Cob hemp in cob

[Jack C. Thompson]

>I have been told that in the early days hemp was used as the fibre in cob.
>Are there any signs of this in any of the old buildings? Does anyone know
>anything about it's use?

There is no reason why hemp plants would not have been used in cob
construction, but it is unlikely that the fiber was used.

When hemp or flax is processed to recover the fiber there is a lot of
chaff/straw (the amount of flax fiber recovered amounts to approx. 15% of
the overall weight of material grown).

Fiber hemp has a very woody stalk and I would expect the percentage of fiber
to be less than with flax (and the amount of chaff to be higher).

Jack

Jack C. Thompson
Thompson Conservation Lab.
7549 N. Fenwick
Portland, OR  97217

503/735-3942  (voice/fax)

www.teleport.com/~tcl