The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1889-01-25
a. ARouT HoP-PlcKINe.
A Business That Is Profitable and Anus
ing as Well.

AL ABOUT HOP-PiCklNG.
A Business That Is Profitable and Anus
ing Well
No agricultural business has so much
risk as that of hop picking. and in
none of them are the returns so large,
writes a correspondent from Water
vile, n. Y. It costs but six cents to
produce a pound of hops, and it is a
poor year when the price does not
reach twenty. The greatest care must
be paid by the grower to the plant
from the time the bulb is placed in the
ground until the crop is matured, har-
vested and dried.
The worm is the greatest enemy OF
the plant. About the best remedy so
far discovered for getting rid of the
pests is the extract of tobacco stems
diluted in warm water and applied to
the plants by means of a pump and
hose. Paris green has been tried with
out success, the insects seeming to
relish the taste of the poison. Tur-
keys are very good protectors of the
young plants, and nearly every hop
grower has a large flock. Early in
the morning they may be seen going
through the yards stopping at each
plant and critically examining the un-
der side Of each leaf, where the worms
most do congregate. As the season
wakes long the turkeys get fat, but it
is a rank fairness that is not agreeable,
and so they have to go through diet
of corn before they are fit to eat
When the hops reach height of two
or three feet the time for pooling"
has arrived. Cedar poles about
twenty feet in length are used for
this purpose, being driven into the
ground three inches from the plant.
The sprigs are then trained around
these poles, carefully turning them
to the right 1t is a singular fact that
they will grow no other way than to-
ward the setting sun. Another singu-
lar thing about the fields is the pres
ence of the male plant. Several OF
these viii be found in every yard. In
appearance they are similar to the
females, except in the very important
particular that they do not bear hops.
However, no field yields well without
its quota of sO-called barren hills. y
Carefully tended and reared by the
ever-watchful farmer the vines grow
to a height of eighteen or twenty feet
and should Ceres prove propitiOus, as
! she has this past season, the harvest
1 time comes and the dark greer
branches yield a plentiful supply o
| sweet-scented buds.
The hops are picked into OblOne
wooden boxes containing four apart
ments, each of which holds abOu
seven bushels. Running between TIT
compartments and over the box Is ;
ridge-pole. The box is movable ant
as the hops are picked from around i
is transferred to a new ''set'' furthe
into the unpicked portion of the yard
To every two boxes there belongs
pOle-puller, whose business it is T.
keep the pickers supplied with work
He cuts the stalk of the vine at tn
bottom and then with the help of
dog draws the pole with his clingini
vines from the ground. 1t is carries
to the box, the vines are stripped an
placed upon a table between two boxe
and within easy reach of the pickers
An average days picking is two boxes
though some of the fast workers pic
double that number.
From the fields the hops are carrie
in sacks to the kiln, generally near by
A hop kiln has three rooms, two o
the first aoOr and one above. The la
ter is the drying-room, and the tw
former are respectively the storerool
where the hops are kept after curin
and the rooms where the fires are kel
, going. This is separated from the dr.!
! ing-room above by thin partition
laths and cotton cloth. In it is a larg
/ stove and series of pipes. The a
J mOsphere is kept at about $50 degree
t and it takes about twelve hours of tn
to dry the hops spread out on the foe
/ of the drying-rOOm. When the doOl
n are opened in the morning and the h
air allowed to escape the green buds
: Yesterday have COlOred into beautifl
y golden brown There is difference
b the weight also-for the $500 pounC
1 that were put in fresh from the vine
, but 250 are taken out. The rest e
@ capped through the cOwl in the roc
/ The work is now almost done and Il
d grower has only to bale his hops al
n send them to market when it suits b
/ pleasure to do so. He watches Il
= quotations carefully, and when in b
e Judgment the price has reached Il
IS highest notch he sells and takes a we
d earned rest.-Detroit Free Press.