CULTIVATION. 65 



The climatic conditions of this belt will therefore afford 

 a criterion of the requirements of the hop plant in this par- 

 ticular. ' 



According to Fruwirth the limits of hop cultivation in 

 Europe are bounded by the forty-sixth and sixtieth parallels. 

 In the eastern states of America the hop is grown between 

 the thirty-sixth and forty-fifth, and in the western part of 

 that continent between the thirty-sixth and fifty-fifth parallels^ 



In Asia, and particularly in the Nilgherry ^ Mountains — 

 Blue or Nilgiri Mountains — of India, which are celebrated 

 for their fertility and moderate climate, attempts are said 

 to have been formerly made in the direction of hop cultiva- 

 tion ; and this district lies south of the twelfth parallel of 

 north latitude. 



It is also worthy of note that endeavours are being made 

 to grow hops on an experimental scale in Egypt, at the 

 Experimental Farm of the State Agricultural College near 

 Cairo (30° N. latitude).^ 



In the southern hemisphere (Australia) the hop district' 

 lies in the zone enclosed by the thirtieth and forty-sixth 

 parallels of south latitude. 



In Europe the hop flourishes up to a height of 1,640 to 

 1,970 feet above sea level, and in Eastern America up to 1,480 

 feet, whilst on the western coast the extreme limit is about 

 2,460 feet. Although the wild hop is also found almost every- 

 where on the banks of streams and in plantations in the 

 above-named districts, it would nevertheless be rash to con- 

 clude that the occurrence of wild hops is a guarantee of the 

 existence of conditions favourable to the growth of the cul- 

 tivated variety. The value of the hop plant resides in the 

 quality of its cones ; and though wild hop cones cannot be 

 held utterly valueless, and they were formerly gathered for 



^ Oesterreichisches Icmdwirthschaftliches Wochenblatt, 1886. 

 2 Zeitschrift fur das gesammte Brauwesen, 1897. 



5 



