b THE CULTIVATION OF HEMP IN THE UNITED STATES. 



RETTING. 



Practically all of tlie hemp produced in Kentucky is dew-retted. It 

 is spread on the ground, either from the gavel, shock, or stack, in rows 

 with the stalks side by side and not more than two, or at most three, 

 stalks in thickness, the butts all even and in one direction. It is left 

 in this manner for from four to twelve weeks, or sometimes even 

 longer, until the bark, including the fiber, separates readily from the 

 woody portion of the stalk. The stalks are then raked up and set up 

 in shocks to dry. As soon as dried they are ready for breaking. 



BREAKING. 



Much of the hemp produced in Kentucky is still broken by the old- 

 fashioned hand brake, but this method is not recommended for intro- 

 duction into any new locality because it requires a degree of skill that 

 would be difficult to secure in laborers not accustomed to the work. 

 Even in Kentucky the newer generation of laborers do not learn to 

 break hemp, and this is one of the principal reasons that the industry 

 is not carried on there to a greater extent. At least six different 

 kinds of machines for breaking hemp and preparing the fiber have 

 been in use during the past three years, and some of these prepare the 

 fiber very much better than the hand brake. 



At Havelock, Nebr., and at Courtland, Cal., there are power 

 machines consisting essentially of a series of fluted rollers, somewhat 

 like a jute softener, followed by large beating wheels, and these 

 machines make long tow. They will handle a greater variety of dif- 

 ferent-sized hemp stalks in a satisfactory manner than the other 

 machine brakes, but as the fiber is tangled instead of being straight 

 it does not command as high a price as that produced by the hand 

 brakes or by the other machine brakes mentioned. 



YIELD. 



The yield of hemp fiber ranges from 500 to 2,000 pounds to the 

 acre. The general average yield under ordinary conditions is about 

 1,000 pounds to the acre. Yields are sometimes estimated at 150 

 pounds of fiber for each foot in height of the stalks, and also at 

 20 per cent of the weight of the dry, retted stalks, but estimates 

 based on these factors alone may be misleading, for slender stalks 

 yield much more fiber than coarse ones. 



MARKET. 



All of the hemp fiber produced in this country is used in American 

 mills, and increasing quantities are being imported. It is used 

 for making gray twines, "commercial twines," carpet warp, and 

 ropes of small diameter. 



[Cir. .57] 



