A Tolt Farmer's Simple Solution for Hop Pests
After trying every known remedy, a local farmer discovers a cost-effective way to save his harvest.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Wishing to inform your anxious readers concerning the destructive hop louse, I can safely say I have got him where I can handle him, and for the benefit of my fellow hop men I will simply say that the destructive louse has to go. In my sixteen acres of hops there is not a louse living, but millions of dead are to be seen. I have tried every known remedy, but all have failed except lime. Simply get a good spray-pump and make a preparation of thirty gallons of water and two gallons of air-slacked lime and spray well, and all the hop lice will be found dead next day.
“In my sixteen acres of hops there is not a louse living, but millions of dead are to be seen.”
Hop farming remains a significant part of the Washington agricultural economy, though modern Integrated Pest Management (IPM) has replaced lime sprays with more sustainable practices. The struggle to protect high-value crops from infestation is a perennial issue for growers in the Snoqualmie and Yakima valleys.
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