890 



Hop Cultivation. 



[FEB., 



so that the horse washing-machines and sulphurators can 

 do their work more effectually. 



Some growers continue cultivating up to within one or 

 two weeks of picking, but it is doubtful whether cultivation 

 after the burr has turned into hop is profitable, because in 

 the event of wet weather setting in, the cultivation is likely 

 to lead to a fresh growth of bine, when fresh burr is produced 

 and the hops ripen in two crops, a condition very detri- 

 mental to the quality of the sample. 



Cutting— Hop hills are cut or pruned each spring for the 

 purpose of preventing the root stock from becoming too 

 cumbersome and keeping it in its proper position. 



The best time of year for cutting is during February and 

 March; if the operation is delayed till April, the hills will 

 have begun to grow and the operation checks the hills and 

 may result in a weak growth of bine. 



For the purpose of cutting, which should not be done in 

 very wet weather, the hills are first cleaned from soil with 

 forks and hoes, and then the straps, the remains of last year's 

 bines, are cut off about one quarter-inch from the root stock, 

 leaving one row of buds upon that part of each strap which 

 is attached to the root stock ; from these buds shoots eventually 

 develop. At the same time that the straps are removed all 

 runners, i.e., underground shoots, are cut off close to the 

 stock. 



After cutting, one or two inches of fine soil are usually raked 

 over the crown of the hill to keep off the frost. 



-Systems of Training.— At the present day the majority 

 of English hops are trained upon some system of sloping 

 string supported by a wire framework on poles. These 

 systems, although necessitating a greater initial outlay, have 

 within the last 30 years gradually been displacing the older 

 method of training round poles, mainly because much larger 

 crops can be grown upon the string and wirework. 



For the purpose of classification, systems of training may 

 be divided into three classes: — 



(i.) Butcher System, in which all the strings in each alley 

 slope in one direction only, the direction of this slope being 

 usually from south-west to north-east so that the dangerous 

 south-westerly gales of August and September strike upon 



