Hop Cultivation. 
57 
that I never intend to put a new pole into my ground without 
its aid. If poles were pickled one year under another, and stored 
in a stack till dry, they would be found to last far longer than if 
used in a green state. 
The hop-plant has a variety of enemies : on the first appear- 
ance of the bine it is frequently attacked by Jica, which checks 
its growth, and makes it look scrubby and unhealthy, but never 
destroys the crop. Wireworms are a great pest ; the best plan 
to get rid of them is to cut a potato in half, and place it close on 
either side the root an inch below tlie surface ; the potato lures 
the worm, and, if taken up every other morning for a fortnight, 
enables you to take a great quantity ; I have known of a dozen being 
taken from one root. The greatest enemy is the aphis, and I regret 
to say that on the most important subject of its history we are as 
ignorant as our forefathers ; we go to bed leaving Our garden free, 
and next morning we find aphis — from one to ten or twenty — on a 
small leaf, which in the course of a week have increased to count- 
less myriads. These pests are followed by nits and lice, which 
some seasons multiply so rapidly as to destroy the bine and the 
planter's prospects. I would here repeat the recommendation 
which I have already given to the planter, not to work his hops 
when in a state of blight. When closely watching the blights of 
181)0, '01, and '02, 1 have observed that in all cases where the land 
was best tilled, manured, and cared for, the blight remained 
until too late in the season for the chance of a crop ; on the other 
hand, where nothing was done, but weeds were suffered to grow 
nearly half-way up the poles, the bine became yellow and clean, 
and the result was a fair sprinkling of hops ; in such ground, the 
vermin had left the hop for want of sap and taken to the weeds. 
Of late years a machine has been used to pack the hops, which 
is very useful when there is a large crop, as it enables you to 
pack your hops much sooner. Treading up is preferable, if care 
be taken to have the hops in a fit state not to break under the 
loot ; if allowed to become too cool they are hard and lumpy 
in the sample, and are termed cold. A master's attention to the 
state of his hops before bagging is most necessary to good 
management. Hops are picked in Worcestershire and Hereford- 
shire far more free from leaves than in Kent or Sussex. They 
should be sent, if possible, to the oast without a leaf, dried 
slowly, taken off the kiln in a soft, not a brittle state, and trod 
into the pocket as soon as sufficiently cool ; they do not then 
break under the foot. In Kent and Sussex hops are dried in 
a variety of ways, and with several kinds of fuel. In oasts on 
the Cockle principle anything may be used, and a considerable 
quantity of sulphur is required but on the open fire principle 
Welsh coal and coke is used, and a small quantity of sulphur. 
