Los Angeles herald., 1909-05-06


Of l,f' the remaining 12 per cent of the
American hemp crop.
The reason for the decline of hemp
production is closely connected VII,
the invention of the steamboat. WHea
Rumsey arg Fulton were ihS sir,,ir,s
+hair stea $Ioats they were signing
tbe death warrant of the hemp NOUS
NV As sail power was swept Irol s
a. seas nv steam power the demand
e., canvas and rope fell Off. Iheh
80 lbeaner hemp from other quar-
tors ne the globe and the decline %
nrofits to a point below tnal ,.aS1e
Could be made cultiyating other elop9
S,,,,ic;, will grow in bluegrass SOIL
WIZ r. is The opinion of the department
80 egrjcl1lture that the American lariil-
~ ie losing millions of dollars by tne
,,afnsal of American Irvine hlanulao.
t',ra,.s +o use American hemp hper III
A. making of binder Irvine. A scole
~ vears ago when the consumptlon "
hinder Irvine was $4,000 tons a year ha
oonnared with $4,000 tons louay' ~.
denartment estimated tnat IL .,lerioa,1
~ ~ had been made from AIileIlca -
VI ~ bemp the saving to the FARMER
sS,io,,Id have amounted to $1,76O,oOO. but
~, +x,,ine makers would have notnliis
20 do with the proposal OF the ue ,e.lta
" ~ +l,at American hemp fiber Shoulu
~ ,,sod Thev declared it made soLl
tT,,inan which was not as satlsiac'o ~.
a. sisal or Manila Irvine. 10 llii so+ tar
denartment answered Win .t,,,.er
from a large harvester t,lalIu Ia swine
..i,o1rino that American hemp IW H,.
silo as satisfactory as any otner
", W ~ oneration of the harvesters. my ny
ltp Of the department never asaiit 81
e el ,. - American hemp twlne 10
favor.
while the growing OF henlp ~ Sa,o
Tinted states has become s,. =, q ,,e
quantity, the importatlons " We 10 Gre an
, l,,r, enending some fifteen niiiilon
i nuilans FOR the hundred thousand IONS
- iso1 Grass that are imported, ~
900 ooo For fine 10000 tons OF MAINS
gov,oTV besides other smaller items
80 tba importations are eXpecIeu1 ~, ~
increase more than ever petore, ,,i;r-
Manila hemp produced IN LIE - tbe
mines annually is equal IN sanuo
i,l,rchase price of the islanqs. ,,,-.,,,os
pG re hemn industry in the PhillpplilS;ss
80 sc birth some two and nan
centuries ago. A monk OF the p, CO.
oiecan order Padre Pedro Espallelsels
,,.a,,-essed with the poverty or the PEI
10 se+ tn work to train them III ,Io
growing of hemp and the sepal 9. al
of the fiber from the Stalk. ~ s.a as an
80 he exnerienced great dlthcultS IN
e,,a,.oornine the natural laziness OF the
.,aonle hut that with certain rude IN
gtt,,,iYnents he was able to fashlon they
1,,are able to do the work quite satis-
factorilv. Those instruments nave peen
in use without important chahse iroii
that day to this. a,,.+,,, an
The history of the hemp INDUSTRY III
the limited States is an interesting one
S1ir,iria tried to establish hemp grow
,na IN colonial times. At first 1t was
enacted bv the house of burgesses that
os nreparation for war the county
oo,,rts sholld distribute to each tith-
able colonist a quart Of flax seed anu anu
a quart of hemp seed, in return LOT lol
which there should be given TO tNe
tithinp master after the next harvest
ono hound of dressed flax and one
Mound of dressed hemp or two poun9s
~ either. under oath that the tithaple
colonist had grown it. Later bountles
were offered for the production OF
dressed hemp and flax. Colonel Willlam
Rvrd of Westover was one OF the neinp
growers who received bouneles from
fbe state. But hemp growing never got
TO he a passion with Virginians.
Kentucky early got into the hemp
raising business, and from the pegln-
ming Lexington has been the center OF
the hemp-growing district. Wltnln
twenty-ive miles of that town there
has been more hemp grown than IN al