562 
Managemmt of Hops. 
quick, but do not last long ; and as they can only be obtained in 
the early part of the year, they are more applicable for bine than 
hops. Woollen rags are a lasting manure, but are more useful 
and decay sooner on dry than wet soils; shoddy and seal- skin are 
more active manures than Avoollen rags, but not so lasting, but, 
like them, better adapted to dry soils than wet or stiff strong soils — 
all those three manures are better adapted for the Kent rag 
than any other soil I know of. 
The general time of manuring is previous to digging in winter 
or spring, and every opportunity should be taken of a frost to cart 
out heavy manures, as farm-yard dung, or good fresh vegetable 
moidd where it can be obtained from any old hedge-rows or other 
places, and requires a frost to cart it, as it should be laid thick — 
from 80 to 100 one-horse cart loads to an acre; or, if farm-yard 
dung, from beasts fed with cake well made and moderately heated, 
from 20 to 25 yards cube per acre ; if inferior dung, more ; if 
dung and mould mixed before carting, from 60 to 80 one-horse 
cartloads per acre; woollen rags from 12 to 20 cwt. per acre — 
average cost of good rags, with cutting and carriage home, 6Z. 
per ton ; shoddy to be put on at the rate of 20 to 30 cwt. per 
acre, cost about 4Z. per ton. Seal-skin is generally sold by 
measure, about 7^d. per bushel ; about 160 bushels is a dressing 
for an acre. It is difficult to ascertain the cost of farm-yard 
fatting dung, but it is, when meat sells at a low price, obtained 
at a very great expense, often costing the planter lOZ. per acre 
for every acre of hop-ground he manures with it. I have stated 
above, that the winter or spring previous to digging is the most 
general time for putting manure on hops, but any of the before- 
mentioned may be applied as a summer dressing except mould, 
which, from the quantity required, would be expensive to get on 
the ground ; but dung is often wheeled in with a barrow to a dis- 
tance of 40 or 50 hills at a cost for wheeling of about 6(Z. to 
8c?. per 100 hills wheeling in and spreading ; if summer, dug in ; 
but the more general and less expensive method is to open a 
trench around the hill, put in the manure and tread it in, which 
may be done, wheeling in dung included, at \ s. 6d. per 100 hills ; 
if with rags or other light manures, at l.y. per 100. This sum- 
mer manuring may be commenced as soon as the hops are tied 
up out of the way, and should be finished before midsummer, 
when the fibres begin to run out from the hills. 
Guano and rape- cake dust are a very good and convenient 
manure for summer, and may be put around the hills as above, 
or spread broadcast over the ground and nidgeted in. In the 
year 1844, which was a dry summer, I manured a piece of hop- 
ground, putting it around the hills as before described, every 
alternate five row? of hills with guano and rape-cake dust, each 
