hemp-growing industry can increase in this country only as machine
brakes are developed to prepare the fiber. A profitable use for the
hurds will add an incentive to the use of the machine brake.


[Illustration: FIG. 2.--Machine brake and hemp hurds. Hemp hurds from
machine brakes quickly accumulate in large piles.]


=PRESENT USES OF HEMP HURDS.=

Hemp hurds are used to a limited extent for barnyard litter and stable
bedding, as a substitute for sawdust in packing ice, and, in rare
instances, for fuel. They are not regarded as having a commercial value
for any of these uses, though they are doubtless worth at least $1 per
ton on the farm when used for stable bedding. They are a waste product,
without value for other purposes which might compete with their use for
paper stock.


=PRESENT SUPPLIES OF HURDS AVAILABLE.=

During the last season, 1915, about 1,500 acres of hemp have been
harvested outside of Kentucky and in regions where machine brakes are
used. Estimating the yield of hurds at 2-1/2 tons per acre, this should
give a total quantity of about 3,750 tons. Large quantities of hemp from
the crop of 1914, which are still 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