CHAPTER III 



CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLANT 



HERE is but one species 

 of hop, Humulus lupulus 

 though there are several 

 varieties. The hop plant is 

 naturally dioecious; that is, 

 the male (staminate) and 

 female (pistillate) flowers 

 'occur on different plants. 

 Occasionally in a hop yard 

 will be found what is called 

 a hermaphrodite or bastard 



hop, with staminate and pistillate flowers on the same 

 vine; the hop is not over half size, deformed, and is sel- 

 dom gathered. Sometimes there will benotoveronebas- 

 tard vine to the acre, then there will be a dozen in half 

 an acre. The bastard seems to be dwarfed, for it will 

 go only one-half to two-thirds up its support. This 

 sport does not seem to be permanent, for it seldom 

 occurs twice in the same place. This freak usually 

 occurs near a male vine, and there the female vine is 

 so overcharged with pollen that it partakes of or is try- 

 ing to represent the two genders in the same vine. 



The hop is perennial; once started, from either 

 root, cuttings, or from seed, the vine comes up anew 

 from the same root year after year. The hop root is 

 of a tough, leathery, spongy, porous nature. The hop 

 has two distinct roots, a lower and an upper root, or 

 runners. The lower roots have no eyes and propa- 

 gation cannot take place from them, their office being 

 to sustain the plant. The upper or surface roots have 



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