318 THE CULTURE OF FARM CROPS. 



upon. The first year there is no crop; but the land is 

 planted with potatoes ; being of course first plowed and cul- 

 tivated. The Acme harrow is exceedingly well adapted for 

 the culture of hop fields as it entirely fills the space between 

 the hills and leaves the whole ground worked in the best 

 manner, without tearing out the manure applied to the hills; 

 and when the field is crossed the whole of it is cultivated 

 with far less labor and in a much better manner than with 

 the ordinary horse hoe or harrow. The second year there 

 is half a crop, and a full crop is made the third year. As 

 the hop is a dioecious plant, that is one in which the stami- 

 nate and pistillate flowers are borne upon different plants, 

 grown from different roots, it is necessary that a certain 

 number of the staminate plants should be grown to provide 

 pollen for fertilizing the pistillate plants, which bear the 

 fruit or perfect hops. The bitter substance known as "lu- 

 pulin," which is the valuable part of the hops, is deposited 

 among the scales and around the seeds of the pistillate 

 flowers which must be fertilized by the pollen of the stami- 

 nate plants. The staminate plants are usually set out in 

 every seventh hill each way, thus making one hill to every 

 48 of the pistillate kind. 



Hops are an exacting crop on the soil. The following 

 table giving the analysis of the fruit, and the entire plant, 

 shows this. 



COMPOSITION OF HOPS AND THEIR ASH. 



Ash of 



InlOOOlbs. Plant? ? Entire plant Hops. 

 (IT) (per cent.) 



Water 250 120 



Ash 74 59.8 



Potash 19.4 22.3 26.2 37.3 



Soda 2.8 1.3 3.8 2.2 



Magnesia 4.3 2.1 5.8 5.5 



Lime 11.8 10.1 16.0 16.9 



Phosphoric acid 9.0 9.0 12.1 15.1 



Sulphuric acid. 3.8 1.6 5.4 2.6 



Silica 15.9 9.2 21.5 15.4 



Sulphur 2.0 4.8 4.6 3.4 



The above figures afford a key to the problem of the 

 methods of fertilization of this crop, and explains why cer- 

 tain substances are effective in producing a vigorous growth. 



