36 THE HOP. 



has come about an almost hopeless confusion of vari 

 eties. This is especially true of America, and to a less 

 extent in England, while the best continental growers 

 jealously guard against such confusion and insist upon 

 sets true to their pet varieties. Such care accounts in 

 part for the peculiar merits of certain brands of Eng- 

 lish and European hops. 



Aside from the exceptions just stated, it is a curi- 

 ous fact that there have been no real efforts to breed 

 improved varieties of hops. There is an old saying 

 that there are already too many kinds, but there are 

 not too many varieties of Xo. i hops. And, too, these 

 best varieties are probably chance seedlings, instead 

 of being bred from parents selected for some known 

 good qualities. It is also doubtless true in a measure 

 that the constant propagation by cuttings, having been 

 carried on for many generations, has caused some loss 

 of vigor and constitution, which may account for hop 

 yards being more easily affected by fungus and insect 

 pests now than half a century ago. Nature's law of re- 

 production is by the union of sexes and she also 

 opposes in-and-in breeding. If the experiment sta- 

 tions in New York or on the Pacific coast would take 

 up this matter, there is no doubt that in a few years 

 much could be done to improve the hop crop by careful 

 selection and hybridization. A correspondent in the 

 English Hop Grower of February 19, 1895, suggests 

 the following method: 



"As the male is generally supposed to influence 

 the constitution, and our aim is to produce a vigorous, 

 disease-resisting hop of good quality, let us take, by 

 way of example, a Fuggle for the father (though it has 

 been noticed that male Fuggles are scarce in East 

 Kent plantations), and for the mother w r e will take a 

 Brambling or Petham Golding, as being of the best 

 quality. In the autumn, select strong, healthy hills from 

 which to take the cuttings, and plant the male Fuggle 



