66 QUARTERLY JOURNAL. 



1 was obliged to take passage in the stage on account of the rair 



I was unable to learn as much of the character of the soil as ] 



wished I was quite fortunate, however, and fell in company witt 



a gentleman, Mr. Gurdon Avery, of Centreville, who has been en 



gaged in the hop culture over twenty years. From him I receive. 



a polite invitation to visit his vineyards and see his mode of cul 



ture Accordingly, the next morning I went through all of hi 



fields, and became intimately "xquainted with the whole manage 



ment of this vegetable, until it is fully prepared for our neighboi 



John Taylor's big stew-pan, where I propose to leave it, not beiD' 



yet sufficiently acquainted with the rather mysterious process ( 



converting it into a kind of drink commonly called beer. The hof 



I will just say is rather a difficult article to cultivate, or I may sa 



difficult to bring to a high state of perfection. Any person, to t 



sure, can grow a vine at the gable end of the house, where m 



grandmother always had one growing, or in some corner of tt 



garden, yet it is quite another thing to cultivate from two to te 



acres and secure a good yield, and bring the produce out m ame 



chantable state. . 



There are two principal departments in the hop business ; hn 

 its cultivation, and second, its preparation for market : 



1 Jts ctdtivation. Hops require a rich, calcareous loam, ligl 



loose and deep, which will permit the roots to penetrate deep 



and widely in search of food, that the vine may grow rapidly « 



the first part of the season ; for the more vigorous the start, t 



better the hop and greater the yield, all things being equal. 11 



field on which hops are to be sown or planted must not ha 



been under the culture of this plant for at least twelve or fourteW 



years The field, if it is in turf or green sward, must be plough 



in autumn. Early in the spring let it be manured with rich bai 



yard manure, and ploughed again. Early in April as possib 



layers or slips of the hop are planted in rows six feet apart m o 



way and eight in the other. This year it is not expected to j 



a crop of hops. The field in the intermediate spaces is plan* 



with corn, and the vines are suffered to run about the ground 



on to the corn as they please. Early the next season, liowev 



the field, as soon as it is sufficiently dry is broken up with the cu 



vator. The cultivator for this purpose requires a set of teeth ab^ 



two inches longer than that which is used for corn. Tins bei 



