Director' s Annual Report. 41 



tributed throughout the world, being found principally in temper- 

 ate zones. The commercial variety is grown extensively in Great 

 Britain, Sweden and most other European countries, the finest flax 

 being produced in Belgium. Considerable success has awarded 

 the growth of this plant in the United States, but its culture is on 

 the whole technical and beset with many possibilities of failure. 

 Specimens of flax grown by Mr. A. F. Cooke at Palolo have been 

 examined and a fair sample of fibre was obtained. Mr. Cook is 

 experimenting in this direction and looks to obtain three harvests 

 a year. 



HBMP. 



KxoGEN. Bast Fibre. Urticacece. Cannabis sativa. 



The term "hemp" is used commercially as indefinitely and 

 generally as the word "fibre." It has almost acquired the position 

 of a generic name, and seldom appears without such a descriptive 

 prefix as Manila, Sisal, Indian, Russian, vSunn, and a host of 

 others which refer to fibres of utterly distinct origin. Corredtly 

 speaking the term "hemp" should only be applied to Cannabis 

 sativa, an annual herbaceous shrub of the Urticacece, a well known 

 fibre-producing order which also furnishes two other invaluable ma- 

 terials, ramie and the less known Hawaiian olona. The cultivation 

 of true hemp has been followed from the earliest ages in India and 

 Persia, and it is now grown extensively in S. Russia, Hungary, 

 S. Europe, Asia, China, tropical Africa and S. America, where it 

 flourishes well in altitudes of from 4000 to 10,000 feet ; but as the 

 produ(5lion of good fibre demands careful and liberal attention and 

 a rich soil, it is unlikely that hemp will ever be grown commer- 

 cially in Hawaii. The preparation of the fibre follows the general 

 lines of that required for other bast varieties. Although innumer- 

 able patents have been issued to inventors of hemp-preparing 

 machinery none have been entirely successful, and its manufadture 

 is still chiefly by hand and as a rule expensive. 



Forty years ago the United States produced 75,000 tons of 

 ' hemp which in 1895 had fallen to about 5000. This decline is due 

 chiefly to over-produdlion and the competition of the less expen- 

 sive though somewhat inferior Manila and Sisal hemps. As a 

 cordage material true hemp is unrivalled, and its use is chiefly 

 direcled to the various manufa(5tures associated with this term and 

 to the weaving of sail cloth and canvas of different textures, which 



