HEMP 



2767 



HEMP 



southward to Georgia. The western hemlock, 

 or Tsuga heterophylla, is found on the Pacific 

 coast, and extends eastward to Montana and 

 southward to Central California. The eastern 

 species supplies most of the hemlock lumber. 

 Of more than 2,400,000,000 feet cut in average 

 years, only about 200,000,000 feet are of west- 

 ern hemlock. 



The hemlock is a tree of great beauty, with 

 small leaves, dark green above and silvery 

 below. The wood is soft, and it warps con- 

 siderably when exposed to the air. It is used 

 extensively for interior decorations, and the 

 increasing scarcity of white pine has created 

 a demand that is fast exhausting the forests. 

 The western supply has not yet been fully de- 

 veloped, chiefly because the western hemlock 



WESTERN HEMLOCK 

 Branch and cone. 



grows alongside of such desirable timber as 

 Douglas fir, red cedar, larch and spruces. Hem- 

 lock bark is extensively used in tanning leather, 

 and oil and pitch are distilled from the leaves 

 and wood. See TANNING; LUMBER. 



HEMP, a plant belonging to the nettle fam- 

 ily, whose fibers and seeds render it of great 

 economic value to man. It is native to the 

 warmer parts of Asia, but is cultivated in 

 nearly all the countries of Europe and in 

 America. Russia, Italy and Austria-Hungary 

 are the largest producers of hemp on the 

 European continent, the annual output of fiber 

 from Russia in normal times being about 1,000 ,- 

 000,000 pounds. About 7,500,000 pounds are 

 raised each year in the United States, nearly 

 all of which comes from nine counties in the 

 Blue Grass region of Kentucky. It is also 

 raised to a limited extent in California and 

 Indiana, and in a few other states. 



Description of the Plant. The plant has a 

 rough, erect stem which varies in height from 

 three or four to twenty feet, according to con- 

 ditions of soil and climate. Hemp cultivated 

 for fiber produces only a few small branches 

 near the top of the stalk. On these are borne 

 the large, dark-green leaves, which consist of 

 four serrated (finely-toothed) leaflets. The 



HEMP 

 Head of plant. 



flowers that bear the pollen (staminate), and 

 those that produce the seed (pistillate), grow 

 .on separate plants. The former are yellowish- 

 green in color and grow in large clusters; the 

 latter, which 

 come to maturity 

 later than the 

 staminate flow- 

 ers, are small and 

 insignificant. See 

 FLOWERS, subhead 

 Flower Structure. 



Growth and 

 Harvesting. Like 

 flax (which see), 

 hemp requires a 

 carefully - pre- 

 pared seed bed, 

 with deep plow- 

 ing, followed by 

 thorough harrow- 

 ing. Its success- 

 ful cultivation in 

 the Kentucky Blue Grass region is due to the 

 rich, loamy soil in that part of the state. In 

 California it thrives best in the fertile soils of 

 the low-lying lands along the rivers. The seed 

 is sown broadcast, one to three bushels to the 

 acre, and is only lightly covered. In Ken- 

 tucky, planting begins usually in April, the 

 first seeds ripening about 100 days later, when 

 the crop is cut with a reaping knife or hemp- 

 cutter. After it is cut, it is allowed to lie on 

 the ground from four to eight days to dry. 



Preparing the Fiber for the Market. Hemp 

 fiber consists of many series of long cells in 

 the inner bark of the stem, firmly knitted 

 together. When cleared from the tissues that 

 surround them, these form tough strands nearly 

 as long as the entire stem. In order to free 

 the fibers from the woody interior of the plant, 

 the vegetable gums which surround them are 

 dissolved by a kind of putrefaction which takes 

 place when the stalks are soaked in soft water 

 or exposed to the action of the weather. This 

 process is known as retting or rotting. In Italy, 

 where water-retting is the rule, the fibers are 

 fine, lustrous, soft and creamy-white, the 

 Italian product being the best in the world. 

 Water-retting is more expensive than dew-ret- 

 ting, or exposure to the weather, and the latter 

 process has been found to yield a greater profit 

 to American hemp growers. Dew-retted hemp 

 yields a fiber of grayish color. 



In Kentucky the stalks after cutting are 

 usually spread in long rows on the blue-grass 



