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From: rwdemay@aol.com
Date: 10/11/99
Time: 12:52:54 AM
this whole thing is ridiculous! why can't the control of the plant be given to the agr. dept? after all, this is an industrially useful product, totally organic, no petroleum derivatives, no pollution; well, you know the story. case in point; the mystic seaport museum here in connecticut, the nation's foremost maritime resource, world famous for its restoration of many sailing ships and other vessels, with an education program that is superb, library and research facilities, with complete shipyards, and which at the present time is building a full replica of the "amistad", the famous slave ship, to be launched nextyear.... amazingly, in order to get the proper hemp ropes, lines and cables, they have to buy them from a small dutch firm that makes the correct types for authentic, along with the usual bureaucratic red tape and annoyances! if you restore an old vessel, you don't use plastic.....also, the hemp ropes are always tarred both at manufacture, and periodically thereafter for preservation...those damned republicans continue to strangle us! but guess what industry buys the most congressmen....that's right, the petroleum people and dupont.....a hemp crop, properly raised , could produce a better per acre profit than tobacco, with a lot less intensive labor costs..... i made a ropewalk for our historical society, very successful, but have had to use sisal fibers..obviously i wanted hemp, but after a long search found some suitable material in canada....it was too expensive to buy in small quantities and importing it would have been a nightmare! maybe some of you have ideas; if you do, let me know.....what we need is hemp fiber, the bast, or a heavy yarn....our process, following the historical method, would be to spin the fibers into yarns, spin the yarns into strands, then spin the strands into rope....size and strength can be changed by varying yarn or strand ...all early ropes were of the three strand lay, right hand.....early ropes were then run through a hot tar bath and that was it.... would appreciate your comments!