Most analysts forecast long-term increases in world demand for all types of fibrous materials, and some predict limitations in production capacity. New fiber crops, new industrial uses of non-wood fibers, and agricultural diversification in general are therefore subjects of widespread interest. Kentucky agriculture is not alone in efforts to pursue these possibilities, and will be required to compete with producers in other states and nations.

In North Carolina, Kentucky and other tobacco producing states, there has been and increasing interest in alternative crops. Tobacco producers are interested in diversification because of questions about the future of that crop. In 1986 and again in 1994, burley tobacco production quotas were cut.

Hemp is one of the oldest of known textile fibers. There is a definite record that the hemp plant (Cannabis Sativa) was cultivated in China for fiber production 27 centuries before the Christian Era. For nearly 5,000 years it has been important and has won an honorable position because of its strength and durability and the well-established fact that it is dependable.

Although we have still only a small acreage devoted to hemp in the United States, the acreage has doubled each year for the last three years. The area planted in 1917 was estimated at 42,000 acres.

At this time, its best to read online

The two fiber-producing plants most promising for cultivation in the central United States and most certain to yield satisfactory profits are hemp and flax. The oldest cultivated fiber plant, one for which the conditions in the United States are as favorable as anywhere in the world, one which properly handled improves the land, and which yields one of the strongest and most durable fibers of commerce, is hemp.

Fiber Investigations — Hemp & Flax. Many plant fibers and many questions pertaining to fiber production have been investigated during the past year, but attention has been directed especially to hemp and flax, which, aside from cotton, are regarded as the most promising fiber-producing plants for this country.