604 
On the Use of old Hop-bines as Manure. 
examined the outlets of a field oi' 18 acres of young clover, which was 
surface-drained, five years ago, 24 inches deep and 21 feet apart. The 
outlet, or discharging conduits, were fifteen in number, so that each 
had to carry the water from but little more than an acre of land ; and 
yet the water from each of those outlets would have filled at least three 
one-inch pipes ; and, if such small pipes had been used, every drain 
would-have been blown.* Upon fallow-land of the same description the 
water would have been discharged in even a larger volume. 
I think the time is come for our Society to examine into this important 
question, for the purpose of giving to the public the best information on 
the subject in an early num.ber. Two or tliree gentlemen, appointed for 
the purpose, should examine on the spot the ditlerent methods prac- 
tised in difl'erent localities, as well as the materials used, the nature of 
soil, &c. I should be well pleased to see such a deputation here, where 
I think draining ia done in a superior manner. 
Yours faithfully, 
Hknry Dixon. 
Witham, Nov. 18, 1844. 
XV. — Experiments on the Use of old Hop-bines as Manure in 
Hop-Gardens. By Sir John Tylden. 
To the Secretary. 
Sir, — One of the great objects of a farmer ought to be to make as much 
manure as possible at home. Impressed with the great utility of this 
axiom, I send you the following experiment in support of it. 
About this time last year I read an account of a vine-grower in Ger- 
many, who had manured his vineyard for several years with the cuttings 
of his vines; and it struck me that the same good might be obtained by 
using the old hop-bines in the hop-garden, instead of burning or other- 
wise wasting them, which is too generally the practice in Kent. I there- 
fore (not being a hop-grower) requested Captain Palten8on,of Ibornden, 
in the Weald of Kent, a successful hop-grower, and one of my tenants 
in this neighbourhood, to try the experiment. I proposed that the 
bines should be cut or chopped in pieces of about 1 inch or 2 inches 
long, and either lightly dug at once into the soil, or laid up in heaps of 
about 4 or 6 bushels, and covered with earth for the winter, then spread 
abroad and dug in. The tenant hnd as many bines cut in November 
last as two men could cut with a common chafl-cutter in two days; lialf 
of these were dug in at once, the rest laid up in heaps and dug in in the 
spring of the year ; by which time the bines had decomposed into a rich 
* It appears that each of these furrow-drains, if they were only fifteen 
for the whole length of the field, must have been 640 yards long. If inch- 
pipes had been used, the mischief apprehended would have been easily reme- 
died by crossing them with two or three main-drains emptying in the side- 
ditches : a precaution useful in all drainage, but doubly so iu drainage 
with narrow bores, because the damage from any stoppage is thus limited 
to a portion of the length of each drain. — Ph. P. 
