Manafjfemeiit of Hops. 
559 
go three ways will do all the ground, G acres will be done by 
a man, a horse, and a boy in 3 days, for which 6s. per day would 
be good pay, which would be I8s. for the 6 acres, or 35. per acre, 
for doing it once. Supposing the ground to be nidgetted 8 times 
all over during the summer, which is as many times as is ever 
required, it would be 1/. 4s. per acre, instead of 2/. 7>»'. for hand- 
cultivation ; oi', if the plant is square instead of triangular, it 
would require every time of nidgeting to go four times over, that 
is, twice in an alley each Avay ; it would consequently cost one- 
fourth more, which would be II. I2s. per acre. 
In horse-culture, as the nidget does not go quite close to the 
hills, and particularly in square plant with 3 poles to a hill, it is 
requisite that they should be hand-cultivated around the hills, 
which is done either by digging with a spud, or chopping with a 
three-prong or broad hoe, as the nature of the soil may require. 
The digging will cost from 6d. to 8d. per 100 hills, or from 6*. 
to 8^'. per acre; the chopping from 4d. to 6d. per 100, or 4^-. to 
6s. per acre, which expense is not incurred where the ground is 
dug all over, consequently adding a little more to the cost of 
horse-cultivation, bringing it all together to 30^. per acre for trian- 
gular, and 36^. for square; the hand -cultivation being, as before 
stated, 47s. 
The digging or chopping around hills requires to be done 
directly the bines are tied to the poles out of the way ; for, as in 
poling and tying the ground is trod down by the polers and 
tiers, the sooner it is loosened up the better. Digging around is 
the most effectual, as the ground is moved to a greater depth than 
by chopping, but care must be taken that it is all broken fine as 
deep as it is dug, or it will let in the drought ; and as on stift" 
clayey soils that cannot be always done, in that case chopping is 
best. Digging around the hills is mostly practised in Mid- Kent, 
and chopping in the Weald and in Sussex. If the ground is in 
that rough state, which it sometimes is in a dry spring, so that the 
nidget pulls up the clods and does not break them, they should 
be broken either by a narrow roller drawn up and down the alleys, 
or by men or boys with clod-hammers ; so desirable it is to have 
a fine as well as deep tilth, that it should be obtained, however 
difficult or expensive. 
Earthing in the hills is performed with a shovel, with which 
a small mound of earth is put on the top of the bine between the 
poles, taking it from the alleys and filling up the space between 
the poles. This operation is essential for two or three purposes ; 
first, to stop fresh young shoots from coming out of the hills and 
keep weeds under : it is some support both to the bine and the 
poles ; it causes the bine to enlarge and form cuttings for the next 
spring ; and lastly, it has an effect upon the crop for another 
