Mineral Point weekly tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1859-1868, 1866-04-04
Hops and their Culture.

/ Hops and their Culture.
! In c Idence of the great profit made ii
| raising hops, the little town of Kilbourn
! City, in Wisconsin, took last season about
| 81 900, 600 for hops; and that throughdus
the State of Wisconsin not less than 81
| 900 900 more were received for this pro-
| duet in 1865 w c. Hanford, ESQ, Of
| Rockford, Ill who is a successful culti-
yator of hops, SAYS there are two distincs
varieties, the "Early Cluster and the
English Mammoth, and he prefers the
latter. 1t i. with hops as with most other
crops. They require, and must have
very rich soil, no matter how rich natur-
allg Artificial manures (compost Of COW
and horse manure must be used 70 put
the ground in proper tilth. verv
| thorough and deep plowiug, narrowing.
! etc, is understood as requisite, and
throughout th whole process it should rc
! borne in mind that whatever 10 worth d.,
/ ing 81 all il worth doing well. The rows
are to be ssven feet apart each way, and
should be laid off with great care. The
right time TO plant is early corn planting
time Az the season varies with the lati-
tuie, this is the best term aud will suit
each locality The beat plants are oh
tanned from Canada Five plants SO q hill
are used set in circle. of six inches in
diameter, setting one plant IN the middle,
and those in the ring having the head in
ciiue6 inward Some hop growers assert
that tho plant may be dropped and cover
ed like e potato.; but this is radically
wrong. Use a dibble or 'spud,' n minis
ture wooden spade, and incline the head
as above directed. After the hons ars
planted the first season, any hoed crops.
such as corn, beans tobacco etc. may Big
grown between the rows Of hops. the most
careful cultivation being necessary. The
hops P suffered to trail on the ground the
| first year
! A'cer tbs hops have heerl planted, every
spare moment should be employed in pre-
| pairing the poles Cedar p5les are best,
| bat any other available material NAV hs
used. As soon ns practicable, after ths
| first year. the ground is cleared of tho
| dead vines ond refuse Of other crops A..
soon MS the vines make their appearance
the second spring, the poles are set two
| poles in each hill. They are set with n
peculiar bar (hop bari having n strong
belly and made for tho purpose The
plants are now reduced to their Original
number, four or five leaving the strongest
and those in the right position. which pro-
cess is termed "grubbing" The plant.
will paw for the labor. Bv the way, thsv
are the hest greens that ever graced any
mans table This gruhbing must be con-
tinued as long "a the young shoots appear!
or until the hops are in bloom; and no
moro than the original number should be
permitted To grow. The young plants muss
be trained to the poles In the morning
hours, and with the sun, from east to
west For tvine uso bass mats, ohtnincd
at the cabinet makers-a very good and
cheap material Care must be had that
II Al
struct cultivation. which should be con-
tinued until the hops are in the dur"
and afterward by hand if necessary.
Like all other crops, hops have natural
enemies The hop worm is not much 10
be dreaded as the damage done bv II Ia
very trihinc While Mr.. IT. was securing
his second crop, the common currant or
measuring worm. what is believed to be
! the hupena humH or hop vine hypena,
made its appearance aud became so nu-
merous that they nearly destroyed an acre
and n half before anv measures were taken
to destroy them They may be easily de.
strovcd in the following wav: Take n
large sheet which opens in the middle 10
the center; pass 1t around the vines clota
the open part and Jar the poles and the
worms will drop very readily on the sheet
and NAV thus be destroyed In ward nf
.
misses or women, are emrIoved during
( the picking season boys are too holster
/ ous generally md not counted profitable
( hands 4 large bog being suhdirfded into
( four compartments, having handles at the
sides and Of capacity of seven bushels
/ encb. is used for four pickers Of eight
! rows. and moved s tnev pr0grese When
/ boxes are full the contents are empticd
, into large sacks made forty inches lnng
and three feet wide and carried TO the
kiln for drvinc which process is so car
ried on that two hatchns are d.ieG each -
hours From the kiln they are rcmovad
10 a store room where they 90 through s.
sweating process by which they are a little
touchened. and are then in the best CO, -
dition to press and pack Mr. HIS kiln.
with store room. j. 20x40 feet. and cost
about 5000 Capacity atout 400 bushels.
Plants in the rough, cost about s. per
barrel Preparing soil, pl ntine, etc.
about $500 per acre. Cost Of kiln, etc
$500 Tie law Of SIMPLY and demand
, regulates the price Of hops rs well as 9th or
articles Of commerce Twelve hundred
pounds ncr acre is p very fair average rs
turn Mr.. Hanfor9s first crop was ieh-
teen hundred pounds per acre, and last
. season one ton per acre was produced or
, some lands in Wisconsin, The grnbb;a.,
! and stacking Of poles is work for each
: season The first bas been deso.:As
= above the poles are stacked in the flefd
: in large comes so as to season and shea ths.
i rain. The boxes also remain IN the heii
and will pay for extra care Ter iarc@
! boxes are cnoGyh for 20 pickera P9aIrF'
II Farmer.