SOME CONDITIONS INFLUENCING THE YIELD OF HOPS. 11 



It should be noted that the average yiekl per vine is fairly con- 

 stant, irrespective of the number of vines to the hill. The average 

 yield i)er vine for llu' entire acre also closely accords with these 

 figures, being in this case 1.513 pounds per vine. 



The averages given in Table IV may be considered as applying 

 not only to the acre studied, but also in a general way to the entire 

 crop in the section where this work was done. So long as the general 

 conditions remain unchanged there is a high degree of probability 

 that these averages will be found to represent fairly well what may 

 be expected in succeeding years. Changed weather conditions, at- 

 tacks of lice, mold, and spiders, or other unfavorable influences to 

 which the hop crop is subject, will of course materially affect the 

 chance of these averages being repeated. But they do show that a 

 great increase in yield may be reasonably anticipated in fields in 

 which there is a full stand and 6 vines are trained to each hill over 

 the entire field when it presents the conditions existing on the acre 

 which has furnished the data for these observations. 



THE SO-CALLED " BASTARD " VINES. 



In some sections hop vines are occasionally found which bear both 

 staminate and pistillate fiow^ers. Such plants are known locally as 

 "bastards," "mongrels," or "bull-hops." AVhen they occur they 

 represent a total loss, so far as yield is concerned, since the few hops 

 borne by these vines are inferior and never gathered. On the acre 

 mider consideration there were only five of these plants, but they 

 have been observed in much greater proportion in other years and in 

 other localities. 



There is no evidence that these vines usually occur near a male vine, 

 as stated by Myrick;" neither can an excess of pollen falling upon 

 the pistillate flowers produce this abnormality, as is believed by some 

 to be ihe case. Plants of this type frequently occur among seedling 

 hops, and their presence may be expected in fields ^^here chance seed- 

 lings springing up near the permanent hills have been trained in the 

 usual manner. There are also good reasons for believing that this 

 undesirable characteristic may be introduced through the root cut- 

 tings used in replanting or in setting out new fields. In 1!)()S a num- 

 ber of cuttings were taken from one of these " bastard ^ plants and 

 removed to a locality about 40 miles distant. The vines from these 

 cuttings came into flower in 1009 and in everv case rej^iroduced the 

 malformation of the original ])lant from which they were taken. In 

 \ iew of this fact care should be taken to prevent the use of cuttings 

 from " bastard " plants by promptly digging them out and destroying 



" Myrick, TI. Tlif IToi). X(nv York. 1899, p. 23. 

 [Cir. 56] 



