NT SUPPLIES OF HURDS AVAILABLE.=

During the last season, 1915, about 1,500 acres of hemp have been
harvested outside of Kentucky and in regions where machine brakes are
used. Estimating the yield of hurds at 2-1/2 tons per acre, this should
give a total quantity of about 3,750 tons. Large quantities of hemp from
the crop of 1914, which are still unbroken in these areas, and large
piles of hurds undisturbed where the machines have been used during the
last two or three years, increase the total to more than 7,000 tons.
Hemp is now grown outside of Kentucky in the vicinity of McGuffey, east
of Lima, Ohio; around Nappanee, Elkhart County, and near Pierceton, in
Kosciusko County, Ind.; about Waupun and Brandon, Wis.; and at Rio Vista
and Stockton, Cal.

In Kentucky, hemp is grown in most of the counties within a radius of 50
miles of Lexington. No accurate statistics of the acreage are collected,
but the crop harvested in 1915 is estimated at 7,000 acres. A machine
brake will probably be used in Bourbon County and also in Clark County,
but most of the hemp in Kentucky will be broken on hand brakes.

=BALING FOR SHIPMENT.=

The hurds will have to be baled to facilitate handling in transportation
and to economize storage space at the paper mills. The bales will need
to be covered with burlap or some material to keep them from shaking
out. They may be baled in the same presses that are used for baling hemp
fiber, but care must be exercised to avoid breaking the press, for the
hurds are more resistant than hemp fiber. A bale of hemp 2 by 3 by 4
feet weighs about 500 pounds. A bale of hurds of the same size will
weigh about one-third less, or approximately six bales per ton.

Rough hemp fiber as it is shipped from the farm is not covered;
therefore, the covering material must be purchased especially for the
hurds. A piece of burlap about 36 by 48 inches placed on either side of
the bale will be sufficient, but these pieces, weighing about 3 pounds
each, cost about 40 cents a pair. Baling rope, in addition to jute
covering, will cost at least 5 cents per bale, making the total cost of
covering and ties $2.70 or more per ton. Possibly chip-board, costing
about $33 per ton, or not more than 5 cents for the two pieces for each
bale, may be used in place of burlap. Chip-board, burlap, and also rope
ties may all be used for paper stock. Burlap covers might be returned,
to be used repeatedly until worn out, but chip-board could