FIBER CROPS 



395 



Hemp seed. I Calyx; II outer surface of fruit; III lon- 

 gitudinal section of fruit. F pericarp; S testa; E en- 

 dosperm; C cotyledon; R radical. Three times nat- 

 ural size. 



(After Winton) 

 The "seeds" on the market consist for the most part 



of naked fruit with an occasional fruit enclosed within 



the hooded calyx. 



cultivated in China from remote times. It is a rough, erect 

 annual 8 to 10, in some cases 12 to 15, feet in height, with stam- 

 inate and pistillate flowers on separate plants. The pistillate 

 plants are more branched than the staminate ones, and are less 

 valuable for fiber. The seeds on the market consist, for the most 

 part, of naked fruits 

 or achenes, with an 

 occasional fruit en- 

 closed within the 

 hooded calyx. The 

 seeds are oval, about 

 one-eighth to one- 

 sixth inch long and 

 one-twelfth inch 

 wide. The crushed 

 seed emits a char- 

 acteristic odor. The 

 seed contains 30 to 35 per cent, of oil, and the yield of oil varies 

 according to process from 25 to 32 per cent. Like olive oil, it is 

 used for culinary purposes, and also for burning, soapmaking, 

 and as an ingredient of oil colors and varnish. The usual legal 

 weight per bushel of seed is 44 pounds. 



Hemp thrives best in a temperate climate, and may be grown 

 on any soil adapted to maize. Where the waste products are 

 returned to the land, it is not considered an exhaustive crop. 

 In some places it is grown continuously for many years on the 

 same land. This, however, is not a desirable practise, if for no 

 other reason than on account of the possible attacks from broom- 

 rape (Orobanche ramosa L.), a parasitic plant which is some- 

 times quite destructive to hemp, and for which a rotation of 

 crops is the best known preventive. In America, hemp is raised 

 chiefly in the blue grass region of Kentucky and Tennessee, al- 

 though it has been grown successfully in more northern states. 

 It is usually sown broadcast at the rate of four to six pecks per 



