Hemp (Cannabis sativa), a plant, the only known species of the genus Cannabis, natural order Cannabinaceae. It is an annual herbaceous plant; the leaves are divided into five lanceolate and coarsely serrate leaflets; the male flowers, which are on separate stems, are green, resembling those of the hop; the female flowers are inconspicuous, and the fruit is a little hard capsule containing a single seed. It is a native of Western and Central Asia, but has been naturalized in Brazil and tropical Africa, and is extensively cultivated in Italy and many other European countries, particularly Russia and Poland. The Indian variety, often known as C. indicia, is the source of the narcotic drug variously known as hashish, bhang, or gunjah. The hemp fiber is tough and strong, and peculiarly adapted for weaving into course fabrics such as sail-cloth, and for twisting into ropes and cables. Immense quantities are exported from Russia. The finer sorts are used for shirtings, sheetings, etc., which, though coarser than that made from flax, are very much stronger and equally susceptible of being bleached. The hemp of England is very superior but the plant does not pay the farmer, and very little of it is grown. In some of the United States it is a crop of considerable importance. The seed must be sown thin, not more than one or two bushels to an acre. Small paths are often left open along the field lengthwise, at about seven feet distant from each other, to allow the plucking of the male plants first, as the female require to remain standing a month longer to admit of the seed becoming ripe. But in some parts the whole crop is cut at once, plants for seed being separately cultivated. The plant being stripped of its leaves, and dried in the open air, may be stored, but when steeped green it turns out of a better color. The steeping takes from 4 to 11 days, and the operation is known to be completed by the inner reed or woody fiber separating easily from the fibers of the outer bark. When thoroughly steeped it is taken out of the water and laid out in rows on the grass to bleach. This takes three weeks or more, during which period it requires constant turning with a light, long pole. After drying it is scutched or broken by breaks and scutching-stocks, resembling those employed for flax. Beating is the next operation, which separates the "boon" from the fiber. Hemp-seed is much used as food for cage-birds, and also yields an oil. Sisal hemp or (henequen) and Manilla hemp are not true hemps.
taken from: www.hempmuseum.org
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