Hemp was present at the dawn of human agriculture,
thought to be some 10-15,000 years ago in the Middle East and
China. Hemp was reported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture
Yearbook, 1914, to have been the first agricultural crop planted by
humans for textile fibers. Besides the cloth itself, a sample
of which was dated at 9,000 years, is the record of pollen left
behind at early human dwelling sites.
Of course in the middle east hemp grew wild, so
it is likely it was used long before the age of agriculture for rope, twine,
and fishnets. Evidence of just such a human hemp culture comes
from a History Channel report on the Scythians called the
"Frozen Tombs of Siberia."
"In United States v. Butler,
297 U.S. I, 1936, we (U.S. Supreme Court) held the federal
government without power to control farm
production..." From U.S. v. Butler: "The
act invades the reserved rights of the states. It is a
statutory plan to regulate and control agricultural production,
a matter beyond the powers delegated to the federal
government."
...BY THIS TIME TOMORROW,
260,000 more people on Earth - and the next day and the next. All
will need food, water, shelter and a sustainable lifestyle. We need to get a grip on the
reality of the situation. Every man and woman in the
world who might choose birth control should have it available, as fast
as possible.
Text of World War II film by the U.S. Department of Agriculture,
to encourage farmers to grow hemp for the war effort and explain
some of the methods.
*****
5. CALIFORNIA HEMP HISTORY.
A GUIDEBOOK TO CALIFORNIA
AGRICULTURE, University of California, 1983.
Hemp Museum book.
When compared to hemp as a fiber
crop, cotton comes in a distant second. Cotton requires
more water and pesticides than hemp and produces less fiber and far less
wood than
hemp. Cotton also absorbs far less greenhouse carbon than
hemp.
The fibers in hemp run the length
of the stalk. Hemp wood weighs 6 times the weight of the
fiber. The hemp wood is 77% cellulose, which can be made
into endless products, fuel (wood alcohol), plastics, paper
products, building materials, that are shown in other
rooms.
*****
7. HEMP PRODUCTION, 1940:
Requirements for farming fiber hemp.
Harvesting hemp, the rope
crop. The machine lays the cut hemp into rows on the
ground to ret by the weather.
Most of the information on growing hemp in the
United States, in the USA Hemp Museum files, comes from Kentucky
and Wisconsin (from early 1940's unless specified, source HEMP
PRODUCTION, KY Misc. 2626, Rural War Production Training, U. of
KY).
I. FERTILITY, CROP ROTATION, FERTILIZERS, AND
BED PREPARATION.
A. FERTILITY.
1. Rich or fertile soil is needed. Figures from 1940-1941,
say land should be fertile enough to produce 50 bushels of corn
or 1,200 pounds of tobacco per acre.
2. Bottom land is perhaps best for hemp production, but rich
up-land may be used.
3. The soil must not be either too droughty or too swampy.
4. The best soil for hemp is a loamy soil.
5. The soil must be well-drained.
6. For the best production of hemp, the soil, if acid, should
have an application of lime.
B. CROP ROTATION.
1. Hemp must be grown in a general crop rotation as other
crops are grown.
2. Hemp should be placed in the rotation after such crops as
peas, beans, or clover, so that the nitrogen content of the soil
will be as high as possible.
3. The physical condition of the soil must be considered for
the hemp crop.
4. If hemp is grown on sloping land, it should be
contour-cultivated, grown for one year only in the rotation, and
the erosion controlled the same as would be necessary in corn
production.
C. FERTILIZERS.
1. Nitrogen is the most important plant nutrient the farmer
will need to consider. Nitrogen may be supplied through sulfate
of ammonia or nitrate of soda. From 180 to 240 pounds of sulfate
of ammonia or from 200 to 300 pounds of nitrate of soda per acre
is recommended, depending on the soil. Sulphate of ammonia should be applied before the seed is sown. Nitrate of soda,
may be used as a top dressing or sown at the time the seed is sown.
2. Phosphate should by all means be applied where it is
likely to be low, especially on land that has been manured,
phosphate should be added to make a well balanced fertilizer as
manure is low in phosphate.
3. Lime: As a rough guide for the liming of soils to be used
for hemp production, perhaps 2 tons of ground limestone is
sufficient in most cases. Hemp will yield better on soil
slightly alkaline, at least a small amount of lime should be
applied even if the soil is only slightly acid. Of course, if
the soil is very acid, larger amounts of lime will be needed. Fine lime should be used.
4. Manure: When possible, the manure should be applied to the
crop just before hemp in the rotation.
5. Experiments on hemp strongly indicate that Nitrogen and
Potash were needed on the plots for hemp (State College of KY,
Bulletin No.55, April, 1895).
D. BED PREPARATION.
1. Thorough preparation of the soil is necessary before the
seed are planted. The seedbed should be very fine and mellow,
and should be worked just before planting, to kill any weed seed
which may have germinated since earlier workings. A seedbed
considered "just right" for alfalfa should be the goal
of the hemp grower (U. of Illinois, Circular 547, 1943).
2. The seedbed should be level so that when the hemp is cut
it will be even, easier to handle, and there will be no loss of
fiber.
II. PLANTING METHODS AND DATES/TEMPERATURES
A. PLANTING HEMP FOR SEED PRODUCTION.
1. Depth: Hemp should usually be covered less than one inch,
and the ground above the seed should be pressed firmly.
2. Quantity: One to two quarts of seed are required to plant
an acre.
3. Re-planting: If a poor stand is obtained, it is perhaps
better to plant the entire field over rather than to re-plant
(of course, to plant the field over, it will need to be re-worked).
4. Labor required to thin the crop should not influence the
farmer to plant too few seeds --twelve to fifteen seeds perhaps
being about the right number to plant at each hill (these seed should be scattered
in the hill).
5. Hill spacing: The hills should usually be spaced five feet
apart, on fertile land the hills are wider apart than on poorer
land, and on bottom land the hills are spaced wider than on up-land.
6. Thinning: The best time to thin the seed crop is when the
plants are about six inches high, the hills should be thinned to four or
five plants, and thinning should be done when the ground is moist but not too
wet.
7. Cultivation: Seed hemp should be cultivated about the same
as corn. The first cultivation should be given as soon as the
plants are well up, even if it is not possible to get close to the hills. After the
plants are 2 ½ feet high it is usually not necessary to continue cultivation.
8. Males: The male plants should be removed as soon as the
pollen has blown from them (traditionally cut 18 inches above
ground).
9. Harvesting females for seed: Hemp should be cut for seed
at about the time the middle branches begin to shatter.
10. Shocking: Approximately forty or forty-five hills should
be cut to the shock, depending on the size of the plants. The
shocks should be carefully made and tied so that they will not fall or blow down. The
shocks should not be allowed to stand too long.
11. Threshing: Hemp seed is ready to thresh when it is
thoroughly dry.
B. PLANTING HEMP FOR FIBER PRODUCTION.
1. One bushel of seed per acre (33 - 44 lbs) is the proper
seeding for most the land that will be planted to hemp for
fiber. Realize that the smaller stalk will produce the better
quality of fiber.
2. Where hemp is seeded with a hand-seeder, the ground should
first be cultipacked and then, after seeding is completed, the
seed should be covered with a spike-toothed harrow.
3. Care should be taken, regardless of the method of seeding,
to see that the seed is not covered more than one-half to one
inch deep.
4. If the soil is very dry, a light roller (not a
cultipacker) should be used.
B. PLANTING DATES / TEMPERATURES.
1. Early seeding is desirable (the first half of April being
best). In Kentucky hemp for fiber should not be seeded later than May
1. The best time for Illinois farmers to seed hemp is after oats
and just before corn are planted, but not before April 20(U. of
Illinois, Circular 547, 1943).
2. Experiments in early planting should consider bed
preparation, frost dates, soil moisture, days of sunshine, and
temperatures in the area.
III. DAYS TO MATURITY / HARVEST.
A. The best time to cut fiber hemp is when the plants begin
to shed pollen (males). Some farmers say cutting should be done
when the plants are in bloom (females) and before the seed form.
B. This will be in late August or early September in
Kentucky, giving a range of days to maturity of 120 - 140 days.
IV. PESTS:
BROOMRAPE: Broomrape (common name) is at present the only
serious pest which concerns the hemp grower. Hemp should not be
grown in a field known to be infested with broomrape. Hemp
should not be grown year after year on the same ground. A hemp
rotation which does not include tobacco (another host plant)
will aid in the control of broomrape.
V. WATER REQUIREMENTS.
U. of Illinois, Circular 547, 1943, makes the the following
statement: "The crop is not drouth-resistant and needs
frequent rains." Other comments: Hemp is very resistant to
lodging...Severe hail storms reduce leaf surface and if they
strike the stems, the fibers are weakened.
8. MODERN HEMP PRODUCTION.
A new book is just out which I have not read,
but here is the information on that book:
THE CULTIVATION OF HEMP: Botany,
Varieties, Cultivation and Harvesting. By Dr. Ivan
Bocsa (Hungary) and Michael Karus (Germany). 1998.
"This new book is the definitive guide for growing
hemp. Learn about: 1) The two distinct varieties of
hemp; 2) How hemp is cultivated; 3)The harvesting of
hemp; 4) hemp's ecological value."
9. DEFINITIONS.
10. HEMP: LEGAL ISSUES.
The more you know the
better.
EDUCATE YOURSELF.
FUEL - PAPER - FIBER - FOOD - MEDICINE
A. Cannabis/hemp/marijuana growing was
legal in parts of the U.S. until the Marijuana Tax Act of
1937, so that is the place to start.
"2. This Convention shall not apply to
the cultivation of the Cannabis plant exclusively for
industrial purposes (fibre and seed) or horticultural
purposes."
Article 28, U.N. Single Convention on Narcotics Use, 1961.
Even though we signed
the above treaty, the United States Government insists on calling the
Cannabis plant (English = hemp) by the erroneous name of marijuana and
prohibiting its cultivation.
GROW YOUR OWN.
C. HEMP: DEA APPLICATION FOR EXEMPTION OR
RESEARCH PRODUCTION.
Hemp production for "Industrial uses,"
which some of us would argue includes the pharmaceutical industries, is tightly controlled
under the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, which placed the issuing of
permits in the hands of the Drug Enforcement Administration.
John T. Birrenbach, founder and Director of the Institute for Hemp, wrote an
article titled: "How To Grow Legal Hemp," in
a Best of High Times issue of 1992. He argued that hemp was legal to grow, but to my knowledge no permits
for industrial hemp have been issued by the DEA, through 1998, making this a
de facto prohibition. Birrenbach pointed out both State and
Federal permits are required (State permit required by the DEA). On the federal
level, DEA form 225 (New Application for Registration Under Controlled
Substances Act of 1970) must be completed (under federal law code 21 CFR
1301).
Address and phone number given on the form are:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
DRUG ENFORCEMENT ADMINISTRATION
P.O. Box 28083
CENTRAL STATION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005
For INFORMATION, call: (202) 254-8255
*****
TOPICS UNDER CONSTRUCTION:
Chinese symbols for hemp 5,000 years old
Hemp trade routes.
Famous hemp growers
Early hemp Ag. Documents
Modern hemp techniques
Hempstead Co. experiment in desert.
Kentucky Hemp History
Missouri Hemp History
Medical agriculture
If you would like to join the USA Hemp Museum
or communicate with the curator, send an
email to
