Race Against the Rain in Puyallup
After a season of unprecedented late spring rains, hop growers are working overtime to get their crop in the ground.
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The weather for the past week has been fine and the growers have been busy trying to catch up with their work so long delayed by the inclemency of the weather. E. Meeker planted all his Maplewood yards before the bad weather this spring, with the exception of one small yard and one forty-acre tract south of town, which is being put in hops as fast as possible. During the past week, Robert McCook of New York and A. K. Hiscock of Tacoma visited Puyallup and investigated the hop appliances. These gentlemen have bought the Barrett ranch at Yakima. Mr. Campbell is putting in twenty-five additional acres, making ninety acres in all in his Yakima tract. In regard to the forwardness of the season in the Yakima country, they have had rains extraordinarily late, as last week work was stopped for half a day, which was something unheard of.
“They have had rains extraordinarily late, as last week work was stopped for half a day, which was something unheard of.”
Hop farming remains a major economic pillar of the Yakima Valley today. This 1893 report captures the anxiety of a seasonal industry struggling against Washington's notorious climate—an anxiety that continues to drive the region's agricultural politics.
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