884 



Hop Cultivation. 



[FEB., 



deeply ploughed ; sometimes the land is subsoiled as well as 

 ploughed, but this practice is not now so common as formerly. 

 The operation is probably beneficial in aiding drainage, but 

 great care must be taken not to bury the top soil. 



Setting-Out. — The field is next set out with sticks to mark 

 the position of the hop hills ; the standard distance apart is 

 6 ft. 6 in. each way, and is convenient in that it requires 

 approximately 1,000 plants per acre; however, many growers 

 make the width of alley somewhat greater — 7 ft. or 8 ft; this 

 enables the carting of the dung to be done more easily. In 

 the Worcester system the alleys are from 7 ft. to 8 ft. wide, 

 but the hills are planted only 3 ft. 6 in. apart in the rows. 



Planting. — Hops are commonly planted at two periods in 

 the year, either in November or in March. In the former 

 case the sets become firmly fixed in the ground before growth 

 commences, which is very advantageous, because then the 

 sets do not dry out; in the latter case, when planted in March, 

 the sets begin to grow soon after being planted, and are less 

 likely to be damaged by insects and other pests after planting. 

 In either case the ground should be in good order for plant- 

 ing, that is, neither too dry nor too wet. 



When planting, the roots of the set are trimmed off, a 

 hole is made in the ground with a "dibber," and the set is 

 firmly pressed into the hole so that the crown of the set is 

 level with the surface of the ground, and the soil is pressed 

 tightly against it. 



Another method of planting is to dig a small hole about 

 a foot deep, put about 3 in. of well-rotted dung in the bottom, 

 cover the dung with earth and plant the set firmly in the soil 

 above the dung ; this method is not to be recommended 

 because as the dung decays the hop plant is liable to become 

 loose at the root. 



If the sets are good one set only is planted to form each 

 hop hill, but if the sets are weak then two may be planted 

 to each hill ; this latter practice is naturally not so good as 

 planting one good set and should not be employed unless 

 good sets are unobtainable. 



When purchasing sets for planting care should be taken 

 to'ascertain from the vendor that these contain a fair propor- 

 tion of male plants amongst them (about five per 1,000). It 



