THE HOP. 



Netherlands in 1629, and into Virginia about 1648, and 

 encouraged by special legislation until 1657, hop cul- 

 ture has assumed importance in the United States only 

 since 1800. As the industry developed, it centered in 

 New York state, though many hops were grown in 

 Wisconsin after the Civil war, but of late years certain 

 districts on the Pacific coast have proven to be so 

 adapted to this crop as to seriously threaten the older 

 established hop yards on both sides of the Atlantic. 



Hops are raised for family and medicinal purposes 

 in other states of America and other countries, but the 

 commercial crop is now nearly confined to certain lim- 

 ited sections, as it has been for many years, the modern 

 development on the Pacific coast excepted. The sta- 

 tistical tables in the appendix show that the average 

 area devoted to this crop during the closing decade of 

 the century may be thus roughly stated : 



World's average aggregate 265,000 acres. 



FOREIGN HOP PLANTATIONS 



Germany Although this country produces the 

 bulk of the hops grown on the continent, the number 

 of large plantations is limited. The hops are grown 

 usually in comparatively small fields, and in many 

 cases in small garden patches. Hops are raised by 

 the German family as a side issue, much as the Ameri- 

 can farmer's family raises poultry. The culture is 

 largely by hand, and its special features are embodied 

 in subsequent chapters on methods of culture, along 

 with methods used by English and American grow- 

 ers. Even in Bavaria, the principal hop-producing 

 section of Germany, the hop yards will not average 



