Page:Circular, United States Department of Agriculture, Division of Botany.djvu/173

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Saaz and Auscha, the two most noted hop-growing districts of Bohemia, are rivals in the production of a hop which is not surpassed by any other in the world, and is equalled in aroma and fine bitter flavor only by the finest "Golding" hop of Kent, England. Each region claims priority as to being the one in which the hop plant was first cultivated, back in almost prehistoric times. The market prices prove the superiority, in the buyer's mind, of the hops grown in Saaz over those of Auscha, although this is attributed to a historical, rather than an actual superiority, by the Auscha growers, who contend that the Auscha hop to-day is as good as the Saaz hop.

The town of Saaz lies about 50 miles south of Dresden, in a picturesque and historically interesting region on the railway between Prag and Komotau, at an altitude of 600 feet above the sea. Owing to its mild climate, Saaz was noted in former times for its extensive vineyards. The mean winter temperature, according to Braungart, the author of an article from which many points on climate and soil conditions are here taken, is only 28° to 32° F., while in summer it is 64° to 68°. Spring and autumn temperatures vary between 46° and 50°. In 1898, an average crop year, the records of the Saaz Agricultural School, as tabulated by Mr. English, show an absolute minimum temperature in December of only 16° F., and a maximum in August of 88° F. The rainfall in winter amounts to from 1.95 to 3.90 inches; in spring from 3.90 to 5.85; in summer from 5.85 to 7.80; and in autumn from 1.95 to 3.90 inches. The annual total since 1891 has not exceeded 23 inches, and the rainiest months are April and May. According to Braungart, Saaz has the smallest rainfall of Bohemia, and possibly of all middle Europe. Rapid changes of temperature, which are prejudicial to hop culture, are also infrequent in this region.