ORIGIN AND SPREAD. 9 



largest hop plantations in the world are along the rich 

 alluvial bottom lands of the Sacramento, Russian and 

 Feather rivers in California. The size of a hop farm 

 in that state ranges all the way from 10 to 300 acres, 

 the latter being the size of the Pleasanton plantation, 

 Alameda county, where at harvest time as many as 

 1500 to 2000 pickers are employed. The principal hop 

 growing counties are Sonoma, Sacramento, Mendo- 

 cino, Alameda, Yolo, Yuba, San Joaquin. 



Oregon's commercial hop industry dates from 

 about 1880, and has been characterized by wide fluctu- 

 ations in area devoted to the crop, likewise in yield and 

 quality. These violent changes are due partly to the 

 fact that on these rich soils hop cuttings planted in 

 spring will yield 800 to 1200 Ibs. of cured hops in the 

 fall, while in New York state no crop is expected until 

 the second year, and not much until the third season 

 from planting, while in England and on the continent, 

 four years from planting are required for a full crop. 

 This apparent advantage has operated to the detriment 

 rather than to the benefit of the Pacific coast, especially 

 in Oregon and Washington, because it has led to hop 

 planting by inexperienced persons, or to the setting out 

 of larger plantations than the owners could properly 

 operate except by incurring heavy mortgages. Low 

 prices following overproduction have therefore ruined 

 a larger proportion of those who went into hops on the 

 Pacific coast than in any other part of the world. The 

 industry in Oregon is now confined to the counties 

 west of the Cascade mountains, centering mainly in 

 Marion, Polk, Clackamas, Yamhill and Washington 

 counties. 



In Washington, conditions are much similar to 

 those in the neighboring state of Oregon. Although 

 hops are being increasingly grown in the Yakima val- 

 ley east of the Cascades, and to a very limited extent in 

 the valley of the Columbia, Spokane and Snake rivers, 



