The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1908-09-20
HOP GROWING FOR WOMEN
PROFIT IN 1T STILL DESPITE
WESTERN COMPETITION.

PROFIT IN 1T STILL DESPITE
WESTERN COMPETITION.
An Upstate Expert Tells Her EXPERIENCED
With the Crop-seil When Ready for
the Market and Never Take the
Chance OF Waiting for Q Better Price,
-well. l have been growing hops for
twenty-odd years and have always man.
aged not only to make both ends meet
but TO have a few extra dollars 10 add to
my bank account" said a woman hop
grower from Oneida county. N. Y. Il
know they say that hop growing In the
East Is decreasing because of the enor-
nous yield on land on the Pacific Coast,
We have to f~ertilize our hop land and they
do not, My hop yards give an average
yield Of about 1900 pounds to the acre,
while / understand Of the rich lands out
there they often get double that amount.
Those reports are doubtless true, but
30 long as / make more money an acre
with hops than on any other crop I'll
stick to hops.
"There lie one point that I have learned
from experience and which think
In a measure accounts for my SUCCESS
1t is to sell as o as my crop in ready for
market and not hold on for q possible
better price. l have been doing that ever
since 1882. All hop growers remember
that year, Hops brought SIPS a pound
the highest price on record, and 1t wac
known as the dollar year. There was
another woman who raised hops up In
our part Of the State. She was getting
on fairly we'll, and that year when prices
began to climb up she decided to. hold
her crop. She figured 1t that II she sold
at 50 cents she would have enough to pay
the mortgage on her farm.
when hops got to fifty she had decided
she wanted to repair aud paint her build
ings and five cents more to the pound
would be ample. Before the market had
advanced to IS cents she discovered
something else she must have and 90 re-
fused to sell. It kept IN that way until
abe Joined the ranks OF the growers who
were crying % q pound. Wen not sell
for less than % a pound The price was
then SIPS. and II she had sold her eighty
odd bales she would have netted twenty
odd thousand dollars. After this figure
the market suddenly took q turn and
prices crumbled SO fast that she was
glad to sell at ls cents a pound. / sold
out Mt rs cents O pound. the highest price
/ yer expect to receive. but that woman's
experience taught me q lesson
Hops is as specu ;ative a crop as cotton
II a farmer doesn't want TO sell his hay or
corn at the prevailing prices he can feed
it to his stock. Hops you can neither eat
nor feed TO stock. We must sell at some
price, and I have found that, taking It all
in all. selling at the time your crop lie ready
makes the best average. Later prices
may &C up, but three years out Of Eve II
has been my experience that waiting
brings q decline.
Tho bop Ia q perennial plant and
does not bear until the second year. To
plant a hop yard the ground should first
be thoroug hly ploughed and narrowed.
laid of In perfect squares. I have found
seven feet each way the best distance
for my section Of the country. NY first
step after plou Ching and narrowing is to
square the yard by driving stakes In each
Of the four corners. From these stakes
white cords with red ribbons tied at inter-
walls Of seven feet are stretched, Pegs
are then stuck IN the ground every seven
feet. After all four sides OF the yard
have been treated In this manner the
cord Is stretched in parallel lines down
through the yard every seven feet and a
peg put where the rcd ribbons are tied.
This distance viii give $50 hills to the
Is sufficient. Where a prospective hop
grower wishes to try two poles to the
Hills, as many farmers In thas section do,
I would advise them TO have the hills
staked Of seven feet apart n way and
eight feet the other.
in planting q hop yard three or four
slender roots, slightly bigger. than a lead
IN each hill an inch or two below the sur
face. The roots are pruned or grubbed
every spring 90 that the growth may be
confined 10 four or six strong vines. II
there are two poles to the hill two vines
are trained up each pole. II there Is but
one pole strings should be used to connect
each pole with Its neighbors.
aSlx vines are started at the base Of
each pole and when the vines grow to
where the strings branch of two vines
should be trained to zach string. This
training Of the vines begins In June and
Is known as hop tying. For this work !
employ only women and girls. Other
farmers In my section call on men when
the vines get 80 high! that ladders are
necessary. I have found that light
weight ladders In the hands OF young
women get better results.
sAs hops do not bear the first year !
use the ground between the hills in plant
ing oorn or potatoes. In other years the
cultivation consists in deep ploughing,
grating and shallow ~cultivating. AZ
early in the sprine az the ground will
hermit two deep burrows are Dlouehed
through the centre between the rows.
THROWING the burrows one against the
other. This is done both ways. Nexta
| plough is run down and hack e1ch way.
running as close az possible To tho hills
without disturbing tho ronts aud throw
ing tho burrows toward the centre. The
riraffe, which ia something like a Guilt
vator. should follow tho deep ploughing
once in each row to level down the fur
rows and stir tho soil to keen down tho
veeIs. nevar cultivate during the tinc
the hon Ia in tho burr. but aftor it is In full
blossom. especially after a rain. I Guilt
vntc inst enough to keep n crust from
for~inp on The ground.
"Sert"mher in this climate ia the time
for ricking tho hon crop and about the
hardest problem that the hop grower
hos 10 fac" 10 gctting. the necessary labor.
While ] nnvo solved this problem In o
wav that suits re several Of my neigh
bora have tried il and failed. I pay the
prevailing prices and prefer to have only