nor 



HOI'K 



77 



healthiest olii st<><>ls, ami an- usually planted out 

 >uiiiculi.i( closely in miming lines for twelve 

 inontlis Ix-forc In-ing planted permanently. They 

 make very little growth the first year, and not 

 until the third year do they C<IIMI- to full bearing, 

 \\hen from four to six poles from 14 to 1H feet lone 

 are required for each stool. The most favoured 

 timlier for hop-poles is Spanish cheHtuut, which is 

 extensively grown in hop-districts as coppice- wood 

 for this purpose. The poles are set to the plant* in 

 spring before growth commences, and removed 

 \v i ifii the stalks are cut away in autumn. The 

 plants are then dressed with manure, and the soil 

 between the stools is stirred lightly with the 

 fork. In (Jermanv the poles are fewer and much 

 taller than in England from 23 to 27 feet high. 



The cones are known to be fit to gather when 

 they acquire a brown amber colour and firm con- 

 sistence. The stalks are then cut at the base, and 

 removed along with the poles and laid horizontally 

 on frames of wood, to each of which is attached by 

 tenter-hooks a large bag-like cloth into which the 

 hops fall as they are picked by women and chil- 

 dren, who are employed in great numbers at this 

 work. When picked - the hops are immediately 

 conveyed to the kiln to be dried, as otherwise 

 they are liable to heat and become spoiled in a 

 few hours, especially when they are picked in a 

 moist state. The operation of drying hops is 

 similar to that of drying malt, and the kilns are 

 of the same construction. Great care is required 

 in drying to prevent overheating, by which the 

 essential oil is liable to be volatilised. The hops 

 are spread on hair-cloth from 8 to 12 inches deep, 

 and when the ends of the stalks have become 

 shrivelled and dry they are taken off the kiln, and 

 laid on a wooden floor till they become quite cool, 

 when they are put in bags or pockets. 



The produce of no British crop is more precarious 

 than that of the hop. In a good season it may be 

 as much as 20 cwt. per acre, in a bad season none 

 or at most perhaps 2 or 3 cwt. The plant has many 

 enemies, both insect and fungoid parasites, which 

 prey upon it, and destroy the crop season after 

 season. It is calculated that on an average the 

 hop-crop fails every five or seven years. This, 

 in conjunction with the heavy expense of the first 

 formation of a plantation, precludes any but those 

 having considerable capital from taking up its 

 cultivation. But the produce of plentiful years, 

 if properly preserved, may be kept to meet the 

 demand when scarcity may raise the price from 

 2 or 3 to 20 or 30 per cwt. ; consequently to 

 those who can wait few crops are equally profit- 

 able. 



The best varieties of the hop are the Hill Golding, 

 the East Kent Golding, Golden Hops, Jones's Hops, 

 Grape Hops, and tarnliam White Bine. The 

 Goldings are the best and richest. The Jones's 

 are valued for their habit of short growth, requir- 

 ing shorter poles. The Colegates and Grape Hops 

 are hardy and prolific on poorer soil than any of 

 the others. 



The fibre of the stems is employed to some 

 extent in Sweden in the manufacture of a coarse 

 kind of cloth, white and durable ; but the fibres 

 are so difficult of separation that the stems require 

 to bo steeped in water for a whole winter. 



The fruit of the hop is a little nut, not larger 

 than a grain of mustard-seed, and between its 

 outer shell and the kernel there is a small quantity 

 of a peculiar granular substance which also e\i-t- 

 as a sort of efflorescence on the surface of the scales 

 themselves ; much of the value of the hop depends 

 upon the abundance of this sul>stance. It is not a 

 mere powder, but each grain is a little organised 

 cellular body, of an oval or round form, and, when 

 seen under the microscope, having a reticulated 



surface. The powder contain* some 10 per cent, of 

 lujntlinr, the bitter principle to which jiopM neem 

 to <>\ve their tonic properties. The oil of hop** 

 IB sedative, anodyne, and nun-otic ; the pleasantly 

 aromatic odour has *onie\\ hat of t IK- Maine qualities, 

 hence the value of pillowH htiitled with hop in cases 

 of mania, sleeplessness, &c. The hitter principle in 

 not narcotic, but tonic. The oil and hitter principle 

 combine to make hops more useful than camomile, 

 gentian, or any other bitter, in the manufacture of 

 beer; hence the medicinal value of extra hupped 

 or bitter beer. The tannic acid contained in the 

 strobiles or cones of flowers also adds to the value 

 of hops, particularly as causing the precipitation of 

 vegetable mucilage, and consequently the clearing 

 of ueer. Hop bitters are used as a tonic. See also 

 BEER. 



Until the year 1862 hop* paid an excise duty, 

 and formed an important part of the revenue, 

 although a very variable crop, owing to the serious 

 check it is liable to from insects, fungi, diseases, 

 and the weather. Large quantities of hops are 

 imported into the United Kingdom for home use 

 and for exportation to the colonies and other 

 countries. In 1896 hops imported amounted to 

 207,041 cwt. of a declared value of 591, 482. 

 The annual exportation of hops is about 20,000 

 cwt., chiefly to Australia, Belgium, and the United 

 States. 



HOP-FLEA, or TOOTH-LEGGED BEETLE (Phyllo- 

 treta or Haltica concinna), a very small coleopter- 

 ous insect, not quite one-tenth of an inch long, 

 which often does much mischief in hop-planta- 

 tions in spring, devouring the tender tops of the 

 young shoots. It is of the same genus as the 

 turnip-fly (Phyllotreta nemorum), so destructive 

 to turnips. 



HOP-FLY ( Aphis or Phorodon humuli ), a species 

 of Aphis (see APHIDES) or plant-louse, important 

 on account of the injury it inflicts in some seasons 

 on the hop-plantations. The general colour is pale 

 green, as the common name 'green fly' indicates. 



Hop Aphis (A phi* humuli) : 



a, >>, winged female, natural size and magnified ; r, d, Larva or 

 ' nit,' natural size and magnified (from Mtas Onnerol). 



The males, which are winged, appear in autumn, 

 and pair with wingless females. These lay 

 eggs, which develop next spring into swarms of 

 winged females. These produce partheno-geneti- 

 cally and viviparously great numbers of larvae, 

 'lice' or 'nits,' which usually remain wingless, 

 but rapidly mature, and soon become the virgin 

 and viviparous parents of fresh swarms. Males and 

 sexual reproduction reappear in autumn. Both 

 larva? ana adults ruin tne plants. No efficient 

 method of preventing the ravages of this pest has 

 yet been discovered ; but the beneficial sen-ice to 

 man of lady-birds and other natural foes of this fly 

 has heen long ami widely recognised. 



Hope, THOMAS, author and connoisseur, was 

 born in London in 1774. While still a youth he 

 travelled over a large portion of Europe, Asia, and 

 Africa, and collected many drawings, chiefly of 

 building! and sculptures. In England he first 

 attracted attention by the splendid decorations 

 which he bestowed on the interior of his mansion 



