Washington Territory’s Hop Harvest Finds Relief
After a grueling dry spell, welcome rains have cleared the harvest smoke and signaled a better market for Puyallup Valley growers.
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.
Puyallup, W. T., Sept. 11.—A cable from London received today says that one-third of the English hop crop is of inferior quality, and reiterates the former statement that the crop is no larger than last year. An order for 1,000 bales was received for direct shipment to London, and the hops will be forwarded at the rate of 100 bales a day until all are shipped. The cable quotation for Washington Territory hops is sixty shillings per hundredweight, which will net the grower nine cents at Puyallup. There is a better feeling than prevailed a week ago. The rain has done no damage to the crop, and has been a benefit by dispelling the smoke and letting in the sun to ripen the hops. The whole crop will be picked, although some timid growers have sold their hops on the poles at a nominal figure. Six carloads of hops will be shipped from the valley tomorrow: four from Sumner and two from this place.
“The rain has done no damage to the crop, and has been a benefit by dispelling the smoke and letting in the sun to ripen the hops.”
The economic reliance on hop harvests in the Puyallup Valley was the bedrock of the regional economy in 1885. The mention of 'smoke' from forest fires affecting the crop serves as a grimly relevant reminder that agricultural and climate concerns in Washington have deep, historic roots.
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