The covered wagons went west (to Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Oregon, and California) covered with sturdy hemp canvas tarpaulins, while ships sailed around the Horn to San Francisco on hemp sails and ropes. The original, heavy duty, famous Levi pants were made for the California amp;lsquo;49ers out of hempen sailcloth and rivets. This way the pockets wouldnamp;rsquo;t rip when filled with gold panned from the sediment. Homespun cloth was almost always spun, by people all over the world, from fibers grown in the family hemp patch. In America, this tradition lasted from the Pilgrims (1620s) until hempamp;rsquo;s prohibition in the 1930s. In the 1930s, Congress was told by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics that many Polish Americans still grew pot in their backyards to make their winter long johns and work clothes, and greeted the agents with shotguns for stealing their next yearamp;rsquo;s clothes. The age and density of the hemp patch influences fiber quality. If a farmer wanted soft linen quality fibers he would plant his cannabis close together. As a rule of thumb, if you plant for medical or recreational use, you plant one seed per five square yards. When planted for seed, four to five feet apart. One-hundred-twenty to 180 seeds to the square yard are planted for rough cordage or coarse cloth. Finest linen or lace is grown up to 400 plants to the square yard and harvested between 80 to 100 days. - Jack Herer
