Long ago when these ancient Grecian temples were new, hemp was
already old in the service of mankind. For thousands of years, even
then, this plant had been grown for cordage and cloth in China and
elsewhere in the East. For centuries prior to about 1850 all the ships
that sailed the western seas were rigged with hempen rope and
sails.
For the sailor, no less than the hangman, hemp was
indispensable.
A 44-gun frigate like our cherished Old
Ironsides took over 60 tons of hemp for rigging, including an anchor
cable 25 inches in circumference. The conestoga wagons and prairie
schooners of pioneer days were covered with hemp canvas. Indeed the
very word canvas comes from the Arabic word for hemp. In those days
hemp was an important crop in Kentucky and Missouri. Then came cheaper
imported fibers for cordage, like jute, sisal and Manila hemp, and the
culture of hemp in America declined.
But now with Philippine
and East Indian sources of hemp in the hands of the Japanese, and
shipments of jute from India curtailed, American hemp must meet the
needs of our Army and Navy as well as of our Industry. In 1942,
patriotic farmers at the government's request planted 36,000 acres of
seed hemp, an increase of several thousand percent. The goal for 1943
is 50,000 acres of seed hemp.
In Kentucky much of the seed hemp
acreage is on river bottom land such as this. Some of these fields are
inaccessible except by boat.
Thus plans are afoot for a great expansion of a hemp industry as a
part of the war program. This film is designed to tell farmers how to
handle this ancient crop now that little is known outside Kentucky and
Wisconsin.
This is hemp seed. Be careful how you use it. For to
grow hemp legally you must have a federal registration and tax stamp.
This is provided for in your contract. Ask your county agent about it.
Don't forget.
Hemp demands a rich, well-drained soil such as is
found here in the Blue Grass region of Kentucky or in central
Wisconsin. It must be loose and rich in organic matter. Poor soils
won't do. Soil that will grow good corn will usually grow
hemp.
Hemp is not hard on the soil. In Kentucky it has been
grown for several years on the same ground, though this practice is
not recommended. A dense and shady crop, hemp tends to choke out
weeds.
Here's a canada thistle that couldn't stand the
competition, dead as a dodo. Thus hemp leaves the ground in good
condition for the following crop.
For fiber, hemp should be
sewn closely, the closer the rows, the better. These rows are spaced
about four inches. This hemp has been broadcast. Either way it should
be sewn thick enough to grow a slender stalk. Here's an ideal stand:
the right height to be harvested easily, thick enough to grow slender
stalks that are easy to cut and process.
Stalks like these here
on the left wield the most fiber and the best. Those on the right are
too coarse and woody. For seed, hemp is planted in hills like corn.
Sometimes by hand. Hemp is a dioecious plant. The female flower is
inconspicuous. But the male flower is easily spotted. In seed
production after the pollen has been shed, these male plants are cut
out. These are the seeds on a female plant.
Hemp for fiber is ready to harvest when the pollen is shedding and
the leaves are falling. In Kentucky, hemp harvest comes in
August.
Here the old standby has been the self-rake reaper,
which has been used for a generation or more.
Hemp grows so
luxuriantly in Kentucky that harvesting is sometimes difficult, which
may account for the popularity of the self-rake with its lateral
stroke. A modified rice binder has been used to some extent. This
machine works well on average hemp. Recently, the improved hemp
harvester, used for many years in Wisconsin, has been introduced in
Kentucky. This machine spreads the hemp in a continuous swath. It is a
far cry from this fast and efficient modern harvester, that doesn't
stall in the heaviest hemp.
In Kentucky, hand cutting is
practicing in open fields for the machine. In Kentucky, hemp is
shucked as soon as safe, after cutting, to be spread out for retting
later in the fall. In Wisconsin, hemp is harvested in September. Here
the hemp harvester with automatic spreader is standard equipment. Note
how smoothly the rotating apron lays the swaths preparatory to
retting.
Here it is a common and essential practice to leave
headlands around hemp fields. These strips may be planted with other
crops, preferably small grain. Thus the harvester has room to make its
first round without preparatory hand cutting. The other machine is
running over corn stubble. When the cutter bar is much shorter than
the hemp is tall, overlapping occurs. Not so good for retting. The
standard cut is eight to nine feet. The length of time hemp is left on
the ground to ret depends on the weather. The swaths must be turned to
get a uniform ret. When the woody core breaks away readily like this,
the hemp is about ready to pick up and bind into bundles. Well-retted
hemp is light to dark grey. The fiber tends to pull away from the
stalks. The presence of stalks in the bough-string stage indicates
that retting is well underway.
When hemp is short or tangled or
when the ground is too wet for machines, it's bound by hand. A wooden
bucket is used. Twine will do for tying, but the hemp itself makes a
good band. When conditions are favorable, the pickup binder is
commonly used. The swaths should lie smooth and even with the stalks
parallel. The picker won't work well in tangled hemp. After binding,
hemp is shucked as soon as possible to stop further retting. In 1942,
14,000 acres of fiber hemp was harvested in the United States. The
goal for the old standby cordage fiber, is staging a
comeback.
This is Kentucky hemp going into the dryer mill over
at Versailles. In the old days braking was done by hand. One of the
hardest jobs known to man. Now the power braker makes quick work of
it.
Spinning American hemp into rope, yarn or twine in the old
Kentucky river mill at Frankfort, Kentucky. Another pioneer plant that
has been making cordage for more than a century. All such plants will
presently be turning out products spun from American-grown hemp: twine
of various kinds for tying and upholsterer's work; rope for marine
rigging and towing; for hay forks, derricks, and heavy duty tackle;
light duty fire hose; thread for shoes for millions of American
soldiers; and parachute webbing for our paratroopers.
As for
the United States Navy, every battleship requires 34,000 feet of rope.
Here in the Boston Navy Yard, where cables for frigates were made long
ago, crews are now working night and day making cordage for the fleet.
In the old days rope was spun by hand. The rope yarn feeds through
holes in an iron plate. This is Manila hemp from the Navy's rapidly
dwindling reserves. When it is gone, American hemp will go on duty
again: hemp for mooring ships; hemp for tow lines; hemp for tackle and
gear; hemp for countless naval uses both on ship and shore. Just as in
the days when Old Ironsides sailed the sea victorious with her hempen
shrouds and hempen sails. Hemp for victory.
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