The Hop Industry in Victoria. 33 



fertilize the female flowers, and thus produce the so-called seeds, which 

 are really fruits, about the size of hemp-seed. The hop-plant being- 

 what is called a " wind-hybridizer," the pollen being- carried fi-om the 

 male to the female by the wind, the vicinity of the male plant is usually 

 sufficient to ensure fertilization. The question of seeds in hops is an 

 important one for the grower since he wishes to supply the require- 

 ments of the brewer in this respect. Brewers with only a local 

 experience have always shown a marked preference for samples heavy 

 with seed, their contention being that they impart a tinge of bitterness, 

 not obtained by seedless samples, which makes the beer more palatable, 

 in fact, they flavour the beer. One grower told me that he started 

 without the male plants, and the hops seemed to do fairly well, but 

 since the brewers wanted the seed in the hops, to supply the demand 

 he imported male plants from New Norfolk, Tasmania. Hence most 

 of the hop-growers introduced male plants in order that they might 

 comply with the demands of the trade, and some believed that they 

 were absolutely necessary, since, as they said, " no male plant, no hop." 

 But the brewer with modern ideas prefers seedless hops, since he 

 knows that while seeds increase the weight of the hop, the percentage 

 of desirable qualities is naturally smaller. 



If hops were grown for the sake of their seed, then the male plants 

 should be encouraged, and every facility given for the fertilizing- 

 pollen to reach the " brush " or stigmas of the female flower. But, as 

 far as the brewer is concerned, the chief value of a hop depends upon 

 the amount and nature of the lupulin present in it. This lupulin is a 

 secretion produced by glandular hairs, which gives to beer its bitter 

 taste and distinctive aroma, and occurs on the bracts of the female 

 cone or "■ strobile " as it is called, in the vicinity of the seed-forming 

 portion of the flower. It is evidently produced preparatory to and 

 as a protective arrangement for the young " seeds " to be afterwards 

 formed, and so efflcient is it for this purpose that even the omnivorous 

 sparrow avoids the fruit during the period of ripening. 



But the mistake that has hitherto been generally made is to regard 

 the lupulin as being dependent on the formation of seed, and some 

 growers consider that with no seed there will be little or no lupulin. 

 Professor Emanuel Gross, however, in his work on hops (1900) shows 

 that this notion is without foundation. He writes :— " At one time the 

 formation of lupulin granules was believed to stand in causative 

 relation to the fructification of the hop, and it was 'n consequence of 

 the belief that fructified hops were richer in lupulin that the custom 

 arose of planting about five male hops to every 1,500 female plants. 

 Nowadays it is known that the formation of lupulin is independent of 

 fructification, and that hops containing seed bring lower prices so that 

 this old practice has been abolished." And Professor Lintner, in 

 forcible language writes : — " A hop garden should resemble a nunnery, 

 all males being excluded." The fact that Bohemian hops, which are 

 now taken to include Bavarians as well, of the best quality are 

 absolutely free from seeds, and that they are most in demand, and 

 command the highest price, shows that the seedless samples are 



