88
Book Reviews
Konoplji Hvala
Praise to Hemp
Dr. Jan Kisùge0ci
96 pages with illustrations
ISBN 86-7953-002-6
1994
Konoplji Hvala or Praise
to Hemp is written in two languages, English and Serbian. The author wrote it
because people tend to forget Yugoslavian hemp's importance in previous decades and
centuries. This work gives a historic overview of hemp's role in the northeastern
part of former Yugoslavia. From the 15th century until the 1930's, hemp was produced
and used domestically. It was generally used for sacking and cordage. Poverty
forced people to fulfill their own needs, so peasants produced their own cloth from hemp.
The "upper classes" used silk, linen and wool. As a crop, it never
became a dominant culture, but was still present on every farm. Hemp growing and
processing was very labor intensive and occupied the family the whole year 'round, from
sowing in Spring to harvesting in the Summer, followed by its retting and drying in the
Autumn, and finally the required breaking, scutching, combing, weaving and spinning until
the next Spring.
Only in the 18th century, did trading of fiber
and hemp products become of some industrial importance. Seed was imported from the
Bologna region of Italy, since it was superior to domestic seed. In the 1930's,
modernization started with the education of farmers and weavers. This was
successful, as quality did improve. Soon after the war, in 1949, hemp production
reached its peak, with more than 100,000 hectares under cultivation. However, in the
following decades, this acreage drastically declined, so that now hemp has almost
disappeared.
After the book's historic over-view, three
chapters are dedicated to the basics of hemp: biology, cultivation and processing, and
products. Although the basics are explained in a few pages, which makes it easy to
read, it contains some factual inaccuracies. Very nice to read is the chapter on
'Hemp in folk customs and beliefs'. One example: "After the hemp has been sown,
people run three times round the fields with their eyes closed so that birds should not
see it and eat it". The final chapter discusses the current use of hemp.
The author regrets that the decline of cultivation discouraged research and,
therefore, modern cultivation and processing technology, even though interest for hemp
still exists. He feels that a part of history is disappearing and thinks
nostalgically back about his winter evenings long ago, with the family spinning and
weaving hemp.
I found only two significant drawbacks in this
book. First, I really missed a map of the region concerned, since I could not find
many of the places mentioned, in any atlas. Second, the English could be improved.
But these two drawbacks are well-compensated by the many historic pictures and
clear drawings. It is written from a farmers point of view and is relatively easy to
read, giving a better understanding of the history of hemp in this part of Yugoslavia.
[Editor's Note: Konoplji Hvala is
available to IHA members from IHA Books for US$30.00 postpaid.]
Sebastiaan Hennink
Thorbeckestraat 44
6702 BS Wageningen
The Netherlands
E-mail: Shennink@User.DiVa.nl
The Practical Hemp Primer
Ch.R. Vogl, J. Hess and K.F.
Stroeml, 1996.
Die Praktische Hanf Fibel.
Institut fuer Oekologischen Land-bau,
Universitaet für Bodenkultur, Gregor Mendel Strasse 33, 1180 Wien, Austria, pps. 32, US$
10.
This 32-page booklet (in German) summarizes useful information for would-be hemp farmers. It summarizes data from the scientific literature, draws upon practical experience obtained from 1995 in Austria and supplies information on the legal situation and regulations in Austria, Switzerland and Germany. The authors discuss growing, harvesting and processing of hemp from an organic-farming perspective. The content of this guide is refreshing, as it does not repeat such exaggerated claims as: hemp grows anywhere, needs hardly any fertilizer, does not suffer from pests or diseases, suppresses all weeds and leaves a superior soil structure. Instead, the authors supply a realistic picture of the crop's problems and potential. A large number of useful "hemp addresses" in German-speaking countries are supplied in the booklet.
Hayo van der Werf
America's Hemp King
Dennis Rens
self-published manuscript and video, 1996.
Matt Rens was the Hemp King
of America. He reigned from 1914 when he began producing hemp for World War I until
his death in 1950, while his industry was being shut down by governmental red tape.
Rens was one of the first to bring hemp into the modern age. The Rens
family's history has now been preserved by Matt's grandson, Dennis Rens, who compiled
family memories, photographs and the historical record into this important documentation.
Dennis Rens has also released an accompanying video tape of home movies of the
growing and processing of hemp taken by his uncle, Willard Rens, during America's last
hemp heyday.
Matt Rens started growing hemp in 1914 in
response to an initiative led by the University of Wisconsin. He realized that in
Wisconsin, the crop could not economically be processed with the old Kentucky methods, by
hand in the field. The variations in Wisconsin weather, especially humidity,
required that hemp be dried and processed indoors. Rens invested in building a
decortication mill that at its peak, processed four million tons per year of finished hemp
line fiber. Rens spent his life perfecting the methods of economically processing
hemp and developed the Matt Rens Hemp Company into America's largest hemp processor.
The manuscript documents how the hemp industry
was prone to alternating booms and busts. The booms coincided with the two world
wars. Matt Rens proved himself an excellent businessman by the way he weathered the
cyclical depressions and invested ahead of the times of peak demand. In his best
stroke of genius, he sold his entire operation to a "slick Chicago businessman"
just weeks before the crash of 1929.
The manuscript misses one crucial phase of the
Rens family history. Matt Rens tried his best to prevent passage of the 1937
Marihuana Tax Act. He traveled to Washington and testified before the House
Judiciary Committee about his company and industrial and military demand for hemp.
Rens' lobbying effort was successful, at least
on a temporary basis. Hemp stalks and fiber were excluded from the definition of
Marihuana and farmers were only required to pay one dollar for a federal license.
But soon the bureaucrats started hassling Rens and others going so far as to demand
that every last leaf be removed from the retted stalks before they could be transported to
the mill. In 1945, Rens again traveled to Washington to testify, this time before a
Senate Finance sub-committee. The federal demands became too much for any farmer and
by 1957 the entire industry was lost.
The prohibition against hemp cultivation caused
a break in our generation to generation passing of farm sense. Ten thousand years
worth of human experience with hemp is quickly being lost with the passing of our elders.
Dennis Rens says he did not write this manuscript for publication, but solely as a
project to preserve his family history. More of us need to follow this example and
document the knowledge preserved in the memories of our senior citizens before it is
forever lost.
At this point, Dennis Rens is making copies of
his manuscript available for the production cost of $10 each. The video tape is $20
and should not be missed. Both are available from Dennis Rens at 1540 Camelot Lane,
Minneapolis, MN 55432.
Don Wirtshafter
Ohio Hempery Inc., 7002 S.R. 329, Guysville, OH 45735 Tel. (614)662-4367
Fax.(614)662-6446 or http://www.hempery.com
Descartes and cannabis -
Why leave for Holland?
Frédéric Pagès, 1996. Descartes et le cannabis - Pourquoi partir en Hollande? Les Petits Libres nr. 8, Editions Mille et une Nuits, France.
Have you ever woken in the
middle of the night, worrying about the role of cannabis in the deterioration of the
relationship between France and The Netherlands? Then this small guide is your
answer. With an attractive cover, a clearly written content and a price that even a
Dutchman would afford (10 French francs), it presents the most challenging hypothesis
concerning cannabis since the publication of Jack Herer's The Emperor Wears No Clothes.
Many of our readers may not have mastered the French language, but this little gem
may be sufficient reason for a crash course.
A strange love-hate relationship exists between
the French and the Dutch. Dutch middle-class tourists appreciate France for its
sunshine, cafe terraces, wine and way of life, just as young French excursionists enjoy
Holland for its scenery, coffeeshops, cannabis and atmosphere. However, many Dutch
burghers dislike France for its political arrogance (e.g., nuclear tests),
whereas most French bourgeois are appalled by Dutch "permissiveness" (e.g.,
towards cannabis).
Frédéric Pagès, a journalist at the French
satirical newspaper "Le Canard enchaîné" has deftly written an enlightening
fifty-page booklet (that fits in the back pocket of your favourite "bleu-jean")
called "Descartes and cannabis - Why leave for Holland?" Being a Dutchman
living in France, whose favourite plant is Cannabis, it was of course, impossible
for me not to read a work bearing this title. It reveals why the all-time greatest
philosopher of France spent the most of his adult life in the Netherlands. Pagès
uses Descartes' so-called "Cartesian method" to boldly put forward the
hypothesis that Descartes came to The Netherlands for exactly the same reason as many of
his current compatriots: to smoke cannabis! He relates a fascinating account of his
investigation into the preferences of the Father of Modern Philosophy that is sure to
entertain (or enrage) anyone interested in these matters.
Hayo van der Werf