HOPS. 



outsitles remain unhurt. The hills should 

 be eight or nine feet asunder, that the air 

 may freely pass between them. If the 

 ground is intended to be ploughed with 

 horses between the hills, it will be best to 

 plant them in squares, chequerwise ; but 

 if the ground is so small that it may be 

 done with the breast-plough or spade, 

 the holes should be ranged in a quincunx 

 form. Which way soever you make use 

 of, a stake should be stuck down at all the 

 places where the hills are to be made. 

 Persons ought to be very curious in the 

 choice of the plants as to the kind of hop; 

 for if the hop-garden is planted with a 

 mixture of several sorts of hops that ripen 

 at several times, it will cause a great deal 

 of trouble, and be a great detriment to 

 the owner. 



The two best sorts are the white and 

 the grey bind ; the latter is a large square 

 hop, more hardy, and is the more plenti- 

 ful bearer, and ripens later than the 

 former. There is another sort of the 

 white bind, which ripens a week or ten 

 days before the common ; but this is ten- 

 derer, and a less plentiful bearer ; but it 

 has this advantage, that it comes first to 

 market. If there is a sort of hop you 

 value, and would increase plants and sets 

 from, the superfluous binds may be laid 

 down when the hops are tied, cutting off' 

 the tops, and burying them in the hill ; 

 or, when the hops are dressed, all the cut- 

 tings may be saved, for almost every part 

 will grow and become a good set the 

 next spring. As to the manner of plant- 

 ing the sets, there should be fine good sets 

 planted in every hill, one in the middle, 

 and the rest round about, sloping. Let 

 them be pressed close with the hand, and 

 covered with fine earth, and the stick 

 should be placed on each side the hill to 

 secure it. When the hop ground is dug 

 in January or February, the earth about 

 the hills, and very near them, ought to be 

 taken away with a spade, that you may 

 come the more conveniently at the stock 

 to cut it. About the end of February, if 

 the hops were planted the spring be- 

 fore, or if the ground is weak, they 

 ought to be dressed in dry weather ; but 

 else, if the ground is strong and in per- 

 fection, the middle of March will be a 

 good time ; and the latter end of March, 

 if it is apt to produce over rank binds, or 

 the beginning of April, may be soon 

 enough. Then having, with an iron pick- 

 er, cleared away all the earth out of the 

 hills, so as to clear the stock to the prin- 

 cipal roots, with a sharp knife you must 

 cut off all the shoots which grew up with 

 the binds the last year ; and also all the 



young suckers, that none be left to run 

 in the alley, and weaken the hill. It will ., 

 be proper to cut one part of the stock > 

 lower than the other, and also to cut that >' 

 part low that was left highest the preced- | 

 ing year. In dressing those hops that 

 have been planted the year before, you *| 

 ought to cut off' both the dead tops and 

 the young suckers which have sprung up 

 from the sets, and also to cover the stocks 

 with fine earth a finger's length in thick- 

 ness. About the middle of April the hops 

 are to be pled, when the shoots begin to 

 sprout up ; the poles must be set to the 

 hills deep into the ground, with a square 

 iron picker or crow, that they may the 

 better endure the winds: three poles are 

 sufficient for one hill. These should be 

 placed as near the hill as may be, with 

 their bending tops turned outwards from 

 the hill, to prevent the binds from en- 

 tangling; and a space between two poles . 

 ought to be left open to the south, to ad- 

 mit the sun beams. As to the tying of 

 hops, the buds that do not clasp of them-^ 

 selves to the nearest pole, when they are t 

 grown to three or four feet high, must be 

 guided to it by the hand, turning them to 

 the sun, whose course they will always 

 follow. They must be bound with wither- . 

 ed rushes, but not so close as to prevent 

 them from climbing up, the pole. This 

 you must continue to do till all the poles 

 are furnished with binds, of which tsvo 

 or three are enough for a pole, and all 

 the sprouts and binds that you have no 

 occasion for are to be plucked up ; but 

 if the ground is young, then none of ^ 

 these useless binds should be plucked up, . 

 but should be wrapped up together in 

 the middle of the hill. About the begin- 

 niwg of July the hops begin to blow, and 

 will be ready to gather about Bartholo- 

 mew tide. A judgment may be made of 

 their ripeness by their strong scent, their 

 hardness, and the brownish colour of their 

 seed. When by these tokens they ap- 

 pear to be ripe, they must be picked with 

 all the expedition possible; for if at this 

 time a storm of wind should come, it 

 would do them great damage, by break- 

 ing the branches, and bruising and disco- 

 louring the hops ; and it is well known 

 that hops, being picked green and bright, 

 will sell for a third more than those which 

 are discoloured and brown. 



The most convenient way of picking . 

 them is into a long square frame of wood, 

 called a binn, with a cloth hanging on ten- * 

 ter hooks within it, to receive the hops 

 as they are picked. The best method of 

 drying hops is with charcoal on an oast, 

 or kiln, covered with hair cloth, of the 



