HOP-BLIGHT 317 



the State of New York. The same dangers and troubles 

 attend the hop-crop in all these regions. These are blight, 

 red-spider, mildew and mould, besides several less im- 

 portant insect pests. The hop-blight, or "black-blight," 

 is a plant-louse or aphis (Fig. 55) like the rose-aphis, and 

 does great and increasing damage to the hop-crop in 

 England, destroying the young and tender shoots in the 

 months of June T and July. In 1882 the hop-crop was 

 reduced from 459,000 cwt. (of the preceding year) to 



FIG. 56. Male hop-louse, not appearing until late autumn. 



115,000 cwt. by this insect, and the wages paid for hop- 

 picking from ^350,000 to 1 50,000. These figures give 

 an idea both of the damage done by blight and of the 

 amount and value of the annual crop, for the mere picking 

 of which so large a payment is made. Red-spider is a 

 small mite or acarid which has done a good deal of 

 damage in Kent. But mildew and mould are more serious. 

 These are due to a delicate, thread-like kind of fungus, 

 which spreads on the leaf. Many kinds are known in 

 various parts of the world and on various plants. They 

 may grow on one kind of plant without doing injury to it, 



