METHOD OP CULTIVATING THE HOP. 129 



to the acre ; and in the latter case the expense amounted 

 tb sixty dollars. The ordinary, or average price, may be 

 stated at eighteen cents per pound. The profits on an 

 ordinary crop, according to these assumed data, would be 

 about seventy dollars from the acre. It often falls materially 

 short of this, however, from the want of knowledge and care 

 in gathering and drying the crop. 



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

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

 estimated at 2,300 bales, or 500,000 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 

 character of our Hops abroad, and they are no longer pup- 

 chased by the Philadelphia brewers. They would soon 

 form an important article of export, if their character was 

 raised by care in their culture and drying, and a rigid 

 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 stalk and leaves will dye wool yellow. From the stalk 

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

 wiiich is described by Linna3us in his Flora Suecica. A 

 decoction of the roots is said to be as good a sudorific as 

 Sarsaparilla ; 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. 



