UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 404 
Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry 
WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
PROFESSIONAL PAPER 
October 14, 1916 
HEMP HURDS AS PAPER-MAKING MATERIAL. 
By Lyster H. Dewey, Botanist in Charge of Fiber-Plant Investigations, and Jason L. 
Merrill, Paper-Plant Chemist, Paper-Plant Investigations. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
The production and handling of hemp hurds, 
by Lyster H. Dewey: 
What hemp hurds are 1 
Pith, wood, and fiber 2 
Character of hurds affected by retting 2 
Proportion of hurds to fiber and yield per 
acre 3 
Hurds available from machine-broken 
hemp 3 
Present uses of hemp hurds 4 
Present supplies of hurds available 5 
Baling for shipment 5 
Cost of baling 5 
Summary 6 
The manufacture of paper from hemp hurds, 
by Jason L. Merrill: 
Introduction 7 
Factors justifying an investigation of hemp 
hurds 8 
Character of the material 11 
Character of the tests 12 
Operations involved in a test 13 
Description of tests 16 
Comparison of the tests and commercial 
practice 21 
Physical tests of the papers produced 24 
Conclusions 25 
In preparing the report on the manufacture of paper from hemp 
hurds it became evident that a short discussion of the agricultural 
aspects of this material should be included in the publication. Such 
an article was prepared, therefore, and the two reports are here pre- 
sented together. 
THE PRODUCTION AND HANDLING OF HEMP HURDS. 
By Lyster H. Dewey, Botanist in Charge of Fiber-Plant Investigations. 
WHAT HEMP HURDS ARE. 
The woody inner portion of the hemp stalk, broken into pieces and 
separated from the fiber in the processes of breaking and scutching, 
is called hemp hurds. These hurds correspond to shives in flax, but 
are much coarser and are usually softer in texture. 
Note. — This bulletin should be useful to all persons who are interested in the economic phases of paper 
making, especially to print and book paper manufacturers. It also should be of interest to scientific inves- 
tigators and chemists. 
51647°— Bull. 404—16 1 
