244 CULTIVATED VEGETABLES. 



perty of bringing beer to maturity before 

 any other. 



Hops seem the most uncertain and preca- 

 rious crop on which the husbandman bestows 

 his labour. The expense of planting and 

 manuring, added to that of the poles, the 

 gathering, and drying, is so considerable, 

 that the planter is only repaid by those oc- 

 casionally abundant crops which favourable 

 seasons produce. An extraordinarily good 

 crop returns to the planter about 100/. per 

 acre, of which must be deducted on the 

 average 50/. per acre for expense ; but when 

 the uncertainty of a crop, and the many 

 combinations that are required to produce so 

 good a one, are considered, it seldom happens 

 that the hop-planter is richer than his neigh- 

 bour, notwithstanding these brilliant returns, 

 that too often delude the unwary and un- 

 thinking speculator. 



The plants are often injured by the 

 frost in the spring, and they are also sub- 

 ject to various other casualties. A kind of 

 mildew or blight, producing flies, frequently 

 destroys the fairest promise of this plant, 

 and from the height of the poles and the 

 sail they carry, a high wind occasions great 

 havock in the hop-gardens. We are not 



