Only a very small amount of hops is used in medicine, being chiefly employed as a stomachic in dyspepsia; a pillow stuffed with hops is said to induce sleep. By far the largest portion of the hops produced is used in the manufacture of various beers, so that here this subject is treated with that idea in view.
For about 1,000 years hops have been added to beer or wort, to give it its pleasant and characteristic flavor and aroma; and their cul tivation has progressed as the manufacture of beer became widespread. Germany and Eng land had hop gardens in the 8th and 9th cen turies, but the cultivation was not nationalized until the 16th century, and at present hops. are a very important agricultural product.
The pistillate plant alone is cultivated on the Continent, especially Germany and Austria, because the hop growers there find that unferti lized pistillate plants produce strobiles richer in aroma, more plenteous in lupulin, and in general better than where the plants were fertilized through the pollen of the staminate plant. In the United States we always find the strobiles containing much seed, while the choice' imported Bohemian and Bavarian hops are seedless. The pistillate plant flowers in August, and its stro biles are ready for harvesting during Sep tember.
The continental European growers always strive to have early, medium and later hops, so that there the hop-picking begins late in August and lasts through the early part of October. In the United States the picking is usually over in two to three weeks. Much loss can occur by too early picking, while too late harvesting is also detrimental to the value and quality of the product.
Abroad the finest hops are raised in Bohemia, its hops being known throughout the world. Next to this ranks the Bavarian "Spatter hops,* and the product of the so-called "Hal lertau? As a rule the Bavarian hop is stronger than the Bohemian, but somewhat inferior in quality. Wiirtemberg, Saxony, Baden, Prussia and Alsace also raise a good quality of hops; and Belgium, northern France and Burgundy cultivate it on a large scale. England's most famous hops are the the eGolony) and uGrapeo varieties. Owing to the high im
port taxes, Russia is also raising hops. Of all these only the and the "Spatter) are imported to the United States.
The world's production of hops in the year 1913 (the latest normal figures available) amounted to 173,936,914 pounds, about 21,000,000 pounds less than the average, and 50,556,372 pounds less than the preceding year. This de ficiency in 1912 was due chiefly to a shortage of 25,000,000 pounds in the Austrian crop, 22, 000,000 pounds in the German crop and 13, 000,000 pounds in the English crop. This was partly made up by an increase of 13,000,000 pounds in the crop of the United States. The production by countries in 1913 was as follows: United States, 62,898,718 pounds; United King dom, 28,631,792 pounds; Germany, 23,408,272 pounds; Austria, 23,314,733 pounds; Russia, 16,973,016 pounds; France, 8,028,492 pounds; Belgium, 7,395,231 pounds; Australia, 2,078,100 pounds; Canada, 1,438,459 pounds.
Although hops may be grown generally throughout the United States, their production is limited to a very few sharply defined areas. Nearly the whole annual crop is grown in Oregon, California, New York and Washington. Small quantities are reported from Wisconsin, Idaho, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Vermont, Kentucky and Ohio. They do not thrive where the winters are long or severe, and they are dependent in large degree upon the rainfall, a wet season at the time of ripening being disastrous. Hops require bulky nitrog enous manure, and it is the approved practice to manure heavily with stable manure, and to add generous dressings of chemical fertilizers. The crop takes from the soil per acre 129 pounds of nitrogen, 86 pounds of phosphoric acid and 132 pounds of potash. Of these substances pounds of nitrogen, 30 pounds of phosphoric acid and 54 pounds of potash are contained in the hops, and definitely removed from the soil, the remainder being in the stems which can be returned. These figures show that the hop re quires twice as much fertilizer as the usual crop of wheat. As the roots run very deep subsoil cultivation is required for the success.