PRODUCTS WE MIGHT GROW. 107 



weight of seed to the weight of fibre. Seed, therefore, soon 

 becomes plentiful. 



BEETS for Sugar, Feed, &c. Beet culture has been 

 carried on in the cooler parts of the country at various 

 times, and with such results as proved that beets might be 

 made profitable. They are summer croppers. Seed, from 

 10 to 151bs. per acre, is drilled in in August or September. 

 Plants come up quickly, and are thinned out from six to 

 twelve inches apart, according to soil, season and sort. 

 For sugar making, small beets are best, from 1| to 3^ Ibs. 

 Cultivation much the same as swedes and mangels. Sugar 

 beets should harvest from twelve to eighteen tons per acre 

 at a total cost of 5 to 7. 



HOPS. Hops of colonial growth are earning a high 

 reputation, and their cultivation is extending in New 

 Zealand, Tasmania, Victoria, and South Australia. The 

 soils most favourable are strong, deep loams, with an open 

 or well drained subsoil good grain land, broken up by the 

 common plough, followed by the subsoil plough. The 

 " breaking up " in the first instance may be accompanied by 

 a dressing of lime or manure. The hop is a greedy plant to 

 excess, and requires good and generous treatment from the 

 very start. 



Sowing and Planting. Hops are grown from seed to 



fet plants or sets, which are put out in the open ground, 

 lanting six feet by six feet, triangular method, is handy 

 and sufficient between the sets. It is advisable to have 

 wide twelve-feet openings through the plantation, for a 

 better supply of air during the stronger growth of the 

 plants. 



Cultivation. The hop grows much faster in the 

 colonies than in England, and frequently produces a light 

 crop from the " set " the first season. Surface cultivation 

 to secure loose, clean ground, is necessary. Early cropping 

 is considered more a disadvantage than otherwise, as it 

 exhausts the young plants too much. In England 

 a common practice is to simply twist the first year's 

 growth into a bundle and place a clod upon it, so 

 as to encourage growth in the roots as much as 

 possible ; but occasionally a short pole of six or seven 



