440 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



summer. Although poisonous to mankind, horses 

 and cattle, it is said to be innocuous to sheep, 

 goats, and pigs, and it is also in some localities 

 termed hog's-bean. Like the woody and deadly 

 nightshades, it belongs to the genus Solanum, of 

 which genus the potato is also a member the 

 fruit so poisonous, the root so useful and nutritious 

 an article of our daily food. 



The beauty of our hedgerows is not a little 

 enhanced by the graceful trailing clusters of the 

 wild hop, a plant indigenous to this country, 

 but, until the sixteenth century, uncultivated. 

 It was during the reign of Henry VIII. that the 

 culture of the hop was first commenced in Eng- 

 land, and since that period its value has gradually 

 increased ; for inasmuch as the plant requires soil 

 of a special nature in which to thrive, the area of 

 its cultivation, in this country at all events, must 

 necessarily be very limited. Kent, Sussex, parts 

 of Surrey and Herefordshire, are the principal 

 hop-growing counties. It is the female flower 

 which is used in the brewing of ale. 



The wild-hop is by no means a useless plant ; 

 the roots are said to possess tonic and blood- 

 purifying properties. The young shoots, when 

 boiled, are excellent as a vegetable ; the stalks 

 and leaves are said to yield a good yellow dye ; 

 and, apart from their value to the brewer, the 

 flowers, when placed in a bag and used as a 

 pillow, act as a narcotic. Hop-pickers are apt 

 to suffer at times from the sap of the flowers 



