THE HOP PLANT. 



Inducements to its cultivation ; the soil and manures best adapted to its growtJi; 

 its enemies and diseases; its cultivation / its inching, drying, and, packing. 



The heavy taxes on alcoholic liquors point to an increased home production 

 of malt liquors. The present high price of hops is creating inquiry on the sub- 

 ject of hop production. No crop is subject to so many casualties, and none, 

 to avoid or mitigate them, demands as high cultivation. Under such circum- 

 stances, and especially in the absence of any article on the cultivation of the hop 

 for several years in the Annual Report of this Department, it becomes neces- 

 sary to consider it now in the Monthly Report. 



In so doing, will be noticed the inducements to its cultivation ; the soil and 

 manures best adapted to its growth ; its diseases and enemies ; its cultivation ; 

 its picking, curing, and packing. 



1. Inducements to its cultivation. — The uncertain nature of this crop has led 

 to a greater fluctuation in prices than of any other farm product. 



The following table of the annual range of prices since 1850 will show this : 



These are the New York prices, as given in the Finance Report of the Treas- 

 Bury Department for 1863. They show more the differences in price of dif- 

 ferent months than of the different qualities of the hop. No other product is 

 go fluctuating. This is attributable to three causes chiefly — the irregular an- 

 nual production, the irregtilar foreign demand, and the speculation which these 

 irregularities occasion. The irregularity of the annual production can be seen 

 in the table of this product for New England, prepared for the State Agricul- 

 tural Society of New Hampshire by W. P. Riddle, and published in the Patent 

 Ofiice Report for 1853. The fluctuations in the amount of the crop from one 

 year to the next range from 25 to 100 per cent. 



Mr. Rouse, of Oneida county. New York, referring to this difference, says : 

 "Very much will depend on the season; this year, for instance, has proved to 

 be very unfavorable, the yield being only about one-third of a full crop. One 

 hop-grower of my acquuintnnce has obtained but 12.000 pounds from grounds 

 ■which last year produced 32,000 ; and another has only 4,000, where last year 

 he obtained 16,000. The universal complaint is that the crop has been very 

 light. Taking one season with another, the range of different fields is froia 

 400 to 2,000 pounds to the acre. Instances have indeed occurred occasionally 

 in which the latter quantity has been exceeded, and in one instance an average 

 of near 2,800 pounds was obtained. One thousand pounds per acre may be con- 

 sidered a ftiir crop ; but the general average would, no doubt, fall below that, 

 and would probably be about one pound per hill, or 888 pound^ to an acre." 



Such an irregular production necessarily creates speculation, especially so 

 in this crop, as hops cannot be held over for more than a year without much 

 deterioration in their quality.* 



- This deterioration is occasioned by the volatile nature of the aroma of tlie hop. The 

 most compact packinar will not retain it. and hence it would be well to institute experi- 

 nit^nts f)f the cost and effectiveuess of baling with strong hemp-cloth, gummed with Ih- 

 diau-iubbor. 



