238 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



Hop hillock discharged of euery let, 



see then without breaking each pole ye out get : 



Which being intangled aboue in the tops, 

 go carrie to such as are plucking of hops. 



Take soutage or hair (that covers the kel) 



set like to a manger, and fastened wel : 

 With poles vpon crotches, as hie as the brest, 



for sauing and riddance, is husbandry best. 



Some skilfullie drieth their hops on a kel, 

 and some on a soller, of turning them wel ; 



Kel dried wil abide foul weather and faire, 

 where drying and lying in loft doo despaire. 



Some close them vp drie, in a hogshead or fat, 

 yet canuas or soutage, is better than that: 



By drying and laying, they quickly be spilt, 



thus much haue I shewed, do now as thow wilt. 



Gerard, who wrote on this plant in 1596, 

 says, " It ioyeth in a fat and fruitful ground : 

 it prospereth the better by manuring. The 

 flowers of hops are gathered in August and 

 September, and reserued to be vsed in beere. 

 The manifold virtues in hops do manifestly 

 argue the holsomnesse of beere above ale ; 

 for the hops rather make it phisicall drinke 

 to keepe the body in health, than an ordina- 

 rie drinke for the quenching of our thirst." 

 He adds, " The flowers are vsed to season 

 beere or ale with, and overmany do cause 

 bitterness thereof, and are ill for the head. 



