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Hemp Facts. Hemp derived from the cannabis plant has been cultivated and used for 1000's of years by humankind. The earliest-known woven fabric was apparently of Hemp, which began to be used in approximately 8,000-7,000 BC;
Until recent times more than 75% of the world's paper was made from Hemp fibre and about 80% of all rope and twine was made of hemp until replaced by synthetic petro-chemicals. 90% of all sails were made from hemp. In Britain in the 17th and 18th Centuries it was law that all farmers sow 10% of all arable land to hemp. Over 25,000 different products can be made from hemp in oil, seed or fibre form such as fabric, food, bio-diesel fuel, paper, plastics, rope, building material, molded panels, car components, wallpaper, acoustic baffling and barn bedding for farm animals. It is exceptionally strong and grows very quickly; it produces 250% more fiber than cotton and 600% more fiber than flax when grown on the same land. Hemp cloth is softer and warmer than cotton and has 3 times the tensile strength. It is many times more durable and does not harbour bacteria. Hemp fabric screens out around 95% of harmful UV-rays. Unlike most crops, hemp can flourish and grow at very high rates without using harmful pesticides and herbicides. The word canvas derives from a Greek word for Cannabis. Rembrants, Gainsboroughs, Van Goghs as well as most early canvas paintings were principally painted on hemp linen
In 1916, USDA Bulletin No. 404, reported that one acre of cannabis hemp, in annual rotation over a 20-year period, would produce as much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres of trees being cut down over the same 20-year period. Hemp is now produced in China, Russia, India, Nepal, Hungary, Bulgaria, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine, Syria, Turkey, the former Yugoslavia, France, Switzerland, Holland, Britain, Canada, throughout South-East Asia and South America, Tasmania, Victoria and other states of Australia.
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