136 .. HOPS. ' 



tions in temperature and moisture between the commence- 

 ment of growth and the middle of July suffices to weaken 

 the plants to such a degree as to render them suitable for 

 training on the very low wirework employed by Hermann. 

 In the meantime the unprotected shallow-lying stock is 

 starved, and consequently puts forth fewer shoots, and 

 cannot develop so fully as under normal conditions more 

 in accord with its natural requirements. This latter cir- 

 cumstance is calculated to call in question the quahty of 

 naturalness claimed for the Hermann system ; though in 

 itself the objection implies no deprecation, since as soon 

 as ever the hop plant is taken away from the conditions 

 natural to it in a wild state, and exposed to artificial 

 conditions of culture and imprisonment at the hand of 

 man, the modifications thus induced must necessarily lead 

 to a relatively increased cropping, no matter whether the 

 stocks are annually cut or left uncut. This result is 

 encountered in either case, but there is an important differ- 

 ence in the selection of means for attaining the object in 

 view. The question at issue is, Which of these two methods 

 is the more rational and permanently reliable ? Exceptionally 

 and only under certain conditions, an intermittent, but not 

 periodical, deviation from the regular rule of cutting the 

 stocks every year, i.e., an approximation to the non-cutting 

 method, will prove advantageous. On this point further 

 details will be given in the next section, dealing with regular 

 cutting. 



The Proper Performance of the Operation of Cutting. 



Defective cutting, which unfortunately sometimes occurs, 

 has a prejudicial effect on both the quantity and quality of 

 the crop, and may, if frequently repeated, greatly reduce 

 the productivity of a hop garden. To cut all the stocks 

 in a garden exactly in the same manner — thereby disregard- 



