172 



THE illi:n"ois fakmer. 



June 



From the Country Gentleman and Cultirator. 

 Culture of Hops. 



The successful culture of the hop implies watch- 

 ful and incessant care during the first stages of its 

 growth. They should be planted upon a warm, 

 deep, loamy soil, on a dry bottom, which is best 

 found upon a sandy, gravelly or ston/ porous sub- 

 soil, affording drainage from off and about the 

 roots of the plants during the rainy and frozen 

 season of the year. Hops are one of the most ex- 

 hausting among cultivated plants, both in respect 

 to the organic and mineral constituents which are 

 extracted from the soil. Therefore rotation of 

 crop should not extend more than four years on the 

 same ground, unless the soil is supplied with that 

 which the hops most extract. In comparing the 

 table of analysis, we find that both lime and potash 

 enter largely into the growth of both the plant and 

 hop. 



The usual mode of planting is to lay out the 

 ground in rows *? and 8 feet asunder. The best 

 and quickest way to proceed in laying out the 

 ground is to use a horse and corn marker, by hav- 

 ing the pins in the marker T feet, the distance re- 

 quired for the rows one way. Marking the rows 

 t"he other way is usually done by stretching a rope 

 the distance desired, at which time the setting is 

 done by the guide of the rope, by setting the hill 

 where the rope crosses the mark made bv the corn 

 marker. The setting is done the first of May, by 

 setting the roots of the previous year's growth, 

 called runners, which are carefully selected, so as 

 t» get healthy roots, which are cut into pieces with 

 two setts of eyes to each section — ^setting them 

 with a dibble in the ground, with five setts in a hill, 

 setting one at each corner of a square of 6 inches, 

 and the fifth in the center of the square, alHn an 

 upright position, with the eye buds pointing up- 

 wards, and all beneath the surface of the earth at 

 least one inch. In planting there should be much 

 attention paid to the introduction of a sufficient 

 number of the male plants, one hill in two hundred, 

 or about five on an acre. They ought to be plant- 

 ed at regular and known intervals, so that in s«b- 

 sequent years they may not become indiscrimin- 

 ately mixed. The first year, planting is usually 

 done with corn, taking care not to encumber the 

 hop hill ; the after culture the same as for the ac- 

 companying crop of corn. As the corn matures 

 and is fit for cutting up there should be much care 

 taken not to cut the hop vine, which would be very 

 likely to bleed, so as to injure the hill. In the suc- 

 ceeding month of October, or the first of Novem- 

 ber, there should be placed over each hill of hops 

 at least one or more good shovels of well rotted 

 manure for winter protection, and to enrich the 

 ground for the benefit of the plant the succeedinf 

 season eiilture, which requires more care and 

 watchfulness than the first year to secure a good 

 crop of hops. As soon as the plants make their 

 appearance above the ground the manure should 

 be carefully spread over the hill. Then the poles 

 are introduced, varying from 18 to 20 feet long, 

 with two at each hill, and inserted in the ground 

 in perfectly straight lines upon each row, and in- 

 cision being made with the hop bar in the ground 



to the depth required for firmly holding th« poles. 

 Then the plowing commences, which is done by 

 one horse, having the plow kept clean, beginning 

 in the center of the rows, turning the furrow from 

 the hill the first time plowing — subsequent plowing 

 the furrows should be turned toward the hill. 



The cultivator is used after each plowing to level 

 and pulverize the earth, which should be kept 

 smooth and level at all times. The process of hoe- 

 ing the first time is done as near as may be as the 

 first hoeing of corn. The vine is usually tied up 

 before the second hoeing, or as soon as the vine 

 has grown from two to three feet in height ; they 

 are tied by selecting two of the most even vines for 

 each pole, the strong rank ones being rejected, 

 and subsequently tied until sufficient strength is 

 acquired in the vine to force itself up to the sum- 

 mit of the production of its flower. The culture 

 in the mean time is performed with the plow and 

 cultivator and hoe, earthing up the hill a little the 

 second time hoeing, keeping the ground clean and 

 pruning the hills. Never suffer but two vines to 

 grow upon each pole, which are preferable to a 

 greater number. 



It may be here remarked that hops want richness 

 of soil, which should be kept up in order to be a 

 successftil grower. Leached ashes is a good sub- 

 stitute for potash, applied to the hill after the first 

 hoeing. When it is found to be important to use 

 lime, it should be well slaked, half a shovelful thin- 

 ly applied to a hill in the month of October or the 

 first of November, when lime is used. Muck 

 should be applied to the hill in the place of manure 

 for winter protection. Salt has also been found to 

 be a good fertilizer when the vine is disinclined to 

 run the pole ; by making a brine and applying it 

 in small quantity to the hill, it acts like a charm 

 in facilitating the vine in running the pole. I 

 have practically used them all, and found the pro- 

 ductions good. 



Picking usually commences about the first of 

 September ; as the flower becomes hard, with a 

 bright yellow color on opening it, the envelope of 

 the seeds a purple color, and the kernel or seed 

 itself hard, they are ready for harvest. Picking is 

 mostly performed by women with aid of men's 

 help, to extract the pole from the ground, severing 

 the vine some three feet above the ground, and 

 placing them upon a frame over a box, which is 

 subdivided into four apartments, and accommo- 

 dates as many pickers, with each a box three feet 

 long, two feet deep, and eighteen inches wide, each 

 picker filling the box two or three times during 

 the day, for which they receive from twenty to 

 twenty-five cents per box. 



Drying. — The kiln for the operation for drying 

 should be constructed with much care, with stoves, 

 and arranged in a room, and the hops laid and 

 spread upon a cloth floor above, resting upon slats, 

 where they diy in about twelve or fourteen hours. 

 Hops in the green state, if left standing long after 

 picked, are liable to become heated and change 

 color, hence the kiln should be made sufficiently 

 large for curing as fast as picked, at intervals of 

 twelve to fourteen hours for each kiln. 



Madison county, N. Y. D. B. Shaplet. 



— A friend, in one of the hop growing districts 

 of New York, has sent us cuttings of both pistil- 

 late and staminate plants, which we shall grow for 

 he purpose of supplying vineyards. It is proba* 



