The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1893-05-18
hop CULTURE.
NORTH CAROLINA AS A
FIELD FOR 1T.
What an Experienced and In
telligent New York Hop Grower
Thinks of the Adaptability of
Our Soil and Climate to This
Industry.

Thinks of the Adaptability of
Our Soil and Climate to This
Industry.
Some weeks ago we had the pleasure
of a visit from Mr.. \. l.. Jones. of
Hamilton, y. Y, who was travelling
along the Seaboard Air Line through
North Carolina making investigations
with a view to ascertaining the adapt
ability of our soil and climate for hop
culture and interesting the people in
this new and profitable industry. He
had stopped at Lttleton, Macon, aud
elsewhere and informed us that he was
well pleased as far as he had gone ut
what he had seen and heard and the
prospects were altogether encourag-
ing. From Henderson Mr.. Jones went
to kittrell and Raleigh. and on to
Southern Pines, Rockingham and other
points in the State, and in the follow
ing letter to the Hamilton Republican,
gives partial account of his investi-
cations along this line and the opinion
he entertains on the subject. Mr..
Jones says:
| now have the fullest and most salts
| factory confirmation of the opinion |
have for long time held land have re-
peatedly given to certain New York hop
growers that there are sections OF North
| Carolina as we'll adapted to the hop in
dustry as is any part of the State of
New York.
have been told by the Commissioner,
by several members of the State Board
| of Agriculture, by the Director of the
Experiment Station, and many Others,
that there is not now, nor has there ever
been, II hop yard in North Carolina.
! These gentlemen, and in fact the citizens
of every section | have visited, have
shown an unstinted cOrdiality, and have
extended their cOurtesies to me almost
without limit. They manifest n lively
interest in the hop question and are
eager to obtain all ltheinformationp posi-
! BILE pertaining thereto. They are eager
| to plant the hop industry in North Caro-
| lima and desirOus to secure the cO-Opera-
tion of the practical hop growers of New
| York
Just before left Raleigh the Secretary
/ OF the Board of Agriculture handed me
an official letter in which the Commits
slOner, among other things, says: We
believe that hops can be successfully and
protitably grown in this State and will
lend our aid in the furtherance of any
step to that end" After referring to the
fact that the roots in quantity sufficient
for the purpose must come from the
yards in New York, he adds: eve will
have systematic experiments made in at
least ten different counties or sections of
hn St.,t. ,f
the Sta" farm, at the Experiment Sta
ton, and upon farms in different sections
and under its direction" would deter
mine the sections or localities best
adapted to hop farming. In order to do
this hop roots should be sent from New
York to the Department Of Agriculture,
Raleigh, n. C., sufficient to plant one
hundred acres, more or less (the Depart
ment, of course, paying the freight,) to-
gether with full information as to plant
ing and cultivation. 1t will also be
necessary in the second year, and before
picking time, that competent hop men
from New York come on and erect or
supervise the building ofhOp houses, etc.
see to the proper gathering of the crop
and that it is picked, dried, cured,
bleached and baled as should be- OF
course such men will be well paid.
Now n few words as to why and how
this matter should be considered by New
York hop growers. That the hop in
dustry will be established in North Caro-
lima in the near future is q fOregone con-
clusion. 1t is a certainty, and the New
York hop grower should give this fact
due and serious consideration. All the
| conditions necessary to the successful
prosecution of this industry i'm this State
are found to exist i'm several distinct sec
tiOns. The native Tor if you choose, the
wild) vine is never destroyed by blight
nor has it ever been known to have been
injured by insects or disease of any sort
| have found long pieces Of last year {
vine adhering to the branches of IA tree
thirty feet above ground and at the foot
OF the same tree many young shoots ol
| this season $ growth, some of which were
more than four feet each in length.
find them almost invariably in spote
outside OF the area of cultivation. They
are planted in many places simply fol
shade, trained to trellises along tho
piazza, to cover an clubhouse or an arbor
or in out-of-the-way spots near the fence
and among the grass and weeds, for do
mestic use, that is for the making 0
chop cakes These hop or yeast cakes
vi Which, IdS' St-tu lIlttlif SI'lpSttl ouU vi
boards and drying in the sun, are pun
gent and strong in that DELICIOUS aroma
so dear to the New York hopman, anC
are much superior to the yeast cake
sold at the North They are made by
the thrifty housewife who, by their use
produces the best white bread to b.
found anywhere.
Hop growers in New York who ar
competent to full and just appreciation
of the facts as they exist will act wiscl,
and to their own profit if they will gather
pack and send all the roots for plantin:
hop yards in this State that may be de
sired by the Department of Agriculture
as above noted. The establishing o
yards in many sections, and on suf
fciently large scale by the Department
of Agriculture, will determine not onl,
: the best sections or localities, but als'
many other points which are of grea
Importance to the grower to know a
the earliest moment and before investin;
largely in the business, and the New IorI
; hopman will then know just where b
may come and engage in his favOrite in
dustry with an almost absolute certaint.
| OF IA profit greater than he ever realize
in New York, and all this without an,
cost to himself other than that Of a FEY
hop roots. Messrs. Hop Growers, thi
matter deserves your sesiOus and prOmp
attention. You who are alert and pro
gressive, you who would better your con
dition, and you who would like homes il
a State in which is produced almost evry
thing produced in all the other States O
the Union, will find here a field in whicI
you can work to much greater profit tha
you have ever known. | could give 81 al
sufficient evidence and reasons for " tn
faith that is in me" bnt will content my
self for the present by saying that sha
have my hop yard in North Carolina