44 



THE gem.m:i-: ia,;.\[ER. 



yielding to the ppell. Tlie beauty of the hop-gar- 

 den is hut too cMininotdy ii Lmiii'iji wlioallnres men 

 by every cliann tliiit cun intoxicate the senses, but 

 wlieu embraced proves !i loni monster, that drains 

 the life bh)o(l of tii-e confiding victim. True it is, 

 tliat ji garden sotnetimes yieifls a tun an acre; true 

 it is, that the produce may sell for 10^,, or more, a 

 cwt., and tiiat lliree time's within twenty years 

 liops have readied tlie price of 201. or 22L a cwt. 

 But great gains imjdy great risks. Ti)e crop is one 

 of marvellous uncertainty. The hop miglit appro- 

 priately stand in the language of flowers as the 

 sy?ubol of (ickletie.-^s. It is enough to point out 

 that in 1852, 4t),000 acres yielded five times .is 

 large a crop as 54,000 acres in 1854, and that again 

 in 1859, 46.000 acres yielded six times as much as 

 the same acres in 1860. So sensitive is the plant, 

 that every variation of temperature, every rise or 

 fall of tlie barometer, every clianire of the M'ind, 

 affects its growth, and exalts the farmer's hopes or 

 darkens his prospects. Enemies innumerable, both 

 in tiie animal and in the vegetat>le world, threaten 

 the quantity, or endanger the quality, of the pro- 

 duce. Hligiit, mold, mildew, honeydevv, fireblast, 

 fleas, flies, lice, moths, spiders, caterpillars, form 

 but a portion of the apj)alling list. The amount 

 to be staked against such odds is f;ir in excess of 

 that ventured in any other branch of farming; 251. 

 or 30Z. per acre is the ordinary cost of raising a 

 cro|) in a garden that I as been some years formed, 

 and hits come Into full bearing. Then the hops 

 must be picked, dried and bagged, and, till witiiin 

 the current year, must satisfy the exciseman's de- 

 mand at 21. for every cwt. The above outlay is 

 altogether exclusive of the rent of the land, wliich 

 Bi some instances is as much as 2GZ. per acre, and 

 of the extraordinary tithe, which may amount to 

 IZ. 10<*. or 21. Add to all this, in the words of an 

 old writer, that the hope of 'the profit and gains 

 arising from a hop-garden sometimes so pleaseth 

 and flattereth a man's conceit, whose vein and 

 humor is such that he wili employ more ground 

 than he can keep or maintain, and through greedi- 

 ness of his desire overthrow his whole purpose,' 

 and it will be admitted that the hop-grower plays 

 a very hazardous game. Suppose, however, that 

 he rises a winner; he not improbably finds that 

 his neighbors have heavy crops as well as himself, 

 that there are more hops in the market than the 

 brewers require, and that the price to be obtained 

 doea not cover the expenses incurred. If he be a 

 man of capital, he may think he will hold ; but as 

 prolific seasons frequently follow in cycles, it is 

 likely enough the same results may ensue next 

 year; moreover, hops deteriorate by keeping, till 

 at the end of a few years they become as worth- 

 leaa as so much chaff." 



The very fact, however, that hop-yards re»t for 

 ^Ql. ($130) per acre annually, shows that their cul- 

 ture must be, on the whole, highly remunerative. 



Formerly the hop-growers had to pay an excise 

 dnty of eight cents per lb., but the law, after years 

 of earnest effort, has at length been repealed ; and 

 at the same time, contrary to the strenuous oppo- 

 ■ition of the English hop-growers, the duty on 

 foreign hopa han been removed also. 



This last fact is of interest to American hop- 

 growers. Free trade in hops will have a tendency 

 to check the excessive fluctuations in prices which 

 have hitherto been so common. At the same time, 

 American growers may reasonably anticipate a high 

 average price for their liops. The reviewer, liow- 

 ever, throws a wet blanket on their liopes, as 

 follows : 



"The hops of North Germany and of Prnssian 

 Poland are of altogether inferior quality, and not 

 likely to find favor in this country. American 

 h(il>s m:iy also be dismissed in a firw words. Like 

 American grapes, they derive a cour.se, rank flavor 

 and smell from the soil in which they grow, which 

 no management, however careful, has hitherto suc- 

 ceeded in neutralising. There is little chance of 

 their competing in our markets with European 

 growths, except in seasons of scarcity and of un- 

 usually high prices." 



That the cliaracter of the soil has a groat in- 

 fluence on the quality of hops there can be no 

 doubt; but we can not for a moment believe thai 

 there is not land somewhere on the American Con- 

 tinent that will produce good hops — and good 

 grapes, also! It is not the soil that gives to som« 

 varieties of our native grapes their unpleasant 

 "foxy" taste and smell. A Sweetwater or a Bluet 

 Hui^.iburg is just as good when grown in American 

 soil as in that of the Old "World! "We liave no-n 

 several varieties of native grapes which have littl< 

 or no "foxy " flavor, and there is no reason why f 

 like improvement may not take place in regard tt 

 hops. 



It must be admitted that American hops do noi 

 bear a good character in England. It may be saic 

 that this is prejudice — and to some extent this maj 

 be the case; but it is difficult to believe tha 

 brewers would not buy American hops at lowei 

 rates if they were as good as the English am 

 Belgium. 



More hops are grown in Bavaria than any othe: 

 country. It is well known that the making O! 

 beer and the drinking of beer form two of thi 

 most important occupations of the Bavarian peo 

 pie, and the legislation on the subject of beer on' 

 of the chief cares of the Bavarian Government 

 Although no brewery can exist but by the specia 

 authority of Government, there are no less thai 

 10,723 such establishments in the country, and th( 

 quantity of beer annually poured down Bavariai 

 throats is estimated at 100,000,000 gallons. On 

 eighth of the whole revenue of the State is derive* 

 from a malt duty of 33 cents a bushel. Th 

 King himself is the first brewer in the land, an( 

 most of the great proprietors belong to the sam 

 privileged and influential class. Government fixe 



