The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-03-13
ABOUT THE HOP YARD
A New York State Growers
View Of Things.
NO MATERIAL CHANGE IN PRICES.
Pointers for the Growers on the Prose.
ration OF Spray Emulsion-Esra
Meeker's New Recipe.

PuYALLUr, March 1c-rSpecial. l-JohA
Bennett. who is visiting his son, an attor-
ney in Seattle. paid Puyallup a visit and
was shown over the hop fields the last Of
the week. Mr.. Bennett has been hop
grower in New York state for nearly forty
years. He thinks We have a fine climate
and he would like to come here and go
into the dairy business, which he thinks
would be a fine thing in this country. Mr..
Benefits ideas as to the manner of dry
ing and bal;ng hops are similar to Mr..
Ezra Meeker's. He also says that in New
York state Mr.. Meeker is considered tho
leading man in the hop business on the
Coast and his opinions are taken as au-
thority for this section. With regard to
prophesying the price Of hops during the
year. and whether after the starting price
it would go up or down. he said that he
had kept statistics for the past len years.
and that he had found the rule invariable,
that when hops were started at low prices
the end of the season would see the price
higher, and vice versa. Fifteen cents .
pound would probably be called a good
price for hops. and sometimes contracts
are made very early in the season and
sometimes in June at that price. but since
the vermin has troubled the vines so much
1t makes both growers and buyers shy Of
contracting because the grower has no
surety of how many hops he will have.
and if he does not raise enough to fill his
contract he must secure them at the mar
ket price, which may be far above what he
is getting for his.
The hop market has been very dull the
past week. Very few orders are held by
the buyers and very few hops are being
offered. a. NJ. Patterson, Of Olequah,
was offered 17X cents for his crop Of 600
bales, but he refused.
Durett Bros. of Gervais. Or, have con-
signed seventy-one bales of hops to f.
Meeker & Co.. samples of which have
been sent to New York city.
The Meekers will make their own soap
for spraying emulsion this year. NJ. J.
Meeker has been experimenting all winter
and has been very successful in results.
The Puyallup Hop Company has ordered
500 pounds of caustic soda of 76Iz per cent.
strength and 400 gallons of whale oil. Ac-
cording to the Meekers' estimate, it will
take "a gallons of whale oil and pounds
OF caustic soda, 761s per cent, to make
soap sufficient to spray one acre for the sea-
son. Soap made from this amount Of ma
terial will. according to Mr.. Query's rule,
make 800 gallons emulsion, which will
spray four acres. allowing Dds gallons to
the acre. According to this, Mr.. Meeker
will use for the Puyallup Hop Companys
yard of 100 acres 325 gallons of oil and SO
pounds caustic soda of 76X per cent. The
caustic soda must be as strong as this, or
1t will take much more to saponify the oil
and the proportion is lost. This soap 10
not perfect soap. because the oil is not
all saponified and is approximately IS per
cent. water and only % per cent. soap.
Now, there is question that no one can
answer satisfactorily. and that is why the
same amount Of this soap is just as effect
ual as the same number of pounds of an
so per cent. soap. An so per cent soap, Of
course, is much more expensive than a IS
per cent. soap, and if the % per cent soap
will do the work. as all can testify who
examined Mr.. Query's hops or who used
this soap. it will make the cost Of spray
ing much less, for if person did not wish
to make his own soap it could be bought
for much less with IS per cent water than
so per cent. soap. Many found some Of
the soap purchased last season ineffective.
but the reason for this, and also the rea-
son for Mr.. Query's success, might be due
to the time Of spraying, as numberless
growers have by experience found that the
hop lice are not at all easily killed after
becoming aged. and that it is almost inn
possible to destroy them then with any
emulsion that will not injure the vine.