Ah, the old non-splitting hemp.....
I think it’s down to a couple of things. It could be old stock or a crop harvested just a tad too early if I remember rightly.
I used to work for an animal feed manufacturer (mentioned already!), several years ago and one of my lines of production was the preparation and packaging of Chinese hemp.
A 20ft shipping container would arrive and it was all hands to the deck to offload the hessian sacks, many of which would weigh well in excess of 50kgs or a hundredweight in old
money. Some of the sacks would have been recycled by the Chinese and would often be in various states of repair. Patches sown on by a needle were very common and each sack would have had the top stitched by hand. Occasionally, these sacks would be picked up from the port and transported by one of the animal feed lorries that the firm used to run. This was reversed over a pit and the tailgate opened. I would then don some overalls, gloves and most importantly a decent mask (which believe it or not my boss used to baulk at paying for); and some goggles. Then with a new blade in my Stanley knife I would shear each sack straight down the side. Every so often I would start the lorry and raise it up a bit as I got further back. It was a fine balancing act getting it right! And so bloody dusty, you wouldn’t believe!
Fag packets, bits of glass, whole bottles, stones and once a finger tip flowed with the seeds into the pit.
Next job was setting up the Linde dressing machine. One of only 2 in the country and already worn out by the time it found its home in a disused cattle shed! Sieves exchanged, aspiration chambers set up, elevators and conveyors running I would then let it flow into the dressing plant. Often my boss would pop along and wind down the intake on the primary aspiration chamber because he was unhappy with the amount of green immature seeds coming out into the rubbish tote bin. When he went I would reset it again! Quality was my game. Once I was asked to set it and let it run after I left for home so that he could adjust it ‘to suit. When I came back in the morning about 5 ton lay on the floor having over spilled due to my boss trying to work it too hard!
We used to have about 15 - 17 ton delivered every month during the late spring to autumn with about half being sold for fishing. I used to promote this when on the banks and the firm has built a fair reputation over the last 3 decades.
Many anglers used to swear by this ‘brand’ of hemp. No one knew of the secret though. For each 2 ton bagged in 20kilo sacks I would add 2 litres of cod liver oil and give it a spin in the mixer! Not only did this make it appear super clean it helped keep this dust down too, as well as possibly being the most attractive hemp in the UK! You won’t be surprised to know that my boss never, ever gave me a sack for myself.......
Personally, I now use G & M Growers as it’s a very short drive away, the quality is generally superb and a terrific price! Remember though that although retail outlets may sell the stuff, they sure as hell don’t grow it!