106 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE, 



already quoted sayg : "The poles are worth $2 or $2.50 a 

 hundred, ready for setting, and will cost, at sixteen hundred 

 per acre, from $32 to $40. But, as good poles will last ten or 

 twelve years, the expense per year will not be much in- 

 creased." 



After the poles are set in the manner indicated, in rows per- 

 fectly straight both ways, two to each hill, and inclined a little 

 outward, and the vines are long enough, two or more of the 

 most thrifty stems should be selected and tied to each pole 

 by a woollen yarn, or soft rushes — great care being taken to 

 perform this operation at the proper time, and before they 

 have become too hard and confirmed in their inclined position 

 go as to be injured by slanting them up from the roots. 



The English and French cultivators have adopted in some 

 cases, by way of experiment, a system of espalier training, by 

 which«the vines run in a horizontal direction on a series of 

 trellises five or six feet high. This is thought by some to 

 avoid the great expense of poles, and also the liability to in- 

 jury by high winds and storms to which long poles are subject. 

 Some have also recommended trellises of iron wire in France, 

 by which it is thought that a fifth part of the expense for poles 

 is saved; but, surrounded as most of our farmers are by 

 abundant and suitable material on their own premises, it is not 

 probable that any resort to such experiments will at present be 

 necessary. 



Careful cultivation after the hops are poled — that is, the 

 second and subsequent years — is required to keep the ground 

 free from weeds and grass ; and during times of drought, the 

 more frequently the plough and the horse cultivator are used 

 both ways the better. From what has been said, it will be 

 evident that the plant comes to its most perfect development 

 in a soil thoroughly tilled and pulverized. The hop requires 

 frequent stirring of the soil in times of drought more than 

 many other crops. The plants are greatly invigorated by it. 

 The soil is hoed up around the hills in June or July, and many 

 cover the hills in winter either by ploughing or by manure. 

 Whether this is done or not, the hills are opened early 

 in spring, and the large part of the last year's shoots, 

 the running roots, cut oil' with a sharp knife to within an inch 



