The Story of Hemp!

HEMP THROUGH HISTORY

Hemp is the oldest cultivated fiber plant in the world. The first Gutenberg bible was printed on hemp paper. Christopher Columbus' sails and ropes were made from hemp.

The first drafts of the Declaration of Independence were printed on hemp paper. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper.

The first American flag was made out of hemp. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew it.

In 1794, Washington said, "Make the most of the hemp seed. Sow it everywhere." Rembrandt and Van Gogh painted on hemp canvas.

In the 1930s, Henry Ford made a car from hemp and other crops "grown from the soil". These days, BMW is reportedly working on its own set of wheels that replaces fiberglass matte with hemp.

The original Levi�s jeans, made for Sierra Nevada gold rushers, were made of rugged hemp sailcloth. A current vintage line includes 40 percent hemp.

"I feel the industrial hemp crop could very easily be the soybean crop of the new millennium." - Jeffrey W. Gain, USDA

"Industrial hemp is not marijuana, but rather a non-intoxicating plant that has been cultivated and used in a multitude of ways around the world for millennia." - Assemblymember Virginia Strom-Martin, California State Assembly In 1850 the U.S. census recorded 8,327 hemp plantations of 2000 acres or more and an uncalculated number of small hemp farms.

"Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?" - Henry Ford

Industrial Hemp Information

Industrial hemp contains less than 1% of THC the psychoactive component of marijuana. Trying to get high on industrial hemp is akin to trying to get drunk on non alcohol beer. Hemp is the world's strongest natural fibre. It has been used to make cloth and rope for over 10,000 years. Hemp was the first crop ever cultivated for textile production. Hemp cloth is stronger, longer lasting, more resistant to mildew, and cheaper to produce than cloth made of cotton. Hemp ropes are known for their strength and durability. The original Levi Strauss jeans were made from a hempen canvas. Even Old Glory was made from hemp fibre. A 44 gun frigate like �Old Ironsides� took over 60 tons of hemp for rigging, including an anchor cable 25 inches in circumference. Hemp can be used to make virtually anything that is currently made of cotton, timber, or petroleum. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both grew hemp. Ben Franklin owned a mill that made hemp paper. Thomas Jefferson drafted the Declaration of Independence on hemp paper. Until 1883, more than 75% of the world's paper was made with hemp fibre. In 1937 Popular Science magazine called hemp "The New Billion Dollar Crop."

Then the big money people struck out to protect their interests. Newspaper publisher William Randolph Hearst led the crusade to ban hemp. Hearst owned millions of acres of prime timber land and a machine that simplified the process of making paper from hemp had just been invented. Hearst used his power as a publisher to create public panic about the evils of hemp and marijuana. Another big money player Pierre Dupont held patent rights to the sulphuric acid wood pulp paper process. In 1937 Dupont patented nylon rope made from synthetic petrochemicals. Along with Dupont's backer Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon the big money people prevailed and near the end of 1937 Congress passed the Marijuana Tax Act. By placing a prohibitively high tax on hemp production it destroyed the industry. This was done to protect these big money interests of the timber, petrochemical, and cotton industries. Hemp was briefly re-legalized during W.W.II. The U.S. government produced the movie Hemp for Victory to encourage farmers to grow hemp. Even 4H clubs were asked to grow hemp to help their country in wartime. The parachute that saved George Bush's life in World War II was made of hemp fibre. Henry Ford dreamed that someday automobiles would be grown from the soil. In 1941 the Ford motor company produced an experimental automobile with a plastic body composed of 70% cellulose fibres from hemp. The car body could absorb blows 10 times as great as steel without denting. The car was designed to run on hemp fuel. Because of the ban on both hemp and alcohol the car was never mass produced. Industrial hemp can replace cotton. Cotton is typically grown with large amounts of chemicals that are harmful to people, wildlife and the entire environment. Close to 50% of all the world's pesticides are sprayed on cotton. Hemp grows well in a wide variety of climates and soils. It requires far less fertilizer and pesticides than most commercial crops. All parts of the hemp plant are useful.

Hemp can be used to produce everything from fuel to soap. The oil from hemp seeds has the highest percentage of essential fatty acids and the lowest percentage of saturated fats. Industrial hemp can yield 3-8 dry tons of fibre per acre. This is four times what an average forest can yield. It can replace wood fibre and help save our forests. Trees take approximately 20 years to mature - hemp takes 4 months. Paper made from hemp lasts for centuries, compared to 25-80 years for paper made from wood pulp. Hemp is the perfect source for fuel.

It produces more biomass than any other plant. If we had to pay at the pump for all the military costs to keep the oil flowing clean burning alcohol fuel produced from hemp would be a bargain. Today industrial hemp is cultivated in Canada, China, Russia, Hungary, Germany, the Netherlands, France, Spain, England, Poland and many other Eastern European countries. We at Shirt Magic support the re-legalization of industrial hemp farming in the United States and the rest of the world.

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