SELECTION OF SITE. 361 



Tliis decrease is due, probably, to the abundant crops 

 of the last few years, and also to the increasing importa- 

 tion of foreign hops, to the cultivation of which more 

 attention has latterly been paid, so that they now com- 

 pete in quality with our own, and can be sold cheaper. 



No reference need be made to the proper place in the 

 ordinary farm rotation of a crop of such long duration as 

 the hop ; we will therefore proceed at once to the selection 

 of the site for the intended plantation, and of the varieties 

 to the cultivation of which the particular locality selected 

 is best adapted. As protection from the winds, especially 

 those prevailing at the flowering season, is one of the prin- 

 cipal points for consideration, a gentle slope is usually taken 

 advantage of, inclining towards the north, rather than 

 towards the south or south-west, which are the winds 

 most prevailing during the later growth of the plant. This 

 aspect, although less exposed to the direct rays of the 

 noon-day sun, secures to the plants a longer continuance 

 of its rays, and thus gives them a better distribution of its 

 light and heat. The flat low-lying lands, although gene- 

 rally of better quality, and more productive and less 

 exposed to the wind, are more subject to blight and mil- 

 dew than the higher and more exposed situations. On 

 the tops of hills, however, as on the ridge of the chalk range 

 in Kent, the climate is generally too cold, and the pro- 

 duce is comparatively small ; but the quality is good, and 

 the crop rarely suffers from blight. The variety of the 

 hop to be grown is also a matter for consideration, inas- 

 much as some of the coarser sorts may be cultivated pro- 

 season of blight, it paid 11,911 out of 24,317, the aggregate duty of the 

 whole kingdom. In the former year the average yield per acre was 1 cwt. 

 1 qr. 5f Ibs. ; in the latter year it was only 1 cwt. 8j| Ibs., while that of the 

 intervening year (1824), the average for the kingdom gave 7 cwts. 11 Ibs. In 

 1837, an extraordinary good year for the district, it paid 38,731 duty ; while 

 in 1847 it only paid 1471 out of 216,268, the duty of the whole kingdom for 

 that year. 



