Reply #167: Two technological developments sealed hemp's fate

[venuspluto]

1) A process was invented in which superior paper could be made cheaply from hemp hurds, or the innermost woody portion of the hemp plant's stem. Prior to this, hemp paper was made from hemp fiber (from the inner bark) much as hemp textiles were. Such fiber-paper is ideal for historical and cultural archives because of its very long life.

2) An American inventor of German descent invented a hemp decorticating (bark-removing) machine so that paper could be economically made from hemp rather than trees. (I think his name was Schlicten, but I'm not sure, so don't quote me.) This inventor remembered all too well how his native Germany's beautiful forests were mowed down to sate the German timber industry's appetite.