IIOOSAC TUNNEL. See TUNNEL.
HOP, Humulas lupulus, a perennial ditecions plant of the natural order cannahinareta (q.v.), the only species of its genus. It has long rough twining stems, and stalked 8- to 5 lobed rough leaves, and is a plant of 1uxuri2itt growth and abundant foliage. The male flowers grow in loose branching axillary panicles, and consist of five stamens surrounded by a 5-lobed perianth. The female flowers are in strobiles, or cones, with larre persistent, concave. entire scales, which enlarge as the fruit ripens! The part of the imp so bitten used in brewing, and sold under the name of hops (q.v.), is the ripened cone of the female plant. Female plants alone, therefore, are cultivated to any considerable extent, it being enough if a few male plants are scattered over a field.
The nil of hops is sedative, anodyne, and narcotic; and hence the value of pillows stuffed with hops in cases of mania, sleeplessness, etc. The bitter principle IS not cotic, but it is tonic. The oil and bitter principle combine to make hops more useful than camomile, gentian, or any other bitter, in the manufacture of beer; and hence the medicinal value of extra-hopped or bitter beer. The tannic acid contained in the strobiles also adds to the value of hops, and particularly as causing the precipitation of vegetable mucilage, and consequently the clearing of beer. The hop is first mentioned by Pliny as one of the garden-plants of the Romans, who, it appears, ale the young shoots as we eat asparagus ;. and, in fact, many country people iu England do the same at the present day. It is a native of Europe and of some parts of Asia, a doubtful native of Britain and of North America. It is more extensively cultivated in the s. of England than in any part of the world, but also to a considerable extent in Germany, France, Flanders, and southern Russia, and now successfully in North America and in Australia and New Z.;:dand.
The cultivation of the hop was introduced into England from Flanders in the time of Henry VIII., but did not become sufficient for the supply of the kingdom till the end
of the 17th century. For some time after hops began to be used in brewing, a strong prejudice existed against the innovation; andTa•liament was petitioned against hops, as "a wicked weed, that would spoil the taste of the drink and endanger the people." Above 60,000 acres are now employed in the cultivation of hops, chiclly in the counties of Kent, Sussex, Worcester, and haute; the two former counties producing the best hops in the world. Fields of hops are to be seen as far north as Nottinghamshire.
The hop requires a very rich soil, and its growth is promoted by the liberal application both of organic and mineral manures; although excessive manuring is prejudicial. It spreads rapidly underground by its roots, and is not easily extirpated where it has once been intrcdaced. It is generally propagated by layers or cuttings, which usually grow for a year in a nursery before being planted out. In the plantations they are generally placed in groups of three or four, at distances of from six to nine feet, Great care is necessary in fastening the stems to the poles when they begin to shoot, setting up any that may be blown down, etc. The stalks, or Lines, are taken down from the poles after the hop-picking, and cut and removed, to be used as litter or as manure, for which pur poses they are excellent. The fresh tines, which are cut to prevent undue luxuriance iu summer, are dried for feeding cattle, and are as good as the best clover hay.
The fiber of the stems is employed to a considerable extent in Sweden in the manu facture of a coarse kind of cloth, which is strong, white, and durable; but the fibers aro so difficult of separation that the stems require to be steeped in water for a whole winter.
The hop-plant often suffers very much, and the prospects of the farmer are destroyed by the hopsnildew, and by insect enemies, the worst of which are noticed in subsequent articles. See Dor-FLEA, etc.