22 



2. Early ripening. 



3. Increased mould-resisting power. 



The disadvantages, on the other hand, would appear to 

 be: 



1. The space taken up and the trouble involved in growing 

 suitable males for the various gardens. It is evident that unless the 

 males shed their pollen when the females are in burr, they are 

 useless as far as the particular garden in which they are growing is 

 concerned. There seems to be quite as much variation in the time 

 of ripening among male hops as there is among the females 

 Further, it appears that a good many of the males met with in hop 

 gardens ripen too early and shed most of their pollen before the 

 surrounding hops are in burr. Some trouble, therefore, would have 

 to be taken to select and grow male hops which would correspond 

 to the full burr period of the various varieties grown in the south- 

 eastern districts of England. Probably, suitable males could either 

 be raised from seeds or obtained from other countries, such as the 

 United States or Germany. Steps are being taken to obtain and 

 test foreign male plants. 



2. The possible difference in brewing value between seed and 

 seedless hops. It is said that 116 Ibs. of German seed hops are 

 equal, in this respect, to 100 Ibs. of seedless hops. Next season, it 

 is proposed to estimate the total resins present in equal weights of 

 seedless and seed hops of the more important varieties grown in 

 Kent. With regard to this point, however, it might be mentioned 

 that, in all the cases examined this year, it was found that the 

 lupulin glands of the seedless hops were not so ripe at picking time 

 as those in the seed hops on the same bine. This difference in 

 ripeness, therefore, may lead to some difficulty in carrying out and 

 in interpreting the results of the proposed experiments. 



3. The possibility of the more rapid exhaustion of the hills 

 through the more frequent formation of perfect seeds. In order to 

 throw light on this point, an analysis of hop seeds (Early Bird 

 Bramlings) has been made by Mr. F. T. HOLBROOK. The results 



