u 



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inch deep, bcfides wKat evaporated from 



> ' 



• --- , 



• ^l^ part of 

 the earth. 



■ And this quantity of moulure, in a kindly ftate of 

 the air, if daily carrrled off, is a fufficjent quantity to 

 keep the Hops in a healthy ftate ^ but in a rainy moift 



' ftate of air, without a due mixture of dry" weather, 



■ too much moifture hovers about the Hops, fo as to 

 hinder, in feme meafure, the kindly perfpiration of 

 the leaves, whereby the ftagnatihg fap corrupts, and 

 breeds mouldy fen, which often fpoils vaft quantities 



■' of flourifliing Hop-grounds: ;"'^ ' j" '^ m ' ^ 



■ This was the cafe in the year 1723, when for ten or 

 fourteen days almoft continual rains fell, about the 

 latter half of July, after four months dry weather, 

 upon which the moll flourifhing and promifing Hops 

 were all infcfted with mould, or fen, in their leaves 



' and fruit, while the then poor and unpromifijng Hops 



• efcaped, and produced plenty, becaufe tKey^ 

 fmall, did not perfpire {o great a quantity as others, 



' nor did they1:bn{ine the" perfpired vap6i3r,''fo much 



as the large thrivingVines djd in their^lhady thickets. 



This rain . 9.0 the then warm earth, made tl;^e Qrafs 



Ihoot out as fafl: as if it were in' a hot -bed, and" the 



Apples grew fo precipitately, that they were of a flafliy 



conftitution, fo as to rot more* remarkably than had 



ever been remembered. * : ^.r-^^^y^:" 



The planters obferve. That when a m.ould, or fen, 



, Tias once feized any part of the ground, it foon runs 



over the whole, and that the 'Grafs,"an3^other herbs 



. under the Hops^^fe infefted with it, probably^lbecaufe 



'the fmall feeds of this quick- mowing mould, which 



foon conie to maturity, are blown over„ the whole 



11' ground; whicti fpreading of the feed ms^ 



" reafon "why fome grounds are infe<5ted with fen for 



. {evefal years fiiccefliveiy, viz. from the feeds of the 



laft veer's fen.' 'Might it not then be advifed to burn 



the rcnay flop-vines, as foon as the Hops are picked, in 



• hbpesthereby to dtftroy fomeofthefeedof themould? 

 I'.^r. Auften, of Canterbury, obferves fen to be more 

 'fatal to thofe grounds that are low and ihelteredj^ than 

 ^ rto the high and open grounds, to thofe that are nielv- 

 ' ing to the north, than to thofe fhelving to the Ibuth ; 



to the'middle of grounds than to the outfides ; to the 



than to the moift and ftiff 



This was very apparent throughout the plantations 



' .[ where tiie land had theTame workmanlhip and help 



1. bellowed upon it,'and.^as vp;r6"Qght at tfi'e'fafrietihfie. 



But if in either of thefe cafes there was a difference, it 



■ had a different effect, and the low and gentle grounds, 

 that lay negleHed, were then fecn lefs diftempered 

 than the open and moift, wnicn were carefully ma- 



> naged and looked^^^ter. ^ 



, u 



The Hop-ground was in a vallev which ran from 

 fouth-weft to horth-eaft, and to the bell: of his re- 

 membrance, there was 'but little wind, and that in the 

 courfe ofthe fcorchi but had there been fomeotW 

 gentle wind, either north or fouth, it is nor improba- 

 ble but that the north wind gently blowing the vo- 

 lume of rifmg wreak on the fouth fide ofthe o-rou'nd, 

 that fide mi^-ht h^ive been moil fcorched, and fb vice 

 verla. r 



4-r 



the 



s 



dry and gentle *^^ grounds 



.' -* 





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'' The honey dews are obferved to come about the nth 



of June, which, by the middle of July, turn the 

 leaves black, and make them ftink.;^.^;g^;5:,%f^ 

 The faid Dr. Hales relates, "That in' the month of 



i t- 



July (the feafon for fire-blafts, as the planters call 

 them) he has feen tTi'e Vines in the middle of the Hop- 

 ground fcorched up almoft from one end of a large 

 ground to the other, when'aliot gleam of fun-fhine 

 has come immediately after a (hower of rain, a? which 

 time vapours are all feen with the naked eye, but cf- 

 pecially withrefleftins; telefcopes, toaicend fo plenti- 

 tully as to mako a clear and dutinct object become im- 

 medratdy very ^dim an^ tf e"mulbiis ; nof was there 



any dry gravelly vein in the ground along the^ courfe 

 of this fcorchV' it was therefore, probably, owing to 

 the much greater quantity of fcorching vapours in the 

 middle, than the outfides of the'^ground, and that be- 

 ing a aenier medium, it was much hotter than a more 

 rare medium/;^ ;. ;• 



And, perhaps, the great volume of afcending va- 

 pours might make the fun-beams converge a little 

 towards the middle'of the ground, that being a cfen- 

 fer medium, ■'and thereby increafe the heat corifide- 

 rably; for. he. obfejry^d,' That the courfe of the 

 fcorched Hops was in lirjes at right irigTes to the fun- 

 beams about eleven "o^clock, at which time the hot 

 &leam was. ' ■^^^••*--»^- ^, :^?v.k'^'; •**!:«::*]*':. ^ 



^. 



\ -* - 



l-T 



As to particular fire-blafts, v/hich fcorch here and 

 there a few Hop-vrhes, or one or two branches of a 

 tree,' without damaging the next adjoining, what 

 aftronomers obferve, may hint to us no very impro- 

 bable' caufe of it, viz. They frequently obferve (ef. 

 pecially with reflecting telefcopes) fmall feparatepor- 

 tions'of pellucidvapotirs floating in the air, which, 

 though not vifibie^to the naked eye, are yet cpnfide- 

 f rably denfer than' the circumambient'air ; and va- 

 \* pours of fuch a degree of denfity may very probably 

 either^ acquli-e fuch a fcalding heat frd^m the fun as 

 ' will fcorch what plants they touch, efpecially the more 



tender. ■ . . 

 >. (^ An' efFe£t which the gardeners about London have 

 ^ too often foUnd^to" tb'eir coft, when they have incau- 

 ^tiSufly put' bell-glafles over their Cauliflowers early' in 

 * a frofty morning, before the dew was evaporated off 

 them ; which dew, being; raifed by the fun's warmth, 

 and confined within the glafs, did there form a denfe, 

 ^tranfparent, fcalding vapour, which burned and killed 



.a 







1 " 



^^ * 



t^ *^ 



'. the plants :)'^cl^ 

 'Or,' perhaps, the upper or lower furface of thefe 



. tranfparent, feparate, flying volumes of vapours, may, 

 'among the many forms they revolve into, iometimes 

 approach fo near to an hemifphetcf, Gr henilfcylinder, 

 as thereby to make the fun-beams converge, fo as of- 

 ten to fcorch the more tender plants they ihall fall on, 

 and fometim'es alfo parts*of the more hardy plants ana 

 trees, in proportion to the greater or leflTer "cbnver- 

 gency ofthe fun's rays. . . : - 



The learned Boerhaave, in his Theoiy of Chymiftry, 

 p. 245, Shaw's edition, obferves. That thofe white 

 clouds' which appear infummertime, are, as it were, 

 fo many mirrours, and occafion excefllve heat, Thefe 

 cloudy mirrours are fometimes round, fometimes con- 

 cavej, polygonous, &c. When the face of heaven is 



; covered with fuch white clouds, the fun Ihining 

 ^ Smdng them,' muH:, of necefllty, produce a vehement 

 ■ heat, fince mi^hy^of his rSyS, which w;ouJdothei-wife, 

 ^^erhaps, never touch our earth, are hereby refle<5ted 



^^C^^ 



.xo us. ThuSj if the fun be on one fide, and the 

 ■* clouds on the oppofite onb, they will be perfect burn- 

 I ihg-glafleSj'^and hence the phamomeha Of thundef: 



I have fometimes (continues he) obferved a kind ^of - 

 " hollow clouds full of hail and fnow, d^urmfr the conti- 



t.:;-; 



, ijuance of which the heat was extrefhe, fince, by fiich 

 ' ^ coh'dehration, they _ were "enabled to tefldft mdrd 

 ^'ftronely. . After this came a fliarp cold, and then 

 the clouds difcharged their hail in great quantity, to 

 which fucceeded a moderate warmth.-^ Frozen corT- 

 ' cave clouds, therefore^ by their great re'flextdns, pro- 

 duce a vigorous heat, and the fame, when refolved, 

 exceflive cold. .• ^ : . .^ ^' ( 



' 'From which the Rev. Dr. Hales obferves as follows : ' 



1. < < ,'b^ 



*.- ^y j\f v* 



Hence \ve fee, that blafts may be occafioned by the 

 'reflexions brtne clouds, as well as by 'the above-mfen- 





tioned refraftion of denfe trartfparfent vapours; 

 :Abqut the middle of July Hops begin to blow, and 

 'will be ready to gather about Bartholomew-tide. " A 

 judgment may be made of their npenefs, by their 

 ftrong fcent, their hardnefs, and the brownifh colour 

 oFthcir Heed " '^ " ' " - ' '■ ■- :c. ^-^^^f >^- '-■}. - : ■ 'X^^i 

 'Whan by thefe tokens jhey appgar^tp be ripe, they 

 '"muft be picked with all the expedition poflible ; for 

 if at this time a ftorm of wind Ihould come, it would 



tfo'them great damage, by breaking the branches, and 

 bruifing and difcolouring the Hops; and it is very' 

 Well knownV^'that Hops; being picked green and', 

 briaht, will fell for a third part more than thofe 

 which arc difcoloured and brown. - r. 





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