The Funny Hemp Booklet, 1943

“Who grows hemp today with a busy hand, Helps themselves and the country!”

-Die lustige Hanffibel, 1943

Die lustige Hanffibel, front cover – “The Funny Hemp Booklet”

The Funny Hemp Booklet

In 1942 preparing for WWII, The German Reich Ministry for Nutrition and Agriculture (under the name The German Reich Nourishment Authority) made a light hearted propaganda booklet. The topic for this propaganda?

To promote the Cultivation of Hemp…

With the United States launching the ‘Hemp for Victory’ campaign, German Reich officials launched a campaign of their own. In the inevitable shadow of WWII, The Hemp race had begun…

Die lustige Hanffibel
(The Funny Hemp Booklet)
1943

Inside cover

Title page

“The Funny Hemp Booklet”

Publishers page

“Introduction

The German people are in the world
primarily on their own.
Too often deceived was their confidence,
To only rely on outside help.
What it does today and what it has created,
It owes its own strength,
and this force is growing very healthy
of the German spirit and on German soil.

However, the German soil
not only grows food.
In large quantities it gives
raw material for the industry.

Such raw material, high in value,
belongs our good hemp!
What he provides, where you should grow it,
and what you make with his skin,
what you need to understand about cultivation,
you can find in this guide.”

“Products made of Hemp

The hemp plant, large and mighty,
is varied in performance,
yes it grows higher than a man
fast and lush.
From its intact body,
all parts can be used;
The fiber strand, the smooth seed
the wood part and the narrow leaves.
Each piece is able to help
the four-year plan!

The seed always high in value,
first gives us the seed we need to sow,
it is also consumed as a favorite dish
especially liked by the tit (bird, easy now),
is because if its goiter is full of hemp,
it will sing loud, and loving.”

“The wooden parts of this great plant
You should not ignore,
from it is easy to fabricate
lining to garnish floors.
It also supplies paper and cardboard
and lightweight material and fake walls,
also can be made something else, like
wood sugar, and wood gas.

However, all this is nothing compared to its fiber
usability. Only rarely a rope breaks when
it is spun out the hemp.”

“Who hangs laundry in wind, and storm,
who want so climb high on a rope,
who wants to weave and tie solid,
who sails under strong winds,
who handles with the dew on the quay,
who leads the bulls with the rope,
who has to catch horses with a lasso,
who wants the fish hang in the nets,
who fights fires with the a tube,
who dangles at the end of a safety rope,
who climbs steeply on rope ladders,
who dances and does gymnastics high on the rope,
who, got beaten badly in the boxing ring,
must save himself to ropes or cables,
who hangs in gloomy mountain pits
let him use only the hemp braided ropes!”

“More peaceful things can be spun too from the fiber hemp,
for example: carpets for the apartment
and belts for protection of the abdomen.
Comes the weekend in the forests shade,
dream it up beautifully in a hammock,
being alone, far from the rest of the world
on a river beach in a cool tent,
protected against curiosity, sun, and wind
if they are made with tight hemp.

Hemp will give us also cords, linen, towels,
and a strong binding for the books
also fustian, belts, canvases and bags —
well, things for very many purposes!
A hemp fabric hardly wears out,
a strong hemp line never tears.”

“So it’s worthwhile to grow hemp, and increase its cultivation,
especially since the fiber and the seeds
so far mostly came from foreign countries
despite the hemp always
grew well on our soil,
because 60 years ago
German soil produced enough hemp.

So hemp is not a foreign guest to us,
you plant it where it fits!
But if you want it to yield sufficient
prepare well.
Producing this crop is certainly not difficult,
however, he is not a side crop.
You have to take care of it, if you want to be pleased,
just as any other crop.”

“However, you have to observe the following:
The producing this crop should never substitute
the bread and root crops of the land —
Such error would cause a bitter revenge!
We’ll give this crop the place,
where it has the right location!
Where these areas are to be found,
we will now announce in the booklet!”

“Soil and site

Hemp grows – that’s a fact —
best on low peat soils,
with its rich humus and moister,
it´s an ideal location.
Hemp needs lots of water
which it gets with its deep roots
from the peat soils fresh grounds.

However, as much as it loves water,
too much water will make it sad,
because if the ground has a high water level,
the hemp remains quite small and pale.”

“Who grows hemp on peat soil, practices peat culture,
because on this soil the crop choices are very limited.
The number of food crops are
potatoes, cabbage,
sometimes cereal,
also some corn and tubers for fodder —
Much more is not going to do well there!

And if the plants emergence successfully,
weeds will bother a lot,
you’ll have to hack and chop a lot,
the ground will thus get arid and dry.
the moisture will quickly dry up,
the moor get powdery and flies away.
and the farmer gets constantly tied up
because of the weeds.”

“Here hemp jumps in as the lone
savior of the peat soils.
It grows very fast and large
puts its culture into the right lane,
because each crop is glad
if hemp sown alternately,
it gives the field screen and shade,
fast takes care of the weeds,
it keeps the peat soils dark ground
nice and clean, even and quite healthy.
And the peat soils late frost
doesn’t do any harm to the hemp crop.”

(not sure what the little plants are saying if anyone knows I’d love to hear)

“Also grassland in the peat soils
yields often sparse and weary,
here, if the soil is drained well,
its performance is quickly improved by hemp.
In short, the cultures on peat soil will increase productivity,
If they are combined with hemp!

And also on some other surfaces
provided previously, whether valley or hills,
you lowered the water table.

Where cereal crops often lay down
by frost, rust or weeds,
where there is fresh turned meadow soil,
where they did a the dense forest clearing,
where grasslands are well drained,
where once there was a branch of a river,
where new land is created from lakes and ponds —
There’s something to accomplish with hemp.”

“Crop rotation and preceding crop

The previous statement shows,
on which soils hemp should grow,
and what the previous crop on the field concerns
it is not very choosy.
It grows after root crops, grains, and vegetables,
and also after pastures or meadows.

The shady hemp, and that is clear,
represents in itself the best previous crop,
because its large, broad and dense plants,
strangle the weeds.
It leaves, after harvest,
a clean and damp soil.”

“You’ll be free from all worries if after hemp,
You’ll be growing grains.

Also root crops following hemp,
bring always high harvests,
and the grass seed, delicate and fine,
gladly settles into the soil after hemp.

In short, each crop after hemp will
bring a rich harvests, rich money!

And one more thing not common:
Hemp is also compatible with itself;
you can grow hemp year after year in the same field
and you’ll be successful anyway.”

“Tillage

The hemp is not for coarse fields,
it loves the seedbeds deep and loose,
so it can with its roots,
pull vigorously the nutrients,
then in its youthful behavior
develop its luxuriant growth.
To satisfy this requirement,
plow the fields deep in autumn.

If our hemp standing on grassland,
you need to go in the fall to break,
so that the frost fills every gap
and beyond the soil crumbly in pieces.

In the spring you shall hurry
to break up the old scar,
a good thing to do it with,
is using a disc harrow.”

“The smaller the disc harrow and circular knives
cut the lumps, so much the better!
Are small and densely matted the scars,
then the hemp seed will not starve.

If you want to prepare the ground well,
roll it as soon as possible.
With the heaviest roller
You’ll make your field crumbly and clear.
You should take first the roller
Especially with peat fields,
because the loose structure
gets strengthened sufficiently this way.
The roll gives the ground the finish,
which is a treat for hemp plants;
it wants to click its tongue —
that grateful it is for the rollers!”

“The fertilization

Who grows rapidly from child to boy,
must eat good and rich food,
so juices collect in the blood and stomach —
the same happens with Hemp too!
It must have, if it should thrive quickly,
lots of nutrients available,
and as its appetite is tremendously
it should come in easy to absorb form.

Will you want to bring good nutrients,
you have to fertilize it heavily with nitrogen,
for which it will be quite grateful
and never even tends to lay down.
Also lime in some form given
promotes a fast and strong life,
likewise it wants to have sufficiently
potash and phosphorus
which helps the tall stem parts
to produce quite strong ropes.”

“But pay attention to one thing,
that the fertilizer need to be applied early!
The best time is before sowing,
So the fertilizer has time,
before the time of sowing,
to spread very finely in the soil.

To spread the fertilizer on top of the plants,
rarely will please the hemp,
because it will not help much,
because the action comes too late.
If there is bad growth of leaf or stems,
then this normally is caused by other defects;
for example, that the moisture accumulates,
the soil was badly messed up,
the absence of a good finish of the seed bed
which causes the hemp to grow slowly.
But topdressing will never help here
and is a waste of time and money!”

“Also manure may, when applied in the fall,
Increase strongly the growth of hemp.
Because the great multitude bacteria
offers rich nutrients.

But never mind which fertilizer —
it must go early in the ground,
because what helps all splendor of the fertilizer,
if the water does not make it soluble!

That’s why you should sprinkle the fertilizers early,
which is the dearest gift for the hemp
then it grows in a very short time
to extensive opulence!”

“Variety and seed

Should cannabis produce enough income,
pay attention at choosing the seed:
late hemp rarely gets dry,
despite the most beautifully constructed sheaves.

All the German varieties were bred
for early harvests,
they are, compared with seed from other countries,
three weeks earlier ripe for mowing.
You should also choose a variety
where the seeds will ripen surely
and will bring along with good fiber strands
also large amounts of seeds.”

“So that your hemp seeds find in the peat soil
enough moister for germination,
sow it with the saw machine
at a depth of five centimeters,
then no bird can fool you
and scrape the seed off the field!
So if it’s sown carefully,
go with the harrow over the field,
and then finally go over with the roller —
that’s how you set the table for the seeds.

Rejoice going to sow,
as soon as the soil is warm and dry.
If you have seeds from abroad
sow at the end of April,
but you can wait till mid-May,
if you sow only German varieties.”

“Of importance in sowing
is the right amount of seed.
The dense seed produces arable purity
and quite peculiar stem fineness.
If stems get tall and thin,
they also bring the best fiber.

But don’t shoot over the target,
because too much is unhealthy,
by sowing random quantities
the plants all get crowded.
That’s why
The rows should have about 20 cm distance
and bring seeds in the ground
at a rate of eighty kilos per hectare.”

“The care

Hardly only three weeks have passed,
And the field is already covered,
and what is left of any weeds,
quickly is eliminated by the hemp.
That’s why with peat soil
there is hardly any maintenance work.

If hemp is sown on regular soil,
you need to chop and clear the weed,
but you have to do this early,
otherwise it will grow too big!”

(again would love a translation on what the plants are saying)

“The harvest

Already summer goes through the land,
quickly matures the seed stand of hemp,
then gradually gently from below
the grains ripen heavy.
If you want to avoid numb grain
you shouldn’t cut the hemp yet,
only when the field
gets its ripe brown-gray robe,
and when the grains get plump full
and gaze out of their blossoms cases,
and the seed have a brown tan —
then the hemp can be harvested!
If you want to perform the harvest quickly,
you need to mechanize well;
suitable is
a mowing machine with a palm rest,
even with hemp of great length
it will not get tangled up.”

“The disadvantage is:
It will take a lot of manpower.
They need to bind and move,
the hemp quickly off the track.

It saves a lot of work,
time, and energy,
who works with the binding mower,
but you can only use it
at small hemp stocks
that’s why our inventors created
in Germany a binding mower for hemp,
it will clean, beautifully and constantly
put on the ground the largest hemp,
with which incidentally and very well
can be cut any other grain.

To, get the harvest dry quickly,
stack carefully the hemp bundles to a tent,
in a nice round shape,
with sixteen sheaf bundles,
if they are firmly erect,
they’ll defy the strongest wind.”

“Storage and threshing

The fiber parts will quickly dissolve,
If allows them to stand too long,
they do not tolerate
the rain in autumn days:
The fibers will shrink and glue together,
the seeds begin to germinate,
and are picked by the birds —
That’s why you should drive the hemp quite soon to the barn!
However, if you lack the space and the time,
Build a house with the hemp
with high and steeply set eaves,
then the rain will run down!

The Cannabis
now must tan in the so called sweating process,
this stage lasts almost six whole weeks,
but it is a very healthy cure,
because even the grain, that was half-ripe only
now understands its purpose of existence
and nicely matures into full seeds.

So accomplished — its short life
it is desirable to deliver now
the hemp seeds and stalks,
this saves a lot of work and jams.
But if you cannot deliver right now,
start threshing the hemp.”

“However, with a normal Thresher
There would be splinters, shards, crushes
Because the throat and stomach of the machine
cannot tolerate the size of the hemp.
Serving the threshing of hemp today
Are the special machines threshing machines for hemp.

And the seeds
do not fill them into bags
it would heat up terribly
and they would sweat to death,
you must rather, like old customs
pour them carefully on the floor and diligently through the work of your hands
shovel it and keep it alive,
what has to be done in the beginning
every other day.
To avoid trampling,
you should cover your shoes with felt.
The same purpose can be accomplished,
if you wrap them with an old bag.

Hemp seed is only ready to get stored,
when the moisture leaves it,
that is, when it finally has declined
to eight percent!”

“Delivery and price

The following steps for the hemp
takes place in the hemp factory,
for the purpose of marketing and sales,
Start contacting people early!

If the factory is at a nearby location,
then load the hemp on your own carriage
tie it well and drive it yourself
there in a few hours,
only hemp brought from afar,
receives reimbursement for its cargo.”

“Anybody who grows a hemp-crop today, Will never remain sitting on the stems because hemp with all its uses and benefits will always be sold.

As it should be, There is a fixed price guaranteed, for good quality stands even a higher price, that’s why everybody should try, to grow only the best fiber!

That’s why big and strong hemp will bring,
much raw material and lots of money!

Who grows hemp today with a busy hand, Helps themselves and the country!”

Back Cover