64 THE HOP. 



the Puget Sound region, these lands are of a light and 

 sometimes sandy nature; the sand consists of the pul- 

 verized rock of the Cascade range adjacent." 



In Oregon, the hop lands of the Willamette valley 

 generally are light yellowish loams of great depth, and 

 even the alluvium of the streams, like the Santiam, 

 bears much the same character, though commonly 

 lighter in texture than the lands of the main valley. It 

 is conceded in Oregon that soil of a sandy nature pro- 

 duces the best quality, while the heaviest yield is to be 

 obtained from the heavier bottom lands composed of 

 decayed vegetation and deposits of sediment, brought 

 down from the uplands and spread over this soil by the 

 overflowing of the streams. The most perfect soil is 

 a sandy loam which is easy to cultivate and is rich 

 enough to produce a good crop of choice hops without 

 the aid of fertilizers. 



In New York State, and indeed everywhere, a deep 

 sandy loam is preferred, the deeper the better for a crop 

 with such a deep-growing root system. A clayey loam 

 is also excellent if it contains enough sandy loam to 

 prevent baking and packing during drouth. A strong 

 loam in which corn thrives is generally good for hops, 

 provided it is well drained. Its shallow root system 

 enables corn to do well over a subsoil that would be 

 too wet for hops, which also dislike too much gravel 

 in the soil or a hardpan subsoil. 



In Great Britain, the variation and yield in quality 

 of hops in different soils, even between adjoining fields, 

 is often most marked. This is equally true in New 

 York state, Otsego and Schoharie counties usually pro- 

 ducing the best hops. In New York, as in England, 

 the lands now under hops have proven to be the best 

 after centuries of hop-growing. The limits of the Eng- 

 lish hop lands are sharply defined geologically. 



In the finest East Kent region, says Whitehead, 

 the soil is clay, loamy clay, and sandy loam upon the 



