What is Industrial Hemp? Hemp is made from the stalk of the Cannabis Sativa Plant

THC The main active ingredient in marijuana, allows user to feel “High” Industrial Hemp contains less than 1% THC

Products of Hemp

Use as a building material http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcctS vVFheA

Oilseed Cannabis Fiber Cannabis Drug Cannabis Cotton

Hemp Farming in America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK27 Z_Pjf-E

History of Hemp in America Hemp arrived in Colonial America with the Puritans in the form of seed for planting and as fiber in the lines, sails and caulking of the Mayflower. British sailing vessels were never without a store of hemp seed, and Britain’s colonies were compelled by law to grow hemp. Hemp was the fiber of choice for maritime uses because of its natural decay resistance and its adaptability to cultivation.

By the mid-1600s, hemp had become an important part of the economy in New England, and south to Maryland and Virginia. The Colonies produced cordage, cloth, canvas, sacks and paper from hemp during the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Hemp fiber was so important to the young Republic that farmers were compelled by patriotic duty to grow it, and were allowed to pay taxes with it.

Decorticator

Under old methods, hemp was cut and allowed to lie in the fields for weeks until it "retted" enough so the fibers could be pulled off by hand. Retting is simply rotting as a result of dew, rain and bacterial action. Machines were developed to separate the fibers mechanically after retting was complete, but the cost was high, the loss of fiber great, and the quality of fiber comparatively low. With the new machine, known as a decorticator, hemp is cut with a slightly modified grain binder. It is delivered to the machine where an automatic chain conveyer feeds it to the breaking arms at the rate of two or three tons per hour. The hurds are broken into fine pieces which drop into the hopper, from where they are delivered by blower to a baler or to truck or freight car for loose shipment. The fiber comes from the other end of the machine, ready for baling... Schlichten spent 18 years and £400,000 on the decorticator, a machine that could strip the fibre from nearly any plant, leaving the pulp behind.

Hemp Production in Kentucky Along with Missouri and Illinois, Kentucky farmers produced most American hemp until the late 1800s, when demand for sailcloth and cordage began to wane as steam ships dominated the seas. By the end of the Civil War, Kentucky was the only state with a significant hemp industry until World War I, and that state remained the nation’s leading producer of hemp seed. http://southeastfarmpress.com/markets/industrial-hemp-production-one-step-closer-kentucky

1937 Marijuana Tax Act Did not make growing hemp illegal but greatly restricted the ability of hemp farms to expand.

Andrew William Mellon and the Du Pont family Andrew Mellon, the secretary of the treasury and the wealthiest man in America had significant amounts of money invested in Du Pont’s new synthetic material Nylon Nylon and Hemp were in direct competition and Mellon was worried about the success of nylon.

William Randolph Hearst American newspaper publisher who built the nation’s largest newspaper chain. Had significant holdings in the lumber industry that provided the wood pulp for his news papers Hemp was a threat, as it provided a cheaper alternative to wood pulp.

One last boom: WWII-era Hemp for Victory campaign World War II brought on the final burst in American hemp-fiber production. The USDA’s Hemp for Victory campaign successfully convinced growers to again embrace hemp. But before the project was fully realized, the war ended, along with demand for domestic hemp fiber. Many Midwestern towns (and farmers) were left high and dry with empty or partially constructed plants, and cancelled hemp contracts. By 1958, the last significant hemp crop in the U.S. had been harvested and processed.

Hemp for Victory http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJAcj I8LqBY