Date: Sat, 10 Dec 1994 15:28:14 -0500 (EST) From: INSTFORHEMP@delphi.com Subject: Greenleaf News Vol5#4 Message-id: <01HKHEPO1KCY9214NW@delphi.com> THE GREENLEAF NEWS VOL 5 #4 INTERNET VERSION please feel free to post to any BBS's or other Networks ********** THIS ISSUES HEADLINES DEA Agent Responds to Claims Made by Marijuana Advocates. Claims Data On Hemp Exaggerated / Fabricated !! Advocates Called Liars !! Industrial Fabrics Assoc Does Hemp Article Hemp: The First Industrial Textile ********** ********************* IN THIS ISSUE: IFAI Article "Hemp First Industrial Textile" DEA Responds, with a vengence, to Advocate Claims Hemp Experts Respond to DEA Agents Claims Kenaf Field Seperation Test at U of Miss Problems with Kenaf Leaves First Decorticator Patent Early Hemp Brake Patent Editorial ********************* ******************************* Editorial It seems that the last issue made a couple of people unhappy. Oh well. I have offered them space to rebut my letter in response to the LA Times. Chris Boucher refused, Chris Conrad's has yet to be received. Some are probably wondering why it is that I have been including articles about the advances that have been, and are being, made by the Kenaf experimenters. Well simply put some of the problems that are experienced by the Kenaf experimenters are or will be encountered by the introduction of the cultivation of Hemp. While Hemp appears to be a wonder crop there is unfortunately, a lack of technology necessary for the efficient handling of the crop. We have to remember that the countries that currently cultivate and use hemp are basically poor and their technology, for the most part, is severely lacking. Most of these countries justify the lack of technological advances on the fact that they have millions of unemployed persons seeking work at any wage. They can not justify an expenditure in equipment that will in effect, take away and make it that much harder for the displaced farm worker to get a job. It is also a matter of political necessity in many countries, they must have a job for everyone or the unemployed may overthrow the new government as well. These and other conditions like the lack of long term investment capital have made the technology of hemp an ignored subject. The majority of hemp grown world wide is handled by hand. Everything from the Seeding, Harvesting, and decortication is all done by hand. The Hemp equipment that American farmers would take for granted like, Air Conditioned Cabs, Stereos, Radios are simply not available. It is therefore important that we keep an eye on the developments made with other Hemp-like fibers. We should also maybe, even encourage the development of Hemp-like fibers and products. It is important to remember that most anything that is done with Kenaf can be done with Hemp and to a certain degree visa versa. It should be a simple matter to take the processes that are being developed for Kenaf and convert them for use on hemp. When we are able to get the commercial crop back again we will be able to take advantage of these developments. Hemp has advantages over Kenaf. It can be grown more successfully in Northern climates and requires less care than Kenaf. Although Kenaf has its advantage over Hemp, mainly its legal to grow without all the BS permits Hemp requires. So I hope that everyone finds the information on the developments in Kenaf as interesting as I do. John Birrenbach *************** Marijuana Boosters EXAGGERATE, FABRICATE Benefits of Legalizing U. S. Hemp Crop St. Paul Pioneer Press (ST) - TUESDAY, October 4, 1994\ By: Wayne J. Roques Columnist David Morris' penchant for presenting drug culture myths to his readership is almost as fascinating as it is inaccurate. His latest chapter in the marijuana fable (column, Aug. 30) faithfully related the tale that hemp (marijuana) is a super crop and may even ``save the earth. '' Morris recited decades-old information about the need for canvas and rope during World War II, as though it had relevance in today's world. Can't you see today's sailors eagerly replacing their lighter, stronger, less absorbant, more durable nylon sails and rope with a heavier, less durable hemp product? The dialectic of the drug culture says that hemp is vitally needed to replace petroleum and other current crops as a raw material for the textile, paper and rope-making industries and as a food. Has a desperate shortage of raw materials been declared by the textile, paper and rope-making industries? Was I out of the loop when that report came in? Has cotton - which is economical to produce, plentiful and an ecologically safe raw material for use in textiles or rope-making - been placed on the endangered species list? A recent interview with Dr. Robert G. Robinson, professor emeritus in the Department of Agronomy and Plant Genetics at the University of Minnesota, was conducted by Jeanette McDougal of Drug Watch Minnesota. Robinson was licensed to grow hemp and did so as part of his agricultural crop research at the university. A review by Robinson of the claims of the drug culture relative to the ecological and economic benefits of hemp reveals that they are ``greatly exaggerated, either true of most plants or simply lies. '' Hemp advocates call it a soil-building plant because of its yield of plant material per acre. Robinson said that corn, sorghum, alfalfa and many other field crops produce more tonnage per acre than hemp. Hemp is an annual crop and production is just as damaging to soil productivity and loss of soil from erosion as most of the common field crops, more damaging than some. They speak of hemp's strong roots preventing soil erosion, but its roots are hardly unusual. Corn and other grass crops do a better job in this respect because they have more extensive fibrous root systems. Hemp advocates often claim that - unlike corn, cotton and other crops - hemp does not require heavy fertilization and is especially resistant to insects. However, in countries where it is legally grown, hemp is fertilized and protected by pesticides like the other crops grown in that country. In U. S. plots of illegally grown hemp, law enforcement officers frequently find large quantities of high-nitrogen fertilizer and rodenticides present at the site. It is common to find dead squirrels and other small game at the sites as well. According to Robinson, the claim that growing hemp is needed to reduce deforestation is an outright lie. He said that their warning that we have destroyed 70 percent of our forests since 1937 is ridiculous. He related that we have more forest than before, because of reforestation and management for sustained production. Robinson said nothing can compete with forests for paper pulp as far as saving energy and using the carbon dioxide of the atmosphere. He said that a crop of Minnesota aspen trees (to use one example) harvested every 20 years or more for paper pulp is far more energy efficient and vastly more efficient at removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than hemp or any other annual plant. With proper management, aspen forests regenerate themselves. Hemp is clearly inferior to forests as a major source for paper pulp. Prior to World War II, hemp was considered an essential product for military rope. But since World War II, plastic rope and twine have become cheaply available and have replaced hemp for those uses. Plastic is superior over hemp and other natural fibers where rot resistance and strength is important. This may gravely disappoint the drug culture whose motto is, ``Where there's rope, there's dope. '' Robinson said that the claim that hemp is needed to replace petroleum fuel is similarly misleading because corn is already meeting market demands for ethanol fuel. Other more economically produced plants such as sorghum, sugar cane and sugar beets can be and are used worldwide for that purpose. For replacing petroleum oil in pesticide sprays, oil seed crops such as soybeans, sunflower and flax are already being used. Another strikeout. The drug culture says that hemp is needed for the textile industry. Hemp can be grown commercially in Europe and many other areas. Still, cotton is the No. 1 fiber crop of the world and is the most useful and cheapest one as well. For finer cloths, we have linen from flax. It should be noted that hemp has not become a major crop in Europe. Hemp clearly isn't a necessity. Robinson asserted that, while hemp might be a useful niche crop, it is not essential. He further commented that, in view of its linkage to criminal activities, we simply don't need it. It should be noted that there is one serious drawback to the alternative crops - corn, cotton, aspen trees and others - compared with hemp (marijuana). If smoked, they would profoundly disappoint the user. The pipe dream here lies in the claims of the drug culture. A hemp crop would not be an economic savior, nor a wise presence, for our country. It is just another red herring proffered by the drug culture to distract the public from the harmful information about marijuana and the danger that it presents to our nation. It is just one more avenue in their endless attempts to introduce marijuana, their drug of choice, into our society in order to legitimize their aberrant behavior. I can't wait to see David Morris' next installment in his ``Marijuana's Excellent Adventure'' fiction series. Roques is a U. S. Drug Enforcement Agent in Miami, Fla. Copyright (c) 1994 St. Paul Pioneer Press @ZEND *********************************************** Institute for Hemp Responds to Editorial RMarijuana Boosters exaggerate, fabricate benefits of Legalizing U. S. Hemp CropS Tuesday Oct 4, 1994 Dear Editors, I found the article by Wayne Roques in the Tuesday edition of the Pioneer Press to be so full of inaccuracies that it is necessary for me to respond to them. Lets start with the fact that there is a shortage of timber necessary for the production of paper products. In the past few decades alone the increase in the price of paper has been precipitated by a lack of available raw materials namely timber. It is important for the U. S. to find alternatives to the use of Timber for the production of paper products. This was pointed out as early as 1916 by the U. S. Department of Agriculture in bulletin #404. The statement that cotton is an Eco Friendly fiber crop is totally absurd. Given the fact that over 50% of the pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers produced each year and are used to manufacture cotton this makes cotton the most Eco Unfriendly crop known to mankind. The statement that Rillegally grown hempS is often found with large amounts of fertilizers and rodenticides is completely misleading. These plants are producing RMarijuanaS. In order to get the fastest growth and highest yield and value the growers use fertilizers and protect the crop. In the Mid-West, where the best Hemp would be grown, NO Fertilizers, Herbicides would be needed. Neither will the use of Pesticides be necessary as, unlike European Countries, there are no real natural pests for Hemp found in the United States or North America. While I have the greatest respect for Prof Robinson at the University of Minnesota he most certainly is not an expert in the growth or use of Hemp. Just because some 25+ years ago he cultivated 3 rows of Hemp in an experiment does not make him an expert or even knowledgeable in current techniques. There is a reason why hemp hasnUt taken over for cotton in the countries that cultivate Hemp. Right now there is a lack of what we call farm equipment designed to plant and harvest hemp efficiently. Currently the hemp industry is in need of a technological infusion that will only be brought about with the introduction of large scale cultivation in the United States. To compare the types of Cannabis grown for the production of Commercial products with marijuana is like comparing apples to oranges sure they both grow on trees, but there the similarity ends. In the countries where hemp is grown they only allow the growth of specially designed Non-Drug types of Hemp. If we cultivated Non-Drug Hemp this would infect the drug type of Cannabis grown illegally for marijuana. The genetic result would be a reduction in potency in the illegal marijuana crop. In fact, it would not take the illegal marijuana growers long to figure out that they should go elsewhere to grow their marijuana crop. So the final reason to cultivate Cannabis Hemp is too in fact destroy the Illegal Marijuana grown in the United States. Sincerely, John Birrenbach @ZEND ************************* OTHERS RESPOND TO DEA Date: Mon, 10 Oct 1994 From: Ben Masel The Pioneer Press article is a clear indication that the debate over agricultural hemp has moved to a higher level. We can no longer rely on the gospel according to Herer as a bottom line source as we begin to debate people more knowledgable on these issues than cops. Particular caution to the 4 to 1 yield over trees myth. It is not entirely accurate that there are no hemp pests in N. America. The orange worms found in too many midwest buds come to mind. A 1928 plant pathology text produced here at UW Madison cited 8 pathogens, compared to 220 for corn. I strongly suspect that the psychoactive resins originally evolved as a protection against insects, so the Europeans may be vulnerable because they have bred the natural defenses out. You are right about needing no herbicides. Hemp will outcompete anything. Fertilizer is another area more complex than your (John Birrenbach's Response) letter admits. Hemp is a heavy nitrogen feeder. Returning leaves to the soil helps. So does rotation with legumes. The ability to utilize the non-food grade fertilizer produced by municipal sewage treatment plants is a good argument in our favor. Bulletin 404 was comparing hemp to natural forest, not to the modern tree farm. Hybrid poplars now get 4-6 tons /acre/year, quite competitive WWII era hemp yields in the Midwest. Ben Masel @ZEND GREENLEAF NEWS VOL 5#4 INTERNET VERSION part 2 ************************ Hemp: The First Industrial Textile By Stephen Orgel & Michael Ravnitzky Industrial textile engineers are expressing renewed interest in the use of bast, or natural vegetable-stalk plant fibers. Bast fiber plants have always been commercially useful. All share a common element: their stalks are comprised of very lone fiber-forming cells. They are also easy to grow, very earth friendly, naturally recyclable and yield a high percentage of valuable fiber. Significant bast fibers include flax, used to make linen; jute, used to make twine; burlap bag cloth, sand bags and erosion-control fabrics; and ramie, used in clothing and luggage. True hemp, however, is considered by some experts to be the oldest, strongest and most versatile of the bast fibers. It has been decades since it has been commonly used. As a result, people interested in it are likely to have many questions. Here are some answers. What is Hemp? The designation RtrueS is added because the generic term hemp has been applied to more than 100 different plants. True hemp has been cultivated for rope, fabric, and other textile applications for 7,000 years, according to John King Fairbank in his 1992 RChina. S In fact, the word RcanvasS is derived from the botanical name for hemp, Cannabis sativa. In the western hemisphere, industrial use of hemp began in the late 18th century - primarily for canvas cloth, coarse skirting, ropes and tarpaulins - and continued strongly into the post-World War I era. When the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI) formed in 1912, a key part of the industrial fabric business was in hemp canvas, which eventually was supplanted by cotton canvas and, later, synthetic fabrics. Although hemp was used globally until the mid-20th century, by the end of World War II only a few countries exported hemp textiles. HempUs decline in use paralleled the decline of all natural fibers except cotton, a trend brought about by the rapid development of synthetic fibers. Hemp also required a great deal of labor to process it into a usable form. The fiber had to be stippled, retted, broken, scutched, degummed, untangled, hackled, buffed and combed before it could eve be spun into yarn. Without a huge infusion of capital to purchase expensive machinery such as high speed harvesters, processing hemp was just not cost-competitive with ginning cotton or synthesizing polyolefins. WhatUs more, hemp was designated a federally controlled substance in the 1930Us, despite the fact modern hemp for textile application contains no psychoactive components. What Countries Develop New Hemp Textiles? Today, hemp is bred and cultivated for fiber export in China, Russia and Hungary. hemp also has been studied and produced in other countries, including the United Kingdom, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Canada. Russia, France and the Netherlands have become key centers for hemp genetics and breeding research. Researchers from these countries have provided the bulk of the work dedicated to improving hempUs characteristics and completely eliminating any psychoactive content. Only Russian and Chinese hemp textiles are produced domestically grown hemp. Even Hungary, which actively pursues hemp breeding and agronomy projects, still buys large amounts of the raw fiber for its textiles. Ironically, a region where fiber hemp would grow exceptionally well is the Midwestern United States. U. S. legislation, however, still does not recognize its textile varieties. In all, the use of bast fibers is increasing. International experts have made great strides in bast plant breeding and growing, microbiological and biochemical processing, byproduct biomass processing, and development in high-speed mechanical extraction and knitting machinery. Textile engineers are taking a keener interest in natural bast fibers and those blended with synthetic fibers such as aramid, nylon or polyester. Researchers are even addressing Reco-smartS substrates - materials that use high performance synthetic coatings - to develop commercially viable products. Content Labeling The world supply of genuine hemp fabric is very scarce because of the cultivation restrictions in the West, and in other areas of the world, many growersU inaccessibility to the equipment needed to extract high-quality fiber. The physical appearance of hemp is virtually indistinguishable from certain types of ramie and flax. Lighter weight hemp canvas actually looks and behaves much like heavier weights of linen fabrics. One way to distinguish the two is to check the fiber configuration. Flax fibers curl naturally to the left (clockwise like an S) and hemp fibers curl to the right (counterclockwise like a Z). Because of these similar characteristics, some hemp canvas gets mislabeled or mixed with other fibers. Hemp textiles are subject to the same laws and regulations as any other textile sold in the United States. The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act requires correct identification, composition and care label instruction on all textiles. Hemp textile buyers are urged to have random samples independently tested by a professional lab conforming to American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), Federal Test Method Standards (FTMS), or American Association of Textile Chemists and Colorists (AATCC), standard test methods. Hemp has many advantages over other fibers when used for work clothing. Channels that run through each fiber allow the fabric to wick away moisture very efficiently. Linen and ramie fabrics also exhibit this performance property, but hemp outlasts both materials in breaking strength and abrasion resistance tests. High temperatures don; t seem to faze hemp. Tests indicate that hemp fiber remains unchanged up to nearly 700 F, at which point carbonization begins. Even after additional hear is applied, hemp fiber will sustain temperatures above 1,800 F without combustion. Thus, hemp fabrics can be considered for applications where intense temperature - or ultraviolet (UV) resistant characteristics are required, such as blast-furnace work clothing and welding curtains, even awnings and tents. Documentation published by the Chinese Academy of Scientists suggests hemp fabrics block UV rays much better than most other industrial fabrics. According to the academy, nearly all fabrics with at least 50 percent hemp content can stop 95 percent of the sunUs UV rays, in contrast to other widely used fabrics tested by the academy, which screened out only 30 percent to 90 percent of the UV rays. Chinese physicists have hypothesized that it is the twisted-prism shape of hempUs molecular structure that accounts for the UV blocking. Stitching Hemp Canvas To fabricate hemp, experts recommend using two different machines: an industrial-gauge canvas stitcher and a heavy duty overlock/serger. Hemp cloth is very tough; it is important to lubricate the sewing mechanisms very well. Another tip: gauge variation makes hemp sewing thread unsuitable for modern sewing machines. Instead, use a polyester core, cotton wrapped, all-purpose sewing thread. RPolycoreS thread (used in the proper serger) makes a tight seam in hemp canvas, and will hold up longer than cotton or hemp thread. Hemp canvas can be grommeted just like cotton synthetic canvas. Make sure to overlap and secure all sewn seams before using grommeting or snap-fastening equipment, especially in the corners and at key stress points. GATT effect on hemp trade The United States is falling far behind European and Asian countries in the development of a domestic hemp industry. Trade rules are changing quickly, however. The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) provides for hemp cultivation and commerce in accordance with European Community guidelines. Last year, the United Kingdom revised its laws to allow such crops, and Canada followed suit this spring. We estimate the hemp market in North America and Western Europe (including hemp imported, produced and distributed) to be approximately $50 million per year, a figure that promises to grow over the next five years because of freer importation rules. Stephen Orgel is President of Canvasmaker inc, The USUs First and most Experienced Hemp Fabric Importer. Mike Ravnitzky is IFAIUs Technical service director. copyright 1994 IFAI For more info on IFAI or reprints please contact them at 612-225- 2508 @ZEND ************************************** In-Field Separation of Kenaf By Lung-Hua and Jonathan W Pote A Summary of Kenaf Production and Product Development Research 1989- 1993 Mississippi State University Bulletin #1011 There are two disadvantages with forage harvesters currently being used for kenaf. First, the harvester chops the kenaf into small pieces. The bark or bast fiber must be separated from the core, and the short bast fibers may limit the usage. Second, harvesting normally begins after the frost kills the vegetation. Weather often prohibits prompt harvest. This delay in harvesting may affect other field operations the following year. In-field separation is an alternative harvest method that can eliminate these two problems. It is easy to separate the bark or bast fiber from core by crushing the green kenaf. The separation machine described here is based on a prototype developed by Tainan Fiber Crops Experiment Station in Taiwan in 1975. The schematic diagram (figure 1) shows the basic principle of the separation. The whole kenaf stalk is fed into the machine. The first two crusher rollers crush the stalk, which is then beaten by the beater- roller. This action separates the bast fiber from the core. The stalk is then fed into the third crusher-roller while the core falls downward. The crushing and beating process repeats through the third crusher- roller and the second beater-roller; the last crusher-roller removes the remaining core attached to the bast fiber. The whole-length bast fiber is the end product. The crusher-roller consists of a three quarter inch thick 5 and one half inch OD steel pipe with twelve one and one quarter by one half inch steel bars welded to the periphery of the pipe. The beater-roller consists of four two inch by one half inch steel bars supported by four equally-spaced three eights inch steel plates welded to a two inch shaft. The outside diameter of the crusher-roller is eight inches and that of the beater-roller is thirteen and three eighths inches. With the crusher roller operating at 2647 rpm, the linear speed of the roller is 9.2 feet per second. Therefore, for a 10 foot long kenaf stalk, the separation time is less than 2 seconds. The speed of the crusher-roller affects the performance in bast and core separation. Our preliminary test indicates that the roller speed around 288 rpm produced the best separation. The crusher-roller did damage the skin or the bast fiber. An Instron test showed that the tensile strength of the machine-separated bast was about 75% of that of the hand stripped bast. Whether or not the separation process reduced the strength of retted kenaf fiber remains to be tested. The ease of bast and core separation depends on the moisture content of the kenaf stalk. Green kenaf stalks have a moisture content around 70% wet basis. When the moisture content of kenaf is lower than 50%, the separation of bast from core becomes difficult. Whole stalk kenaf dries down very slowly after harvest. In our tests, it took at least 3 weeks for the kenaf to dry down from 70%-50% moisture. Some visualized advantages for in-field separation are: 1) because the resulting bast fibers are several feet in length, their use may be broadened. 2) bast fibers dry within a day, facilitating storage. 3) Core can be more easily collected. In order to fully utilize the machine capacity, it is necessary to have some means to harvest kenaf in large quantities and transport the stalks to a central location for separation. Another approach is to develop a machine that will harvest the kenaf stalk and separate the bast and core in the field just as the combine does for grain crops. Our effort for the 1993 year was to build a once-over kenaf harvester. A Used John Deer grain combine was used as the prime mover and power source. The separation unit was built to fit in the combine. A Kemper head and feeder house of a forage harvester were attached to the front of the separation unit. The self-propelled harvester worked satisfactorily most of the time when there was a continuous feeding of the kenaf. Occasionally, the intermittent feeding of kenaf from the kemper head to the feeder house caused a large bundle of kenaf passing through the separation unit. This cause the breakage of the roller chain or the bearing housing. Further refinements are necessary to achieve a continuous field harvest with this unit. Lung-Hua Chen is a Professor and Agricultural Engineer Jonathan W. Pote is Associate Professor and Associate Agricultural Engineer @ZEND ************************* Kenaf has Problems with its Leaves Taken from RSelection and Breeding of Kenaf for MississippiS By Brian S. Baldwin A Summary of Kenaf Production and Product Development Research 1989- 1993 Mississippi State University Bulletin #1011 One characteristic that is important, but has little to do with adaptation, is leaf shape. Many cultivars currently used in the United States are of a leaf type that resembles marijuana (Cannabus sativa). While kenaf is not related to marijuana, the fact that some cultivars have leaves that look similar has led to occasional problems with local law enforcement officials. @ZEND ***AD***AD**AD**AD** Want to know where Hemp is at Today? "Hemp Today" Edited by Ed Rosenthal HempToday is a collection of current articles, and reports about Cannabis Hemp. Articles include... "Fiber Wars", "Hemp as Biomass", "Hemp or Wood", "Hemp for Paper", "Fiber Hemp in France", "Fiber hemp in Ukraine", and many many more articles. Written by the Worlds Top Experts... Dr. Katelaris, Ian Low, Ed Rosenthal, Doug West, John Birrenbach, Hayo van der Werf, and many others. Soft Cover, 450+pages, Pictures, Bibligraphy, Resource Directory, MORE Call 612-222-2628 or Send your order to: The Institute for Hemp PO Box 65130 St Paul, MN 55165 *Book Rate Shipping Included. For Priority Shipping add $2.00 **********PUBLISHERS SECTION*********PUBLISHERS SECTION************ The Greenleaf News Vol 5, #4 "Recording the Re-Emergence of Cannabis Hemp as the Worlds #1 Agricultural Crop" Publisher The Institute for Hemp Editor John Birrenbach Contributing Writers Ben Masel, Steve Orgel, Mike Ravnitzky, DEA Agent, Brian Bladwin, Jonathan Pote, Lung-Hua and the others who give great ideas Vol 5 #4 of the Greenleaf News is published by the Institute for Hemp. Subscription rates are 1 yr $20, 2 yrs $35, Canada add $5 per year additional. Payable in U. S. funds. The Views expressed herein are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the publisher. The publisher does not condone the breaking of ANY laws regardless of the ignorance of the law. The publisher feels that ONLY if you work within the law can we change the law. Without responsible laws we have anarchy. ADVERTISING RATES: This Newsletter is published using QuarkXPress*. All ads must be camera ready. Discounts & Freebies are available to Hemp reform Organizations. FULL PAGE 7"x10"--- $30. Quarter Page -------------$10. other sizes are acceptable Multi-Insertion Discounts given Call for Quote. WE NEED ARTICLES: We need articles for publication. If you would like to write something DO IT and send it in. If you can submit it on a disk or send it to us via e-mail, it makes it easier for us to publish. WE NEED MATERIAL, got an idea call us 612-222-2628. Internet E-Mail us at instforhemp@delphi. com @ZEND The Greenleaf News C/O The Institute for Hemp PO Box 65130 St. Paul, MN 55165 612-222-2628 E-MAIL: instforhemp@delphi. com *******************************************