acquiring land. The former usually purchase their land outright after a few seasons of working for hire and leasing for cash or on shares, while the latter commonly lease the land they work. Only a very few cases of ownership of beet lands by Japanese are reported. This difference between the German-Russians and the Japanese was explained by the fact that the German-Russian as a rule comes as a permanent resident of the community, while the Japanese as yet is only a transient laborer or tenant. With more capital or better credit it is probable that the Japanese will also purchase lands and settle permanently in the community." On the whole, there is an evident tendency to break up the large holdings, for the smaller holdings, thus made, to pass into the hands of German-Russians and Japanese conspicuous as field laborers, and for these races to become a part of the larger settled population in the communities developed by the beet-sugar industry.

In conclusion it should be said that the great problems arising out of the employment of immigrant labor in the sugar-beet industry, as in other agricultural industries, are sociological rather than economic.

The report on Japanese and German-Russian farmers of the northern part of Colorado should be read in this connection.

CHAPTER III.

IMMIGRANT LABOR IN THE HOP INDUSTRY.

[For General Tables see pp. 684 to 711.]

INTRODUCTION.

California, Oregon, and Washington in 1870 produced about 3 per cent of the hops grown in the United States; in 1880, 9 per cent; in 1890, 47.1 per cent; in 1900, 64.1 per cent. The industry has continued to grow in more recent years, the crop amounting to about 51,000,000 pounds in 1907 as against 31,614,067 pounds in 1900. The acreage was 27,619 in 1900; in 1907 it was perhaps 50 per cent larger. At the present time the hop industry is an important branch of agricultural employment, especially during the harvest season, when from one to three persons per acre are required to pick the ripened crop. After making due allowance for the shifting of pickers from one locality to another, many thousand persons are required during the harvest season. Agents of the Commission investigated the races employed in Oregon and California communities during that season.

The hop industry involves several distinct processes. When a crop is to be planted for the first time, the soil is well plowed. If the trellis system is used, the most common procedure is to set posts about 20 feet in height approximately 35 feet apart. Wires are stretched from post to post and from these still others some 6 or 7 feet apart so as to form a trellis for the support of the climbing vines.

The plants are set about 7 feet apart in rows directly undearneath the wires overhead. The trellis, once constructed, lasts for years, and the resetting of the hops is required only about every three years. The old method, which is still in vogue in some localities, is to train each vine on a separate pole set in the ground close beside the plant. This is a less costly method, but it is temporary and entails some inconvenience in picking, so that in the long run it is not so serviceable as the trellis system. Conditions where these different systems are in use, however, are not materially different as regards the matter under consideration.

Once the trellis is constructed the work of handling the crop is somewhat varied. In early spring the yard is plowed, the soil being thrown from the "hills" toward the center of the rows. This facilitates the removal of the soil from the top of the roots so that the old wood of the previous year's growth and all the surplus small roots or "suckers can be cut away. Defective or missing hills

• American Journal of Sociology, Vol. XV, July, 1909, p. 83, Miss A. M. McLean, "With the Oregon Hop-Pickers."

Twelfth Census, vol. 6, part 2, p. 594.

are reset at this time. After the pruning is done, the soil is replaced around the roots by the use of ordinary hoes, making "hills." Then follows a period of growth during which the yard is cultivated two or three times with a cultivator. During this period the "stringing is also done. The latter process varies with different yards, but the most usual method is to stretch three cords tied about 20 inches apart on the wire above the hill, to a wire pin fastened in the soil beside the vine. In May or June, when the new vines have attained a length of about 2 feet, the three hardiest shoots are started up these three cords and all other shoots and the lower branches of the selected vines are removed. This throws the full strength of the vine into the chosen runners. The last step in the care of the vines is the "hilling up," which comes about July 1st. A deep furrow is made on each side of the vines to throw the earth toward the roots. After this the yards require little attention until the harvest. Some work is required to keep the vines properly trained and to fight disease and insect pests by spraying with chemical mixtures. There is also other work which keeps the men engaged until the picking season, as, for example, preparing boxes and hop kilns for the strenuous picking and drying period.

Hop picking begins in the latter part of August and lasts from three to five weeks in a given locality. When the hops are sufficiently mature for picking, the vines are cut from the overhead wires by means of a knife on a long pole, and also at the bottom 2 or 3 feet above the ground. The vines are then stripped of their clusters by the pickers, who usually work in pairs, one on each side of a vine. As the hops are picked they are taken to the kilns, where they are "cured." The hops are spread over the drying floor to a depth of from 2 to 4 feet. Under this floor is located a furnace which keeps the room at a high temperature. The object of "curing " is to remove the greater part of the moisture in the hops without injuring other properties. This process ordinarily takes about twelve hours. Care is required not to dry the hops too much, for then they are apt to break in the process of baling. The usual custom is to store the hops after "curing" until the whole crop is gathered, when the baling is begun. When the picking is over the old vines are carted off and burned to avoid the perpetuation of diseases. Care is taken to remove all pieces of vines hanging on the wires. In some localities the cords are pulled from the vines and wires and saved for future use.

Few of these processes require any special skill or experience. The only important exception is found in the pruning of the vines, and here careful work is the principal requirement. Nor is any part of the work of such a character as to be especially hard or distasteful as compared to other agricultural employment involving much hand labor. A serious problem, however, is found in the seasonal character of the work and in the large number of laborers required to do the hand work in the yards and to harvest the crop. Incidentally what has already been said shows the seasonal character of the industry. The plowing and cultivation are usually done by farm laborers who are employed throughout the year in caring for the yards, buildings, and stock. This part of the work is mere routine and presents no special problem.

a Cf. Myric, H., "The Hop." Pp. 105-113.

The hand work involved in pruning, stringing, training, and suckering, on the other hand, requires a larger supply of men than the normal force. Where two men suffice for plowing and cultivating, 50 are needed for this hand work. Some of the hand work can be done by children, especially the training in the early stages before the vines have grown beyond their reach. The bulk of the early work requires adult labor, however. In most cases a labor supply adequate to meet the needs at this time is not available in the immediate neighborhood of the hopyards, and as a result it becomes necessary to induce workmen to come to the community. This situation has led to the employment of immigrants and migratory natives to fill the gap.

The men who prune, train the vines, and do other hand work during the growing season usually assist in the picking. Thus they have employment, somewhat interrupted, for six or seven months, from the opening of the spring to the close of the hop-picking season. But many more laborers are required to harvest the crop, for then several times as many are required as are needed to do the earlier hand work in the yards. How the necessary influx of laborers is induced will later be explained.

The comparatively few laborers required for the drying and packing are regular employees or persons who have worked as pickers and are retained after that work has been done. No particular labor problem is involved.

The problem of obtaining a sufficient number of laborers during certain seasons is made the more difficult because of the extreme localization of the industry. The localities where hops can be successfully grown are small and limited in number, with the result that in these comparatively small localities hops usually constitute the most important crop. On the other hand, the problem is less difficult than it otherwise would be because of the large scale production, which is characteristic of hop growing. In one locality in California, for example, the 1,190 acres are controlled by three companies with 110, 500, and 580 acres, respectively. In another there are eight yards with an aggregate of 305 acres. During the harvest season the three companies in the former locality employ about 2,500 pickers.

It is less difficult for a large company than for a small farmer to secure an adequate supply of labor for seasonal employment. By clever advertising, the use of employment agencies, and personal agents the company is able to draw its employees from more distant places. Moreover, it can provide its employees with better accommodations as well as with a social community life with its amusements and merrymaking. Finally, a large company can make more effective use of immigrants organized under bosses.

Agents of the Commission investigated the hop industry about Independence, Oreg., in the autumn of 1908, and in three localities in California in the autumn in 1909. Most of the data collected relate to the employees engaged in picking at the time of the visits of the agents. The more general data relative to the laborers employed at other seasons of the year were obtained at that time. The races employed and their earnings will be presented first with regard to the districts investigated. Following this certain facts of sociological significance will be presented.