plant fibres
retting
cotton
cotton plants
flax
Hemp
sisal
ramie
piņa & abaca
Sources - Quellen
 hempfield in Switzerland |
The history of this ancient fibre plant goes back as far as the Early Stone Age. The oldest proof of the use of hemp comes from Taiwan: 12000 year old pottery shards with the imprint of hemp rope. Cannabis was to be found at the latest 2700 years B.C. in al of the cultures of the old world. It was valued as a foodstuff, for it's fibre and seed oil, for medicine and shamanic uses. In Roman times and in Middle ages hemp fibres were made into ship ropes and sails as well as fine cloths. The first paper mill in europe circa 1150 A.D. processed also hemp fibres. Hemp was an important agricultural product and raw materials in many lands and the Cannabis industries flowered into the 20th Century. |
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Hemp fibres are outstanding for their particular strength which is even greater when the fibre is wet. Although hemp is mostly known as rope or rough canvass, earlier in history hemp was also processed into fine quality textiles. Today hemp is prepared as a building material and industrial insulation but perhaps the most imortant use of hemp for the future is that of papermaking. Hemp paper is durable and has a special affinity for ink. |
 hempfibre |
Renewable resources are among the most important themes of our time and fibre plants are very important resources. Hemp farming yields not only environmentally sound materials but can fit well into a healthy system of sustainable agriculture and industry. Hemp can be very productive even when grown without the use of chemical herbicides and pesticides. In comparisson to Forest management, growing hemp yields far more cellulose pro hectare than growing trees for paper production. The retting of the hemp plants in the field combined with proper crop rotation even leads to an improvement in the soil. Hemp seeds are very nutritious and contain a valuable oil which can be processed into biodegradeable grease and highly refined into precision machineoil.
Although the benefits of farming and use of this diverse crop were once widely valued, hemp is rarely grown as an industrial material today. In the past 100 years the worldwide hemp industry has greatly deminished. USA's linked Drug- and Foriegn Trade Policies have been used to promote Americas's cotton and petrochemical industries while supressing the farming of hemp, even though industrial hemp contains minimal narcotic material and is not suitable for smoking.
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Cannabis sativa L.
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 Male Cannabis flowers |