Train ing. —One of the most important steps in hop-growing is the training. There has been an evolution of methods of training. A generation ago, when poles were plenty and cheap, the com mon method was to have two good poles to each hill and use no twine. A system of stakes about seven feet high, with twine strung from one to the other horizontally across the yard in both direc tions, was also extensively adopted. In the West is employed a method of running twine directly from the hills to heavy overhead wires carried on strong poles or masts, the so-called "trellis" system. A system of setting one tall pole to each hill, and then running two strands of twine from a point about five feet from the ground to the top of neighboring poles, has been rather generally adopted in the East. This is known as the "umbrella" system.
Poles are preferably of cedar and should he twenty to twenty-four feet long. They cost about fifteen cents each delivered. They are set in the ground in holes about two feet deep, which are punched with a special form of bar. It is important that this be well done, so that the poles do not blow over with the load of hops. Usually the poles are set as soon as the frost is out of the gro4nd, although on some soils they may be set the previous autumn. The young vines must be started up the poles by wrapping them around the poles with the spiral curve in the proper direction and tying loosely in places. In bright, warm weather they will cling and care for themselves after hav ing been started, but in cold, wet periods they make much trouble by slipping back and refusing to run. They cling to twine and follow it very readily if it is nearly perpendicular, but if the slope is greater than 45° they need constant training. The tying is largely done by women.
The question of how many vines to tie to a hill is open. The number varies among growers from four to perhaps fifteen or more. Successful growers recommend six as most desirable,—two up the pole and two up each string. Too many vines shade the hops and produce an inferior crop. The most promising vines are selected from the center of the hill.
Varieties.
Hops are so strictly a local crop, and the litera ture on the subject is so limited, that the question of varieties is not in a satisfactory condition. Indi vidual plants vary, and a rigid selection is not prac ticed. However, three or four distinct types are recognized in New York. The most usual and desir able is English Cluster, in which the hops are rather small and are borne in compact clusters on rather short, branched laterals. Pompey is perhaps
a local name for a type in which the hops are much larger and more four-sided, with a tendency to be borne more scattering or singly. These two forms merge into each other. Humphrey Seedling is a variety maturing ten days earlier than the standard sorts, valuable chiefly to those persons having a larger area than can be harvested in the reg ular season. Canada or Canada Red is a name given to a late, hardy, rough- vined sort. There is no doubt that careful, systematic se lection would do much to improve the vigor and desirable characters of the strains now grown.
Harvesting.
Hops should be picked when some of the seeds become brown and solid, when the end of the cone closes, and the hop feels solid and somewhat papery-like. The danger of loss from mold may make it advisable to begin harvesting before the best condition is reached. Picking generally begins the last week in August and should be finished by September 20 at the latest, otherwise there may be serious damage to the crop by mold.
Hops are gathered very largely by women and children, one man, the "box-tender," taking down the poles, "sacking" the hops and waiting on four pickers. The size of the hop box varies, but usually holds either ten or twelve bushels. A picker should gather two to five boxes per day. It is very impor tant that the hops be picked reasonably clean, i. e., the large, coarse leaves kept out and the clusters separated. The cost of picking averages about seventy-five cents per hundred pounds of green hops.
Drying and baling.
A hop-house or dry-house is a tight building with a large heater or furnace, fourteen to twenty feet above which is a slatted floor covered with open meshed cloth. On this the hops are spread in a layer one to three feet deep, and kept at a temperature of 125° to 200° until sufficiently dry, a process that commonly requires about twelve hours. Ventilation is provided above for the removal of the mois ture. During the early part of the process, sulfur is burned beneath the hops to bleach out the green shade and to bring them as nearly as may be to a straw-color. The sulfur also acts as a pre servative. One pound of sul fur will bleach one hundred pounds of green hops. The hops are occasionally turned in order that the drying may be uniform. The proper curing of hops requires con siderable experience and good judgment.