HEMP 



American Grasses : Vol. I, Grasses of the Southwest, 

 1891; Vol. II, Grasses of the Pacific Slope, 1893, 

 Division of Botany, Bulletin Nos. 12 and 13. 



HEMP. Cannabis sativa, Linn. Urticaceoe. Figs. 

 566-571. [See also Fiber plants.] 



By J. N. Harper. 



An annual dioecious plant, reaching a height of 

 ten feet and more, grown for its long bast fiber, 



and for its seeds. 

 Staminate flowers 

 drooping in axil- 

 lary panicles, hav- 

 ing five sepals 

 and five stamens ; 

 pistillate flowers in 

 short spikes, with 

 one sepal folding 

 about the ovary. 

 Leaves digitate, 

 with five to seven 

 nearly linear, 

 ''' coarse-toothed leaf- 

 lets. Hemp is prob- 

 ably native to cen- 

 tral Asia. 



HEMP 



377 



The figures for hemp in the Twelfth Census 

 (1900) are as follows : 



Fig. 566. Hemp. Staminate flower- 

 cluster: a, pistillate and b, stam- 

 inate flowers; c, pistiUate flower 

 cluster at left. 



History. 



Hemp has bean 

 cultivated for cen- 

 turies as a fiber plant. It was grown by the early 

 Greeks and probably by the ancient Egyptians. It 

 has been grown in this country for about 130 years, 

 the seed having been brought from France. During 

 this time, its cultivation has been confined chiefly 

 to about twelve counties in central Kentucky, in 

 what is known as the blue-grass region. 

 For the last forty or fifty years, however, 

 the industry has spread into a number of 

 other states, notably Missouri, Illinois, 

 Nebraska, Oklahoma, Minnesota, New 

 York and California. Notwithstanding 

 this extension of the industry, nine-tenths 

 of the hemp crop of America is still grown 

 in Kentucky. 



During the years it has been grown 

 in Kentucky, probably no other crop has 

 brought an equal revenue. A few years 

 before the Civil War it contributed more 

 to the wealth of central Kentucky than 

 all other crops combined. At that time, 

 Kentucky produced annually 38,000 tons, with a 

 gross receipt of $2,280,000. During the war the 

 industry declined but revived a few years later, 

 and again declined owing to the use, of iron and 

 jute in the bagging of cotton. Hemp is now used 

 ifargely for making burlap, twine and carpet warp. 



Production. 



According to the Twelfth Census there were in 

 1899, 964 farms producing hemp, with an average 

 acreage of 16.6 and a total acreage of 16,042. The 

 average production per acre was 732 pounds, worth 

 $34.06, or 4,6 cents per pound. 



Culture. 



The soil. — While hemp will grow on almost any 

 land containing a large amount of humus, it does 

 best on well-drained Silurian limestone soils. In 

 Minnesota it thrives on drift soils. The moisture 

 content is the important factor. The soil should be 

 prepared thoroughly by breaking with a turning 

 plow, plowing about six to eight inches deep, and 

 by repeated harrowings and rolling. 



Hemp grows so tall and dense that it kills weeds 

 by smothering them better than any other farm 

 crop. A good growth of hemp is effective in killing 

 even Canada thistle and quack-grass. It leaves the 

 soil in excellent condition for any succeeding crop. 



Seeding. — The best results are secured by sow- 



Fig. S67. Hemp: pistillate or seed-bearing part. 



ing with a seven-inch wheat drill, running it both 

 ways. The seed is sown at the rate of one bushel 

 per acre. It is sown about two inches deep. After 

 sowing, the land should be rolled, Hemp should 



