209 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
209 lines
8.4 KiB
Plaintext
From: bmasel@igc.org (Ben Masel)
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Date: 8 Mar 92 03:30:00 GMT
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Newsgroups: talk.politics.drugs
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Subject: Re: Book burning
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REPOSTING:
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The following two responses are abstracts of papers presented at
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the First European Conference on Industrial Uses for Agricultural
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Crops, held at Maastricht, The Netherlands last November. I hope
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to have the full papers soon, and will post when available.
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ben
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CHARACTERISATION AND PROCESSING OF ANNUAL CROPS
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(ESP. HEMP) FOR PULP AND PAPER
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MARIE-JOSE DE SMET
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AGROTECHNICAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE, ATO-DLO,
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HAAGSTEEG 6, 6700 AA WAGENINGEN (THE NETHERLANDS)
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Hemp is a nonwoody annual plant containing two types of cellulose
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fibers, of which one type originates from the bark, and the other
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from the wood part of the stem. These fibers have different
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physical properties and chemical composition. The long flexible
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bast fiber which occurs in high proportion has long been used for
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textiles and ropemaking. Both fibers can be used in the
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preparation of pulp, paper, and probably numerous other products.
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An important characteristic of the pulping of hemp compared to
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wood is the treatment neccessary to produce pulp is milder.
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These and other data have raised the possibility of new approaches
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to pulp manufacturing that overcome the serious environmental
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problems created by the pulp and paper industry and of developing
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energy efficient processes.
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The production of pulp and paper from hemp consists of various
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operations. Preliminary production steps are the seperation of
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bark and wood and if storage is required drying or ensiling. The
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numerous steps are: pulping, bleaching, waste-water treatment, and
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the basic operations in papermaking. All these tasks are being
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studied and optimized. The pulping process we have focused on are:
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thermomechanical and chemo- thermomechanical pulping, alkaline
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extraction, organosolv pulping, and biopulping.
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The results obtained are promising and indicate that pulp and
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paper can be prepared from hemp using clean processes and that
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substantial energy savings can be achieved. Different qualities of
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pulp and paper can be produce dependent on the pulping process.
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__________________________________________________
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VARIATION OF HEMP (CANNABIS SATIVA) FOR STEM YIELD AND STEM
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QUALITY RELATED CHARACTERS
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E.P.M. De Meyer
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CPO, P.O.Box 16, 6700 Wageningen, The Netherlands
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The feasibility of the production of cellulose by means of the
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annual crop Cannabis Sativa is being studied in the Netherlands.
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This paper deals with one of the basic steps of the project, the
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establishment of a Cannabis collection and the characterisation of
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the populations with respect to yield and quality.
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Until now varieties of domesticated Cannabis are selected for the
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production of either phloem fibers or narcotic resin. Both groups
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are represented in the collection, as well as a third group
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consisting of spontaneous populations. The complete collection
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contains about 160 more or less distinctive populations. After
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evaluation, selected populations will be used in a breeding
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programme.
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The dry matter production of cannabis plants depends primarily on
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the legnth of the inductive photoperiod which determines the
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duration of the vegetative period at a certain latitude. The
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harvest index - the fraction of the main stems of the total dry
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matter - depends on plant habit traits like degree of branching
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and internode legnth. A summary of the variation for vegetative
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growth will be presented in relation to stem growth parameters as
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measured in a field experiment.
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The optimal quality properties of cellulose pulp varieties of
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Cannabis are still under study but it is already clear that the
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available fiber varieties only partially meet the requirements.
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Alternative sources of raw materials for paper pulp production are
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usually compared with the main source at present which is conifer
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wood. A comparison of Cannabis fiber dimensions and conifer wood
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dimensions will be presented. Only the fraction of secondary
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phloem fibers is similar to conifer fibers. Almost no variation
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has been detected for the length of the relatively short wood
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fibers of Cannabis, which hampers attempts to improve the quality
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of the xylem fraction by means of breeding. The phloem fibers are
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considered to be the most valuable components of the stem. A quick
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method to estimate phloem fiber content was developed and results
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of the evaluation of the collection with respect to fiber content
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will be presented. Also a method to estimate the amount of primary
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and secondary fibers within the total fraction of phloem fibers
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will be discussed.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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Ben Masel, Director WI NORML bmasel@igc.org 608-257-5456
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911 Williamson St, Madison WI 53703
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i didn't put politics in the gutter, i found it there.
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------------------------------------------------------------
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=============================================================================
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In the early part of the 1900s the US Farm Bureau had
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a department for fiber investigations.
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One report is as follows:
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In the literature of the fiber producing plants of the
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world the word hemp appears frequently, applied oftentimes
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to fibers that are widely distinct from each other. The
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word is usually employed with a prefix, even when the
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true hemp is meant, as manila hemp, sisal hemp, Russian
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hemp, etc. In this article will be considered the hemp
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plant proper, the Cannabis Sativa of the botanists, which
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has been so generally cultivated the world over as a
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cordage fiber that the value of all other fibers as to
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strength and durability is estimated by it.
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The Sanskrit name of the plant is bhanga; in Hindostan it
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is called ganja; the Arab name is kinnub, from which,
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doubtless, its Latin name cannabis, is derived; in Persia
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it is known as bung, while in China it is chu ts-ao,
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and in Japan, asa.
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Its native home is India and Persia, but it is in general
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cultivation in many parts of the world, both in temperate
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and more tropical climes, though only in Russia and Poland
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in large quantities for export.
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French hemp is much valued, but the finest quality comes
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from Italy, and is fine, soft, light colored, and strong.
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Hemp, though grown throughout India, is little cultivated
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for its fiber, although Bombay grown hemp "was proved to
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be superior to Russian."
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Hemp is largely grown in Japan for the manufacture of
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cloth. This industry is very old, as prior to the
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introduction of silk weaving it was the only textile
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fabric of the country.
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Its cultivation is an established industry in the United
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States, Kentucky, Missouri, and Illinois being the chief
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sources of supply, though the culture has extended as
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far north as Minnesota and as far south as the Mississippi
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Delta, while California has only recently become
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interested in its growth.
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Formerly large areas were devoted to the cultivation of
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the plant in the United States, and thirty five years
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ago nearly 40,000 tons of hemp was produced in Kentucky
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alone, while now the figure has diminished due to
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imports of Philippine manila and jute.
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Kentucky hemp is used successfully not only for rigging
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of vessels and for twines and yarns and bagging, but
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it is also spun and woven into cloth, just as today
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it is manufactured into fabrics in portions of
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Brittany.
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Soil Selection
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As in Brittany, so in Kentucky, limestone soils, or the
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alluvial soils such as are found in the river bottoms,
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are best adapted to this plant. The culture, therefore,
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is quite general along the smaller streams of Brittany,
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where the climate is mild and the atmosphere humid.
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In Kentucky the best lands only are chosen for hemp,
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and the most favorable results are obtained where there
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is an underlying bed of blue limestone. In certain
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portions of the State, Shelby County for example, it
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is claimed that a finer and tougher fiber is produced
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than in other sections, and this is thought to be
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due to a mixture in the soil of a whitish, oily clay.
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As a general rule, however, light or dry soils or
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heavy, tenacious soils are most unfavorable.
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Hemp is not an exhaustive crop. A recent report states
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that in Kentucky a grower in virgin soil sown to hemp
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can be followed with this crop for fifteen to twenty
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years successively; sown then to small grain and clover,
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it can be grown every third year, without fertilizers,
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almost indefinitely.
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In New York, it is customary to apply barnyard manures
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as there it is considered essential to put the soil
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in good fertility to make a successful crop.
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--
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Capt. Kirk: let's head for that planet, third from the sun, it
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looks promising.... |-)
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