i9io.] 



Hop Cultivation. 



895 



the wider alleys and flatter slopes, and if the Butcher alleys 

 are more than 8 ft. wide, the amount of labour required 

 becomes prohibitive. The Worcester system, with its almost 

 vertical strings, is the cheapest so far as training is concerned. 



The cost of horse cultivation is least in alleys about 7 ft. 

 wide : if wider than this cultivators have to be sent twice in the 

 alley and so the operation costs more ; in the Umbrella 

 system cultivating can be done both ways so that a portion 

 of the hand cultivation can be dispensed with. 



Dung carting can be carried out much more economically 

 in the wider alleys; if the latter are less than 7 ft. wide, the 

 dung has to be carted in trolleys at greater expense. 



(iv.) Washing. — For purposes of washing with horse- 

 machines the Butcher system is the best, because since all 

 the bines on the strings in each alley lie in one plane, they do 

 not shelter one another, and each, nozzle of the machine can 

 be accurately adjusted according to the height of the leaves 

 it is intended to wash; in the Umbrella system a certain 

 amount of crossing of the bines on the strings is bound to 

 occur, and each nozzle is expected to spray at one time upon 

 leaves close to it, and at another time upon the tops of the 

 strings and cannot be adjusted to perform both operations 

 satisfactorily. 



(v.) Resistance to Wind Damage. — From this standpoint 

 the Butcher system, in which the sloping strings are 

 connected together by a cross string, is much the best, 

 provided that the wind beats upon the backs of the slope. In 

 the Worcester, and especially the Umbrella system, many of 

 the hops get bruised by the chafing of neighbouring strings. 



(vi.) Prevalence of Mould. — Mould spreads most rapidly 

 and does most damage in closely-planted systems when the 

 bines get matted together at the top, and prevent an adequate 

 supply of sun and air to the foliage and hops. 



Tying and Training. — The hop hills begin to grow in 

 April, and the bines usually attain a length of about, 2 ft. 

 by the end of the month ; the first few bines produced are 

 usually coarse and "pipey," and are generally supposed to be 

 less fruitful than the later shoots; before tying begins, 

 therefore, these coarse shoots are pulled out, more bines 

 being pulled from the strong hills than the weak, so that 



