Subject: Re: Planetary Re-Education: HEMP SAVES WORLD

From: Andrew Lowry <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 6 Feb 1996 01:24:07 GMT

Will Lockwood <[email-masked]> wrote:
>[email-masked] wrote:
 
>> Why would we want to convert forests, which have many wonderful attributes besides producing wood for pulp, to hemp plantations, which seem rather monotonous to me?
>> 
>
>Simply so that we can leave our forests intact, especially old-growth 
>forests. I consider the extensive clear cutting done in the west 
>monotonous and depressing. Before the early 20th century, hemp was the 
>primary source of fibre for industry. Making paper and fiber products 
>from trees is much more energy and waste intensive.

The primary source for paper fibre in North America before the 20 th century was hemp!? Please state your source for this suppose fact. 

What where all of those Quebec, Ontario, Maritime, Great Lakes and New England Paper mills doing for fibre (they existed before 1900)? I suspect they where using the extensive stands of trees (that they still use) that grow locally rather than cutting them down to grow hemp.

Regards

Andrew Lowry
[email-masked]

---

From: Peter Abramowicz <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 7 Feb 1996 01:25:55 -0700

On 4 Feb 1996 [email-masked] wrote:

> Old growth forests aren't cut for pulpwood. Pulpwood comes primarily from
> thinnings and plantations established for this purpose. Switching from trees
> to hemp won't help keep forests intact, just the reverse.

That may be true in the U.S., but here in Canada the Clayoquote Sound old
growth pacific rainforest is being turn into paper for phone books in
U.S.. In Alberta, most of our northern boreal forest is also being
converted into pulp. 

   _____________________________________________________________________
  |  Calgary Rainforest Action Group   |   brought to you by:           |
  |  Connaught PO Box 23069            |   Peter Abramowicz             |
  |  Calgary, AB  T2S 3B1              |   (403) 270-2604               |
  |  tel. (403) 295-8666               |   [email-masked]   |
  |---------------------------------------------------------------------|
  |  http://www.freenet.calgary.ab.ca/populati/communit/crag/crag.html  |
  |_____________________________________________________________________|

---

From: [email-masked] (rexs13)
Date: Wed, 07 Feb 1996 22:09:30 -0800

In article <[email-masked]>, Caroline Resnik
<[email-masked]> wrote:

> There will be lots of a certain byproduct around if more hemp is grown. 
> There is already a lot of cereal fibre around that could be pulped after 
> the wheat straw, ect is harvested. Lets use that up first.
> Caroline

Some very valid points have been made in this thread. One that was missed,
however, is that hemp fiber does not contain silica. The silica content of
other "alternative" fibers ruins the machines that process the fibers.

I got this information from C&S Redwood Lumber in Eugene, Oregon. They
were importing bales of hemp fiber from China in cooperation with the
University of Washington. At the UofW, a press was set up that made the
hemp fiber into pressboard of different strengths. It looked very much
like chipboard, but with longer fibers. I have in my possesion a videotape
that features Mr. Conde speaking about the project. The video is called
"Common Sense- Episode #1." 

rexs13

-- 
***Today mushrooms feed me, tomorrow, I them.***