Is it Jute or Hemp?

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I was given approx. 40 lbs of twine that I'll be using in the garden and making rope for other uses.

QUESTION: is there a simple test to determine if the twine is Jute or Hemp and which is most weather resistant? Most searches just ramble on about the benefits of theirs for sale and on occasion insert the word Manila mentioning Jute rope.

Wikipedia offers some info. that Hemp ropes used on sailing ships were tared to protect from moisture rot.
 

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I found this link above @SeniorCitizen and thought it might help to clarify. I thought it to be a very interesting query.
 
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Thanks Tetters
I happened onto a site that describes the subject question very well and what I have is Sisal. It's was a real common product for farmers early when hay was harvested with a - Binder - and I can recall that well when I was a kid in the 1940's. When the hay Baler took the Binders place the Sisal twine continued to be used until the synthetic twine as a petroleum product replaced the Sisal twine sometime in the early 1960s IIR.
 

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I can recall some of the 40`s, but had no connection with hay making at that time. My ''horti'' interests grew as I got older and this last summer was the very first time to make hay (as the camping site had to close down) My baler twine was of course from 'Amazon' and was bright orange synthetic stuff :rolleyes:

 
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I was given approx. 40 lbs of twine that I'll be using in the garden and making rope for other uses.

QUESTION: is there a simple test to determine if the twine is Jute or Hemp and which is most weather resistant? Most searches just ramble on about the benefits of theirs for sale and on occasion insert the word Manila mentioning Jute rope.

Wikipedia offers some info. that Hemp ropes used on sailing ships were tared to protect from moisture rot.
Jute sometimes has a strong smell.
 

NigelJ

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Hemp is produced from the fibre of Cannabis sativa and was used in sailing ships and often tarred to protect it from water. It was superseded by manila hemp from a banana species which lasted better.
Jute comes from members of the mallow family grown in Asia. It is mainly used in the production of cloth and sacking. The British had a large jute industry in India and a lot of the Indian crop was processed in Dundee (home of the Beano); this collapsed with rise of nylon and other polymers. However it is still widely produced and used for sacking and other uses; interest has revived recently as it is biodegradable.
Sisal comes from Agave sisalana has numerous uses as twine, cloth etc. It remember it from the Boy Scouts as a nasty hairy thing that was difficult to untie and prone to breaking.
I would be careful about using tarred twine in the garden as if fresh it can be toxic to plants, especially tomatoes and of the members of the Solanum family.
 

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