HEMP HURDS AS PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. 



11 



CHARACTER OF THE MATERIAL. 



As received from Pierceton, Ind., the hurds consisted of a mixture of 

 tangled hemp bast fibers and pieces of broken wood of the hemp 

 stalk. (Fig. 3.) No reliable data were secured as to the propor- 

 tion of bast fiber in the total shipment of 4 tons, although two 

 hand separations of small representative samples gave results aver- 

 aging 8 per cent. The chemical character of the material was such 

 and the quantity was so small that any appreciable variation of the 

 proportion should not affect materially the treating processes finally 

 adopted, yet its presence in varying proportions undoubtedly would 



Fig. 4.— Fiber derived from the woody portion of the hurds. X 75. From a microphotograph. 



modify to some extent the quality of the resulting paper product. 

 Since the length of the ultimate bast fiber averages about 22 mm. and 

 the length of the ultimate hemp wood fiber averages 0.7 mm., it is 

 natural to assume that the bast fiber would tend to increase the 

 strength of paper produced from the hurds. (Fig. 4.) 



The broken pieces of wood contained in the hurds varied in length 

 from mere particles which were somewhat finer than sawdust to pieces 

 about 3^ inches long, exceptional pieces being found which measured 

 6 inches in length. The majority of the long pieces were between 2 

 and 3 inches in length. In thickness the pieces ranged from one-eighth 

 of an inch, in case they were derived from the base of the hemp stalks, 

 to about one sixty-fourth of an inch in those pieces which were 

 derived from the top and branches of the stalks. In cross section the 



