1922.] 



Cultivation of the Hop CRor. 



893 



as well by addition of such mineral manures as the soil may 

 require. 



Propagation and Planting. — Propagation of commercial hops 

 is always " vegetative " by means of cuttings. Cuttings may 

 be of two kinds — either the " straps " from aerial shoots of 

 the previous season, or from underground stems or runners. The 

 " straps " consist of the lowest 6 or 8 in. of the stem attached 

 to the root stock, which have been earthed up in summer and 

 swollen by the downward passage and accumulation of plant-food 

 in late summer. In England these " straps " form the cuttings, 

 runners rarely being used. On the Pacific Coast of America the 

 cuttings are exclusively taken from the runners, because these 

 are already supplied with rootlets and " strike " more easily, 

 while they are less likely to dry out and die. More attention 

 might be given to the use of runners for propagating " sets." 



In England the general plan is to grov/ the cuttings one year 

 in the open field to form " sets," and to plant them out into 

 the hop garden at one year old; if, however, " sets " are 

 unobtainable or are very costly ^ cuttings may be used for this 

 purpose. 



In selecting ' ' sets ' ' for planting it should be taken as an axiom 

 that "the best are the cheapest"; each "set" should be well- 

 grown with abundance of fibrous roots attached and with two or 

 three good shoots. The " set " should not have withered leaves 

 attached to the stems, since these indicate that they have 

 been dug too soon in the autumn and will probably not grow; 

 neither must they be " stags," i.e., " sets " which have grown 

 two years in the ground and have developed coarse as distinct 

 from fibrous roots. {See illustration facing p. 891 .) 



Planting out. — The season for planting extends from 

 November to the end of March, and on most soils early planting 

 is preferable to late because of the danger of the plants drying 

 out; probably a dry spell in February offers the best chance of 

 success. 



Before planting is begun the land should be cleaned, if neces- 

 sary, then deeply ploughed, after which the exact position of 

 each hop-hill should be measured out and marked by a stick or 

 poplar cutting. 



If " sets " are planted, one good " set " only should be put 

 to each " hill," to avoid competition between plants, but 

 if cuttings are used then two or three should be put to each. 

 The " sets " are prepared by trimming the roots close back 

 to the root-stock, and great care must be taken that they do 



