Hemp Hurds as Paper-Making Material | Page 3

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 not be used
more than once.
=COST OF BALING.=
If burlap covers are used the cost of baling, including covering, ties, use
of baling press, power, and labor will amount to at least 60 cents per
bale, or about $3.75 per ton. If chip-board can be used the cost may be
reduced to about $2 per ton. The cost of hauling and loading on the cars
will vary from $1 to $3 per ton, depending upon the distance and the
roads. The farmer must therefore receive from $4 to $6 per ton for the
hurds, baled, on board cars at his home station.
=SUMMARY.=
Hemp hurds are the woody inner portion of the hemp stalk, broken into
pieces in removing the fiber.

They are not used at present for any purpose that would compete with
their use for paper.
Hurds are available only from machine-broken hemp, for the cost of
collecting them from the hand brakes would be too great.
About 7,000 tons are now available in restricted localities in Ohio,
Indiana, Wisconsin, and California.
The quantity is likely to increase as the use of machine brakes
increases.
The hurds may be baled in hemp-fiber presses, with partial burlap
covers like those on cotton bales, or possibly chip-board covers.
It is estimated that the farmers may deliver the bales on board cars
profitably at $4 to $6 per ton.

THE MANUFACTURE OF PAPER FROM HEMP HURDS.
By JASON L. MERRILL, Paper-Plant Chemist, Paper-Plant
Investigations.
=INTRODUCTION.=
The purpose of this paper is to report upon preliminary tests which
were conducted to determine the paper-making value of hemp hurds, a
crop waste of the hemp-fiber industry.
The search for plant materials capable of being utilized in paper
manufacture is a comparatively recent but world-wide activity which
has for its object the husbanding of present sources of paper-stock
supply by the substitution of new materials for some of those which are
rapidly becoming less plentiful and more costly.
The abstract idea of utilizing that which is at present a waste can play
no important rôle in such activities, the successful commercial outcome

of which must be based on the three fundamental factors--market or
demand for product, satisfactory raw material, and cost.
Since hemp hurds are to be treated in this report as a raw material for
the manufacture of book and printing papers, the qualities, supply,
probable future, and cost of the material will be considered in
comparison with wood, with which it must compete. There seems to be
little doubt