Robin Wright, age 10, of W. St. Paul, Minnesota, for her question:

Are hops vegetables?

Hops, we are told, are used to make beer    and naturally we wonder whether this odd ingredient is animal, mineral or vegetable. The answer is vegetable, for hops come from the hop plant, which belongs in the vegetable kingdom. Actually it is a very pretty vine of the mulberry plant family. In some parts of the world they grow it as a decorative ornamental vine. But most countries grow hops just to make beer.

In summer, the trailing vines twine up poles and fences, often 1$ feet high. They are crowded with dainty leaves that hang in graceful grey green curtains of foliage. Among the leaves are hundreds of pretty seed catkins. They look somewhat like small pine cones, made from folded petals of thin paper. These are the so called hops used to flavor beer. The hop plant is a perennial, which means it lives from year to year. In winter, the trailing vines spread themselves on the ground and new tendrils sprout in the spring.