70 QUALITY AND KEEPING OF HOPS. STATISTICS OF 



much more strong and hardy than the Groldings, were espe- 

 cially sleek of bine, ' spindly/ and sickly-looking in all 

 districts ; in many places these were not tied, as they 

 would not furnish, until June, and in some cases not even 

 then. Then came the aphides in swarms, which further 

 affected the delicate plants and kept them back, so that a 

 portion of the bine hardly reached the summit of the poles. 

 In parts of the plantation the aphides remained steadily, 

 and multiplied excessively, so that a regular black blight 

 ensued, which ruined the chances of a good crop in Here- 

 fordshire, Worcestershire, North Kent, West Kent, the 

 Weald of Kent, and Sussex, with a portion of the Hamp- 

 shire country. Though Mid Kent, East Kent, and Farnham 

 were visited by the plague of flies, which duly bred lice, these 

 disappeared as if by magic, just as the planters were getting 

 their washing engines in order, and inquiring the price of 

 soft soap, and it was curious to see part of the plantations in 

 Kent black and blasted by blight, while the other part was 

 green, and comparatively luxuriant. All districts, however, 

 were deficient in bine; even in East Kent, which has held 

 the sway easily throughout the whole season, the bine was 

 not over plentiful at any time, while the Grape bine in all 

 the Mid Kent district was l platty ' and short throughout, so 

 that it was impossible that a large crop could have been 

 grown had the weather been different. The heat and 

 drought hindered the growth of the weak bine in a degree, 

 and prevented the action of the artificial manures, such as 

 rape dust, guano, and patent hop manures, that were plenti- 

 fully applied to force it up the poles. At one time these 

 extreme weather influences were affecting all the hop plants, 



