304 
Farming of Hampsliire. 
Ten acres of hops are cultivated at HursJey, 20 miles distant 
from the usual hop-country. This is an accident. The culti- 
vator, Mr. Porter, is a Kentish man, and tried the experiment in 
a new locality ; he dofs not recommend others to follow his 
example, the soil not being deep enough. He grows Golding's, 
and has, indeed, taken a prize, the quality being good ; but 
though he did grow 14 cwt. one year, the quantity is generally 
deficient. They come out well in burr, and then fail. The 
usual hop district is about Alton, Binstead, Bentley, Froyle, 
Selborne, and Crondal, where the cultivation differs, in some 
respects, from the account already published in the Society's 
Journal. Part of this district is in Alice Holt Forest, and has 
been enclosed and broken up of late years. Land, before not 
worth 2s. Gd. an acre as wood, has been producing good crops, 
and paying better than the old hop-land. Indeed, the hop cul- 
tivation has generally altered of late years. The practice used 
to be, to pick out nice little bits of suitable ground here and 
there, protect them with high hedges, and keep them continually 
under hops. Now, where there is room for change, after growing 
hops for ten or twelve years, the land returns to the usual arable 
rotation, the corn-crops, for years afterwards, showing their appre- 
ciation of the previous hop culture. The year's operations com- 
mence with stripj)inrj and stacliing the poles in October ; the 
farmyard duncf is then applied, 25 tons to an acre, also soot and 
rags, at a cost of 11. : if possible, this should be hauled in frosty 
weather, or at least not in the wet, else the roots of the hops will 
be torn. If the soil be stiff, 160 bushels of lime are applied per 
acre, once in seven or eight years. In February the dressing is 
dug ill with a three-pronged fork, the stones interfering with 
more prongs. A difference of opinion exists about weed^; some 
will not allow a weed to be seen at any time ; but, on the other 
hand, I have been told by a very successful grower that he pre- 
ferred digging-in pretty high weeds, considering that they 
opened and improved the soil, and had this further advantage, 
that they prevented the diggers from scamping their work, be- 
cause, if the fork was not worked straight down and deep, the 
weeds would tell tales. After the digging, each hill (the posi- 
tion of the plant) is opened, and the sets or rrmners are mt off 
down to the old " stool." Each root has eight or ten bines, and 
each bine has one set. Nurseries are made of the sets cut off ; 
the "stool" grows bigger and bigger with age, and, if you cut 
down to that, there will be plenty of buds left for new bines. 
The cutting should be completed by the end of March. Poling 
follows. Green bine hops require three poles 10 or 12 feet 
long ; white bine two or three, 14 or 18 feet long. The better 
the soil, the higher the pole. For material, larch is preferred, 
