196 HOPS. 



of the bine could not be borne except by a very few varieties 

 of hop, only the early Goldings and a few others being able 

 to adapt themselves to the dwarfed condition entailed by 

 this low training, and thai;, too, only when the ground is 

 poor and the manuring scanty. One undeniable drawback 

 of these low frames is the training horizontally or at a very 

 low angle, since even at an angle of 50° to the ground level 

 the hop begins to lose its climbing propensities, and these 

 disappear altogether when the supports incline still further 

 towards the horizontal, so that the bine has to be tied 

 repeatedly to induce it to twine. It has been put forward as 

 a special advantage of the low-frame system that the hops 

 trained in this manner always form a more or less compact 

 roof of foliage, which protects the soil from drying too quickly 

 on the one hand, and on the other ameliorates the injurious 

 effects of very heavy rain storms, the soil being maintained 

 damp and loose. Against this assertion it must be empha- 

 sised that such a roof of foliage is anything but conducive 

 to the production of well-formed cones rich in lupulin. 



High frames are expensive, and, as usually constructed, 

 are not storm-proof. The low-frame systems, while uniting 

 the advantaiges of cheapness and capacity of resisting stormy 

 weather, are nevertheless attended by drawbacks of their 

 own, and therefore cannot be beneficially employed except 

 under certain well-defined conditions. In view of this a 

 middle path was chosen by erecting frames of medium height 

 (13 to 20 ft.), which, in the author's opinion, constitute the 

 system of the future. Zelinka very truly remarks that 

 " frames of medium height usually behave the best, often 

 uniting all the advantages of dwarf cultivation and obviating 

 the drawbacks of the high frame". 



This, however, by no means implies that high and low 

 frames should be invariably discarded. Where the ground 

 is rich, humous and well manured, the hops free-growing. 



