580 REPORT OF THE COMl^ILSSIONER OF AGRICULTURE. 



It 18 generally believed that jnte bagjpng has permanently supplanted liemp bag- 

 ging, and tbat hemp must seek other uses. While this is measurably true — and it is 

 also* that hemp is rapidly being introduced in otber uses — it is also true that by im- 

 proved processes' in spinning tow it is possible to make a superior and higher priced 

 bagging from hemp tow than from jute. The low price of Kentacky hemp, and the 

 improved methods of softening and rendering it capable of being spun, will compel 

 manufacturers to use it more than formerly,, and we may expect to see an increased 

 demand for hemp for spinning purposes. 



The first Kentucky hemp hackled for the Eastern market was probably in 1844. The 

 dressed line was sent east and was used in cordage ; the tow was used in bagging at 

 home, the dressed hemp costing the Eastern cordage-makers about $400 to 1500 per 

 ton; As the home demand has decreased the Eastern demand has increased. Ten 

 years ago out of 5,000 tons of hemp "dressed" in Lexington the East took 2,200 tons ; 

 the rernainder was made into ball-rope and bagging at home. Now the East takes all 

 the hemp bandied at Lexington and all the dressed hemp from Frankfort, showing an 

 increased demand for hackled hemp in the Eastern market. Spinning machinery was 

 first adapted to flax fiber. Gradually machinery has been made stronger and more 

 suitable to the spinning of hemp, and" in France, Italy, Bavaria, and other European 

 countries the spinning of hemp by machinery has made rapid progress. The manu- 

 facturers in the eastern part of the United States began some years since to mix hemp 

 with flax in the manufacture of yams, crashes, twines, &c. The products, with the 

 exception of coarse twines, being all sold as flax. 



Hemp is not altogetlier a Kentucky product, altliough this State has 

 for a long time led in its production. It can be grown with equal success 

 in Missouri and Illinois and other Western and Southwestern States. Its 

 cultivation, as far as conditions of soil and climate are concerned, could be 

 extended over quite a range of country if the farmers were to turn their 

 attention to it, and there was a demand for aU that might be produced. 

 The following letter from a Kentucky hemp manufacturer, bearing upon 

 this sul)ject, is worthy of perusal: 



Lexi^'GTOX, Ky., March 12, 1880. 



Dear Sir : Permit me to make a few statements in regard to hemp ctilture. First, 

 Kentucky has but thirteen counties that can grow hemp, and hemp land has been 

 rented as high as S20 per acre, to be sown in hemp this year. To buy land it will 

 cost from S60 to $100 per acre. That is too high for farming land and the hemp cult- 

 ure is finding its way west where land is much cheaper, and more hemp can be raised 

 to the acre than here. It has been tried in Kansas and Nebraska in a small way, and 

 has proved a success. Several farmers have gone from here. 



I am fifty-four years of age, a rope and twine maker by trade, having gained my ex- 

 perience from working fillers for many years. 

 I remain, verv respectfullv, 



Charles Richard Dodge, Esq. TITEO. TEBAW. 



On the Pacific slope jute seems to hold the first place in coarse fiber 

 manufacture. Large quantities of Calcutta jute are emjjloyed in the 

 manufacture of grain-bags, wool-bags, fleece-twine, burlaps for baling 

 purposes, hop-cloth, yams for fuse-making, and other uses. In 1879 one 

 lirm in San Francisco manufactured 6,000,000 bags, 12 ounces weight 

 (22 by 36 inches), for the sacking of wheat; 100,000 bags, 3h to 4 pounds 

 (size 40 by 90), for baling wool; 100,000 pounds twine, and over 50,000 

 yards of burlaps. Bagging and burlaps are not the only uses to which 

 the coarser kinds of jute are employed, as large quantities of this fiber 

 are consumed by the Eastern manufacturer in making cordage and small 

 rope for inland purposes, where no great strength is required. The 

 finer jute fiber enters intQ the fabrication of many kinds of flax goods, 

 such as coarse crashes, cheapening them materially, and answering the 

 purpose just as well, provided they are always sold as mixed goods. 

 Large quantities of jute and linen mixed goods are imported into this 

 market from Scotland, which country it is said controls the jute trade. 

 Until jute becomes a native product and is pi'oduced clieaply and in 

 sufBcient quantity to make it an American industry, foi- the sake of 

 national prosperity, we can do no better than employ native fibers to as 

 great an extent as possible in the manufacture of such goods as have 



