The Fort Worth gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-189?, 1891-04-30
MORE On HOP CULTURE.

MORE ON HOP CULTURE.
Col. ". 5. Herndon of Tyler, Tex. writes
that he has read with much interest oul
various articles on hop culture for Texas.
Fully impressed with the conviction that
state. he last year made i careful eXamina-
ton into hop culture on the Pacific slope,
and particularly in the states of Oregon
and Washington. Returning, he contri-
buted TO the Tyler Democrat and Reporter
an article setting forth the result of his in
good effect. Many persons have sent of
orders for hop sets with 4 view TO planting,
which they can do successfully on to May
He himself has 800 plants set this season.
al doing well. The plants cost ! cent each,
10 which may be added half i cent each as
eXpressage from California. The planters
Of his region are obtaining their sets from
". ". Thatcher, Sauel postoffice, near
Hopland station, Cal. For the special
benefit of people living in this immediate
vicinity we may state that the Texas Brew
ing company at Fort Worth has proposed 10
supply or procure mop sets for all persons
applying 10 them with the desire Of testing
the cropin the regions directly tributary TO
this place Their great brewery must have
hops. and it is their policy to encourage
home industries to the full extent of their
ability. 1t is now getting pretty late in the
season for starting hop plantation, though
We think that for this latitude the thing
might be safely trusted on to the latter part
Of May.
In his article TO the Democrat and Re
porter, which we happen to have before US,
Col. Herndon says the hops is staple pro-
duct in Oregon and Washington. The gross
average product per acre there is about
1000 pounds when prepared for market. or
ten bales. The hops are gathered. dried
and pressed into bales of 200 pounds each.
and are then ready for use. The cost Of
production and fitting for market is 81
cents per pound. In 1890 the price averaged
say at Portland, Tacoma and Seattle, II
cents per pound.
An average acre 1000 at II cents . $50 90
Less the cost of production and get
ting ready for market ...:.. 10 90
Leaving net per acre. $3.50 %
The crop of thSState of Washington for
1890 WIS 1000 bales, or 90U0,00 pounds.
This, say at 10 cents per pound, brought
gross So, 600, 900. The demand was strong
and nearly the entire crop was exported to
Europe.
There is but a small area Of land adapted
to the culture of hops in Oregon and Wash
ington, and these lsnds now sell at from
500 to 500 per acre. \ sandy loan soil
that drains well is regarded as best suited
10 the hop crop. At the preparation the
ground is well plowed and then checked of
in rows from six 10 ten feet each way. &c
cordingly as the land is rich or poor. The
plants are grown either from seed or from
shoots or rootings taken from the old
three to six inches deep in very loose soil,
the dirt being Slightly packed around them
one to three plants in each check; one if
the land is rather poor, three if rich
The first year the vines are not poled, be-
ing allowed to run on the ground. They
must be well plowed and kept clear of weeds
and grass. The second year poles from ten
to sixteen feet long must be set to each hill,
and the vines trained around them. In this
second year 4 good crop will be produced.
It is the pods on the vines that contain the
hop substance; these can be gathered by
means of a step-ladder, though some cut the
vine off at the ground and pull it down to
get AT the fruit. The cost of picking is l
cent 4 pound and the average hand will
pick 200 pounds OF ripe hops per day. Soon
as picked the hops are taken to drying
house and put on wire floor and heat $50
degrees Fahrenheit applied twelve hours
They are then allowed TO cool, after which
they are put in sacks Of 200 pounds each
They are now ready for market
The hop planted in April bears some fruit
the first season. but not much The second
season, as already stated, gives good crop,
which natures in September The roots
are perennial, and once set continue to
bear fifteen or twenty years without re-
setting.
The best hops of commerce are grown in
Bavaria, Europe, where they are dried in
the sun. The dry air of a Texas fall may
enable US to dry them in the sun here, and
if SO, we can save from one and one-half to
two cents on the pound over the playhouse
method. The two most popular varieties
on the Pacific slope are known respectively
as the Russian river and the English cluster.
Why not grow hops successfully in East
TeSasl asks Col. Herndon. We have ex-
actly the soil needed-rich sandy loan, well
drained, in creek bottoms, valleys and on
eminenJy adapted to the
needs of all other vines. Why not as well
suited 10 the hop, The climate is about the
same as in Bavaria. Hops grow well in
lower Georgia, and we have about the same
climate as prevails there. What we can do
on our lands and in our climate cannot be
fully known until full tests have been made