The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-04-24
PUYALLUP HOP NEWS.


PUYALLyP. April 23.-[Special. &c. w.
Stewart recently spent several days at
Kent and Slaughter among the hop grow
ers. He finds vermin in the ground, but
thinks with Professor Riley that it will
do no harm, but in contradiction
to the professor, his researches SO
far lead him to believe that he
has found the eggs which Professor Riley
says are only found upon the plum. upon
the salmonberry, alder and bareback,
also the nest and fly. The grow
ers are using lime upon the vermin now
in the ground, supposing it to be effective,
although it is not known TO be success.
The past month being so cold after the
warm days in March has put the hops
back so much that it will be a backward
spring for them. On April Is E. Meeker
showed branch of hop about eight inches
long upon which were number of lice.
At this writing about half the growers
have their poles set. the sprouts being all
the way from just showing to two feet
long, the difference being due in a measure
to the difference in situation and drainage.
E. c. Merrill has just returned from a
visit to his Oregon hop yards,
and comes back well pleased. He
this year will build three new
hopkins, and will commence training
next week. as the hops are looking fine in
Oregon. He will send over a hop sprayer,
and if this year he gets his hops of In
good shape he will extend his yards con-
siderablv.
Last year little or no contracting was
done by the different buyers, owing to the
uncertainty of the quality of the crop of
the harvesting. One firm contract
ed extensively both here and
in California, and it was said
that they had as many as sixty lawsuits
upon their hands at one time. The grow
ers, it appears, want little to do with this
firm. Another firm represented here in
Puyallup contracted little, and took
everything they contracted for, although
it was against their interest so to do.
Last year all through this district there
was not strictly choice hop raised, or
rather shipped, and this year may be
repetition, although forewarned ought to
be forearmed. and the growers in general
ought to turn out more marketable hop,
owing to more thorough knowledge
of dealing with infected hops. A large
hop grower and buyer from New York
state, D. f. Wilbur, who visited Puyallup
two years ago, was fearful lest the Wash.
ington growers would do just the same as
most other growers do when dealing for the
first time WITH. diseased hops; that
is, they are not painstakIng enough from
the beginning to the end, and especially
in the picking and drying. In almost all
the yards there will be several
grades of hops, and if these
hops were picked separ ately. although
at greater cost, the grower would be more
than repaid by the extra price that could
be gotten for the best hops, as the hops
sold last fall all upon the grade whereas q
few very poor hops will not greatly increase
the weight but they will bring down the
price of the whole bale. Last year hun
dreds CT dollars were lost by the grow
ers by their carelessness or thought
lessness in picking. all their hops,
good, bad and Indifferent altogether
and then rushing them through the kiln,
thinking that after the harm was done it
could be cured in some way, which is a
very erroneous idea, and the sooner the
Washington grower gets rid OF it the more
dollars there will be in his pocket.
Mr.. Greene, son of Charles Greene, of
the firm of Greene Son & Co., large hop
buyers of Wateryiile, N. Y, was in Puyal-
lup today calling upon the hop dealers.
Mr.. Greene has visited California and
Oregon. Mr.. Charles Greene, the senior
member of the firm. was out here two
years ago, being then 70 years of age. A.
c. Campbell has been the agent of this
firm for the past seven years.