HOPKINSVILLE 



2833 



HOPS 



one time his pupil, said, "A log with a student 

 at one end and Mark Hopkins at the other is 

 my ideal college." He was born at Stockbridge, 

 Mass., and after graduating from the college 

 of which he afterwards became president, he 

 studied medicine and practiced the profession 

 for a short time in New York City. In 1830 

 he became professor of moral philosophy at 

 Williams College, and six years later was chosen 

 its president. In this position he did much to 

 build up the prestige of the institution and to 

 develop the individual student, and won for 

 himself a place as one of the leading educators 

 of his day. In 1857 he became president of the 

 American Board of Foreign Missions, acting in 

 this capacity for nearly thirty years. After 

 resigning as president in 1872 he remained pas- 

 tor of the college church, where he was a man 

 of great influence. 



HOP' KINS VILLE, KY., an important to- 

 bacco market and the county seat of Christian 

 County, situated in the southwestern part of 

 the state, about twenty-four miles from the 

 southern state line and on the Little River; 

 Evansville, Ind., is eighty-four miles northwest, 

 Nashville, Tenn., is seventy-one miles south- 

 east, and Henderson, Ky., is seventy-four miles 

 north. The city is served by the Louisville & 

 Nashville Railway, constructed to the city in 

 1868; the Illinois Central, built to this point in 

 1892 ; and the Tennessee Central, built in 1899. 

 In 1910 the population was 9,419; it had in- 

 creased to 10,762 in 1916, by Federal estimate. 

 A large percentage of this number are negroes. 

 The area of the city is nearly four square miles. 



Though Hopkinsville is principally interested 

 in the cultivation and preparation of tobacco 

 for the market, it has a considerable trade in 

 other agricultural products and in coal, live 

 stock and dairy products. The manufactures 

 include flour, wagons, lumber and brick. The 

 city has a $90,000 Federal building, a $15,000 

 Carnegie Library, a $100,000 high school build- 

 ing, a $40,000 Memorial Hospital, and the 

 Western Kentucky Insane Asylum. Bethel Fe- 

 male College (Baptist) and McLean College are 

 located here. 



The original name of the city was Elizabeth- 

 town. This was changed to the present name 

 in honor of Samuel Hopkins, pioneer, soldier 

 and statesman, when the place became the 

 county seat of Christian County in 1797. Dur- 

 ing the War of Secession it was partly destroyed 

 by fire. The city was incorporated in 1798, and 

 in 1915 it adopted the commission form of 

 government. J.W.R. 



178 



HOPS, as cultivated, are tall, perennial vines, 

 dying to the ground each fall, and making a 

 new growth of thirty feet or more each season. 

 The hop is closely related to hemp, both be- 

 longing to the nettle family. Like hemp, it 

 has male and female plants; the female plant 

 bears the seed catkins that are of value com- 

 mercially. Ordinarily little or no seed is pro- 

 duced, the catkin being made up of large leaf 

 and flower clusters called bracts; at the base 

 of the bracts is a yellow, resin-like material 

 called lupulin, and it is this substance that 

 gives value to hops. 



Hops are propagated by cuttings, six or eight 

 inches long, from the large, fleshy roots. Sev- 

 eral pieces are planted in each hill and the 

 hills are usually seven feet apart each way. In 

 each hill is set a pole about twenty feet high, 

 to support the vines, though in some places a 

 trellis of wire and string is used instead of 



HOPS 



Below, at left: Training young vines on poles. 

 At right : Fully-matured vines. 



poles. By September, when the hops are ready 

 to pick, the poles are taken down and the hops 

 are picked off by hand. They are then cured 

 and packed in large bales for market, where 

 they are used principally in the manufacture 

 of beer. They add flavor to this drink and 

 retard certain undesirable ferments, while fav- 

 oring the gr6wth of desirable yeasts. For al- 



