RETURN OF MATERIAL TO THE Hop Root. 

in 1897 and 1898, and would affect, if at all, the crops of 1898 
and 1899. The following table shows the actual crops 
obtained on the plot in question, together with the average 
of the crops upon the neighbouring plots where some other 
system of training was followed ; the last column shows the 
crop on the plot in question calculated as a percentage of this 
average crop of the garden. 








aa Spe! Pe Average Crop 
Drecinae ; Crop Per cent. of 
Wear: System. eeeeee Crop. of Garden. Average. 
cwts. per acre | Cwts. per acre 
1897 Poles. Not Cut II ny) 94 
1898 _ Poles. Cut 9°36 11°6 80°7 
1899 String. Cut 16.8 20°1 §3°6 
1900 String. Nota Git 9°7 | 10°4 93°3 

In 1898 and 1899 the plot where the bine had been cut at 
the previous harvest yielded only a little over 80 per cent. of 
the average yield of the neighbouring plots, whereas in 1897 
and 1900 the same plot, but with the bine not cut atthe 
previous harvest, yielded more than 93 per cent. of the 
average Crop. 
The effect of cutting the bine is very marked, for on each 
occasion it has depressed the crop in the following season by 
about 10 per cent. of the general yield of the garden. 
From a consideration both of analyses of the green and 
dead hop plant and of field experiments it 1s evident that a 
valuable amount of nutrient matter will be retained by the 
permanent root if the bine and leaves are allowed to ripen 
before they are separated from the stock. A considerable 
increase of crop will be obtained by growing hops upon some 
system of training that dispenses with the necessity of 
cutting the bine when the hops are picked. 
i NO) de ALL, 

