84 KITCHEN-GARDENING. 



York, where Hops constitute the principal crop of the farm, 

 the Pompey Hop, Grape Hop, and English Cluster are most 

 productive. Still, the Pompey Hop, it is said, is more liable 

 to be injured by rust and insects than the other varieties. 



PREPARATION OF SOIL AND PLANTING. 



" The Hop prefers a deep loamy soil on a dry bottom ; a 

 sheltered situation, but at the same time not so confined as to 

 prevent a free circulation of air. The soil requires to be well 

 pulverized and manured previous to planting. In Hop dis- 

 tricts, the ground is generally trenched either with a spade or 

 subsoil plough ; and if the ground is at all wet it must be 

 thoroughly under-drained, as Hops will not grow luxuriantly 

 and produce abundantly when there is an excess of water in 

 the soil. The ground requires as thorough preparation for 

 Hops as for a crop of wheat or roots. 



" The ground is marked out with a plough, making drills 

 three or four inches deep, and six to nine feet apart. Some 

 experienced Hop-growers say the rows should never be nearer 

 than nine feet in rows both ways. By some, five, six, or seven 

 plants, are placed in a circular form, which circles are distant 

 five or six feet from each other. 



" The sets or cuttings are procured from the most healthy 

 of the old stools ; each should have two joints or buds. From 

 the one which is placed in the ground the root springs ; and 

 from the other, the stalk. Some plant the cuttings at once, 

 covering them with mellow soil about two inches deep, where 

 they are to remain ; and by others they are nursed a year in 

 a garden. An interval crop of Beans or Cabbage is generally 

 taken the first year. Sometimes no poles are placed at the 

 plants till the second year, and then only short ones of six or 

 seven feet. The third year the Hop generally comes into full 

 bearing, and then from four to six poles, from fourteen to six- 

 teen feet in length, are placed to each circle : or one pole to 

 each plant, if cultivated in straight rows. The plan adopted 

 for the most part at the present time, is to set stakes about 



