1096 



Cultivation of the Hop Crop. 



[Mar., 



which is dry. It is not very common in England, but occurs 

 in some of the wetter counties and may be locally prevalent in 

 parts of Cumberland and Westmorland and in certain seasons 

 may be responsible for very heavy losses. Dry rot is known to 

 be very much favoured by heavy dressings of nitrogenous 

 manure. Where the disease is prevalent, therefore, farmyard 

 manure should be applied sparingly and care taken that the 

 land is not deficient in lime or potash. 



Bacterial Disease. — Another disease with which swedes are 

 affected is wet rot caused by the bacterial parasite Bacillus 

 carotovorus. The bacterium gains entrance to the roots by means 

 of minute wounds; high manuring favours the disease and at 

 times a large proportion of the crop may be lost. Last season 

 the rain following the long drought caused exteusive cracking 

 of the roots and apparently the w T et rot which was found in 

 some fields was due to the parasite gaining entrance to the roots 

 by means of these cracks. Where either wet rot or dry rot is 

 present in the crop special care is necessary as to storage. 

 ****** 



CULTIVATION OF THE HOP CROP. 



III.— SYSTEMS AND METHODS OF TRAINING. 



Arthur Amos, M.A., 

 School of Agriculture, Cambridge. 



The hop is a climbing plant. Tf allowed to grow freely the 

 tip of the stem executes a spiral in a clock-wise sense so that 

 the stem tends to embrace any stick placed in its line of growth 

 and encircles it as it grows. Again, the normal habit of growth 

 is vertical so that a hop stem encircles a vertical support much 

 more readily than one which is sloping. Finally, the hop stems 

 and leaves are thickly covered with reflexed hooks, causing the 

 rough feeling of the hop-bine, so that when once the stem has 

 encircled its support the hooks cling to the support and tend 

 to hold the stem in position upon it. In all systems of hop 

 training advantage is taken of these chracteristi.es of the growing 

 hop stem for supporting the bines. 



Polework. — In earlier times 10 ft. to 16 ft. poles alone were 

 used as a means of support. Three or four of these compara- 

 tively thin poles were set in the ground around each ' ' hop-hill 

 with the tips of the poles slanting outwards, and the hops were 

 tied to the poles by means of rushes or bast — hence the origin 

 of the word " tying." Very few hops are grown on poles alone 



