370 THE HOP CROP. 



be attempted if " bedded sets " have been planted, neither 

 is it good policy thus to occupy the vacant spaces at any 

 other time of the plantation, as, although a certain amount 

 of secondary produce may, in most instances, be had, it is 

 in all probability obtained at the expense of the regular 

 crop. 



Towards the latter end of May or beginning of June, a 

 stick should be placed in the centre of each "hill," to 

 which all the young bines, as they shoot up during the 

 summer, should be tied; for the " bedded sets," the sticks 

 should be from 6 to 8 feet high; for the "cuttings," about 

 4 to 5 feet will be sufficient. A top-dressing of Peruvian 

 guano is often applied about this period with great benefit; 

 it is simply spread over the hills, and covered in with the 

 hand-hoe or rake. In the autumn, when the sap has quite 

 gone down, and the young bines have changed colour, 

 they are cut off and covered up by a small quantity of 

 the soil, which protects them sufficiently during their 

 first winter in the soil. Where " sets " have been planted, 

 a small produce is generally obtained the first year, which 

 must be carefully collected by hand-picking from the bine 

 as it stands, and not in the ordinary mode of harvest- 

 ing. The cost of digging and planting " sets " is from 

 Is. to Is. 6d. per 100 hills. The sets themselves are 

 usually sold at 2s. 6d. per 100; and as it takes three to 

 each hill (triangular), and there are 1406 hills, at 6 feet 

 distances to the acre, the cost for plants would be from 

 5, 5s. to 5, 10s. Where "cuttings" are used, the 

 expenses are less; they may be purchased at 6d. per 100 ; 

 and as five are allotted to each hill, the whole number 

 required for the acre would amount to about 1, 15s. to 

 1, 16s. only allowing, in both cases, a few extra' for 

 failures. 



In the following spring, the first operation is to open the 

 hills and examine the plants, which have to be cut or 



