Part 5

The plants are planted in rows and the rapidly growing branches trained upon poles stuck into the soil. Three or four male plants (with staminate flowers) are grown in an acre patch to supply the necessary pollen. Some authorities state, however, that the female plants develop enough staminate flowers to effect pollination. It is extensively cultivated in England, Germany and France. Also in New England, New York, Michigan, and in fact nearly every State in the Union.

In Belgium the young, tender tops of the plants are cut off in the spring and eaten like asparagus, especially recommended to the pale and anaemic and those with scrofulous taints.

The peculiar hop-like fruiting known as strobiles are collected in the fall of the year (September to October), dried and tightly packed into bales. The base of the scales of the strobile are covered with a yellowish powder, consisting of resin-bearing glands, known as lupulin. One pound of hops yields about one ounce of lupulin. Since the medicinal virtues of hops reside in the lupulin it will be readily understood that the hops from which the glands have been removed is of little or no medicinal value. Lupulin as well as the hops have a faint, peculiar, somewhat yeasty odor, which increases with age due to the development of valerianic acid. For medicinal purposes only fresh hops should be used.

The principal use of hops is in the manufacture of beer, to which it imparts the peculiarly bitter taste, and its repute as a tonic. For this purpose enormous quantities are consumed in Germany and England. The exhausted hops from the breweries form an excellent fertilizer for light soils. The leaves have been used as fodder for cows. Leaves, stems and roots possess astringent properties and have been used in tanning. In Sweden the fibre of the stems is used in manufacturing a very durable white cloth, not unlike the cloth made from hemp and flax.

Hops is used medicinally. It at first causes a very slight excitation of brain and heart, followed by a rather pronounced disposition to sleep. Pillows stuffed with hops form a very popular domestic remedy for wakefulness. Hop bags dipped in hot water form a very soothing external application in painful inflammatory conditions, especially of the abdominal organs. It has undoubted value as a bitter tonic in dyspepsia and in undue cerebral excitation. Tincture of lupulin and red pepper (capsicum) enjoys the reputation of being a very efficient substitute for alcoholic stimulants when their use is to be discontinued. Earlier physicians recommended hops very highly in kidney and liver complaints, as a “blood purifier” and to cure eruptive skin troubles. It is recommended in nervous troubles and in delirium tremens. The roots were formerly employed as a substitute for sarsaparilla.

Hops contains an etherial oil, resin and tannic acid. The oil and the resin are important constituents in the manufacture of beer. The young shoots contain asparagin, etherial oil, resin and sugar.

Albert Schneider.

AWAKENING.

Never yet was a springtime, Late though lingered the snow, That the sap stirred not at the whisper Of the south wind sweet and low; Never yet was a springtime When the buds forgot to blow. —Margaret E. Sangster.

INDEX. Volume IX—January, 1901, to May, 1901, Inclusive.

Page.

A Apple, The [Illustration] (Charles S. Raddin), 38 April [Sonnet] (Helen Hunt Jackson), 145 April [Poem] (Bernard Malcolm Ramsay), 145 Arbutus, The Trailing [Illustration] (Charles S. Raddin), 228 Arbutus, Trailing [Poem] (George Bancroft Griffith), 231 At Dusk [Poem] (Albert Schneider), 96 Awakening [Poem] (Margaret E. Sangster), 236

B Back-Yard Class, A (Lee McCrae), 214 Bacteria, The Study of (Adolph Gehrmann), 6 Bear, The [Illustration], 122 Beaver, The [Illustration], 170 Before the Storm [Poem] (Mary Morrison), 119 Bird Calendar by the Poets, A (Arranged by Ella F. Mosby), 24 Bird Gossip, A Bit of (S. E. McKee), 115 Bird Incidents (Berton Mercer), 126 Bird-Joke at Leafy Lawn, A (Gertrude Southwick Kingsland), 202 Bird Notes [Poem] (Mary Hefferan), 85 Bird, The Autobiography of a (Caroline Crowinshield Bascom), 17 Bird, The Story (Belle P. Drury), 121 Birds, The Geographical Distribution of (Lynds Jones), 65 Blackbird or Grackle, The Rusty [Illustration], 204 Blackbird’s Song, The [Poem] (Walter Thornbury), 151 Black Bugs, The Story of Some (Louise Jamison), 12 Boy-Chickadee (Elizabeth Nunemacher), 120

C Cinnamon [Illustration] (Albert Schneider), 95 Crossbill, The Legend of the [Poem] (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), 5 Crossbill, The White-Winged [Illustration], 2 Cubebs [Illustration] (Albert Schneider), 191 Curassow, The [Illustration], 146

D Dovekie, The [Illustration], 167 Dowitcher, The [Illustration], 59 Duck, The Harlequin [Illustration], 155

E Eagle, A Golden (Charles Elmer Jenney), 152 Eagle, The [Poem] (Alfred Tennyson), 62 Elk or Wapiti, The American [Illustration], 216

F February [Sonnet] (Helen Hunt Jackson), 49 Field Mouse, A Friendly (J. Clyde Hayden), 219 Fishes and Fish-Culture Among the Greeks and Romans (T. Louis Camparette), 89 Flower Garden, A Night in the (Fanny Wright Dixon), 36 Flycatcher, The Yellow-Breasted [Poem] (Carrie B. Sanborn), 8 Frost King’s Realm, A Stroll in the (Addie L. Booker), 73 Frost Work [Poem] (Thomas Bailey Aldrich), 49

G Gila Monster [Illustration] (Amelia Walson), 80 Godwit, The Marbled [Illustration], 201 Grackle, The Great-Tailed [Illustration], 62 Grouse, The Canada [Illustration] (Seth Mindwell), 158

H Hawks, The [Illustration] (Seth Mindwell), 50 Heart of a Dryad, The (Ella F. Mosby), 198 Hops [Illustration] (Albert Schneider), 235

I Instinct, Do Plants Have (Rowland Watts), 162

K Knot or Robin Snipe, The [Illustration], 14

L Laurel, The Mountain [Illustration], 232 Lemon, The [Illustration] (Charles S. Raddin), 182 Lizard, The Collared [Illustration], 35 Lower Animals, Some Things We Might Learn from the (Rowland Watts), 60

M March [Poem] (Walter Thornbury), 144 May [Poem] (Walter Thornbury), 193 Mrs. Jane’s Experiment (Mary Noland), 72 Murrelet, The Marbled [Illustration], 119

N Nautilus and Other Cephalopods, The [Illustration] (Frank Collins Baker), 222 Nautilus, The Chambered [Poem] (Oliver Wendell Holmes), 221 Nests, Some Notable (Elizabeth Reed Brownell), 149

O Old Year, The [Poem] (Alfred Tennyson), 1 Orange, The [Illustration], 134 Orchard Bird-Way, An (Alberta A. Field), 156 Oriole, Audubon’s [Illustration] (Seth Mindwell), 194 Owl, The American Hawk [Illustration], 23 Oyster and its Relatives, The [Illustration] (Frank Collins Baker), 26

P Parrots, About [Illustration] (Lawrence Irwell), 98 Pau-Puk-Keewis and the Beavers [Poem] (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), 174 Pelican, The American White [Illustration] (Seth Mindwell), 110 Pepper [Illustration] (Albert Schneider), 143 Plants, The Geographical Distribution of the Seed-bearing (John Merle Coulter), 42 Poem [Selection] (Thomas Bailey Aldrich), 109 Poem [Selection] (Thomas Bailey Aldrich), 107 Poem [Selection] (Robert Browning), 227 Poem [Selection] (Barry Cornwall), 25 Poem [Selection] (George Gee), 164 Poem [Selection] (George Gee), 167 Poem [Selection] (William M. Hardinge), 193 Poem [Selection] (Helen Hunt Jackson), 232 Poem [Selection] (John Keats), 41 Poem [Selection] (James Thompson), 59 Poem [Selection] (Walter Thornbury), 175 Polly [A Story about a Moth] (Susan Brown Robbins), 108 Pomegranate, The [Illustration], 86

R Rabbit’s Cream [Poem] (Hattie Whitney), 37

S Sandpiper, The [Poem] (George Bancroft Griffith), 114 Sandpiper, The Solitary (H. S. Keller), 13 Scoter, The Surf [Illustration] (Frank M. Woodruff), 213 Sea-Bird, To a [Poem] (Bret Harte), 197 Sea-Mews in Winter Time [Poem] (Jean Ingelow), 127 Snails of the Forest and Field [Illustration] (Frank Collins Baker), 74 Snails of the Ocean [Illustration] (Frank Collins Baker), 176 Snails of Pond, River and Brook [Illustration] (Frank Collins Baker), 128 Snipe, The Knot or Robin [Illustration], 14 Sparrow, The Alaskan [Poem] (Nellie Hart Woodworth), 56 Sparrow’s Appeal, The Song (George Bancroft Griffith), 168 Spring [Poem] (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow), 97 Stone Houses, Interesting (Rest H. Metcalf), 55 Summer, The Passing of [Poem] (Benjamin Karr), 32 Swan, The Musical (Juliette A. Owen), 137

T Tree Top Town, A [Poem] (Austin Arnold McCausland), 192

V Vanilla [Illustration] (Albert Schneider), 47 Viola Blanda [Poem] (Nelly Hart Woodworth), 14

W Wapiti, The American Elk or [Illustration], 216 Warbler, The Hooded [Illustration], 71 Warbler, The Townsend’s [Illustration], 11 What Evolution Means (Lawrence Irwell), 207 When Spring Comes [Poem] (George Gee), 188 Winter Buds, The Opening of (Roberta Irvine Brotherson), 220 Witch in the Cream, The (Elizabeth Roberts Burton), 169 Wrens, Two (Nelly Hart Woodworth), 185

Transcriber’s Notes

--Created an eBook cover from elements within the issue.

--Reconstructed the Table of Contents (originally on each issue’s cover).

--Retained copyright notice on the original book (this eBook is public-domain in the country of publication.)

--Silently corrected a few palpable typos.

--The index contains links to articles in other issues of _Birds and Nature_ magazine, which can be installed locally:

Gutenberg #47487: Volume 9 Number 1, January 1901 Gutenberg #47489: Volume 9 Number 2, February 1901 Gutenberg #47489: Volume 9 Number 3, March 1901 Gutenberg #47490: Volume 9 Number 4, April 1901