%‘  'fOtlRNAL  OF  HORTIGULTliRR  Am  COTTAGE  GAUBEmtL  july  ii3.  lefid. 
abundant  crop  means,  not  wealth,  but  loss  and  serious  loss  to 
the  producer.  The  consumer  alone  benefits  and  perhaps  not  to 
the  fullest  extent.  That  sentence  is  open  to  amendment. 
What  about  the  middleman?  Does  not  he  feather  his  nest  at 
the  expense  of  both  parties  ? 
In  looking  over  an  account  of  the  growing  Hop  crop  of  1896 
in  Kent,  Sussex*  Surrey,  Hants,  Worcester,  and  Hereford,  we 
are  very  much  struck  by  the  despondent  tone  running  through 
all.  The  money  returns  for  last  year’s  crop  were  so  bad  that 
many  growers  appear  to  have  lost  heart,  and  are  making  no 
endeavour  to  properly  and  adequately  cultivate  their  bines ; 
indeed  it  may  be,  and  possibly  is,  that  they  have  not  the 
necessary  capital,  but  this  seems  to  us  to  be  a  great  error  in  judg¬ 
ment  Some  of  the  land  has  been  under  Hop  cultivation  for  over  100 
years.  Of  other  crops  land  tires  Is  it  not  also  possible  that 
this  continuous  growth  has  exhausted  the  land  of  those 
constituents  that  the  Hop  needs,  and  that  no  manure  exists 
which  is  quite  equal  to  supplying  this  loss  ? 
The  outlook  in  Kent  is  better  now  than  it  was  some  few 
weeks  ago.  The  longed-for  rain  has  materially  assisted  the 
growth  of  the  bine,  which  has  been  terribly  handicapped  by 
insect  peats ;  indeed,  well-informed  growers  assert  there  has 
been  no  visitation  so  severe  since  1882. 
Judging  from  analogy  frosts,  late  and  persistent,  with 
drought  must  have  been  very  preva’ent.  for  we  generally  find  it 
is  on  frost-injured  vegetation  that  various  flies  abound 
Earwigs  and  wireworms,  too,  have  played  their  part  in  the  havoc 
made,  and  it  appears  only  as  if  it  were  necessary  for  the  dreaded 
mould  to  become  general  for  the  Hop  grower’s  cup  of  trouble 
to  run  over.  Mention  is  made  of  this  mould  in  several  reports, 
but  all  agree  that  at  present  it  does  not  seem  inclined  to 
spread.  J  t  appears  in  all  the  gardens  where  the  Hop  is  doing 
fairly  well  Washing  has  been  resorted  to  with  much  vigour, 
and  those  gardens  in  which  the  ground  is  well  worked  and  clean 
there  is  not  much  fear  of  mould  spreading.  A  great  deal  is 
urged  in  favour  of  early  washing,  so  as  to  destroy  the  aphides 
before  they  get  firm  h  )ld  Where  washing  is  neglected  the  bines 
have  no  chance,  and  are  already  giving  up. 
With  the  best  attention  and  care  in  the  majority  of  gardens 
the  bines  hardly  yet  do  more  than  reach  the  top  of  the  poles. 
Everywhere  the  same — bad  cultivation  bad  results;  gooi 
careful  management,  goo  1  promising  crops.  One  writer  says, 
‘The  lov  price  of  last  season’s  growth  has  so  thoroughly 
disappointed  growers  that  one  hardly  thinks  about  them  (Hop  ) 
with  any  amount  of  interest.” 
We  can  quite  understand  the  feeling  manifested  here,  but 
surely  it  is  not  the  best  way  to  sit  down  and  submit  quietly 
under  these  circumstances  There  must  be  some  means  of 
improving  the  sit  ation. 
We  hear  that  the  County  Council  of  Kent  is  taking  the 
matter  in  hand,  sending  practical  men  to  lecture,  and  practical 
men  to  experiment  with  the  diseased  crop-'.  Agricultural 
chemistry  is  an  advancing  science,  and  good  farming  aided  by 
science  ought  to  find  some  way  out  of  this  desperate  condition 
We  do  not  know  much  of  Hop  culture,  but  dare  we  apply  the 
ax  om  of  a  well-1- nown  Fo  ato  grower  when  talked  to  about 
remedies  for  Potato  disease?  ‘  Grow  the  strong  rather  than 
doctor  the  weakly.”  It  is  a  case  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest. 
Farmers  are  usually  credited  with  the  inclination  to  take  a 
gloomy  view  of  things,  and  although,  taken  as  a  whole,  the 
report  for  Kent  is  fair  and  improving,  yet  those  reports  for 
Worcester  and  Hereford  are  very  unfavourable  indeed. 
We  notice  one  correspondent  estimates  the  crop  at  one  half 
of  last  year  s  and  another  at  one-third  ;  one  again  thinks  that 
with  favourable  weather  for  the  next  two  months  an  average 
crop  may  be  grown,  but  this  only  in  well  cultivated  gardens 
where  the  bine  has  been  carefully  washed. 
Hain  seems  to  be  still  much  wanted,  especially  ^or  the  young 
plantations.  Here  again  in  these  counties  the  aphis  blight  of 
this  year  is  compared  with  that  of  1882.  Our  memory  does  not 
carry  us  so  far  back,  but  we  wonder  what  were  the  climatic 
conditions  of  that  year.  If  the  season  is  early,  as  may  be  fairly 
expected,  the  picking  will  be  early  too,  and  weakly  bines  will 
have  no  time  to  recover  lost  ground. 
A  few  later  notes  have  just  come  to  hand  ;  they  do  not  differ 
materially  from  the  earlier  ones.  Washing  and  good  cultivation 
have  made  a  stand-up  fight  with  aphis,  and  the  enemy  at  present 
is  subdued  All  these  washings  mean  expense,  and  the  crops 
even  now  are  still  at  the  mercy  of  the  weather  for  the  next 
few  weeks. 
When  the  French  Vine  growers  were  in  despair  over  the 
destruction  of  their  vineyards  by  the  dreaded  phylloxera  the 
Vines  were  uprooted  and  burned,  the  land  thoroughly  purified, 
and  fresh  Vines  imported  from  America  The  French  do  not 
usually  beat  us  in  enterprise ;  John  Bull  ought  to  be  equal,  if 
not  before,  him  in  expedients  for  saving  his  pocket  and 
preserving  to  himself  an  old  and  valuable  industry.  Verb.  sap. 
WOBK  ON  THE  HOME  FARM. 
The  later  hay  ia  being  got  ander  most  favourable  conditions,  and  the 
verdict  of  the  farmer  with  regard  to  this  first  of  harvests  must  surely  be 
good  as  regards  condition  and  quality,  though  quantity  may  in  some 
parts  be  lacking.  Ensilage  this  year  will  have  to  take  second  place  to 
hay  without  a  doubt,  for  when  all  has  been  said  in  its  favour,  hay  of 
fine  quality  will  always  be  preferred  by  stock,  if  they  have  a  fair  choice. 
With  well  got  hay,  even  if  the  bulk  be  only  moderate,  winter  may  be 
faced  with  equanimity.  When  crops  are  very  heavy  they  are  often 
coarse,  and  though  the  quantity  may  appear  large,  the  stock  of  real 
wholesome  food  may  be  lets  than  is  the  case  in  a  dry  season  with  only 
half  the  weight  per  acre,  but  which  cattle  consume  to  the  last  mouthful. 
The  hot  weather  is  ripening  the  cereals  quickly.  Wheat  is,  no  doubt, 
the  crop  of  the  year,  but  it  is  not  so  widely  set  when  closely  examined  as 
we  had  expected  ;  four  grains  in  a  cluster  are  not  very  easy  to  find,  but 
this  may  be  owing  to  the  plant  being  so  very  thick  on  the  ground  that 
the  heaviest  of  ears  can  hardly  be  expected.  Barley  is  much  improved 
with  the  rains,  and  on  good  soils  now  promises  to  be  but  little  behind 
Wheat.  Very  little  is  laid,  and  with  fine  weather  for  harvest,  fine  quality 
should  be  assured. 
Oats,  though  improved,  cannot  be  an  average  crop ;  they  are  very 
uneven,  and  will  be  difficult  to  harvest,  as  there  are  so  many  different 
growths. 
Mangolds  are  making  up  leeway  rapidly,  and  may  make  an  average 
crop  ;  but  S  vedes  are  growing  badly,  and  promise  to  be  the  worst  of  the 
roots.  Common  Turnips  are  doing  well  except  the  earliest  ones,  which, 
sown  about  the  same  time  as  the  Swedes,  seem  to  be  affected  with  the 
same  lack  of  vigour. 
The  ground  from  which  tares  have  been  mown,  if  worked  well  and 
then  deeply  ploughed,  will  grow  a  fair  crop  of  late  Turnips;  but  the 
work  must  be  done  at  once,  and  the  seed  drilled  as  early  as  possible. 
We  fear  the  young  Clovers  in  the  corn  are  only  a  poor  plant ;  much 
of  the  earliest  sown  seem  to  have  been  withered  up  by  the  drought,  and 
the  rains  came  too  late.  The  shrinkage  of  sheep  food  for  next  year 
which  is  thus  entailed  is  not  the  only  loss  therefrom  ;  as  a  weak  seed 
pasture  must  be  followed  by  a  light  corn  crop  the  effect  is  felt  through¬ 
out  the  course. 
Farm  work  at  present  on  arable  land  is  represented  by  one  word — ffoe. 
METEOROLOGICAL  OBaERVATIONS. 
Oamdbn  SyUAKB.  London. 
Lat.  Slosa'AC"  N. :  Long.  0“8'0"  W.;  Altitude  111  feet 
Datb. 
9  A.M. 
In  thb  Day. 
a 
1 
1896 
July. 
1  Barometer 
at  32°,  and 
Sea  Level. 
Hygrometer. 
Direc¬ 
tion  of 
Wind. 
Temp, 
of  soil 
at 
1  foot. 
Shade  Tem¬ 
perature. 
Radiation 
Temperatur. 
Dry. 
Wet. 
Max. 
Min. 
In 
Sun. 
On 
G^rasij 
Inchs 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
deg. 
In  oh  A 
Sunday  . . 
12 
30-257 
66  0 
67-6 
N.E. 
86  9 
81-1 
49-2 
lll-l 
42-3 
— 
Monday  , , 
13 
30-214 
7u*4 
60  9 
N  B. 
65-9 
84-3 
53-1 
ll4-i 
46  4 
Tuesday  . . 
14 
30-08  z 
74-6 
60-9 
N. 
66-3 
88-7 
66  3 
127-2 
47-9 
Wednesday 
16 
29-961 
66-9 
60-3 
N. 
66-9 
77-6 
63-7 
12.5-1 
80-6 
— 
Thursday . , 
16 
30-104 
56-2 
5-2-9 
N. 
66-6 
62-7 
&6-6 
106-6 
55-3 
0-081 
Friday 
17 
30-239 
69-8 
63  3 
N. 
63-9 
67-4 
53-2 
120-1 
53-0 
— 
Saturday  ., 
18 
30-264 
64  7 
67-9 
N. 
63-1 
77-9 
61-0 
1200 
43  3 
— 
30-182 
66-5 
67-7 
65  5 
77-2 
54-4 
117-6 
49-8 
0-081 
REMARKS. 
12th.— Almost  unbroken  sunshine. 
13th. — Sunny  and  rather  hazy  and  close. 
Uth.— Overcast  early ;  hazy  and  oppressive  day  ;  cloudy  evening. 
16th.—  Overcast  early  and  frequently  cloudy  during  the  da\ ,  but  much  bright  sunshine  ; 
threatening  rain  in  evening. 
16th.— Overcast,  with  high  wind  and  spots  of  rain  in  morning,  almost  continuous  rain 
from  noon  to  6  P.M.,  and  overcast  after. 
17th.— Generally  overcast  in  morning,  frequently  sunny  in  afternoon. 
18th.— Sunny  early,  overcast  morning,  sunny  all  afternoon,  and  cloudy  again  in 
evening. 
Another  hot  and  dry  week.  The  temperature,  however,  has  not  reached  90“  in  the 
shade.- G.  J.  Symon^. 
