July 20, 1871. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOBTICOLTUEE AND COTTAGE GABDENEE. 



43 



Snow's Winter White Brooooli was always killed with me till 

 last winter, when it was all saved in consequence of its being 

 accidentally laid down. The garden is in a very low position, 

 exposed to spring frosts, damp, &o. ; in winter frost cuts 

 down the shrubs to the ground. — W. Neave, Gardener to Bev. 

 C. B. Manning, The Bectory, Diss. 



HOP CULTIVATION FOR ORNAMENT AND 



USE.— No. 5. 



Quantity oj Hoes Grown. — Until a few years ago Hops 

 were charged with an Excise duty amounting to somewhat less 

 than 2d. per pound, and the amount of duty payable being 

 known soon after the crop was secured, buyers and sellers 

 could tell exactly what weight of Hops had been produced. 

 Indeed, speculation as to the probable quantity was so largely 

 entered into while the crop was growing that it has been said 

 as much money was wagered on the Hop duty as would pay it. 

 The Excise returns gave the number of acres under crop, and 

 the yield per acre, as well as the amount in each district of the 

 collection. The number of acres in the kingdom varied from 

 45,000 to upwards of 00,000, and it is believed that now the 

 duty is abolished there are from 65,000 to 70,000 acres under 

 Hops. 



The home-grower, however, has the terror of the foreign pro- 

 ducer, and the fact of some of the continental Hops being equal 

 to the best of the home-grown, and the less expense which the 

 foreigner incurs in cultivation, will probably keep prices from 

 ever again attaining the figures they have sometimes done. 

 Amongst Hops of foreign growth those from Bohemia are 

 esteemed the best, next coma the Bavarian ; the Belgian and 

 American being both inferior. From inquiries made it appears 

 that these countries are not exempt from the misfortunes which 

 the home-grower has eo often to contend with, and it does not 

 appear that the Hop crop can be looked upon anywhere as 

 so great a certainty as Wheat and other things. Countries 

 warmer than those named are found not to answer, and the 

 later parts of Great Britain and other countries have not a 

 long-enough season to ripen this precarious crop. Besides, 

 only a certain quantity being wanted, it is not likely that Hops 

 can be grown anywhere with profit, except on such soils and 

 situations as produce them of good quality or in abundance. 

 Trials resulting in failures have been made in other places in 

 England than those where Hops are mostly grown. Not long 

 ago I met a gentleman from Gloucestershire who lamented his 

 bad luck, attributing it to the superabundance of insect life, 

 which he thought might not be so great had there been a 

 large number of Hop plantations in his neighbourhood in- 

 stead of only one. How far this doctrine may be correct I am 

 unable to say, but I would not advise anyone to embark in the 

 speculation on a large scale without making himself master of 

 its details ; while as an ornamental plant of the first class, and 

 for purposes of experiment, I would advise all who have the 

 means to try a Hop plant or two. Its beauty, apart from 

 the interest attaching to a plant of such utility, entitles it to a 

 place in many districts where its name is all that is known 

 of it. 



Vabieties. — Into the varieties of Hops it is not an easy 

 matter to enter, for a very experienced grower, to whom I put 

 the question a short time ago, assured me there are as many 

 as there are days in the year ; but a few of the most popular 

 sorts may ba named. That which produces the most valuable 

 Hops is unquestionably the Golding, a variety which I believe 

 originated about Canterbury, a fertile valley a few miles to the 

 south of that city being called the Golding valley, although I 

 believe the kind was named after a grower of the name of 

 Golding, which is a common one in Kent. It is a tall-growing 

 Hop, likes a dry situation, and requires tall poles. It is thought 

 to be more liable to mildew than other kinds, and it never pro- 

 duces such heavy crops as the Grape and Jones's variety, but it 

 commands a much higher price in the market, and is exten- 

 sively cultivated in the best Hop-growing districts of Kent. 

 There are several varieties of it ; one of the most recent is said 

 to be much earlier than the original. The next most popular 

 variety is the Grape Hop, a shorter but more proUfic kind, in 

 which the individual Hops, being larger and mostly clustered at 

 the top, present a fine mass to look upon. The produce per acre 

 of this variety has occasionally exceeded 30 cwt. It is exten- 

 sively grown in the Weald of Kent and in Sussex, and succeeds 

 better on the stiiJ lands of those counties than the Golding. 

 It is not, however, of such good quality as that famed variety, 



but far exceeds it in productiveness. There are also several 

 sub-varieties of it, but mostly having local names. 



Jones's Hop is an early variety and a great cropper, but its 

 qualities in the brewhouse have been found fault with of late 

 years ; nevertheless it is well worth trying as an experiment 

 in gardens and other places, for its earliness might perhaps 

 enable it to perfect itself where some other Hups might not. 

 Many growers have a few of it to enable them to begin picking 

 with, and for a like reason some grow a fe«v of a kind called 

 Colgate Hops, which is later than all the others, and though in 

 some respects resembling the Golding in requiring long poles, 

 it is much inferior to th»t variety. It is, however, very hardy, 

 but not the best climber — not sticking so closely to the pole as 

 some others, and when it does reach the top and became loaded 

 with Hops, it sometimes slips down ; but this can easily be pre- 

 vented where the plant is grown for ornament by sticking a few 

 nails in the poles, or something of that kind. The plant is per- 

 haps the prettiest of all the varieties of Hop, being more evenly 

 loaded with bearing branches from the bottom upwards, and 

 requiring a 14 or 16-feet pole. It seems to thrive well in the 

 district eastward of Tunbridge Wells, and extraordinary crops 

 have been sometimes produced. In the same neighbourhood 

 the Brenobley Prolific Hops are also much grown, and, in fact, 

 have spread themselves almost everywhere. This variety more 

 resembles the Grape Hop, only it does not confiue its growth 

 so much to the head. The poles may be about the same height, 

 and the plant in other respects may be described as resembling 

 that variety in many ways. There are many other varieties of 

 Hops, some with only local names. 



Cultivation of the Ground, &o. — The cultivation of the 

 ground is almost invariably tffeoted by hand. Advantage is 

 taken of frosty weather in winter to carry out to the gurdeu 

 what dung-is wanted, and this, being spread, is dug when the 

 weather is favourable with a three-pronged fork, locally called a 

 spud. This spud is a formidable tool, and I have often thought 

 it needlessly heavy, generally weighing from 8 to 9 lbs. The 

 prongs are usually square, the points flattened wedge-shaped, 

 and the socket-handle, which contains a considerable weight of 

 iron, is very much bent crane-necked fashion. But heavy and 

 uninviting as the tool seems to be, those accustomed to it look 

 with contempt on the steel digging forks met with in iron- 

 mongers' shops ; and as their work is all done by the piece we 

 must not criticise their tools too much, since they manage to- 

 dig Hop gardens for from 15s. to 18s. per acre, and someiimea 

 less. Orchards in tillage are also dug with the same toul, and,, 

 whatever may be said of its ugliness, there is no question but 

 it is more suitable than a spade. Whether the light steel 

 digging fork of our best factory make is not as good, is a ques- 

 tion which I think a future generation will answer in the 

 afSrmative 



The cultivation of the Hop, however, is not confined to one 

 digging, for no sooner has the bine been tied in May than a 

 sort of soufBer, termed a nidgett, is called into requisition. 

 This implement has six or more teeth, with a sort of flat shoe 

 at the points of each, and is narrow enough to work in the 

 alleys, when a light horse is put to it, and with a boy to lead 

 and a man to guide, the ground is gone over several times to- 

 render it as fine as possible ; but if it should be too rough or 

 stubborn for this implement to take effect, either a narrow roller 

 is run between, or the large clods are broken by hand, and then 

 the nidgett is applied. Weeds, of course, rarely appear till 

 later in the season when this operation ceases, and as they ara 

 generally annual weeds, they are thought not to be of much 

 account, and are left till after the crop is gathered. Sometimes, 

 in fact, a few Turnips are sown broadcast over the ground 

 about the beginning of August, and although they are much 

 trampled upon at Hop-picking time, a useful piece of sheep 

 feed is provided. This practice is not general. 



Manures of various kinds are applied, and one of the most 

 popular is night soil, used in summer, a pailful or so being 

 given to every hill ; even yard dung is sometimes applied at 

 this season, and very often guano is scattered over the hille. 

 In winter all kinds of manure are used that have not the 

 reputation of being made up, for the Kentish Hop-grower pre- 

 fers a simple article to a mixed one, suspecting, whether truly 

 or not, that the latter contains but little that is valuable. 

 There are, however, few things that have the reputation of 

 being manure that have not been tried — waste fish, London 

 refuse of all kinds, woollen rags, wool and cotton waste, blood 

 manure, guano, and a hundred other articles have all been 

 tried in turn, and with varied success. The fact of the Hop 

 ' producing but little manure (although the bine when cut is 



