FLAX, HEMP, AND OTHER FIBER PLANTS 133 



stem. The raising of this crop is confined mainly to 

 Kentucky and Missouri ; and it is generally known as 

 Kentucky hemp. The plant is an annual which grows 

 about ten feet in height, and is raised for both the fiber 

 and seed. 



Uses of the seed. - - The seed is used for bird and 

 poultry food, and in the manufacture of oil for paint. 

 When grown for the seed, hemp is planted and culti- 

 vated in hills, like corn. When grown for the fiber, 

 the seed is sown with a wheat drill, sowing both ways 

 and using about a bushel of seed to the acre. 



Planting and harvesting. In Kentucky, hemp is 

 sown about the 25th of April and is ready to cut about 

 the ist of September. It is usually cut by hand 

 close to the ground in order to get the whole length of 

 the stems. After cutting, the stalks lie in the field for 

 a week or more to dry out, after which they are tied 

 into small bundles and set up in shocks. The fibers 

 are loosened from the stalks by spreading the hemp on 

 the field and leaving it for one or two months in winter 

 so that the moisture and frost will act on it. The pro- 

 cess of breaking the straw and separating the fiber is 

 usually done by hand. The fiber is used in making 

 burlap, twine, and carpet. 



Twine. A very large amount of binder twine is 

 used in harvesting the enormous grain crops of the 

 United States. Most of the binder twine is made 

 from the henequen which is grown in Cuba and southern 

 Mexico. The fibers come from the long bayonet-shaped 



