dial. [OE. fyne mildew; the mod. form (with e for OE. y) is Kentish; cf. FENNY a.2, VINEWED.] A mould or parasitical fungus that attacks the hop-plant.
1731. S. Hales, Stat. Ess., I. 33. Hops were all infected with mold or fen.
1805. R. W. Dickson, Pract. Agric. (1807), II. 249. The mould or fen mostly occurs at a somewhat later period, but is equally prejudicial in its effects.
1842. Johnson, Farmer’s Encycl., Fen, the name of a distemper to which hops are subject. It consists of a quick-growing mould or moss.
