hop. 235 



nodities, to cramme us with the wares and 

 ruites of their countrie, and to doe anye 

 hing that myght put impediment to this 

 mrpose, dazeling us with the discommenda- 

 ion of our soyle, obscuring and falsifying 

 he order of this mysterie, sending us into 

 ^launders as farre as Poppering, for that 

 diich we may flnde at home in our own 

 mnksides." 



Tusser, who resided in Essex during the 

 eigns of Henry the Eighth and his three 

 :hildren, has left us a faithful account of the 

 nanner of treating the hop in his day ; his 

 rerse for the month of June, says 



f Whom fansie perswadeth, among other crops, 

 to have for his spending, sufficient of hops : 

 Must willingly follow, of choises to choose, 

 such lessons approued, or skilful do vse. 



Ground grauellie, sandie, and mixed with claie, 

 is naughty for hops, any manner of waie : 



Or if it be mingled with rubbish and stone, 

 for driness and barrenness, let it alone. 



Choose soile for the hop, of the rottenest mould, 

 well doonged and wrought, as a garden plot should : 



Not far from the water, (but not ouerflowne) 

 this lesson well noted, is meet to be knowne. 



The sun in the south, or else southlie and west, 

 is joy to the hop, as welcommed ghest : 



But wind in the north, or else northerly east, 

 to hop is as ill, as a fray in a feast. 



