Hemp and JuteKelly Lightle

What are they?

Hemp and jute are both plants that are used in textiles, and both have multiple other uses.

HOWEVER: There are also significant differences between hemp and jute. For example, hemp is illegal to grow in all of the states in America, despite its many uses.

WHY??

Hemp DOES NOT EQUAL Marijuana

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Hemp Marijuana

Botanical Description of Hemp

Hemp (Cannabis sativa) belongs to the family Urticaceae, tribe Cannabinaceae.

It is a stout, erect annual that grows to a height of 5 to 15 feet. It is dioecious

The male plants, which comprise one-half the Hemp is of considerable historical interest because it first revealed sex in plants to Camerarius in 1694.

The main stem of hemp is hollow and produces a few branches near the top.

The bast fibers are not so fine as those of flax, even when the plants are grown close together.

The staminate inflorescences are in axillary, narrow, loose panicles. The pistillate flowers are in erect leafy spikes. The hemp ovary matures into a hard ovoid achene. The seeds mature on the lower part of the spikes first and on the upper part last

Important Facts Cont.

Henry Ford experimented with hemp for car bodies and fuel

Rudolph Diesel (of the diesel engines) designed the engines to run on hemp oil

BMW is experimenting with using hemp in their car products to make cars more recyclable

The number of products that can be made with from hemp number over 25,000.

Important Facts to Know

Hemp has been in use for at least 20,000 years

The Declaration of Independence is written on hemp

Hemp was a required crop in the colonial days

Hemp was used for sails, and is still considered the best product for this.

The term “canvas” comes from “cannabis”, referring to hemp, not marijuana.

Quick Hemp Uses

Food Body Care Paper Fuel Paint and Plastic Textiles Concrete Replacing wood Soil Rejuvenator/ Rotation Crop

Legal Facts

US Drug Enforcement Agency classifies all C. sativa varieties as "marijuana."

The US State Department must certify each year that a foreign nation is cooperating in the war on drugs.

Over 30 industrialized democracies do distinguish hemp from marijuana. International treaties regarding marijuana make an exception for industrial hemp.

Canada now again allows the growing of hemp.

Ecology

Hemp growers can not hide marijuana plants in their fields.

Hemp can be made into fine quality paper.

Hemp grows well in a variety of climates and soil types

It is naturally resistant to most pests, precluding the need for pesticides

Ecology Continued

It grows tightly spaced, out-competing any weeds, so herbicides are not necessary.

It leaves a weed-free field for a following crop.

Hemp can displace cotton which is usually grown with massive amounts of chemicals harmful to people and the environment. 50% of all the world's pesticides are sprayed on cotton.

Economic Importance

Hemp is grown chiefly for the bast fiber in the stalks that is used for making rope and twine.

The average acre yields in the United States have been about 900 pounds of fiber or 400 pounds of seed.

Most of the fiber was produced in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Kentucky

Adaption-What Does Hemp Need?

Hemp is adapted to sections that produce a good crop of corn.

It requires a frost-free season of about four months for fiber production, or five months for seed production.

It will withstand light frosts. For good uniform growth of hemp, the rainfall or soil

moisture should be ample throughout the season. Well-drained, deep, fertile, medium-heavy loams have

produced the best hemp. Barnyard manure, commercial fertilizers, or lime should be applied to soils where other crops respond to these supplements.

How To Grow Hemp Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wspw-SdyGDE

Jute Quick Facts

Known as the Golden fiber, Jute is a natural fiber comprised with silky and golden shine.

Recyclable, 100% bio degradable and eco friendly

Versatile natural fiber widely used as a raw material in many textile, non textile, packaging, construction and agricultural applications

Jute History

Ancient Period: During the era of great Mughal emperor Akbar, poor villagers of India were used to wear jute clothes.

17th Century: British empire authority was delegated by the British East India company which was the first jute trader.

From 1855: The first power driven weaving factory was established at Rishra, on the River Hooghly near Calcutta in year 1855

Jute History Cont.

19th Century to 1947: Through out the year 1939, around 68,377 looms were established on the River Hooghly near Calcutta. The prime commodities woven by jute are coarse bagging materials, produced by finer fabrics also known as hessian or burlap.

After 1947: After getting Independence, most of the Jute barons had started to quit India, leaving the set up of jute mills.

Fun Facts Of Jute

For centuries, Jute has been an integral part of Bengali culture, which is shared by Both Bangladesh and West Bengal of India.

Magaret Donnelly I, was a jute mill landowner in Dundee in the 1800's. She set up the first jute mills in India.

During 1941, Henry Ford tested the strength of a car trunk made from soybean fibre.

What is Jute?

a long, soft, shiny vegetable fibre that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from plants in the genus Corchorus, family Malvaceae.

Jute is one of the cheapest natural fibers, and is second only to cotton in amount produced and variety of uses.

The suitable climate for growing jute (warm and wet climate) is offered by the monsoon climate during the monsoon season.

Cultivation

To grow jute, farmers scatter the seeds on cultivated soil.

When the plants are about 15-20 cm tall, they are thinned out.

About four months after planting, harvesting begins.

The plants are usually harvested after they flower, but before the flowers go to seed.

The stalks are cut off close to the ground.

Works Cited

Ganges Delta : Best Place in the world for Best Quality (Raw) Jute Fiber by GFTCL Bangladesh

http://www.naihc.org/hemp_information/hemp_facts.html

http://www.hemp.com/ The Great Book of Hemp: The Complete

Guide to the Environmental, Commercial, and Medicinal Uses of the World's Most Extraordinary Plant by Rowan Robinson

Work Cited

The Jute Industry: From Seed to Finished Cloth- T. Woodhouse and P. Kilgour by P. Kilgour and T. Woodhouse

Indian Jute Industry Problems and Prospects by Hari Dev Goyal

The British jute industry by British Jute Trade Federal Council