METHOD OP CULTIVATING THE HOP. 143 



" The quantity of Hops taken to Albany and the neigh- 

 oouring towns on the Hudson, this year (1834), has been 

 estimated at 2,300 bales, or 50,000 Ibs., which, had not many 

 of them been prematurely gathered, or badly cured, would 

 have yielded to the growers ninety or a hundred thousand 

 dollars. But of the 2,300 bales there was not more than 

 200 bales, we are informed, that ought to have received the 

 denomination of first sorts. Many of them were picked too 

 early, before the matter that imparts to them their value was 

 sufficiently developed ; and others were scorched or smoked 

 in curing. This carelessness has seriously affected the char- 

 acter of-our Hops abroad, and they are no longer purchased 

 by the Philadelphia brewers. They would soon form an im- 

 portant article of export, if their character was raised by 

 care in their culture and drying, and a w.gid inspection." 



The young shoots of both wild and cultivated Hops are 

 considered by some as very wholesome, and are frequently 

 gathered in the spring, boiled, and eaten as Asparagus. The 

 stalks and leaves will dye wool yellow. From the stalk a 

 strong cloth is made in Sweden, the mode of preparing which 

 is described by Linnaeus in his Flora Suecica. A decoction 

 of the roots is said to be as good a sudorific as Sarsaparma ; 

 and the smell of the flowers is soporific. A pillow filled with 

 Hop flowers will induce sleep, unattended with the bad effects 

 of soporifics, which require to be taken internally. 



