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with the soil ; a succession of green crops, such as rye, cut green, or fed off with sheep, and early- 

 turnips are an excellent preparation for the land. It is far better to occupy two or three years in 

 preparing the ground than to plant in an unprepared soil. 



After the ground is in proper order, the rows are marked out about six feet apart each way, 

 north and south, east and west, taking great care that they are straight, as this precaution saves much 

 trouble and confusion in the after cultirre. Circular holes are then made eight inches deep and one 

 and one-half to two feet in diameter. Four roots are then laid crosswise in the hole, or as the Baron 

 says, " stick them in the soil leaning inward towards the pole ; " if this is not done they spread 

 too much, and it is difficult to confine the shoots within proper space for poling. About the time 

 for corn-planting is the proper time for setting them. The roots for planting are obtained as soon as 

 the Spring opens by ploughing within a foot of the hill on each side and laying the roots bare with 

 a hoe and selecting only those of the last year's growth, cutting them about eighteen niches in 

 length ; these are called trimmings and are necessary to be carefully removed from the root, whether 

 used or not ; as they will not be wanted for several weeks after cutting, they may be kept in the 

 cellar or by bmying in the ground ; the plants are sometimes raised in beds in the garden and may 

 be raised from the seed. Care should be taken to have but one sort in a plantation, except where 

 the grounds are very extensive, when it may be advantageous to have an earlier and later sort, that 

 they may ripen in succession. 



In about a week or ten days the hops will make their appearance, and the cultivation the first 

 year Avill consist in subduing the weeds and keeping the ground well stirred. The vines produce 

 some hops the first year, bvit they are not generally considered worth gathering. Early in the 

 second year the hills are opened and the roots examined. If the gromid is not sufficiently rich, as 

 soon as Spring opens, the hop-field should receive a dressing of well rotted manure or compost 

 spread broadcast in the rows, or put in the hill, as is most advisable ; this is done by opening the 

 ground a few inches from the roots and mixing the soil with the dressing ; after this the setting of 

 the poles is immediately commenced, so as not to injiu-e the vines, which will soon start from the 

 roots and show themselves above the earth. The second year generally gives two-thirds of a crop 

 and in the third year the plant is in good bearing, and will last six to eight years. It has, in some 

 places, been the practice to root out the male plants, as worthless. That it is well to rear a number 

 of male plants among the others to ensure the fertilization of all the seeds may be proved in various 

 ways ; but an appeal to the result of the opposite practice is most convincing. A bushel of hops 

 collected from the plants of the fourth year raised from the seed weighed thirty-six pomids, there 

 being male plants near, while a bushel grown iji a garden where the male plants were all eradi- 



