Camas Prairie chronicle. [volume] (Cottonwood, Idaho) 1901-1917, 1909-05-28
WESTINGHOUSE HOP MONS
Large Fortunes Made in p...
Acres in Hops at Present Cao-a,soo
Rankin Owner Largest YarS y

While hop growing has made e..
for many in the Yakima valley 'tane'
are some who believe the indnst. snefe
had its golden age in central W.. na'
ton, where the big red apple is taai
its place as commercial prodpct mug
does not mean that the quality !, i ny
quantity of the acre yield has - !. 'ue
GRATED in the least, but it emnks s.e'l'
the fact that the land is becom;n '.''1Ss
valuable for hop culture. The inas.. ~
was highly profitable when nr;.
ranged from 20 to 80 cents nonns S'S
This becomes apparent when i
known that the average yield ,.r..
from 1900 to 1000 pounds the ~ ~
which, at present market prices -
cents pound, would net not mora a.. =
from $3.50 to 5000, while the sauna lsss
planted to apples of commercial w;rt.-
varieties will yield from $500 70 eyso
and sometimes as high as Al INN
the sixth, seventh and eighth wears
The quality of the hops grown in a.
Yakima valley is superior, and thar
are some who believe that prices nj,
go up in years to come, but the smallo,
acreage under cultivation this va.
would indicate that the INDUSTRY !.
waning. The acreage that will be- cnl.
tivated this year will be from one.tb;rd
to one-half of that of five years a.
Owing to the low price of hops and m
better returns from fruit-growing,
large number of hop yards have bean
plowed up and set to orchards.
This is true of possibly half the acre.
age formerly devoted to hop culture. on
the remaining lands, probably onetbird
will not be cultivated this season
Thirty-five hundred acres of land was
in hops three years ago, the yards vary.
ing from 10 to 100 acres. There are Al
present approximately 1900 acres in
hops.
George Rankin is the owner Of ono
of the larger yards, having 1O5 acres
The Mckee company, which has been
the most extensive grower of hops in tbe
valley, once had more than 300 acres
under cultivation. Some of this acre.
age is now devoted to general farming
A. B. Weed made a fortune from his
4O-acre yard, as has also H. H. Schott
who owns 40 acres. Messrs. Fechter
and Janock have so acres, and the
Lynch brothers have large acreage in
the Ahtanum valley near North Yakima
The average production of hops in
Yakima county, five years ago, was 2S,
600 bales of 200 pounds each. The yield
of 1908 was about $500 bales. The est
mate for 1909 is the same. The present
price is about 10 cents pound. The
cost of raising is from to 10 cents
The yield is from 1900 to 1000 pounds
an acre.
Contracts are being made in various
parts of the valley, and so far the only
price mentioned is 10 cents a pound
s. Huntington & Company, at North
Yakima, through Fred Alter, closed con-
tracts for three years at that figure
which is cent or so lower than is pre-
vailing in Oregon for everything except
contracts on 1909 hops.
Many of the growers who will remain
in the business decline to contract but
will cultivate their crop for what they
are able to see in it at the end of the
season. One contract has been recorded
this season, M. Herson selling 10000
pounds of 1909 hops at 10 cents to the
Horst people.
Hops were for years among the best
paying crops of the valley and the
Yakima product for quality is rated as
being among the best grown in America,
and is favorably known wherever hops
are used throughout the world. The
hops are generally picked by Indians
from the reservation and reds from the
who make the trip in canoes
to Puget sound, bringing their families
and belongings with them. In other
yards the work is done by whites and
it furnishes pleasant way of passing
a vacation out of doors.