32 THE HOP. 



penalty, and a Belgian commissioner appointed to spe- 

 cially study this whole matter concludes: "Banish 

 strictly all male plants from your hop yard." 



European authorities also maintain that "fertili- 

 zation increases the number and appearance of the 

 cones; they become coarser, looser, and longer, and the 

 bracts are longer, more brittle, and fall off more easily." 

 They estimate that 116 pounds of seed hops are re- 

 quired to get an equivalent effect in the beer of 100 

 pounds of seedless hops. 



Prof. Cheshire, who has made a special study at 

 the Kew gardens, London, of the relations between 

 insects and flowering plants, also agrees with Euro- 

 pean authorities, and says: "The scientific evidence 

 is all on one side that for the production of the largest 

 percentage of lupulin, fertilization should be prevented 

 by suppressing the male plant. As a set-off against 

 this, however, fertilization (which directs the energies 

 of the plant to maturing its seed) absorbs into the seed 

 a very large part of the store of nutritive material at 

 the disposal of the plant, thus increasing the actual 

 weight of the crop of hops by about 10 per cent. This 

 increase in weight is accompanied by a considerable 

 percentage decrease in lupulin and aroma, the very 

 matters for which the hop is grown. The question is, 

 therefore, to be settled entirely on commercial lines, 

 whether quality or bulk will bring the larger returns." 



Editor Ironmonger of the English Hop Grower 

 also concludes his inquiry thus: "If the hop grower 

 wants exquisite aroma and fine condition, he must ex- 

 clude the male plant and stop fertilization. If he 

 wants weight with the sacrifice of some quality, let him 

 encourage the males and gather his well-seeded, 

 heavy crop." 



On the other hand, the subject is claimed to be 

 a matter of taste. Those who like the German beers 

 made from seedless hops do not like beer made from 



