CULTIVATION. '87 



employed except for drying wet or boggy patches. Occa- 

 sionally it may be necessary to provide deep water-furrows 

 in order to afford a ready outlet for surface (rain) water, 

 which furrows are best cut in a direction aslant the line of 

 greatest slope. The greater the angle of gradient the more 

 gradual must be the descent of the water-furrows ; and only 

 when the slope of the ground is gradual is it permissible to 

 run these furrows straight up and down, since, were this 

 course adopted in steeper ground, they would Very soon be 

 silted up, and it would be vain to expect them to have any 

 good effect. 



G-enerally, when drainage is necessary in hop gardens, 

 the underground channel system is adopted, faggots, stones, 

 or pipes being used, though the latter are to be preferred, 

 since pipe drains cost very little more than either of the 

 others, and, even if they did, their greater durability more 

 than counterbalances any increased expense. Only where 

 drain pipes are difficult or impossible to procure can faggots 

 or stone drains be advantageous. Usually the branch drains 

 or feeders are laid in the direction of the greatest fall, i.e., 

 perpendicular to the horizontal curves, and run into a' main 

 drain at the bottom end of the field. 



Drainage is always a less expensive operation in hop 

 gardens than in ordinary arable land, on account of the 

 deeper cultivation necessarily practised in the former and the 

 facility with which the two tasks can be carried out together. 

 The only care required is to see that the pipes are not laid 

 in any loose strata of soil, as otherwise they are liable to get 

 out of Hne, and the whole system becomes deranged. 



Generally speaking, soils that are badly in need of drain- 

 age before they can be used for hop-growing are only met 

 with exceptionally. Irrigation, although it would occasion- 

 ally prove advantageous, is very seldom resorted to in hop 

 gardens (America). 



