344 BRITISH HUSBANDRY. [Ch. XXX 



which cannot easily be remedied. The mischief is therefore greater than 

 that which arises from under-poling, and may be easier guarded against ; 

 for should it be found that the vine grows stronger than was expected, 

 either from the favourableness of the season, or the superior quality of the 

 manure, an auxiliary pole may always be added to prevent the vines from 

 dropping down, and keeping the sun and air from those parts above which 

 they fall : it is therefore very desirable, that no poles should be put into a 

 hill where there is not good reason to expect that the plants will grow to 

 an equal length. 



In ])lacwg the poles, they should incline somewhat outwards ; from the 

 well-known fact that, when leaning in that direction, they afford more 

 room, air, and sunshine to the bine, and produce more hops than those 

 which stand upright. The number of vines trained to each pole is two 

 or three, according to their present appearance and probable future luxu- 

 riancy : the great object being to select such plants as not only promise to 

 be healthy but also to throw their luxuriance into the main leading stem. 

 As soon as the blossom is set, which is in most seasons about July, some 

 growers, indeed, take off the leaves and side bines two or three feet from 

 the ground, which they call "branching," with a view of giving air to the 

 plant, and throwing the sap into those leading shoots ; but this we con- 

 ceive may be founded upon false principles, for it is well known that all 

 plants draw a material portion of their nourishment 'from the leaves, 

 and those at the bottom of tlie hop are generally the largest and the 

 strongest *. 



The number of poles usually required for an acre of hop-ground runs 

 from two thousand four hundred to three thousand, according to the dis- 

 tance of the hills from each other. Throughout the greater part of Kent, 

 to which our information chietly applies, one thousand hills are generally 

 allowed to the acre, and three poles are usually placed to support the bine ; 

 though sometimes two and three are placed alternately. The charge of 

 labour for setting them is from twelve to fourteen shillings per acre of one 

 thousand hills. The poles are divided into three classes to suit the soil, 

 or age of the plants, and their price varies according to their distance from 

 the coppice in which they are grown : averaging last year (1835) for the 

 different length as follows : — 



1st Class, 16 to 17 feet bug 30s. per hundred 

 2nd „ 14 ., 16s. „ 



3rd „ 10 to 12 ,, 10s. 



The bark is generally shaved off. The women, by whom that work is 

 usually performed, are paid one shilling per hundred : the sharpening of 

 the poles at the lower end, which is afterwards done by men, is from Sd. 

 to lOd. ; they are also in some instances imperfectly charred by holding 

 them over the smoke of a strong fire. In respect to stripping off the 

 bark, although the poles are then said to last the longer, yet there appear 

 to be different opinions regarding its expediency ; for if the removal of the 



* " Perhaps, when from the strength of the plant, and the closeness of the rows, the 

 lateral branches occupy the greater part of the intervals, it may be proper to shorten 

 some of the most luxuriant ; but I am not clear, — particularly as it respects the hoj), 

 which is one of the most tender and delicate plants that are grown — whether it would 

 not be more advisable to destroy every other plant in the row, or even, every other row 

 in the plantation, and by that means to jirocure the wished-for air. rather than, by 

 shortening the shoots and taking off the leaves, run the risk of a very hot season, or an 

 occasional cold and drying one ; thus injuring the plants and giving perhaps a sudden 

 check to the blossom before it is out of all danger," — Malcolm's Agriculture of Surrey, 

 Kent, and Sussex, vol, ii, p. 505. 



