On the Agricultural Geology of the Weald. 
265 
Many hop-gardens are planted on tlie bare Weald Clay soil, 
but the greater number occur over the deep loams which border 
the Medway east of Tunbridge. From this flat country the hop- 
gardens stretch up the rising ground of the Hastings Beds, and 
thus connect this district with the fourth, or that of the Hastings 
Beds proper. This is of wider area than any other, but in no 
part of it do hop-gardens occur so thickly as near Hadlow 
and Maidstone. They are most common along the bottoms or 
slopes of the larger valleys, which have a general east and west 
direction. The streams running in these valleys unite to form 
the River Rother.* The soils of these valleys much resemble 
that of the Hadlow district, and the same kinds of hops are 
grown. It is a deep rich loam, either the washings of the valley 
sides, brought down by rain, or old alluvia of the streams which 
now flow along the bottoms. 
The hop-gardens, however, are not confined to the valleys, 
but extend up the slopes and over the higher ground ; they are 
found on all soils, even on stiff clays where sufficiently drained. 
Hops are not equally distributed over the Hastings Beds. They 
occur chiefly over the northern, central, and eastern districts, 
and there are also a good many on the south ; but westwards 
they become less common, comparatively few being met with 
west of Uckfield. The map of the soils accompanying this 
paper shows that the clayey beds of the Hastings series occupy a 
considerable area over the hop districts. It is not that hops are 
chiefly grown on clay, for, as just stated, they prefer a deep 
loamy soil, but it is not unlikely that, as far as the Weald is 
concerned, the alluvia of clayey districta suits them best. 
Shelter from high winds is essential for hops, and, where 
not naturally protected, the hop-gardens are frequently bordered 
by tall hedge-rows on the windward side, or by rough wooden 
walls of spare hop-poles : such protections are called " lews." 
The varieties of hops grown in the Weald are of coarser 
quality than those of the Farnham and Maidstone districts ; but 
much larger crops are often obtained, and the hops are less liable 
to the " mould," which often rapidly destroys the most promising 
crops. 
The hop-gardens of the Weald are not so continuous upon the 
same land as in the Farnham district. Ten or twelve years are 
said to be their average duration; yet one occasionally hears of 
some that have remained such for a much longer time. 
The ' Agricultural Returns ' for 1866-71 give the following 
numbers as the acreage under hops in those years : — ■ 
* There is another Rother in West Sussex, flowing from west to east, over the 
Lower Greensand, into the Aruu. 
