CTJLTIVATION. 185 



fairly heavy ; and an active workman can drive 600 to 1,000 

 holes a day, according to the natnre of the ground and the 

 state of the weather. The poles are pitched as soon as the 

 holes are made, the pitcher grasping the pole with both 

 hands, about breast high, and forcing it straight into the 

 hole ; then lifting it out again and making another stroke, 

 the operation being repeated until the pole is firmly fixed to 

 a depth of 20 to 24 inches in the ground. Finally, the soil at 

 the base of each pole is tightly compressed either with the 

 foot or a small wooden rammer. In a well-managed garden 

 the poles should exhibit proper alignment, and great care 

 should be taken to avoid damaging the stocks or shoots 

 during the holing and pitching. 



A few words about the length of the poles may not be 

 ■out of place here. 



Apart from the advisability of providing longer poles for 

 free-growing hops than for such as are less luxuriant, it is 

 also preferable, when this is possible, to employ shorter poles 

 in young plantations. Experience shows that young hops 

 have a great tendency to grow in an upward direction, and 

 produce very long stems, but only a few laterals, when the 

 poles are high. It is also frequently observed that such hops 

 as have grown very high in their youth remain enfeebled for 

 two or three years after, and yield, but a small crop. As, 

 however, in buying new poles, great stress is, for economical 

 reasons, rightly laid on sufficient length, and one is hardly 

 disposed to shorten the poles for the sake of young hops, 

 it is better, in the absence of worn-out poles from older 

 gardens, to nip the tops off the young bines when they have 

 attained a height of 16 to 20 feet, thus stopping their up- 

 ward growth and favouring the development of the laterals, 

 i.e., the cropping power. 



This precaution will, however, only furnish the desired 

 results provided the tops are removed early enough in the 



