CULTIVATION. 187 



are 20 to 25 inches high. Usually two or three stems are 

 trained on each pole, the others being simply cut off, with 

 the exception of two or three left as reserves to replace any 

 of the trained stems that may be injured or killed by frost 

 or accident. If the reserve stems are found superfluous they 

 are cut down at the second tying. To train more than two 

 or three stems on a pole is inadvisable, a further subdivision 

 of the sap being more disadvantageous than otherwise in 

 the sequel, since experience shows that a stock bearing two 

 or three well-nourished stems is always better developed, 

 and often yields a better crop, than if the sap had been sub- 

 divided to a greater extent by bearing more stems. 



As the hop is obliged to twine about the lowest and there- 

 fore thickest portion of the pole at starting, and very easily 

 slips dovra from such thick supports, it has to be tied to the 

 pole two or three times in the early stages of training. 



The second tying is performed when the plants are 60 to 80 

 inches high, and can still be reached from the ground, but for 

 the third tying, at a height of 10 to 13 feet, use is made of the 

 hop ladder (Fig. 44), which, in order to economise time, is 

 set up in such position as enables the tier to reach as many 

 plants as possible without shifting. 



In tying care should be taken to fix the supporting band 

 underneath (never above) a pair of leaves, and never to fasten 

 the bine tight against the pole. The material for tying is 

 generally straw,^ cut into 2-foot lengths and steeped in water 

 for several hours before use ; reeds, rushes and bast are more 

 rarely employed. 



Owing to the trampling of the soil by the polers and tiers 

 it becomes advisable to hoe or earth up the plants as soon as 

 the tying is finished. 



1 Translator's Note. — This refers, of course, to Continental practice, rushes, 

 being the favourite tying material in English gardens. 



