6 THE HOP. 



teams of oxen. The heavy crops grown, 2000 lbs to 

 the acre, proved profitable even at the low prices then 

 obtained, about 10 or 12 cents per pound. 



A succession of bad crops in England, however, 

 stimulated the industry, especially in New York state, 

 where the soil in some sections had been particularly 

 adapted to hops. The first actual statistics of the hop 

 crop of the United States were for the year 1840, when 

 the total crop was estimated at 6200 bales of 200 lbs., 

 or a total harvest of 1,240,000 lbs., of which two-thirds 

 were grown in the New England states and one-third 

 in New York. During the next ten years the hop in- 

 dustry nearly trebled in extent, the entire crop of the 

 country being 3,497,000 lbs. in 1849, 0^ I7>500 bales, 

 of which New York state raised five-sevenths, New- 

 England producing only a little more than 700,000 lbs. 

 that year, with scattering lots in Illinois, Indiana, 

 Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. 



During the ensuing decade the hop crop of the 

 United States again trebled in quantity, the total } ield 

 in 1859 being about 55,000 bales, of which New York 

 state grew seven-eighths, Vermont being the only New 

 England state to "stay in the ring." Between i860 and 

 1870, the increase was smaller, 150 per cent., the crop 

 of 1869 amounting to 127,000 bales, of which New 

 York state produced 97,500 bales. Western competi- 

 tion, low prices and poor crops now conspired to re- 

 duce New York's hop area until the federal census of 

 1890 showed that this state produced only about hnU 

 the nation's hops. The proportion of America's crop 

 now grown in the Empire state is still less, and tli-j 

 future will show whether this crop, like so manv others, 

 is to go entirely west. The principal hop counties of 

 New York state have stood for years in this order of 

 importance: Otsego, Madison, Oneida, Schoharie, 

 Franklin, Montgomery, Ontario. 



In New York state, dairying and hop growing are 



