THE PLEASANTON HOP COMPANY. Ill 



the Strongest (the hardiest, not the thickest) shoots can 

 be made, one vine is trained upon each string. Care 

 must be taken to train them as evenly as possible, from 

 left to right; that is, following the sun. 



(10) Tuckering — The surplus vines that are not 

 used for hop bearing are pulled out. This operation is 

 also necessary, as new shoots appear during the growth 

 of the vine. Included in this process, it is usual to 

 remove the lower arms or lateral growths of the vines 

 on the strings, to a height of- about three feet from the 

 ground. l\ickcring is done in order to throw the 

 strength of the root into the main vine and arms. 



Culture — During the above described process, the 

 ground is well worked and cultivated with one-horse 

 shovel plow^s (Fig. 53). 



(11) Hilling up — The final work of cultivation, 

 about the first of July, is to plow a deep furrow each 



FIG. 53. ONE-HORSE SHOVEL PLOW. 



side of the vines, throwing the earth towards the roots, 

 thus "hilling up" the roots, as in cultivating corn, etc. 

 This is done with an ordinary one-horse \Ao\\. 



(12) Clearing Wires — When the vines are pulled 

 down for picking, the string breaks close to the wire, 

 thus leaving small pieces of the twine attached to the 

 trellis wnres. These become saturated with water from 

 rain and dew and hold moisture, so that rust forms 

 and weaken*; the wire at these points. For this reason, 

 it is advisable to remove these bits of cotton by burning 

 them with torches attached to long poles, as soon after 



