It took the directed efforts of Wisconsin State Department of Agriculture and local hemp growers like Matt Rens of Waupun to convince the International Harvester Co. This machine looked promising but, for unknown reasons, never went into production. Schlichten was awarded a patent for a fiber-processing machine called a decorticator. In Nebraska, a mechanical fiber-processing machine had been tried, but the resulting fiber was not of the quality desired by the growers, so they imported laborers to process it the age-old way: by hand. In 1918, virtually all stages of hemp growing and processing in the U.S. International Harvester Co.: Mechanizing the hemp harvest Through the International Harvester Co., Cyrus’ descendants later contributed additional labor-saving harvesting tools to hemp farmers in the 20th century. Shortly thereafter, Robert McCormick (father of Cyrus McCormick, who invented the first successful reaper) patented a hemp fiber-processing device.
Thomas Jefferson bred improved hemp varieties, and invented a special brake for crushing the plant’s stems during fiber processing. George Washington grew hemp and encouraged all citizens to sow hemp widely. Hemp fiber was so important to the young Republic that farmers were compelled by patriotic duty to grow it, and were allowed to pay taxes with it. Ironically, the first drafts of the Declaration of Independence were penned on hemp paper. Most of the fiber was then destined for British consumption, although at least some was used for domestic purposes. The Colonies produced cordage, cloth, canvas, sacks and paper from hemp during the years leading up to the Revolutionary War. Hemp: Important crop for colonial farms and Republicīy the mid-1600s, hemp had become an important part of the economy in New England, and south to Maryland and Virginia.
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