How dangerous would industrial hemp be to the tender youth of America? The
following is a reproduction of a 1943 pamphlet issued by the Kentucky
Agricultural Extension Service with the co-operation of the United States
Department of Agriculture. Judge for yourself:




Hemp Seed Project for 4-H Clubs

Uncle Sam has asked Kentucky to produce in 1943 the hemp seed for
the nation. Some of the seed will be used in 1944 to grow another seed
crop, but most of it will be used to grow hemp for fiber. Growing hemp
gives 4-H Club members a real opportunity to serve their country in
wartime. It requires a small amount of fertile land and little or no
special machinery; labor requirements do not interfere with school work.
Grow at least half an acre of hemp; one to two acres would be better.
Land that will produce 50 or more bushels of corn per acre will make 12 to
15 bushels of hemp seed per acre. Club members know how to tackle a new
task; try this one.

Select fertile soil.--Select an old feedlot, an old garden spot, or any
other fertile area. Better yields are obtained on well-drained bottom
soil, but good yields are obtained on productive upland. Only land capable
of growing good burley tobacco or 50 to 60 bushels of corn an acre, should
be selected. Good drainage is essential.

Use plenty of fertilizer.--Use complete fertilizer on most soils. Apply
200 to 400 pounds of 4-12-8, 4-10-6 or similar analysis, at the hill. If
applied broadcast, use 400 to 600 pounds an acre. For soils outside the
Bluegrass area, use in addition 200 to 300 pounds of 20 per cent
superphosphate broadcast. Stable manure is an excellent fertilizer for
hemp.

Prepare seedbed carefully.--Plow in late winter or as early as possible.
Disk and drag at once. Pulverize all clods. Immediately before planting,
smooth the ground with a light drag or roller, or better still, with a
cultipacker. A well-prepared seedbed is essential in getting a stand.
Buy your seed.--About 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of seed will plant an acre.
Purchase extra seed as it is often necessary to plant the crop over.
Plant by hand.--Plant by hand in hills spaced 4 1/2 to 5 1/2 feet apart.
Check for two way cultivation. Use the wider spacing for rich bottom
land, the closer for upland. Mark off the field with a light sled marker
so that the furrows will be shallow. Drop 12 to 15 seeds at each furrow
crossing, spreading them out slightly to make thinning the plants easier.
Cover with the foot, pressing the soil down firmly. Unless the soil is
quite dry, cover not more than 1 inch. Deep-planted seeds may not
germinate, especially if a heavy rain occurs after planting. It is very
important to press the soil firmly over the seeds, for they sprout soon and
unless the soil over them is solid and compact it will dry out very quickly
and the sprouted seeds will die. Getting a stand is one of the biggest
problems in growing hemp, therefore plant the seeds with the greatest care.
Thin and transplant, or plant over to get proper stand.---Most of the
hemp seed is produced on the branches of the plant. When too many plants
are in a hill, branches form only near the top of the plant and produce a
low yield of seed. With hills spaced 4 1/2 feet apart, there should be 2
to 3 plants per hill on very productive bottom land; 3 to 4 plants on
upland. If the spacing is 5 to 5 1/2 feet, there should be 3 plants per
hill on bottom land; 3 to 4 on fertile upland. The more productive the
soil, the fewer the plants per hill.

If plenty of plants come up in at least three-fourths of the hills, fill
out the missing hills by transplanting from other hills with too many
plants in them. Follow the method used in transplanting tobacco or
tomatoes. Transplanting should be done when the soil is moist, after a
rain. If the stand is too poor to be filled out in this way, rework the
ground and plant a second time.

As 12 to 15 seeds are planted to the hill it is always necessary to thin
out some of the hills. A good time to this is after a light rain when the
plants are large enough to get hold of easily with the fingers--about 8 to
10 inches tall. Roots of larger plants become matted and it is difficult
to pull out one of them without injuring the others. As in thinning corn,
thinning hemp is best done when the ground is fairly moist. If the plants
are a foot or more high, either wait for a rain before thinning, or cut out
the plants instead of pulling them.

Cultivate same as corn.--Hemp requires about the same cultivation as
corn. Cultivate the crop both ways as soon as the plants are 2 to 4 inches
high, even if it is impractical to get close to the hills. Hemp grows so
fast that it usually chokes out the weeds in the hills. Use a riding
cultivator equipped with good fenders. Because the rows are so far apart,
run through the middles with a one-horse cultivator. Discontinue row
cultivation after the plants are about 2 1/2 feet high, but cultivate the
middles somewhat longer in order to keep down weeds.

Cut out the male plants.--Hemp produces both male and female plants.
Because flowers on the female plant produce no pollen they must be
fertilized by pollen from the male plants in order to make seed. After the
pollen is shed and the male plants begin to die cut them out to give the
female plants more room to develop. Male plants interfere seriously with
harvesting because the hard strokes necessary to cut the male plants will
shatter seed from the seed plants.

Harvest after the seed begins to shatter.--Hemp plants do not ripen
uniformly. The date of maturity of plants in the same field varies from 2
to 3 weeks. For this reason it is difficult to determine when the crop
should be cut. But these are the signs that it is ready to cut: plants
have dropped the large leaves; branches have yellowed; red spots or streaks
have appeared on the bark; the clump of small leaves and shuck around the
seed have turned brown; and seed on the middle branches have begun to
shatter. Examine plants closely every few days after mid-September to
determine when to harvest.

In cutting, use a strong, heavy corn knife. Be sure the knife is sharp
enough to cut the plant with one stroke. Avoid jarring the stalk as the
seed of ripe hemp shatters easily. Cut the plant a few inches below the
lower branches.

Make strong shocks.--Select 3 or 4 strong plants, one from each of 3 or
4 hills, to make a support for the shock, as in shocking corn. Remove the
branches from these plants. Bend them toward each other and tie their tops
together. Make a bundle of the branches which have been cut off and place
it on top of the support. Put 50 to 100 hills into each shock, depending
upon the height and size of the plants. Shocked seed hemp is easily blown
down; therefore great care should be taken in shocking. Spread out the
base of the shock, draw in tight near top and tie. Bind the shocks above
the center with two hemp stalks to prevent their blowing down. Two or 3
days later re-tie the shock to strengthen it and also to help it retain
shattered seed. Place shocks about 24 feet from each other.

Thresh as soon as dry.--Handle ripe hemp gently to avoid shattering the
seed. From 8 to 10 days after cutting or as soon as the seeds are
thoroughly dry, begin threshing and finish it as soon as possible. Prompt
threshing prevents heavy loss by shattering if the shocks are blown over;
it also prevents damaged seeds if the rainy season sets in; and the heavy
toll which birds sometimes take if the shocks stand very long.
Do not attempt threshing when the hemp is damp, either from rain or dew.
Hemp comes in case each night and in fair weather dries out by noon.
Therefore start threshing at noon and continue into the afternoon as long
as the hemp is dry.

Spread the threshing canvas (21" x 21") on the ground between the
shocks. Cut the stalks used to support the shock. With a man on each side
of the shock and one at the back, push it over quickly so that the
shattered seed in the top of the shock will fall on the canvas rather than
on the ground. To thresh the seed, beat the stalks with clubs about 1 1/2
to 2 inches in diameter and 6 feet long. Turn the stalks frequently with
the aid of the clubs and beat until they are free of seed. Then remove the
threshed stalks from the canvas and repeat the process with the other
shocks.

Clean Seed Before Marketing

Leaves, pieces of branches, dirt, and so on must be removed from the
seed before it is marketed. Two steps are necessary; screening and
fanning. You may screen and fan at one operation by using a combine or
thresher, but generally for small crops you rub the seed through a "podder"
or screen to remove the coarse material. Separate the fine material from
the seed with a fanning mill. Directions for making a podder or cleaning
screen, and for using the fanning mill may be obtained from your county
agent or local leader.

Market Seed as Soon as it is Cleaned

Deliver the seed to established receiving points as soon as cleaned.
The receiving points will be announced in the fall before the seed is ready
for delivery, by your county agent.

TIME SCHEDULE FOR HEMP-SEED PROJECT

January-- Select well-drained, fertile land for the crop.
February- Apply stable manure.
March-- Work soil thoroughly. Apply phosphate broadcast and work it
into soil.
April-- Get a permit for growing hemp. Get seed for planting.
May Work soil again thoroughly. Plant seed. Replant missing
hills. Cultivate
like corn.
June-- Thin crop. Leave 3 plants to the hill. Continue
cultivation.
July-- Keep crop clean of weeds, especially morning-glories.
August-- Remove male or blossom plants after pollen has dropped.
September- Cut and shock early crop. Beat out seed after 8 to 10 days in
shock. Clean seed.
October-- Cut and shock late crops. Beat out seed after 8 to 10 days
in shock.
Clean seed.
November- Finish cleaning seed and deliver to designated receiving
station.

Leaflet 25
University of Kentucky
College of Agriculture and Home Economics
Agriculture Extension Service
Thomas P. Cooper, Dean and Director
Lexington, Kentucky
March, 1943

Cooperative Extension Work in Agriculture and Home Economics:
College of Agriculture and Home Economics, University of Kentucky, and the
United States Department of Agriculture, cooperating. Thomas P. Cooper,
Director. Issued in furtherance of the Acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914.

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