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Bulletin 404

Bulletin 404 cover

    When the USDA published Bulletin 404 in 1916, it used hemp pulp paper (as opposed to hemp fiber paper) for the first time to demonstrate the outstanding qualities of using hemp hurds for pulp rather than tree pulp. Not only would this reduce the cutting of trees, but it would also reduce the need for sulphuric acid compounds to break down tree pulp in the making of paper.

This bulletin is printed on paper manufactured from hemp hurds

This bulletin is printed on paper manufactured from hemp hurds

run No. 143, which is recorded on page 29

    The cover fragment reproduced above explains that the document has been printed on hemp pulp paper, although the cover itself was not printed on hemp pulp.

One acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of forest land.

    One acre of hemp equals 4.1 acres of forest land.

    Cannabis Sativa (I.) at three months.


Bulletin

text of the first page of Bulletin No. 404:

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

BULLETIN No. 404

Contribution from the Bureau of Plant Industry

WM. A. TAYLOR, Chief

PROFESSIONAL PAPER

Washington, D.C.

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     Page
The production and handling of hemp hurds     The manufacture of paper from hemp hurds,  
by Lyster H. Dewey:     by Jason L. Merrill:  
What hemp hurds are 1   Introduction 7
Pith, wood, and fiber 2   Factors justifying an investigation of hemp hurds 8
Character of hurds affected by retting 2   Character of the material 11
Proportion of hurds to fiber and yield per acre 3   Character of the tests 12
Hurds available from machine-broken hemp 3   Operations involved in a test 13
Present uses of hemp hurds 4   Description of tests 16
Present supplies of hurds available 5   Comparison of tests and commercial practice 21
Bailing for shipment 5   Physical tests of the papers produced 24
Cost of bailing 5   Conclusions 25
Summary 6      

In preparing the report on the manufacture of paper from hemp hurds it became eveident 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 presented together.


THE PRODUCTION AND HANDLING OF HEMP HURDS.

By LESTER 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, are called hemp hurds. These hurds correspond to shives in flax, but are much coarser and are usually softer in texture.

page 1

the authorized on-line version of Jack Herer’s “The Emperor Wears No Clothes”


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