CULTIVATION. 155 



to mere portions of a garden, and is only exceptionally 

 resorted to for the whole. It is always suitable wherever — 



(i) The area under hops is large, and, consequently, the 

 cutting cannot be got through in time, or performed with 

 sufficient care, in the spring. It also enables the summer 

 work to be more conveniently apportioned. 



(ii) In high-lying or northerly districts where the winters 

 are long, and there is no alternative but autumn cutting or 

 late spring cutting. 



(iii) Finally, in gardens on hght, sandy soil (not compact 

 clays), and in gardens that are protected from excessive wet, 

 are drained or have a sloping position. 



In all these cases, however, autumn cutting is only 

 advisable when an abundance of thoroughly mixed, well 

 matured, and, above all, friable compost, rich in humus, is 

 available for covering the cut stocks instead of with soil, the 

 quantity required for each stock being about three pecks. 

 Where this is unobtainable and the cut stocks have to be 

 covered with ordinary soil, the latter sets so hard in the 

 winter that the young shoots find great difficulty in making 

 their way through in the spring, and are also liable to break 

 off when attempts are made to loosen the crust. 



The extent of the influence exerted by autumn cutting on 

 the health of the plant and on the quantity and quality of 

 the product has formed the subject of numerous researches. 

 The results, however, show that no generally applicable 

 conclusions can be drawn, but only such as bear on special 

 cases, as mentioned below. On one point alone does 

 unanimity exist, namely — that under certain circumstances 

 autumn cutting presents numerous advantages that cannot 

 be gainsaid. 



In the compilation on hop cultivation^ edited by Dr. 

 C. D. Kraus a resume' is given of the advantages and draw- 



' Beobachtungen ilber die Cultur des Hopfens, viii., 1885, p. 5. 



