HOPS 



HOPS 



381 



extensively on rich alluvial creek-bottoms and on 

 poor sandstone hills. A rich sandy loam that is 

 moist, but not wet, is preferable. The commercial 

 value of the cured hop depends very largely on its 

 color, a bright straw-color being the ideal, and 

 this will not be secured on soils in which nitrogen 

 is too abundant. A slight elevation, protected from 

 north and northwest winds, and sloping toward the 

 east or southeast, is preferable. 



Manures. — In starting a hop-yard in the East 

 a liberal dressing of twelve to twenty tons of farm 

 manure per acre is frequently applied. After the 

 crop is established, the general method of manuring 

 is by applying a good-sized forkful of stable manure 

 on the crown of the plant in the fall, thus serving 

 the two-fold purpose of fertilizing and a protective 

 mulch. In the spring it is worked into the soil 

 about the hill. Sometimes manure is used between 

 the rows with good results. The large amount of 

 nitrogen in farm manure has sometimes caused 

 excessive leaf -growth and a green, undesirable hop. 

 This has led some of the best growers to alternate 

 the manure with applications of commercial fertil- 

 izerss, especially those containing a large percent- 

 agf of potash, as wood-ashes. So far as quality is 

 co^ jemed, it is wisest to depend at least partially 

 on commercial manures. Good quality has been 

 secured from broadcasting one ton per acre of 

 wood-ashes in the fall, and applying 500 pounds of 

 ground bone at the first hoeing in the spring. The 

 largest yields, however, seem to follow the applica- 

 tion of the manure to the hills in the fall, assisted 

 by an application of commercial fertilizer at the 

 first hoeing in the spring. Possibly the highest 

 yield per acre and the best market quality are not 

 compatible. In the richer and newer soils of the 

 West little attention is yet paid to fertilizing. 



Propagation. — Hops are always propa- 

 gated from cuttings of the underground 

 stems, called " roots." These are grubbed 

 from the runners of estab- 

 lished hills and cut into 

 pieces having two to six 

 " eyes" each, and four to eight Jl 

 inches long. They are set % 

 out in spring as early as pos- % 

 sible, at the rate of two to 

 four pieces in a hill, the 

 pieces being six to eight 



inches apart in the hill. ^ig. 574. Hops in fruit, 



Some growers set the cut- 

 tings upright in holes 

 punched with a bar. This method is more difii- 

 cult, but is said to give more compact hills with a 

 better root system. The tops are brought even 

 with the surface of the ground, and they are then 

 hilled up two or three inches. The cutting must not 

 be allowed to dry out completely. Sometimes, espe- 

 cially in the warmer parts of the West, it is nec- 

 essary to plant the cuttings as soon as they are 

 made, or " heel " them in on moist ground. The 

 hills are usually placed about seven feet apart 

 each way, which gives 700 to nearly 900 hills per 

 acre. Many growers have found it advisable to set 

 out about one per cent male plants to cause seed 



production, thus increasing very appreciably the 

 weight of the crops. In other cases, no attention 

 is paid to the sexes. Roots are commonly sold 

 in the East by the bushel, but sometimes by the 

 hundred "sets." Their price fluctuates very widely 

 and may form a considerable item of expense in 

 establishing a new yard. 



Since the hop yields no crop in the East until 

 the second year, it is the universal custom to plant 

 it with some other crop. Corn is sometimes used, 

 letting a hill of hops take the place of every 

 alternate hill of corn in each alternate row. Ob- 

 jection has been offered to corn for this purpose on 

 the ground that it shades the hops too much. Pota- 

 toes and beans are used in the same way. This 

 permits clean cultivation and good care of the 

 young plants. Sometimes the hops are planted as 

 usual and then the field is sown with oats, a 

 method that has nothing to commend it. The hop 

 is a plant that requires clean and exacting cultiva- 

 tion. This •companion-cropping does not apply in 

 California, where the plants get an earlier start, 

 being set out in January and February, and pro- 

 duce a fair crop the first year. 



A yard commonly attains its best condition two 

 to four years after setting, and by careful atten- 

 tion and replanting of hills when necessary, it may 

 be maintained for ten, and, occasionally, fifteen 

 years. Probably six to twelve years may be taken 

 as the average profitable life of a yard when good 

 care is given. There is difficulty in getting a new 

 plant to grow in the place where an old one has 

 died, and when the entire field is plowed 

 up and. replanted, care must be exercised 



These burs or strobiles are the matured 

 pistUlate catkins shown in Fig. 573, 



to have the new rows occupy the land between the 

 old ones. 



Pruning. — The roots of the plant require prun- 

 ing, or " grubbing," as it is sometimes called, each 

 year. The first pruning is given about a year after 

 the plants are set out. The dead stump remaining 

 from the previous crop, together with about one 

 inch of the crown, is cut off clean. The shallow 

 runners are also cut off and removed. This opera- 

 tion exposes the poor or worthless roots, which 

 may be taken up and replaced with healthy ones. 



Cultivation. — So far as cultural implements are 

 concerned, no very special tools are required. The 



