181 
HOPS, 
Later, it is true, the trees prove prejudicial, by the 
spreading of their roots, and by their branches inter¬ 
cepting the light and heat of the sun ; preventing also 
a fx - ee circulation of air. This, however, will not hap¬ 
pen in any considerable degree, till they are fifteen or 
twenty years’ growth, the time when the hops, under 
this management, may be expected to decline ; and it 
will be necessary to apply the land to the purposes of 
which it is most capable as an orchard. In this me¬ 
thod, there would always be a constant succession of 
young vigorous plantations of both produce. Those 
years in which the hops fa.il> some return for the great 
labour and expense they are attended with, might 
be looked for from the fruit; a larger proportion of 
the land would share in turn, that extraordinary at¬ 
tention which is now confined to those parts on which 
the hops are grown. The crops of these would pro¬ 
bably never rise so high as they occasionally do noAv; 
but it must be remembered, these are not those which 
pay the planter best, as all the expenses on the pro¬ 
duce are the same, on a given weight, whatever price 
it bears. Moreover, the average produce of the plan¬ 
tations is now said to exceed the consumption: in the 
great years, such as the present, so much so, as to re¬ 
duce the price so low as scarcely to repay the planter; 
they are, nevertheless, increasing : those of this coun¬ 
ty, within the last three years, have added one hun¬ 
dred and fifty acres to their former growth ; and this, 
notwithstanding there appears but little prospect of 
any new markets for them being found: a very serious 
consideration, and highly deserving the utmost atten¬ 
tion of the planters. If this statement proves true, the 
following practical inference may be with certainty 
drawn from it—that it will be adviseable to forego 
4 
some 
