LOL this addition to the noxious weed act written in 1965 by Charles Haughty. He was probably like, the place will be full of hops unless we ban the males to stop reproduction. That or he got paid of by some grower who didn't want wild hops pollinating his crop. Interesting why he would ban them.
"Ragwort, Thistle, Dock, Common Barberry, Male Wild Hop and Spring Wild Oat are scheduled as noxious weeds under the Noxious Weeds Act 1936. Any person responsible for land on which these weeks are growing is liable, upon conviction, to be fined. "
Now when was the last time someone was caught growing dock leaves. Jess Mother Nature is a devious one isn't she.
Males in themselves don't have any impact on females other than to induce them to produce seeds. English hops are usually full of seeds as England is full of wild hops.
The legislation bit had only a slight relevance during Ireland's flutter with commercial hop growing which only lasted from 1961 to the early 90s (in reality it was over 10 years earlier).
