170 THE HOP. 



from the banks upon the owner's indorsement, and 

 therefore if hops are worth only a small margin above 

 the cost of harvesting, renters, seeing they may be 

 unable to make anything, and having nothing to lose, 

 do not care how much the harvesting costs. 



In America, from 70 cents to $1.25 per 100 pounds 

 of green hops has been the range of late years, mostly 

 80 cents to $i, but $1.25 may be paid when hop values 

 are up and pickers scarce. For the '97 crop, the 

 Pleasanton Company paid 80 cents the first week, 90 

 cents the second, and $i the third week, against 70, 

 80 and 90 cents the previous season, whereas $i 

 straight may be paid in a prosperous season. In Eng- 

 land, pickers are paid 2| cents to 6 cents per bushel, 

 averaging4cents; as a bushel weighs about five pounds, 

 these prices are equivalent to from 50 cents to $1.20 per 

 loo pounds, or an average of 80 cents. In Germany, 

 cost of picking is still less, and in many cases quite 

 nominal. 



An average picker will pick from 80 to 125 pounds 

 of hops per day 6 a. m. to 6 p. m., fast ones picking 

 as high as 200 pounds under favorable conditions, but 

 rapidity is apt to be at the expense of cleanliness. A 

 loo-pound box of green hops will shrink to about 25 

 pounds of cured hops. Careful data from Pleasanton 

 result in this statement: "As the hops grow riper, 

 pickers cannot get such good results, whereas the more 

 mature hops lose less weight on the kilns and there- 

 fore better pay is possible. In other words, the hops 

 grow lighter in weight on the vines and dry out less 

 on the kilns as the season advances, and while it re- 

 quires about 3f pounds of green hops at the earlier 

 stages of picking, hardly 3^ pounds are necessary 

 toward the close of harvest to make one pound of 

 dried hops, or an average of about 3^ pounds, when the 

 crop is properly handled. This at the normal price of 

 $i per 100 pounds for green hops would make the pick- 



