202 HOPS. . 



and though attempts have been made to utilise old bine 

 for training, the latter have always proved insufficiently 

 strong to bear the weight of the plarits and to withstand 

 the force of the wind, to say nothing of the difficulty 

 attending the attachment of the training bine to the head 

 wires. Wire, though an excellent material for training hops, 

 is still a very expensive article ; but even this objection 

 is small in comparison with the trouble experienced in 

 stripping the wires of bine in the autumn, which is often so 

 great and expensive a task that new wire is purchased in 

 preference. 



The opinion is now gaining ground that string is the 

 cheapest material for hop-training. It is true that string is 

 far weaker than wire, easily rots, and tears at the point of 

 attachment to the horizontal wires ; is liable to be gnawed 

 through by insects, and is frequently of insufficient tensile 

 strength in consequence of defective manufacture. Never- 

 theless, since wire is sometimes used for not more than one 

 season, string is preferable on accotmt of its cheapness. To 

 increase the resisting power, string may with advantage 

 be steeped in a 3 to 4 per cent, solution of alum or copper 

 sulphate (blue vitriol) before use. Cords laid with thin 

 strands of wire, however excellent they may be, are too 

 expensive to be thought of for training hops. 



The management of frame-work gardens is simpler, and 

 consequently cheaper, ,than that of poled gardens. The clean- 

 ing and trimming of poles in autumn, as well as distributing 

 and pitching them in the spring, are tasks unknown in frame 

 gardens. The work entailed in these operations is not only 

 disagreeable in itself, but also from the fact that it has to be 

 done at a time of year when other arable land has to be 

 attended to ; whereas repairs to frames, such as tightening up 

 the wires, replacing lost pegs, etc., can be done in the winter 

 time. 



