00:26Long ago when these ancient Grecian
00:29temples were new, hemp was already old in the service of mankind. For thousands of years
00:35even then, this plant had been grown for cordage and coarse cloth in China and elsewhere in
00:41the east. For centuries prior to about 1850, all the ships that sailed the western seas
00:49were rigged with hemp and rope and sails. For the sailor no less than the hangman, hemp
00:55was indispensable. A 44-gun frigate, like our cherished old Ironsides, took over 60 tons
01:06of hemp for rigging, including an anchor cable 25 inches in circumference.
01:23The Conestoga wagons and prairie schooners of pioneer days were covered with hemp and canvas.
01:29Indeed the very word canvas comes from the Arabic word for hemp. In those days, hemp was an important
01:38crop in Kentucky and Missouri. Then came cheaper imported fibers for cordage, like jute, sisal,
01:48and manila hemp, and the culture of hemp in America declined. But now with Philippine and
01:55East Indian sources of hemp in the hands of the Japanese, and shipment of jute from India
01:59curtailed, American hemp must meet the needs of our army and navy, as well as of our industries.
02:05In 1942, patriotic farmers, at the government's request, planted 36,000 acres of seed hemp, an
02:12increase of several thousand percent. The goal for 1943 is 50,000 acres of seed hemp.
02:20In Kentucky, much of the seed hemp acreage is on river bottom land such as this, along the
02:25Kentucky River Gorge. Some of these fields are inaccessible except by boat. Thus plans are
02:32afoot for a great expansion of the hemp industry as a part of the war program. This film is designed
02:37to tell farmers how to handle this ancient crop, now little known outside Kentucky and Wisconsin.
02:43This is hemp seed. Be careful how you use it. For to grow hemp legally, you must have a federal
02:50registration and tax stamp. This is provided for in your contract. Ask your triple-A committee man or your
02:58county agent about it. Don't forget, hemp demands a rich, well-drained soil such as is found here in
03:05the bluegrass region of Kentucky or in central Wisconsin.
03:14It must be loose and rich in organic matter. Poor soils won't do.
03:22Soil that will grow good corn will usually grow hemp.
03:27Hemp is not hard on the soil. In Kentucky, it has been grown for several years on the same ground,
03:32though this practice is not recommended. A dense and shady crop, hemp tends to choke out weeds.
03:40Here's a Canada thistle that couldn't stand the competition. Dead as a dodo, thus hemp leaves the
03:46ground in good condition for the following crop. For fiber, hemp should be sown five pecks to the acre.
03:53With drill, the closer the rows, the better. These rows are spaced about four inches.
04:00This hemp has been broadcast. Either way, it should be sown thick enough to grow a slender stalk.
04:09Here's an ideal stand. The right height to be harvested easily,
04:13thick enough to grow slender stalks that are easy to cut and process.
04:22Storks like these here on the left, they yield the most fiber and the best. Those on the right are
04:28too coarse and woody.
04:32For seed, hemp is planted in hills like corn, sometimes by hand.
04:37Hemp is a dioecious plant. The female flower is inconspicuous, but the male flower is easily spotted.
04:44In seed production, after the pollen has been shed, these male plants are cut out.
04:51These are the seeds on a female plant.
04:57Hemp for fiber is ready to harvest when the pollen is shedding and the leaves are falling.
05:02In Kentucky, hemp harvest comes in August. Here the old standby has been the self-rake reaper,
05:08which has been used for a generation or more.
05:14Hemp grows so luxuriantly in Kentucky that harvesting is sometimes difficult,
05:18which may account for the popularity of the self-rake with its lateral stroke.
05:29A modified rice binder has been used to some extent. This machine works well in average hemp.
05:42Recently, the improved hemp harvester, used for many years in Wisconsin,
05:46has been introduced in Kentucky. This machine spreads the hemp in a continuous swath.
05:52It is a far cry from this fast and efficient modern harvester to the Armstrong model of yore.
05:57But here's one kind of harvester, at least, that doesn't stall in the heaviest hemp.
06:02In Kentucky, hand cutting is practiced in opening fields for the machines.
06:13In Kentucky, hemp is shocked as soon as safe after cutting,
06:16to be spread out for retting later in the fall.
06:35In Wisconsin, hemp is harvested in September.
06:39Here the hemp harvester with automatic spreader is standard equipment.
06:42Note how smoothly the rotating apron lays the swath preparatory to retting.
06:47Here it is a common and essential practice to leave headlands around hemp fields.
06:51These strips may be planted to other crops, preferably small grain.
06:56Thus, the harvester has room to make its first round without preparatory hand cutting.
07:00Here the machine is running over corn stubble.
07:06When the cutter bar is much shorter than the hemp is tall, overlapping occurs.
07:11Not so good for retting. The standard cut is eight to nine feet.
07:17The length of time hemp is left on the ground to ret depends on the weather.
07:24The swaths must be turned to get a uniform ret.
07:36When the woody core breaks away readily, like this,
07:39the hemp is about ready to take up and bind into bundles.
07:49Well retted hemp is light to dark gray.
07:52The fiber tends to pull away from the stalk.
07:55The presence of stalks in the bowstring stage indicates that retting is well underway.
08:08When hemp is short or tangled, or when the ground is too wet for machines, it is bound by hand.
08:14A wooden buck is used.
08:17Twine will do for tying, but the hemp itself makes a good band.
08:27When conditions are favorable, the pickup binder is commonly used.
08:32The swath should last smooth and even with stalks parallel.
08:36The picker won't work well in tangled hemp.
08:45After binding, hemp is shocked as soon as possible to stop further retting.
08:50In 1942, 14,000 acres of fiber hemp were harvested in the United States.
08:56The goal for 1943 is 300,000 acres.
09:03Thus, hemp, cannabis sativa, the old standby cordage fiber, is staging a strong comeback.
09:10This is Kentucky hemp going into the dryer of a mill at Versailles.
09:20In the old days, breaking was done by hand, one of the hardest jobs known to man.
09:32Now, the power breaker makes quick work of it.
10:10Spinning American hemp into rope yarn or twine in the old Kentucky River Mill at Frankfort, Kentucky.
10:19Another pioneer plant that has been making cordage for more than a century.
10:44All such plants will presently be turning out products spun from American-grown hemp.
10:50Twine of various kinds for tying, winding armatures, and upholsterers work.
10:56Rope for marine rigging and towing for hay forks, derricks, and heavy-duty tackle.
11:04Light-duty fire hose.
11:10Thread for shoes for millions of American soldiers.
11:16And parachute webbing for our paratroopers.
11:28As for the United States Navy, every battleship requires 34,000 feet of rope and other craft accordingly.
11:36So here in the Boston Navy Yard, where cables for frigates were made long ago,
11:40crews are now working night and day making cordage for the fleet.
11:47In the old days, rope yarn was spun by hand.
11:59Today, even the rope walk is mechanized.
12:03One hundred and sixty fathoms to go.
12:10The rope yarn feeds through holes in an iron plate.
12:28This is Manila hemp, from the Navy's rapidly dwindling reserve.
12:32When that is gone, American hemp will go on duty again.
12:36Hemp for mooring ships.
12:38Hemp for tow lines.
12:52Hemp for tackle and gear.
12:54Hemp for countless naval uses, both on ship and shore.
13:00Just as in the days when old Ironside sailed the seas victorious,
13:04with her hempen shrouds and hempen sails.
13:22Hemp for victory.
13:25Hemp for mooring ships.
13:27Hemp for mooring ships.
13:29Hemp for mooring ships.
13:30Hemp for mooring ships.
13:34Hemp for mooring ships.
13:35Hemp for mooring ships.
13:36Hemp for mooring ships.
13:38Hemp for mooring ships.
13:39Hemp for mooring ships.
13:39Hemp for mooring ships.
13:40Hemp for mooring ships.
13:40Hemp for mooring ships.
13:40Hemp for mooring ships.
Comments