rom hemp
grown on peaty soils. A yield of 2-1/2 tons of hurds per acre may be taken
as a fair average.

=HURDS AVAILABLE FROM MACHINE-BROKEN HEMP.=

Hemp hurds are available only from hemp which is broken by machines,
when the hurds may be collected in quantity in one place (figs. 1 and
2). Most of the hemp in Kentucky is still broken by hand brakes. These
small brakes are moved from shock to shock, so that the hurds are
scattered all over the field in small piles of less than 50 pounds each,
and it is the common practice to set fire to them as soon as the brake
is moved. It would be difficult to collect them at a cost which would
permit their use for paper stock.

Where machine brakes are used, the hemp stalks are brought to the
machine as grain is brought to a thrashing machine, and the hurds
accumulate in large piles, being blown from the machine by wind
stackers.

Machine brakes are used in Wisconsin, Indiana, Ohio, and California, but
to only a limited extent in Kentucky. Five different kinds of machine
brakes are now in actual use in this country, and still others are used
in Europe. All of the best hemp in Italy, commanding the highest market
price paid for any hemp, is broken by machines. The better machine
brakes now in use in this country prepare the fiber better and much more
rapidly than the hand brakes, and they will undoubtedly be used in all
localities where hemp raising is introduced as a new industry. They may
also be used in Kentucky when their cost is reduced to more reasonable
rates, so that they may compete with the hand brake. Hemp-breaking
machines are being improved and their use is increasing. The
hemp-growing industry can increase in this country only as machine
brakes are developed to prepare the fiber. A profitable use for the
hurds will add an incentive to the use of the machine brake.

[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Machine brake and hemp hurds. Hemp hurds from
machine brakes quickly accumulate in large piles.]

=PRESENT USES OF HEMP HURDS.=

Hemp hurds are used to a limited extent for barnyard litter and stable
bedding, as a substitute for sawdust in packing ice, and, in rare
instances, for fuel. They are not regarded as having a commercial value
for any of these uses, though they are doubtless worth at least $1 per
ton on the farm when used for stable bedding. They are a waste product,
without value for other purposes which might compete with their use for
paper stock.

=PRESE