190 THE VALLEY OF THE TEME 



other crop being deemed worthy to displace the rich 

 pasturage. The hops also occupy the lower slopes 

 of the hills where the rain wash has made a soil 

 that is almost as deep as on the flat land below, and 

 on these lower slopes the orchards also begin, and run, 

 in some cases, right up to the summit of the plateau. 

 The hops are not affected by the late spring frosts 

 which would do so much damage to the fruit, and 

 are also more in need of the deep rich land where 

 fruit trees would tend to grow too rankly. On the 

 top of the plateau the soil is by no means deep nor 

 over rich, and here may be found ordinary mixed 

 farming, with a good deal of woodland and poor 

 grass upon the higher levels, but, again, with fruit and 

 hops occupying the hollows where there is a little more 

 warmth and shelter. 



The best of the Worcestershire hop-growing is 

 concentrated into this stretch of the Teme Valley, 

 though there is some in the Malvern country and 

 even across the Severn in the Avon Valley. Alto- 

 gether, Worcestershire has about 3000 acres of hops ; 

 and the neighbouring county of Hereford grows about 

 5000 acres under very similar conditions in the 

 valleys of the Frome and other tributaries of the 

 Wye. A few acres run into the next counties of 

 Shropshire and Gloucestershire, making altogether 

 less than 10,000 acres of hops in this western district, 

 as compared with 20,000 in Kent alone, and about 

 33,000 in the whole country. Here, as elsewhere, the 

 acreage has been declining considerably ; though it 

 is interesting to note that Worcestershire has only 

 lost 1 8 per cent, of its hops since 1900, and Hereford 

 31 per cent., whereas Kent has lost 38 per cent., and 

 Sussex as much as 47 per cent, within the same 

 period. 



