SECRETARY'S REPORT. 115 



This tabic shows the importance of this crop as an item of 

 material wealth, and how fluctuating the prices arc. The hops 

 inspected in Massachusetts are not all raised here. Most of 

 those grown in Maine and Vermont are brought here for in- 

 spection. An inspection law was passed in New Hampshire 

 in 1819, though a part of the cr*op grown there has usually been 

 inspected in Massachusetts. It will be seen that the average 

 price for 1854 is stated at 26 cents per pound. Many of the 

 first sort sold much higher than that. Of those inspected, 

 there were 4,043 bags marked "first sort," and weighing 

 711,161 pounds; 401 bags marked "second sort," and weigh- 

 ing 71,526 pounds; 182 bags marked "refuse," and weighing 

 30,243 pounds. 



The profit of raising hops in Massachusetts must depend 

 somewhat upon the extent and permanence of the foreign de- 

 mand ; and it must be evident that both the foreign and 

 domestic demand for Massachusetts hops must depend largely 

 upon their quality, and especially upon the standard of inspec- 

 tion already alluded to. . Let this standard be high, let it be 

 known that the Massachusetts brand is the best and the most 

 reliable in the country, and the market is safe. The brand is 

 only prima facie evidence of the quality, it is true; and hence 

 the grower should take pains to raise the " first-sort " hops, 

 if he wishes to secure honestly the " first-sort " brand, and it 

 is a short-sighted policy which would ask for it in any other 

 way. 



Diseases. — The hop, like most plants, has its diseases and 

 its pests, in the shape of insects, which prey upon and essen- 

 tially injure it. Among the chief diseases, besides those in- 

 flicted by insects, are the rust, the blight, and the mildew. No 

 remedy is known against these, nor is the cause well known; 

 but they arc probably owing to influences of the atmosphere 

 not as yet very well understood. The mouldy fen, or red fen, 

 as it is often called, causes the leaves to turn brown, and, if 

 not checked as soon as discovered, is apt to overrun the whole 

 plantation. It has been known to visit the same ground for a 

 succession of years when neglected at its first appearance. 

 The means of guarding against it arc, to keep the ground in 

 good cultivation by frequent stirring, and to eradicate every 



