The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-04-10
FARM, FIELD, GARDEN.
What : New York Hop Grower
Thinks Of Washington.
THE BENEFITS OF cApoN,zlNo.
Profitable anA 1asaly Dsae-1Ae AsasA
- March A1eA Colder
Thaa Nesaal.

r Bennett In Brook6old. q. r.. Courier
PUYALLuP. March SIN 1885 the first
hops were Get out In the state'of Washing-
ton. A half bushel Of roots planted that
spring bore 1855 pounds Of hops In the fall,
which sold for 50 cents per pound. From
% small beginning the hop industry has
grown and prospered until now It u one
Of the great staple industries Of this state.
The day has come when New York must
carefully consider the hop product Of this
Coast before making any valuable calcula-
tons, for Il must b remembered that in
the past year two-ffths Of the entire hop
product Of the United States was raised
on the Pacific coast That Il 70 say,
nearly 5000 bales. Fifteen thousand
acres and IN outlay Of . million and half
dollars were necessary to produce this
crop. This year the hop acreage Is to b
largely increased. and when the crop Of
1883 Il harvested We have no doubt that
one-half Of the entire crop of the United
States will be grown on the Pacific coast
It was on day - beautiful - an or
binary June day In New York that We
boarded the Northern Pacific train ct So.
attic for the purpose Of taking Q trip
through the crest hop section Of Wash.
ington. Seeing il believing, and We de-
termined to investigate for ourselves.
Soon the city of Seattle. the metropolis Of
the Pacific Northwest, with its 6O,0O0
inhabitants, its miles Of wharves and IT.
harbor full Of shipping are left far behind,
but the suburbs are scarcely passed
through before the hop. kiln and hop yard
are seen. and for moro than thirty miles
they are seldom ont Of sight. Every few
miles We come to . village containing
from . few hundred up to several thou
sand inhabitants. The finest places were
Grill, Kent, Auburn and Sumner. On
the outskirts Of all these towns hop
houses could b seen. ana the fields
came close up to the village limits. In
ing xsll begun. Everywhsrs there was
activity and life that showed that the hop
year Of 1893 was we'll under way. Three
miles beyond Sumner we. came to Puy.
allup, . town of about 5000 inhabitants
and the hop center of the state of Wash.
ington. Here We got Off We found Mr..
Ezra Meeker, the pioneer hop grower Of
the state, ct his office. and had pleasant
HIS son. Mr.. NJ. J. Meeker, hitched up
and took Us out to one Of their yards
about three miles from town. They
were busily setting poles, blowing and
planting new hops from which they
expect to harvest . ton of hops per
acre in the fall. This statement seems
astounding to New York man who 10
used to waiting till the second year for an
ordinary crop. Here the yard may pro-
duce 600 pounds Of hops the second year,
. not uncommon occurrence. The Meek
eFs are going to set out over sixty acres of
new hops this spring. They Get one stake
nine and one-half feet long to each hill,
have the tops sawed of, then run twine
from pole to pole on top. for the vines to
run on. The hills are set from six to seven
feet apart. They are going to run this
They get on an. average about !, 700 pounds
Of hops per acre.
This state is certainly all that can be
desired for hop growers, and il is only q
question Of time, without something un.
looked for occurs. when Washington will
be the controlling factor in the hop
industry not only Of the United States
of the valleys OF the Puget sound basin,
deep. moist and friable, is the natural
home of the hop. 1t is hard to tell the
depth of the soil. In Ezra Meeker' . hop
yard the soil is known to be LA feet
deep. There is no doubt that yards can
be run for centuries without replanting,
as the roots have such depth OF soil to
1uu 1us AuSIo oIe y8IuS moro tu8t nave
been run for more than fifteen years with
out showing q miss hill. sign Of decay OF
lessening of the crop The summer, with
its long days of sunlight, cool nights
and unfailing, moisture insures an un.
checked aud constant growth to tho
vine. It 10 of course necessary to spray 50
a. to kill the vermln, and in order to do il
more effectuslly the stakes, which were
formerly sixteen feet long, have been re-
duced to eight and a,haif and nine and q
half feet. If the hops are not sprayed
they spoil or &C best are of Indifferent
quality. Says Ezra Meeker: I'VE are not
any more afraid OF lice than of weeds"
Hops cannot be produced in New York
for less than Is cents per pound, while
here the cost is less than 10 cents DER
pound. In order for New York, as can
readily be seen, to continue successfully
in the hop business she must produce and
harvest neater. cleaner and better favored
hops than Washington; in other words
those that will bring more money in the
markets of the world. Can she do it
With climate. soil and cost of raising in
her favor Washington's place as q hon
state is assured, and he would be daring
man who would figure on the hop market
without carefully considering the product