27 



INSECTS AFEECTING THE HOP. 



By the Rev. C. J. S. Bethune, M.A. 



1. The Hop Aphis {Aphis humuH, Curtis_). 



2. The Hop-vine Snout-moth {Hypena humuli, 



Harris). 



S. The Semicolon Butterfly {Orapta interroga- 

 tionis, Godt^. 



4. The Hop-vine Plusia (Flnsia halluca, 



Geyer). 



5. The To Emperor Moth (Hvperchiria varia 



Walker). 



The cultivation of the hop has never attained to any very large dimensions in Ca- 

 nada, though at times, when prices have been high, it has attracted no little attention 

 amongst the farming community. Just now the acreage occupied hy this jilant in 

 Ontario is probaWy consiilerably behiw what it was some four or five years ago, but even 

 yet many a lovely trellised field may be seen here and there as one travels through the 

 country. Ag, however, there is nothing in our cliniat;^ or soil that is unsuited to the success- 

 ful growth of the plant, we have lit:le doubt that its culture will one day become an object 

 of great and extended importance, unless, indeed, the Canadian entirely relinquishes his 

 English taste for malt liquor in favour of the far more baneful spirits that are now a curse to 

 so many. The present production of malt liquor in the Dominion of Canada averages nearly 

 eight millions of gallons a year ; in the manufacture of even this amount a very considera- 

 ble quantity of hops is consumed, and if' we add to it the quantity that is exported to Eng- 

 land and the United States, it is apparent that the culture of this plant cannot be consi- 

 dered an unimportant item in the resources of the Canadian agriculturist. There is no doubt 

 too, that if our hop growers paid more attention to the selection of the most approved Eng- 

 lish varieties for cultivation, and were nujre particular in regard to the picking and cur- 

 ing of their hops, they would be enabled to obtain much better prices for their crop, and 

 would secure an unfailing market in Europe for all that might not be required here. 

 But even should the hop, as is by no means likely, cease to be a sufficiently attractive 

 article of commerce to lead our agriculturists to devote any of their broad acres to its cul- 

 tivation, it will never fail, at least, to occu]iy a conspicuous jilace in the good wife's kit- 

 chen garden on account of its value in the production of yeast. Such being the case, 

 then, we imagine that some account of the insects affecting this plant will not be out of 

 place in these reports, and may prove of interest, and possibly of value, to many. 



Before proceeding to the discussion of its insect enemies, we may remark that the 

 common hop plant {Hunuilux lupvlus, Linn.) is apparently indigenous to the western 

 parts of this country as well as to Europe. We have seen it growing in great luxuriance 

 and gathered sprays of its clustering flowers on the fertile banks of the Kaministiquia 

 River, a few miles above Fort \\ illiam, Lake Superior. It is s:iid also to be found in a 

 wild state on the borders of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. The hops of commerce- 

 consist of the female flowers or seeds — the plant being dicecious i.e. with stamens and 

 pistils in separate flowers on different individuals. The male flowers are very different ia 



