FIBRE PLANTS 323 



left after the breaking is done. The freed fibre 

 is tied in hanks, and these are baled for market. 

 After being hackled it goes to the twine factory. 

 Often the hemp-grower clears $30 to $60 an acre, 

 after cost of growing it is deducted. And the land 

 is left in better condition than before the hemp 

 was planted. 



The British navy consumes a quantity of hemp 

 fibre in the manufacture of the bags in which 

 coal is carried. Sail cloth, coarse sheetings and 

 canvas, carpet warp and rugs, fish lines and nets, 

 and all kinds of twine and ropes are made of hemp. 



Hemp seed is not ripe when the canes are right 

 for fibre, so special plots are grown for seed, which 

 is valuable as poultry food. Oil for paint is 

 extracted from the seed. The plants are best 

 grown in hills so that they have room to branch 

 and produce the greatest amount of seed. The 

 seed crop often nets the farmer almost as much as 

 if he grew hemp fibre. 



In the Far East the resinous substance in flowers 

 and leaves of hemp is a commercial product in 

 great demand. In various forms, to drink, to 

 chew, and to smoke, the intoxicating drug is 

 universally used. The bhang is the dried leaves 

 and fruits. It may be mixed with tobacco, for 

 smoking, or with honey and spices, for a kind of 



