774 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



A report on the culture of hemp and jute in the United States, 



C. E.. Dodge {U. iS. Dcpi. Af/r., Fiber hirestigatioii.s Rpi. '^,2)p- lrJ,])ls. 

 3, Jigs. 4). — The author says: 



" The demand during the past 2 years for information regarding th(^ hest practices 

 for the successful growth of hemp and jute in the United States, as Avell as the 

 importance of including the accounts of the cultivation of these textiles in the Fiber 

 series of Department ])ulilications, make the preparation of this report imperative. 

 Hemp is already produced in limited (juanlities in portions of our country, but its 

 cultivation should be extended. Jute is not produced within our borders. It is a 

 plant of easy growth, however, and i f the fiber can be jjroduced to compete with the 

 India product, such an industry would bring to the South a portion, at least, of the 

 many millions of dollars now paid out annually for the imported article." 



The following points relative to hem]) are discussed: History of the 

 plant and range of culture; statistics of production in the United 

 States; cultivation, harvesting, and preparing the fiber; recent ex^ieri- 

 ments in the South; experiments in California; and the uses of hemp. 



Introductory remarks to the section on jute note the present demand 

 by manufacturers in this country for Indian jute, and emi)hasize the 

 perfect adaptation of the crop to cultural conditions of the southern 

 section of the United States and its large yield of fiber. The other, 

 topics discussed are history of the industry; the different kinds of jute; 

 the fiber and its uses; culture in India; culture in the United States; 

 extraction of the fiber, including a discussion of the machine question; 

 and value of the crop. 



" [The author hopes] that careful experiments in this culture will be attempted and 

 efforts made to extract the fiber, in order that the question of economical production 

 of jute in the United States may be practically settled. Past experimentation has 

 demonstrated that the plants will grow luxuriantly iu many portions of the South, 

 and that the bark contains a fine quality of fiber. To ascertain the cost of growing 

 the crop and extracting and baling the fiber ready for the market is the only problem 

 to be worked out." 



The renewing of worn-out native prairie pastures, T. A.Wil- 

 liams ( U. 8. ]>ept. Agr.j .Division of Agrostology Cire. -i, jyp. 4). — The 

 author ascribes the frequent worn-out and weedy appearance of prairie 

 pastures to drought and overstocking. The latter should be avoided, 

 the cattle being fed green corn, sorghum, or other soiling crops when 

 the pasture is becoming scant. By a few weeks' care the loss of the 

 pasture for one or two seasons may be prevented. 



Cultivation improves the more desirable native grasses, and a thor- 

 ough harrowing to break up the soil crust and let in light and air and 

 water will frequently be all that is needed to enable the better grasses 

 to crowd out the weeds and restore the pasture. A moderate applica- 

 tion of fine, well-rotted manure is an excellent restorative. When spots 

 of the pasture have been killed out it is advisable to sow in them seeds 

 of some of the tame grasses, though the author thinks it hardly pos- 

 sible in this way to make over a native pasture into a tame one. 

 Kentucky blue grass, sheep's fescue, red fescue, and Canadian blue 

 grass can be used to advantage on upland spots, and timothy, fowl 

 meadow grass, red top, meadow fescue, and alsike on lowland. 



