100 PRODUCTION ON THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. 



The price of hops in New York in January, 1875, was as 

 follows : 



Cents. 



First quality 42 to 48 per Ib. 



Ordinary 35 40 



Of the East and West 35 40 



California 45 50 



1873 15 25 



1872 and 1871 8 15 



Cultivation and Preparation in the United States. The 

 plant is propagated by cuttings of the rhizomes, that are sent 

 out from the main root annually, and have to be removed 

 each year, which constitutes what is termed grubbing. This 

 is performed in the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the 

 ground sufficiently to permit that the young shoot or vine, 

 after it starts, may not be broken off during the process. 



In Wisconsin the kind of soil found best adapted to the 

 growth of the plant in the vicinity of Keedsburg, Sauk 

 county, is a rich, black, sandy loam, with a subsoil that will 

 hold water well, enabling the vine to withstand drought. 



The locations found to be best adapted are elevated table- 

 lands, where there is a free circulation of air, but shielded 

 from heavy winds, which are very injurious to the fruit at the 

 time of ripening, because these whip the branches against 

 each other, breaking off some and causing the outer surface 

 of the bracts to turn reddish brown, which greatly injures 

 the appearance. 



In starting hop fields, the rhizomes removed by grubbing 

 are cut into pieces 6 to 8 inches long, each piece containing 

 two or three pairs of eyes, and planted as early in the spring 

 as the weather will permit, usually in April, four or five 

 pieces being placed in a hill. The hills are usually set 



