Hop Cultivation. 
239 
continually stir hop land deeply throughout the summer. Others 
stir in this way until the middle of July, and only very lightly 
afterwards, in order not to disturb or break through the net- 
work of fibres running through the soil just beneath the 
surface in every direction. In summer it is unlikely that the 
soluble elements of manures could be washed down to the roots 
of the hop plants, and it would seem that those fibres are the 
only means of conveying the manurial elements to them. No one 
who has not seen the masses of these delicate fibres, mere fila- 
ments, traversing every part of the surface soil in a well-cultivated 
and well-manured hop ground, would believe in this extraordi- 
nary provision of nature. 
It would seem to be utterly wrong to deliberately disturb 
this host of foragers, yet it is the practice of some planters to 
have the nidgetts put in deeply just when the fibres are in full 
work, and tear them up in quantities. The reason for this has 
never been logically demonstrated, and it would appear to be 
more rational to let the fibres work without interruption, and to 
merely skim the ground in the late summer with nidgetts having 
wide hoes to keep down the rapidly-growing weeds. 
Nidgetts do not cover all the ground, as they cannot be drawn 
close to the poles. A space around the hills must be tilled 
by hand. This is dug round with the spud, directly after the 
poles are set up. After this it is prong-hoed with the Canterbury 
hoe, an admirable tool (fig. 7), once or twice during the summer. 
If the ground is hard, and weeds are very rampant, the 
ordinary “ plate ” hoe is used. Manure, as rape dust, is fre- 
quently chopped in with the Canterbury hoe in summer. 
On some very extensive hop farms shimming, or nidgetting, 
is done by steam, especially at first, when the ground is hard 
and weatherbound. This is arranged as in the case of ordinary 
steam-ploughing and scarifying. 
The object of all enlightened planters in these days is to get 
as good a tilth as possible, and to have a depth of at least a foot 
of triturated earth in every part of the ground, for the fibres to 
work in, and for absorbing and retaining heat and moisture. 
