Investigations upon the Growth of Hops. 461 



investigations on various points connected with the growth of 

 hops, and as these investigations have been in progress since 

 the season of 1895, it may not be out of place to summarise the 

 results which have so far been reached. The investigations 

 have been of a varied nature : in one direction they deal with 

 the methods of cultivation and management of the plant; 

 in another with the manuring, particularly in relation to the 

 different soils upon which hops are grown; thirdly, the condi- 

 tions affecting the drying process, to which the hops are 

 -■subjected after picking, have been worked at; and lastly the 

 insect pests and other diseases have occupied much attention. 

 The field trials have been carried on at Wye in a small 

 hop garden planted on the College Farm, and at various 

 places in Kent and Surrey, on land placed at the disposal of 

 the College by the occupiers. 



In the work many members of the staff of the College have 

 co-operated. Professor J. Percival has for some years had the 

 actual superintendence of the field trials, other than those at 

 Wye, taking up this work when Mr. H. J. Monson left Wye ; his, 

 also, is the botanical work ; Mr. F. V. Theobald is responsible 

 for the entomological work; and Mr. H. H. Cousins, before he 

 went to Jamaica with Mr. F.T. Flolbrook, did much laboratory 

 work on the question of Hop Resins, as well as field work on 

 the prevention of disease. 



The plots in the field trials vary in area from half an acre 

 down to one twelfth of an acre ; the crop is always weighed 

 in a green state as picked. In the following tables the results 

 each year are recalculated to a common standard, one plot 

 being always taken as 100. In this w T ay the results are 

 easier to follow, because the fluctuation of the crop from year 

 to year is eliminated ; for the actual weights per acre the 

 Journal of the South-Eastern Agricultural College should be 

 consulted. 



The hop is a perennial plant, dying down to ground level 

 every year ; on good soils it is to all intents permanent, 

 although perhaps 2 or 3 per cent, of the stocks die and are 

 renewed each season. Gardens 30 to 50 years old are not 

 uncommon, whereas on cold or stiff soils a garden may need 

 grubbing after ten years' cropping. Each plant forms what 



