534 
Manar/ement of Hops. 
long', and now grow good crops of good Golding hops, frequently 
more than recently planted grounds, and less lialale to disease, 
l^he roots of the hop are frequently found in these rocks at a 
depth of from 10 to 15 feet from the surface, where the stone 
has been taken out to that depth, showing that thev are search ng 
down between the interstices for moisture and food. 
The soil on this range of hills varies considerably in different 
districts, and in different parts of the same district, as it may be 
nearer the top or bottom of the range, being generally richer 
and deeper at and towards the foot than at the summit ; but it 
is all kindly for the growth of hops. There is a narrow breadth of 
rather a tenacious and strong nature near the bottom of this 
range of hills on the south side^ called the Coombe soil, which 
grows excellent Golding hops ; and a district called Under-river, 
near Seven Oaks, on that soil, has been for many years noted for 
growing hops of the finest quality. I have hitherto only noticed 
the before-mentioned soils as being the best for growing the finer 
and better varieties of hops, as the Goldings and Canterburys ; 
they are nevertheless capable of growing all the coarser varieties 
to perfection, both as to crop and quality ; and a great many acres 
of those descriptions are- now in plant, for although they make a 
less price in the market, they are not so subject to, and more 
likely to recover from, various diseases (which I shall enumerate 
under that head) to which the plant is liable. 
Below the ragstone range of hills, either in the Weald of Kent 
or in Sussex, there are but very few Golding or Canterbury hops 
grown, nor does it answer the planter's purpose to grow them, 
for although there are varieties of deep-moulded and rich soils in 
those districts, the subsoils are mostly too retentive of water, or 
the situations unadapted for the healthy subsistence and growth 
of those varieties. The soils in those districts, on which the 
coarser varieties of hops, such as the Grape, the Jones, the 
Colegates, and various others are grown, are the deep alluvial 
soils near large rivers or the sea (but sheltered from the sea 
winds) ; the deep loamy soils on a sandstone rock, or on a gra- 
velly subsoil, which are to be found, the former in the lower part 
of Kent and adjoining parts of Sussex, on the declivities and tops 
of the gently rising hills of those parts, on what is termed the 
Hastings-sand formation ; the latter in parts of the Weald of 
Kent near streams and rivers, and in the valleys between the hills 
in Sussex and adjacent parts of Kent. Also the retentive clays 
of the Weald of Kent and Sussex, where there is a depth of 
top-soil, are very productive in growing hops in favourable 
years, but these, as well as all other wet subsoils, require to be 
thoioughly underdrained, or they will not produce so much, and 
the plant will soon decay. 
