98 



THE HOP. 



Oregon. — Wolcott thus summarizes his own and 

 the general practice: "Cultivation consists of first 

 plowing the yard early in the spring with two horses 

 and a turning plow, throwing the dirt away from the 

 hill, then level down with either a cultivator or harrow 

 and then cross-plow the same and level down again. 

 After this, the yard should be gone over every two or 

 three weeks with either a good cultivator or heavy 

 disk harrow until about June 20, when all cultivation 

 should cease, as cultivation after that date destroys the 

 small feeders from the roots, which commence to shoot 

 out near the surface and fill the space between the hills. 



FIG. 44. AMERICAN GRUB HOOKS. 



Destroying these will cause the hops to take another 

 start and make them late in ripening. After all cultiva- 

 tion is done, the ground should be gone over each way 

 with a clod masher or smoother, made the right width 

 to go between the rows without damaging the vines. 

 This levels and firms the soil and prevents evaporation 

 during the long dry spell of July and August. The hop 

 hills should be hoed as often as is necessary to keep 

 down the weeds, and if none is permitted to go to seed 

 for a few years, this will become a very small task." 



California methods are very similar. From three 

 io five cultivations are given, according to- condition 01 



