Investigations upon the Growth of Hops, 467 



The Worcester system, having 1,700 hills to the acre, is 

 somewhat more expensive to cultivate ; it also possesses the 

 disadvantages of the Umbrella work in want of stiffness 

 against wind, and in the difficulty of washing it thoroughly. 



The net result of the five years' trials seems to be that no 

 one system of training hops can be definitely said to be "the 

 best " ; different seasons favour different plans ; a free-grow- 

 ing variety on a rich soil will require to be more widely 

 spaced, and trained on a flatter slope than would yield the 

 best results in a less vigorous garden. Nor is the problem 

 only one of the maximum production ; the cost of cultivation 

 and training must be considered. Some gardens are sheltered, 

 and much account need not be taken of the stiffness 

 against wind of the system adopted ; others again are 

 specially liable to attacks of aphis, and must be designed to 

 admit of easy and thorough washing. The adoption of any 

 particular system and method of planting, becomes a matter 

 of judgment, of balancing the relative advantages and dis- 

 advantages possessed by the various plans, in the light of 

 what is known of the particular soil and situation. Our 

 general judgment is in favour of the Butcher system, more 

 widely spaced than usual, so as to admit the maximum of air 

 and sun to the bines. The shorter crop, which will sometimes 

 result from the wide planting will be more than compensated 

 by the superior healthiness and better quality of the product. 



The Effect of " Strip ping." 

 It is the prevailing practice among the better cultivators 

 of hops to strip away the leaves and the lateral shoots from 

 the bine to the height of 4 or 5 feet, about the first week in 

 July. Women are sent through the garden, and with a sharp 

 pluck upwards tear away the green leaves on either side 

 the bine, together with the lateral shoot which starts from 

 the axil of the leaf. Sheep are occasionally turned in to eat 

 this lower growth away and save labour ; sometimes it is cut 

 away with a billhook, but the risk of a casual slash through 

 the bine itself is too great. The justification of this stripping 

 process lies in the difficulty of getting any spraying machine 

 to deal adequately with the lower foliage ; in certain con- 

 ditions of weather the aphis hangs about the lower part of 



H H 2 



