398 THE HOP CKOP. 



our notice, but the hop-poles also suffer from their attacks, 

 from which considerable losses are annually occurring. 

 The principal culprits in this form of injury are a species 

 of wild bee, small in size and black in colour, with a tuft 

 of ochreous hairs on the face, known as the Ohelostoma 

 florisomne, the larvae of which destroy the poles by bur- 

 rowing into them; and a little beetle, called, from its 

 propensities, the "hop-pole beetle," Lyctus fuscus or 06- 

 longus, the larvae of which, small in size, thin in shape, 

 and of a chestnut brown colour, bore into the wood, and 

 thus greatly injure it. It would be probably worth while 

 to try the effects of some of the different preparations for 

 preserving timber on the hop-poles liable to be attacked 

 by them ; and Curtis tells us that stripping off the bark 

 at first would help to secure the poles from the attacks of 

 the Lyctus, and probably of other wood-boring insects. 



The chemistry of hops has received considerable atten- 

 tion, both at home and abroad. On the Continent it has 

 been the subject of investigation by Pay en and Chevalier, 1 

 by Ives, 2 by Leroy, 3 and by Hawkhurst;* in this country 

 by Way, 5 Johnston, 6 and Nesbitt ; 7 whose analyses make us 

 acquainted with its general composition, and indicate the 

 nature and quantity of manurial applications we must apply 

 to our plantations to sustain them in full productiveness. 



The average proportions of the three parts of the plant 

 flowers, leaves, and stem appear to be nearly equal. The 

 separated produce of two hills was found to consist of 



Hops Flowers, 3'50 Ibs. 



,, Leaves, 3'75 ,, 



,, Bine or stems, 3'25 ,, 



The percentage of ash or inorganic matter differs in the 

 different parts of the plant, and is also subject to consi- 

 derable variation in the different varieties cultivated. In 

 the flowers it amounts to from 6 to 10 per cent., in the 



1 Jour. Phar., viii. 226. 2 Ibid., xciii. 155. 3 Jour. Chim. Med, 1840, p. 2. 

 4 Ann. de Mil. et Reis., 1849, p. 507. 5 Jour. Roy. Agri. Soc., ix. 145. 



High. Soc. Trans., 1848, p. 69. 7 Jour. Roy. Agri. Soc., vii. 212. 



