils have very low heats of combustion. The variations in the combustion heats stand in closer relationship to the specific gravity than to the iodine absorption or acidity. For oils of the same kind the product of the heat of combustion multiplied by the specific gravity is practically a constant unaffected by age or exposure. This constant is higher for drying than for non-drying oils. In the case of ordinary oils it was found to vary from 8.80 to 8.63. Castor and boiled linseed oils gave somewhat lower values, and sperm oil and mineral and rosin oils somewhat higher ones. 68) ...........the following results were obtained with alcohol of 90 percent strength - chart shows that Hemp-seed oil has a Critical Temperature of Solution of 97 degrees C, the only two lower readings were Nut oil at 97 degrees and Linseed oil at 70 degrees. The greatest tested was mineral oils at between 135.5 & 140 degrees and Colza oil with 132 to 135 degrees. 69) *In testing of hemp seed, it is listed on this report as Niger seed. (fortunately it is noted that results were too variable and indefinite to be of service in discriminating the value of oils 83) MELTING AND SOLIDIFYING POINTS OF OILS. Chilling baths of this description are more especially of use in the examination of lubricating oils with respect to their congealing temperatures. Recorded Melting and Solidifying Points - The following table, derived in the main from Schadler's Technologies der Fette und Oele, exhibits the average melting solidifying points of many of the more commonly occurring fats and oils: - The Chart shows that Hemp seed has no melting point after solidification. The Solidifying Point when cooled (after Fusion, if Solid) is -27 to -28 degrees C. (In just examaning this report, it seems that actually nothing listed competes with Hemp-seed oil - proof for it being a great motor oil. 85)Fatty acids: Recorded Melting and Solidifying Points of Fatty Acids. - The following table represents the melting and solidifying points of the given mixed fatty acids obtained from various oils and fats, as given by Schadler: - NAME OF OIL, Hemp MELTING POINT 19 degrees C SOLIDIFYING POINT 15 degrees C. 102) RELATIVE DENSITIES OF THE PRINCIPAL OILS, FATS, Many chemists have published the results of their determinations of the specific gravities of genuine oils. In most instances the observed limits of variation in this respect are not very wide, being mainly dependent on the freedom from rancidity and free fatty acids; the degree of refinement (or freedom from mucilaginous nmatter,);' the age of the sample (whether oxygen has been absorbed or not), and so on. In many cases a measurable difference is observable between the density of the oil first expressed, especially when cold drawn, and that the later portions obtained by the aid of heat, and the latter being generally heavier. The following figures are given by Schadler as expressing the average values of the specific gravities at 15 degrees C. of a large neumber of the more commonly occurring vegetable and other oils. from chart: NAME OF OIL: Hemp SPECIFIC GRAVITY AT 15 DEGREES C: 0.9276 176) The subjoined table gives a general summary of the results thus obtained by Bishop. These show that earth-nut oil occupies an intermediate position between the semi-drying oils like cotton-seed oil, and the non-drying oils like colza and olive oil. In the case of the latter a somewhat higher temperature (20 degrees to 30 degrees C.) is advisable, and even then the oxidation is not complete in a short time: 177) The drying qualities of an oil appear to be the more marked the greater the proportion of linolenic and isolinolenic acids present. 178) Hzaura & Grissner calculated the following percentages from the relative proportions in which the hydroxystearic acids were produced on oxidising the liquid fatty acids of linseed, hemp seed, nut, poppy seed, and cotton seed oils, the oilid acids being previously separated by conversion into lead salts and treatment with ether. from chart: NAME OF OIL: Hemp Seed Oil PERCENTAGE OF LINOLENIC ACID 15% PERCENTAGE OF ISOLINOLENIC ACID 15% PERCENTAGE OF LINOLIC ACID 70% - OLEIC ACID 15% 208) The Saponification Value - Koettstorfer's Test: The saponification value, K, of a given substance being known, the mean equivalent weight of the substance is readily calculated by the proportion: K : 56.1 : : 1000 : x = 56,100/K. 209) The value of X thus obtained is generally referred to as the "saponification equivalent" of the body in question: from chart: SUBSTANCE: Trilinolin CHIEF SOURCES: Linseed, hemp, maize, and walnut oils SAPONIFICATION VALUE, or koettstorfer number (Mgrms. of KOE required for Saponification, of 1 grm.) 181,6 SAPONIFICATION EQUIVALENT: 292.7 210) SAPONIFICATION VALUES OF COMMON OILS AND FATS: the following table gives the values collated by Schadler and by Benedikt from various souces: page 210 & 211 lists different sciencetists results - about the same. 271) Oil cakes made by the Anglo-American system of working are usually more completely expressed, so as to contain distinctly smaller percentages of residual oily matter than cakes prepared without the aid of a moulding machine. If, however, the expression be expressed too far, the value of the cake as cattle fodder is greatly disminished, so that in extreme cases it may be rendered unsaleable. from chart: OIL CAKE FROM: Hemp seed PERCENTAGE OF WATER: 10.00 FATTY MATTER: 8.26 CELLULOSE AND NON- NITROGENOUS VEGETABLE MATTER: 48.00 ASH 12.24 PROTEIDS 21.50 NITROGEN 3.30 298) CHART: Name of Oil: Hemp seed Botanical Name of Plant: Cannabis sativa, L Native Country: Asia Percentage Yield of oil: 30 to 35 %
299) CHART: Oil or Fat: Hemp seed oil, Percentage of Unsaponifiable Matter 0
482 - 483) HEMP-SEED OIL Recorded Values Hemp Seed Oil
Specific Gravity: 0.9280 Saponification Value: 192.8 Iodine Value: 140-5 Maumene Test: 95-96 degrees C Free Fatty Acids: .045 % Solidification Point: -15 to -28 degrees C
Fatty Acids. Melting Point: 17 -21 degrees C Solidification Point: 14-16 degrees C Iodine Value: 141
"The oil is obtained from the seeds of Cannabis sativa. It is used in the manufacture of soft soap and as a drying oil for paints and varnishes. According to Hazura and Grissner, the liquid fatty acids consist of 70 % of linolin, 15% of linolenin and isolinolein, and 15 % of olein. The oil also contains a small quantity of stearin and palmitin. Hemp seed oil is greenish yellow in color when extracted with solvents, and yellowish-brown when obtained by expression. it has b characteristic odour. It is a good drying oil, though it dries less rapidly than linseed oil. It is soluble in 30 parts of cold alcohol, and in 12 parts of boiling alcohol. It is frequently used to adulterate linseed oil, and is also not infrequently present accidentally, owing to the admixture of hempseed with the linseed before expression. When present in any considerable quantity it lowers the iodine value of linseed oil, and would probably also be indicated by the lower yield of insoluble bromides from the oil and free fatty acids. 683) CALCULATION OF QUANTITY OF LEY through page 725 tells how to make soap from hemp seed, and other oils.
SOAPS, A PRACTICAL NAMUAL OF THE MANUFACTURE OF DOMESTIC TOILET PAPER AND OTHER SOAPS: George H. Hurst, F.C.S.: 1907: United States: D.Van Nostrand Co., New York from chart 226) OIL: Hemp seed PERCENT OF CAUSTIC POTASH, KOH 19.3 PERCENT OF CAUSTIC SODA, NaOH: 13.8 In this section are many recipes for making soap of varying kinds. 226 to 239)
Scientific Memoirs : Major D. Prain, M.B., I.M.S.; Calcutta, Office of the Superintendent of Government Printing in India: 1904 ON THE MORPHOLOGY, TERATOLOGY AND DICLINISM OF THE FLOWERS OF CANNABIS This book is great and very erotic. It tells all about Indica Hemp!
Pubdate: 1910 Source: 1909 Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture Author: James Wilson, U.S.D.A. Secretary Pages: 77-78 - FIBER INVESTIGATIONS - HEMP & FLAX
Pubdate: 1914 Source: 1913 Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture Author: Lyster H. Dewey, Botanist in Charge of Fiber-Plant Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry Pages: 308-309, 335-337 - HEMP. - SOILS SUITED TO HEMP.
1915 USDA Farmers' Bulletin: Cannabis Cultivation
Wisconsin's Hemp Industry; May, 1918; Bulletin 293; Agricultural Experiment Station of the University of Wisconsin: 3) Wisconsin's Hemp Industry: Of the 42,000 acres of hemp grown in the United States is 1917, Wisconsin grew 7,000. Among the several states growing hemp, Wisconsin ranks second in acreage and production of fiber. Large areas in Wisconsin are admirably suited to hemp culture, and a firmly established dairy industry helps to insure the continued productiveness of the soil. 4) In 1908 six acres were grown on the asylum farm at Mendota and three acres on the prison farm at Waupun by the Agronomy department of the Wisconsin Experiment Station in cooperation with the Office of Fiber Investigations of the United States Department of Agriculture....5) At Waupun in 1911 the hemp was grown on land badly infested with quack grass, and in spite of an unfavorable season a yield of 2,100 pounds of fiber to the acre was obtained....there were no satisfactory machines for harvesting, spreading, binding, or breaking. All of these processes were performed by hand. Due to such methods, the hemp industry in the United States had all but disappeared. As it was realized from the very beginning of the work in Wisconsin that no permanent progress could be made so long as it was necessary to depend upon hand labor, immediate attention was given to solving the problem of power machinery. COOPERATION NECESSARY IN HEMP GROWING Community interest is essential to the successful production of hemp. One farmer in a community, without the cooperation of his neighbors, will fail if he attempts to grow hemp. Machinery for handling the crop is expensive, and without machinery little or nothing can be accomplished. In this state central breaking mills are necessary. These mills cost from $10,000 to more than $50,000, depending upon the capacity and equipment. Of course a sufficient acreage must be grwon in a comminuty to justify the erection of such a mill. The first year there should be at least 300 acres with reasonable assurance of from 500 to 750 acres in successive years. This means that the production of hemp must be concentrated in definite centers, to give assurance of sufficient raw material to make the operation of mills profitable. 7) To do this small plots should be grwon on several farms in the community and the results carefully observed. Since a hemp mill is essential to the establishment of a hemp center, a satisfactory site for such a mill is very important. Locating a mill in a country several miles from a railway station is not to be recommended. When so located, transportation becomes an expensive item and the labor problem is made very serious. About 20 men are required to operate a hemp mill and it is difficult to obtain men who will work in the country and even more difficult to retain them. The ideal location for a hemp center is a small town with fair railroad facilities, surrounded by fertile land. A large town is not so desirable a location as a small one, for thoo much land is not so desirable a location as a small one, for too much land is occupied by the town, and the farm land is necessarily far removed from the mill. Then, too, the farmers living near large towns are not, as a rule, easily interested in a new industry and have relatively little community interests. The community, as a whole, must become interested in growing hemp in order to insure success. To arouse such interest, the subject of hemp should be thoroughly discussed and as much information obtained about the crop as possible. If much interest is shown, public meetings may be held at which the growing and handling of hemp may be explained by someone who understands the subject. If, after careful consideration, a considerable number in the community desire to undertake hemp growing, an estimate should be made of the acreage that could be obtained. If at least 300 acres are promised, an effort should then be made to obtain a hemp mill. A central mill for breaking the stalks and cleaning the fiber is the only satisfactory plan. Wherever such mills have been established, permanent progress has been made, and where hemp has been grown under other arrangements for handling the stalks, dissatisfaction has often resulted. The erection and equipment of the mill may be financed by outside capital, by a local company, or cooperatively by the farmers of the community. The important thing is that complete arrangements should be made for the establishment of the mill before any acreage is planted. It is by such methods that new hemp centers have been established. Throughout the development of the industry the Experiment Station has stood firm in its belief that in no case should attempts be made to establish new centers of hemp production until the prospective growers have obtained a general knowledge of the essentials of producing the crop, know that their soils are suitable, and have made all necessary arrangements for the establishment of hemp mills. The Experiment Station is in a position to assist in establishing new hemp centers where ever local conditions warrant.
The Wisconsin Hemp Order
The stable growth which the hemp industry has mde in Wisconsin is due considerably to organized effort. At the very beginning of the industry at Waupun, an organization known as the Rock River Hemp Growers' association was formed. This association was considerably responsible for guiding the new industry through the expermental stage. After the crop expanded and became the state-wide importance, a state association was formed. This association is known as the Wisconsin Hemp Order. it was organized at Ripon on October 18, 1917, and is affiliated with the Wisconsin Agricultural Experiment Association. The object of the Hemp Order is to promote the general welfare of the hemp industry in the state. Its membership is composed of hemp growers and hemp mill operators. Anyone in the state interested in growing and handling of hemp is eligible to membership.
Where Hemp Is Grown 9)................In the United States, previous to the Civil War, the chief centers of hemp production were Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois. From the close of the Civil War until 1912, nearly all the hemp in the United States was grown in Kentucky. At the present time (1918), hemp is grown for fiber in Kentucky, Wisconsin, California, North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, South Dakota 10) Michigan, Kansas, Iowa, and Illinois..................... Hemp is a native of China, but has been widely distributed into nearly all temperate and semiterperate countries. It is now grown in Russia, China, Japan, Hungary, France, Chile, Turkey, India, Arabia, Africa, Canada, and the United States. 11) It is evident that the amount of hemp produced in the United States previous to 1913 was approximately the same each year, averaging annually about 6,000 tons. In 1914 there was a material reduction, and even though there were several states other than Kentucky in which hemp was grown, the total production was only 1,000 tons. In 1915 (USDA Farmers Bulletin) and 1916 there was a decided increase, and in 1917, the acreage was larger than in any previous year since the Civil War. 13) Table II - Distribution of Hemp Acreage in the United States (Kansas grew 300 acres in 1917).......................but in those states where thorough preparations have been made for growing and handling the crop, there is every reason to believe that hemp production is a permanent industry. "Hemp is grown for its seeds, for medicine, and for its fiber." 14) .........Hemp fiber it was used in the manufacture of a great number of products, including bagging for cotton bales and for numerous other purposes, sacking of all kinds, binder twines, carpets, rugs, seines, nets, fish lines, sewing thread of all kinds, warp for carpets, and for such fabrics as crash toweling, rough sheeting, and rough clothing. There are certain uses for which hemp is particularly suited and there is no reason why these uses should not be developed. Hemp has great tensile strength and is very resistant to water and to wear. Hence, it is particularly suited for cordage of all kinds, for lines and ropes used in all shipping activities, for aanvases used in shipping and wherever great strength and resistance to water are required, for such threads as shoe thread and sacking thread, where strength is more important than fineness, for sewing coarse wearing apparel, for trimmings in millinery, for fastening buttons, for the more strongly and finely woven types of sacking such as grain sacks, sugar sacks, and the like, for the warp of carpets, for the manufacture of service carpets, rugs, hallway rugs, and all forms of floor covering, and for manufacturing the more coarself woven products such as toweling, curtains, table cloths, and other textiles.
Hemp will leave the soil in splendid physical condition for any spring sown small grain. It also leaves the land relatively free from all knids of weeds and consequently it is a good crop to precede sugar beets or canning peas, for these crops especially require a clean seed bed.
Grow Hemp in Rotation
Four Year Rotation Small spring grain crop (seeded down to clover) Clover for hay and pasture (manured and fall plowed) Corn, potatoes, or similar crops Hemp (then back to small grain and clover)
page 20 & 21 list all the different types of hemp. 21) paragraph 1 mentions drug type hemp, stating that this is the type that birds like best for bird seed... and the drug type are unsiuted for fiber production and should not be grown in Wisconsin. 24)The average yield of hemp seed in Kentucky is estimated at 16 bushels an acre. A bushel of seed weighs 44 pounds.....Provide Level Seed Bed: Tells how to prepare the land. 25) In Kentucky three pecks are sufficient.....Wisconsin..very satisfactory stands from planting only three pecks, but averaging th experience of growers in Wisconsin, 40 pounds an acre is sufficient to insure a good stand. 35) The Modern Breaking Mill: The great advance made in the production of rough hemp fiber has come largely as a results of the development of the central breaking mill. The several mills now operating in this and other states have been very successful and there is every reason to believe that the principle of breaking hemp is fully equipped plants is correct, and that it marks permanent progress in the developement of the hemp industry. The modern hemp mills, several of which are now established in Wisconsin, consists of a receiving room, dry kiln, breaking room with brakes, scrutchers and balers, boiler room, and engine 36) and fan room. The receiving room is not only used for receiving the stalks but is generally used for storing sufficient hemp stalks to insure continuous operation of the mill during periods of unfavorable weather which prevent the delivery of stalks from fields and stack yards. From the receiving room the stalks are conducted through the dry kilns, where the excess moisture is removed by means of a hot air blast. The thoroughly dried stalks are then fed to the breaking rolls where they are reduced to a crushed mass. This mass of broken stalks passes over a series of shakers by which most of the loose hurds are separated from the fiber, and is then conducted between the scutching wheels for more complete removal of hurds. The fiber, which is then fairly clean, is twisted into coarse hands and baled. The baled fiber is the final product of the hemp mill and is known commercially as rough fiber. As such it is sold to cordage and spinning mills. 37) In Wisconsin, where machine brakes are used, the cleaning is done with power scutchers. These scutchers consist of from two to four large cylinders, on the outside surface of which there are wooden slats. The cylinders are stationary and revolve toward each other. The uncleaned fiber is conducted between these wheels and held firmly in the center by means of a clamp conveyor. As the fiber passes between the scutching cylinders the hurds are combed out. A device for off-setting the hemp in the clamp-conveyor is necessary to clean the middle protion of the fiber, and scutchers with such a device are now successfully used. 38) fiber includes both the long fibers, called line or long line, and the short, tangled fibers, called tow. The line is worth from two to three times as much as the tow, and the larger the percentage of line fiber obtained, the more valuable the product.....10 to 25 percent tow and 75 to 90 percent line. Stalks under four feet in length will produce fiber that is practically all tow, and if the stalks have been under-retted, a very high percentage of tow will result. Tangled and unevenly butted stalks will also produce a high percentage of tow. 39) Green hemp stalks, at the time they are harvested, contain approximately 60 per cent more water than when they are retted and dry. Consequently a yield of three tons of dry, retted stalks represents yield of seven and one-half tons of green material.
Table IV - Average Yields of Green Stalks, Retted Stalks, Total Fiber, Line and Tow Material Yield to the acre in pounds Green Stalks 15,000 Dry, retted stalks 6,000 Total fiber 1,200 Rough, long fiber 900 Tow 240
Cost of producing hemp
................Hemp seed is not (1917-18) expensive, ranging from $7. to $10. a bushel. Since a bushel is required to the acre, the seed will cost from $7. to $10. an acre, or an average of $8.50. evident that seed for the hemp crop is an expensive item compared with seed for planting most other farm crops. Average height 6 1/2 feet, 3 tons of dry retted stalks will produce 20% by weight of rough fiber. 40)..One harvester should handle 100 acres of hemp so that cooperation among growers is very important. Where growers do not see fit to cooperate in buring of a harvester, the company which operates the mill should purchase the necessary machines, furnish a man with each and harvest the hemp at an agreed price...................................... After the hemp is retted, it must be taken up from the swath and bound. This operation, called lifting, can now be done with the gather-binder, a machine devised for this particular purpose. By using such a machine, the cost of binding the retted stalks will be approximately the same as for threshing small grain. After the stalks are bound, they must be shocked, a task that requires about the same amount of labor as does shocking bound corn. ....................In estimating the cost of hauling, it may be considered that a good team will haul an average of 3,000 pounds to the load, which means that an acre of average hemp will make two loads of stalks. When delivered to the mill, the hemp must be stacked. This requires about the same amount of labor as stacking bundled grain. From these facts, it can be estimated that hemp compared with small grains costs from $5 to $7 more an acre for seed, 41) from $2 to $3 more an acre for harvesting, and somewhat more for delivering, the total cost of production ranging from $8 to $11 more to the acre. The total returns received are such that the net profits are much greater from hemp than from small grains - in fact, greater than from most other Wisconsin crops - a statement substantiated by the reports of a large majority of hemp growers in the state. ...Returns From Hemp: Prices received during 1917 ranged from $50 to over $100 gross an acre. These large returns are due, of course, to the present high price of hemp fiber and should not be expected to continue indefinitely. So long as present prices for fiber continue the grower of hemp can expect to receive $75. an acre for a first class crop of hemp.
Buying and Selling the Crop
In Wisconsin the breaking and cleaning of hemp has become a specialized business, separate from the production of the crop. Consequently, the grower concerns himself only with the growing of the crop and the delivering of the retted stalks, and the mill operator attends to the breaking, scutching, and bailing. As a result of the two separate phases of the industry, several methods of buying and selling the crop have developed. None of these methods are entirely satisfactory. Buying the retted stalks by the acre is the most common method. The owner of the hemp mill will examine the farmer's hemp field, estimate the yield of retted stalks, note their condition and make a rough estimate of the quality of fiber they will produce. He then makes a bid on the crop, offering a certain price for the stalks when delivered at the mill. Such a method necessitates a great deal of bickering and is not good business for either the grower or the buyer. Buying the retted stalks by the ton is another method in common use. When bought in this way, the dealer inspects the grower's crop and makes him an offer based on the length, evenness, and quality of the stalks with the understanding that the stalks are to be delivered to the mill in good condition and reasonably free from moisture. This method is much more business-like, but since the amount of moisture in different lots of hemp stalks varies greatly, disagreements and misunderstandings are sure to result. If there were a simple way of determining the amount of moisture in each load, and its value were computed on that basis, the method would ten be much more satisfactory. 43) In the third method in common use, the grower delivers his crop to the mill where it is broken, cleaned and baled, and the grower either pays the mill an agreed price a pound for the work, or the mill buys the fiber at an agreed price. This method of dealing, based on the actual amount of fiber produced, should do away with most misunderstandings and disagreements. The objections to such an arrangement are that the majority of growers prefer either to receive pay for the crop, or to know how much they are going to receive at the time the crop is delivered; they object to storing the crop at the mill to await the time when the crop can be broken out, which is often several months. Such a method also works a hardship on the mill, for storage room must be provided, each man's crop marked and kept separate, and each crop broken out and handled as a separate lot. It is difficult to state at this stage just what is the best arrangement for buying and selling the hemp crop. The industry is new and rapidly developing and these matters must be worked out gradually. 44)...The Experiment Station, in cooperation with the Federal Office of Fiber Investigations
THE BETHLEHEM OIL MILL 1745 - 1934 OILSEED MILL HEMP MILL TANBARK BILL GROUT MILL SNUFF MILL WATERWORKS German Technology in Early Pennsylvania; Carter Litchfield; 1984; Olearius Editions 28)The 1752 oil mill had processed oilseeds, hemp, and tanbark using the power of one waterwheel. 30).....On December 27 the hemp stamping mill was put into operation, no doubt with considerable ceremony; and the first day's customers had their hemp stamped free of charge.....Late in 1767 a water-powered hemp roller mill was installed on the second floor to soften hemp fiber for weaving into cloth. That same winter a separate drying kiln was built 40 feet (12 m) south of the oil mill .. 31) The new oil mill with its many products rapidly became a major source of income for the Single Brethren's Choir. From 1767 through 1787 net profits averaged L155 , (or $450 a year 1984 currency rates) per year making it one of the more profitable industries of Bethlehem. 36) shows drawing of plant 96) "Oil Mill Account Book" November 1767: 23 For the roller stone including freight 6.18 # 63: The hemp roller stone purchased for the Bethlehem oil mill on November 23, 1767 probably resembled this one displayed at the Mercer Museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. This stone is 29.1 inches (74 cm) high, tapers from 30.7 inches (78 cm) in diameter at the base to 18.5 (47 cm) at the top, and has a hole through the central axis.
United States Department of Agriculture- Yearbook of Agriculture 1931 - United States Government Printing Office Washington: 1931 - 1st Congress, 3d Session.... House Document No. 777 285) Hemp fiber losing ground, despite its valuable qualities. Tells of the lesser expensive fibers that have replaced Hemp (jute, cotton, abaca (carpet warp that ought to last many years, or furniture webbing that should last a lifetime. 287) At the present time water-retted hemp imported from Italy and dew-retted hemp produced in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Kentucky are used for the following purposes: Wrapping twines for heavy packages. Mattress twine for sewing mattresses Spring twine for tying springs in overstuffed furniture and in box springs. Sacking twine for sewing sacks containing sugar, wool, peanuts, stock reed, or fertilizer Baling twine, similar to sacking twine, for sewing burlap covering on bales and packages Broom twines for sewing brooms. Sewing twine for sewing cheesecloth and shade-grown tobacco Hop twine for holding up hop vines in hop yards Ham strings for hanging up hams. Tag twines for shipping tags. Meter cord for tying diaphragms in gas meters Blocking cord used in blocking men's hats. Webbing yarns which are woven into strong webbing. Belting yarns to be woven into belts. Marlines for binding the ends of ropes, cables, and hawsers to keep them from fraying. Hemp packing or coarse yarn used in packing valve pumps Plumber's oakum, usually tarred, for packing the joints of pipes. Maine oakum, also tarred, for caulking the seams of ships and other water craft. The annual importation's of hemp into the United States in the last five years have ranged from only about 1,200 to 2,000 tons, compared with 5,000 to 8,000 tons previous to 1914, and the domestic production amounting to 800 to 1,100 tons per annum is only about one-half that of the years between 1908 and 1913. Lester H. Dewey, Senior Botanist, Bureau of Plant Industry.
CANNABIS HEMP SEED AS A BASIC WORLD FOOD - Ralph Loziers, general counsel of the National Institute of Oilseed Products, told the congressional committee studying marijuana prohibition in 1937 that, "Hemp seed…is used in all the Oriental nations and also in a part of Russia as food. It is grown in their fields and used as oatmeal. Millions of people every day are using hemp seed in the Orient as food. They have been doing this for many generations, especially in periods of famine. - Now we know hemp seed is the plant kingdom's richest source of life-giving essential fatty acids, and may well be the cure for cancer and heart disease.
HEMP SEED: HUMANITY'S BEST SINGLE FOOD SOURCE
Popular Mechanics, February 1938, p. 238 ff. - New Billion-Dollar Crop - AMERICAN farmers are promised a new cash crop with an annual value of several hundred million dollars,
Letter from the war department to ag department: August 23 1938 - Lists Strategic items (Manila Fiber) Strategic items: Hemp Oakum
October 4, 1939: Memorandum Relative to the Advisability of the United States Government Purchasing a Large Quantity of "Hemp" at the Present Time. Shows importation of 63,500 tons average 1911 to 1915 \ 1916 to 19187 83,000 tons, and in 1919 & 1920 - 39,000 tons.