H U M U L U S. 457 
mg the order of this myfterie, fending us into Fiauhders, 
as .farre as Poppering, for that which we may finde at 
home in our owne backfides.” 
It appears from our old herbalift-s, Gerarde and Parkin- 
fon, that ale and beer were different liquors; the firl't be¬ 
ing malt-liquor without, and the fecond with, hops,— 
“The ale,” fays the latter of thefe authors (164.0,) “ which 
our forefathers were accuffomed only to drink, being a. 
kind of thicker drink than beere, is now alrnoft quite left 
off to be made,, the ufe of hoppes to be put therein al-- 
tering the quality thereof to be much more healthfully or 
rather phyficall, to*preferve the body from the repletion 
of grofl'e humours, which the ale engendered.” 
Walter Blith, in his Englifh Improver improved, 1649; 
third edition, 1653, p. 24.0, has a chapter upon improve¬ 
ment by plantations of hops, &c. He obferves, that “ Hops 
were then grown to be a nationall commodity ; but that 
it was not many years fmee the famous city of London 
petitioned the parliament of England againft two anufan- 
cies; and thele were Newcaftle coals, in regard of their 
flench, &c. and hops, in regard they would fpoyl the tall 
of drink, and endanger the people ; and, had the parlia¬ 
ment been no wifer than they, we had been in a meafure 
pined, and in a greater meafure ftarved, which is juft an- 
lwerable to the principles of thofe men who cry down all 
devices or ingenious dilcoveries, as projects, and thereby 
<ftifle and choak improvements.” He has eight pages in 
quarto upon the land belt for hops, and the belt fets for 
planting ; the manner of planting and cultivating them; 
and the profit accruing from them. 
Samuel Hartiib, efq. in the Compleat Hulbandman, 1659, 
fays that in queen Elizabeth’s time we had hops from the 
Low Countries ; and that “the Frenchman who writes the 
Treafure Politick faith, that it’s one of the great deficien¬ 
cies of England, that hops will not grow; whereas now it 
is known that they are the bell in the world.” 
Mr. Worlidge, in his Syjlema Agricullura, or Myltery of 
Hulbandry dil'covered, 1668, folio, is very copious in his 
directions for the tillage of hops. He fays, we had not 
then enough planted to ferve the kingdom, but yearly 
made ufe of Flemilh hops, nothing near fo good as our own. 
Mortimer, in his Whole Art of Hulbandry, 1706, Bvo. 
gives ample directions-for the planting, culture, picking, 
drying, and bagging, of hops. The "bell inftruCtion3 rela¬ 
tive to brewing are alio to be found in this work. 
The authors above mentioned bring down the culture 
of hops to the time of Mr. Miller, who has confined him- 
felf chiefly to the method which is followed in the county 
of Kent, where they were firlt adopted, with molt of our 
improvements in hulbandry, from Flanders. 
Ground-ivy, called-all'o ale-hoof, or tun-hoof, (gle- 
choma hederacea,) was generally ufed for preferving beer, 
before the introduction of hops. And, fince they have 
been introduced, many plants are laid to ferve as lucCe- 
daneums when hops are dear; as the roots of ginger and 
gentian; the feeds of coloquintida; and the herbs of hore- 
hound, wormwood, broom, carduus benedictus, centaurea 
calcitrapa or ftar-thiftle, marlh-trefoil or buckbean (rne- 
nyanthes trifoliata), &c. The laft particularly is much 
recommended, as a much more wholefome bitter than 
hops, in the proportion of two ounces, where a pound of 
the latter is ufed. But ail public, brewers are enjoined, 
under a fevere penalty, to ul'e no other bitter than hops 
for their malt-liquors. 
It is a general opinion among the hop-planters, that 
the plants which bear the male flowers, or the wild hops 
as they call them, are of no fervice in fecuring or increaf- 
ing the crop ; they are therefore commonly caft out. It 
would be well, however, if fome accurate experiments were 
made on this fubjecl. 
Propagation and Culture. There being the greateft planta¬ 
tion of hops in Kent that are in any county of England, 
It is very probable, that their method of planting and or¬ 
dering them fhould be the belt. 
As for the choice of their hop-grounds, they efteem 
Vol. X. No. 67.5. 
the rich-eft ar.d ftrongeft grounds as the mod proper; they 
chufe a warm dry foil, that has a good depth of hazel 
mould; and, if it be rocky within twoor three feet of the 
furface, the hops will profper well; but they will-by no 
xneau-s thrive on a fti-ff clay, or fpongy wet land. If it 
may be, choofe a piece of meadow or lay ground to plant 
hops on, fuch as has not been tilled or fown with other 
crops .for many years, or an old decayed orchard; for 
land that is worn out by long bearing of corn will require 
abundance of dung to bring it into any tolerable condi¬ 
tion to bear a crop of hops. The Kentifh planters ac¬ 
counting new land belt for hops, they plant their hop¬ 
gardens with apple-trees at a large diftance, and with 
cherry-trees between; and when the land has done its belt 
for.hops, which they reckon it will in about ten years, 
the trees may begin to bear. The cherry-trees laft about 
thirty years ; and, by the time the apple-trees are large, 
they cut down the cherry-trees. The Eflex planters ac¬ 
count a moory land the propereft for hops, though there 
are feveral other forts of foil that are efteemed very good. 
Some account that land which has a roffeily top, and"a 
brick-earth bottom* the bell; a true roffel, or light fand, 
is what they generally plant in, whether it be white or 
black. 
Moory land is of different forts, fome being ftrong and 
heavy, fo as to crack in fummer; and feme fo light, that 
in dry feafons it will blow away with the' wind; and 
fome are of a middle confidence, being compofed of both. 
Thefe moors, for goodnefs and value, are according to the 
nature and goodnefs of the foil that is underneath them ; 
which, being flung up upon the furface, will make a very 
good mixture, it being bell to fling the under-foil down¬ 
ward for hops, becaufe they naturally root downwards, 
fometimes four or live yards deep ; and therefore the 
deepeft and richeft foil is belt for them- Few are ac¬ 
quainted with the value of moors, becaufe they do not 
learch into the bottom of them, by reafon of the expen- 
fivenefs of doing it, and the difficulty of carrying off the 
water. 
If the land be moift, it ought to be laid up in high 
ridges, and to be well drained, and the drains kept clear 
and open, efpecially in winter,-that the water do-not rot 
or too much chill the roots. If the land be four or cold, 
it will be very much helped by burning it ; and if the 
haulm and firings of the hops be burnt every year, .and 
fome of the paring or fides of the garden or other earth 
be laid on them as they burn, and then more haulm be 
laid over that, and fo continued layer upon layer, it wiil 
make an excellent compoft to make the hills with. 
As to the fituation of a hop-ground, one that inclines 
to the fouth or weft is the molt eligible ; if it be expofed 
to the north eafl or fouth-weft winds, there fhould be a 
flielter of fome trees at a diftance; becaufe the north-eaft 
winds are apt to nip the tender fhoots in the fpring, and 
the fouth-weft-frequently break and blow the poles at the 
latter end of the fummer, and very much endanger the 
hops. Hops require to be planted in an open fituation, 
that the air may freely pafs round and between them to 
dry up and difiipute the moifture, whereby they will not 
be fo fubjecl to fire-blafts, which often deftroy the mid¬ 
dles of large plantations, while the outfides remain.unhurt. 
As for the preparation of the ground for planting, it 
fliould, the winterbefore, be ploughed and harrowed even ; 
and then lay upon it in heaps a good quantity of frefh 
rich earth, or well-rotted dung and earth mixed together, 
fufficient to put half a bufliel in every hole to plant the 
hops in, unlefs the natural ground be very frefh and good. 
Then lay a line acrofs it, from the hedge, in which knots 
have been tied, at the diftance yon defign your hop-hills 
to be at, about eight or nine feet diftance the whole length 
of the-ground, and place a fharp-pointed flick at every 
knot; then lay 'afide the line, and, with two forked flicks 
of about eight or nine feet long, you may from the firft 
row fet out the whole ground, by applying the two forks' 
or tvvp of the flicks which were firft let up, and placing 
• A another 
