The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1896-04-19

many. wH face these conditions no man
- ten. no oriy old Mother Tine can
ove sne prsoiem Of the futurs u hop
~ - IN the State Of Washington and
49, sSac coast z MEEKER
snoqnaimie Hop Yar1s-
- ssoqualmie hop yards. covering -
eeress VII not b worked thu season
Capt Cove. manager Of the yards. vas In
m CITY last week and he said the conti-
non ~ the market was - dsAcouragsng
thaf y vas felt useless to 20 10 the trouble
ana expenss Of turning cot q product
which car only Be sold q; iosa He knows
Of . number near snoouaimie who are
plowing up their yards. The picking Of
He cyopA about White river Kent, $50
Quaimie ard o,.7er immediate districts has
cost about SOD In former s<zsons. ard IL
y money that has stayed here Capt
Cove depso.xs ne loss which the with
holding Of such . sum viii mean 70 the
people.
The ProIiAc Louise.
Philip Nets. who had been = hon buver
IN Seattle since is7i. and who moved his
office to Salem. Or. a few months aeo.
vas San At the Butler che other day while
on = visit 10 this city. When asked vhas
was rssponeibie for the ruin Of the hop In
dusffy IN this state he replied, senfen-
tiouaiy: Lice"
when frat came here" he continued,
'sthefs were but two hop yards fl. the stats
and they turned ont seyen,y-fye balex
Everything wen, well until the Ice came
They found this damp. foggy climate con-
genial and stayed. multiplying until they
were TO be found Ia all the hops grown In
the state. They turn the hops black and
the 0rmeFy called II mould but the cor
rect name. which Is used IN England, is
black blight Growers found the only
way TO kill the pes; was by spraying but
that was 50 Injurious 10 the crop that I,
WAS found tmpractieable- The growers o.
California and Oregon are afflicted In the
same way. though rot TO such an extent
The hop louise has been known in England
for half . century and In New York for
the past thirty-five or forty years Ore
HoD had 5000 acres planted In hops last
season and turned out $500 bales. Grow
ers In that state are very careless and do
not cultivate their hops properly. Proba-
blv 800 acres will be piowed up this year.
Wisconsin offers parallel 70 the expert
e1ee in this state. In issS she raised 10000
bales. while today not twenty bales OF hops
are grown In the state.
Another thing which will make the COM
Ing hop season a poor one IS the 10000
consumption IN 1894 and 1s6. The price
for the choicest hops has gone down to "a
cents hundredweaght here. and In New
York they are quoted a: "a cents.
Freight Rntes.
Freight rates are also having a hand
In the death OF the industry In Washing
ton 1t Is possible 10 ship much cheaper
In small quantities from Oregon ard Cali
fornia than from this state. as the South
ern Pacific will carry hops in any squanti-
~ 10 all Eastern points al $50 per hun
dredweight. while on the Great Northera
and Northern Pacific the rate is Sl-5o per
hundredweight for hops In carload lots Of
12.@e pounds. and In smaller quantities
they charge si-7o per hundredwelg.lt-
'As though all these things were not
enough 10 discourage the grower. unscru-
puious dealers In the East often receive
large consignments direct from the farmer
AMI dispose of them at a price which sim
ply covers their commission and freight
charges, leaving nothing for the producer
Horst Bros. OF Sacramento. shipped LOO
bales of inferior hops to England seven
teen days ago by sailing vessel. They
were represented TO be choice Sonoma
hops, the finest that grow. Before max
ing the shipmsnt choice samples were sent
over and letters written 10 every brewer in
the kingdom. The letters offered TO de-
about 4 81 cents In American money As
the price has been Is shillings. the letters
naturally created some comno,ion. and
many brewers who see the letters and
not the hops will believe the price to have
fallen and will refuse to pay high as
before for really choice hops.
The Pas Sing at Hops.
"A number OF acres TN Washington
planted In hops are being plowed up and
viii be planted In other products. l be-
lieve that within few years there will
not be a hop grown in Washington.
The establishment OF beet sugar re-
flnory In this state would be n great thing
for the farmers. The climate Is adapted
10 the cultivation OF sugar beets and they
pay well Claus Spreckeis has three re-
finerIes In California and there are thou
sands of acres In that state under culti-
walton to supply beets to the reilneries.
Ovrrproduction Causes Ruin.
Hop growers received one-half tho cost
OF production last year and one-fourth this
year." said 8. Ramsey. the hop buyer yes
terday. land the growers are naturally
discouraged. l do not believe any one will
be able TO tell the number Of acres that
will be piowed up this year for at least
another month. as each farmer is waiting
10 see what hts neighbor will do. bought
100 bales OF hops yesterday for $500. and I
estimate that the grower lost Sl.Oo on the
transaction. At the rate ! paid the very
choicest hops are at "a cents per pound.
and the cost OF growing has been figured
at to 10 cents. Where 10 the farmer COM
Ing of al those nguress
why should the hop growers OF Ore
gon be any better of than those in WASH
ingtons Well. the higher valuation at
which land is held here NAV be one rea-
son Hop land In Washington lie held at
sioo to $50 an acre. while in oregon land
equally as good IS sold al so an acre. The
cause Of the low price is oyerproduction.
Tho fact Is. one years crop would stock
the market fer two years There Is a
heavy surrius on hand now. About every
nfteen years the surplus sccumulaies and
then there is a panic.
The railroads have given \ hard blow
TO the industry In Washington by making
one rate on carloads and another on lots
less than carloads. The price In oregon
aud California Is the same for all quartz
ties, and a man can ship one bale or
thousand bales at sl.5o per husdredweight.
That encourages hop merchants. ~hile
tho rates here encourage the hop broker.
who sells OF commission. II almost pre-
vents man selling 70 brewers In small
quantities.
zone of the most Important reasons why
the hop grower fares ~ Ia Washington IL
the presence OF the hop louise. They are
worse here than in Orssoa and California.
probably because the insect life aatsguuis-
&c 20 the hap louise flourssaes there. They
have numerous varieties OF the lady bug
IN those states. kni lie lady bug by feast
snx on them holds their numbers eown-
The lice lay eggs bus once year. but