The Yakima herald. [volume] (North Yakima, W.T. [Wash.]) 1889-1914, 1893-08-03
GOOD RETURNS FROM HOPS.
Al Industry That Is ProYins a Source
OfGreat Wealth TO Yakima County
our Favorable Condition can be
summed mp as irrigation, CIi.
mate and seii.-They are
winning Factors.

The hop industry is now the leading
agricultural interest Of Yakima county.
Seven years ago, when the now beautiful
little town Of North Yakima began Ia
show it's head above the sage brush, cattle
vas king in the valley. But now the
range is gone. and the once profitable
and picturesque life OF the stockman and
''owhoy is only memory.
Cha rye is the law Of nature; aud the
county has shown its wonderful resource
by the way in which 1t has turned the
flank OF what seemed 10 be an insuper-
able difficulty.
Within the last five years it has put
thousands OF acres into alfalfa, and NOW
IL the principal winter feeding place for
beef cattle In the state. Thus an indus.
try that pays far better than the old
stock business has arisen from the seem.
ing disaster; and where dozen stock
men formerly made money, much more
money is now being made by hundreds OF
farmers, who raise from five to seven
tons Of alfalfa per acre and sell 1t at
seven dollars ton, or turn it into beet
At higher figure. Good work this
Ave, but poor compared with hop cul-
ture.
Seven years ago the few hop growers
in Yakima county raised from twelve to
fifteen hundred pounds Of hops per acre
The yards were small and poorly han
He'd, but, in spite of slip'shod and crude
methods Of cultivation, 80 rich was the
soil, so favorable the climate that
the hops ranked high. To-day Yakima
hops are of admittedly superior grade
and, in the judgment of the London mar
ket, are only equalled by those of Sonoma
county. California.
The county's acreage in hops has in.
creased within the last two or three years
to an astonishing extent. Daring 1892 ii
was more than doubled. This remark.
able increase was caused by the advent
Of number Of large growers from the
Sound country.
The summer in Yakima is long, warm
and steady. Compared with the same
season on the Sound, it is hot. The
ieadliest foe of the hop louise is steady
bright, dry heat. In such climate the
pest cannot become dangerous.
There has never been hop crop lost OF
apprecisbly hurt in Yakima county.
The Sound growers became convinced
of this great advantage possessed by
''the happy valley" and followed the
star which led them to where she new
king, Wrapped in his swaddling clothes
had been born. Where the old settler
had put in his five, ten or twenty acres,
they put in their forty, sixty or one hum
dred acres.
Thus the impulse which alone was
lacking was given. The natural fitness
of the conditions is doing the rest and
to-day the Yakima country is fast becom-
Ing the leading hop district OF America,
What are these so favorable conditions ?
Briefly as follows; Irrigation, climate
and soil.
In the history Of the worlds agriculture
the greatest results, and, generally, the
beginnings OF all good results have been
in irrigated districts. Philosophers &C.
count for this by the fact that the initial
difficulty arising from tho lack of rain
spurs man to his best efforts. Sloth and
carelessness are banished, and the mind
Of man, enerpized by necessity. reaches
the highest results. This is true, but Is
not all the truth. Under irrigation the
quantity OF moisture required for the hest
ievelopn eni of plant life, and no more, il
given Thus. not only is the growth as
sured, but the favor ia conserved. Be.
sides, in arid districts nature seems to
compensate for the absence If rain, by
making the other conditions more favor.
able.
The soil OF Yakima is extremely rich,
and the season is an ideal one for hop
culture. Rain during picking time is I'M
known, and the hops 20 to the kiln in the
best possible shape.
The land is cheaply and easily cleared
of the sage brush; no sub-drainage is re-
quired, the water escaping 10 the rivers
through the stratum of gravel immedi.
ately underlying the soil--and Yakima
hop fields are the nearest 10 three Indian
reservations, those OF Yakima, Colville
and Umstills. Pickers are therefore
easily obtained. Last season the writer
was offered all the pickers be wanted
from each of these points.
The yield per acre in Yakima county
now runs from 1900 to 2,4O0 rounds, az
cording to the way in which the yards
are cared for. The hops, though large
and rich, are hybrid-Heaven alone
knows their ancestry. This, too, how
ever, is changing. Many OF the new
growers are importing crown roots Of the
best varieties FROM England. Some Fart
Kent Goldings and Fugples that the
writer got out yielded well the first year,
and do better than any others in the
yards. The average yield Of tie hop
yards may he set down as l $50 pounds
per acre at the present time, end the
average price Is cents a pound. This
calculation is for the period since "the
dollar pound season." which made 6ll
those who sold at the flood rich.
Take the cost OF raising the crop, and
putting it in shape for market at 10 cents
per pound land under irrigation the yards
cannot have justice done them for less)
and the net profit is sl44 per acre.
Some orcharlists claim that they get a
considerably larger return than tlns from
their fruit. but for steady and reliable
farming profit it is surely good enough.
n the farmers of our eastern states
oould feel assured that they can get to-
a 4 4 II r..