applied not too late, would be a thoroughly safe dressing. In the case of neither dung nor any other nitrogenous fertilizers having been recently applied, there seems no reason for supposing that, even in a wet season, 6 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre applied early would be otherwise than a safe dressing, considering both quantity and quality of produce. In conjunction with dung, or with the early use of other nitrogenous manures, such as fish, guano, rape dust, &c. it would probably be wise not to exceed 4 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre.
As to the date of application, April or May is the latest time at which nitrate of soda should, in most circumstances, be applied, and probably April is preferable to May. The quantity used should be applied in separate dressings of not more than 2 cwt. per acre each, put on at intervals of a month. Where the quantity of nitrate of soda used is large, and constitutes the whole of the nitrogenous manure employed, the first dressing may, on fairly deep and retentive soils, be given as early as January; or, if the quantity used is smaller, say in February; while February will, in most cases, probably be early enough for the first dressing in the case of lighter soils. The condition of the soil and the degree and distribution of rainfall during both the previous autumn and the winter, as well as in the spring itself, produce such varying conditions that it is almost impossible to frame general rules.
The commonly accepted notion that nitrate of soda is a manure which should be reserved for use during the later period of the growth of the bine appears to be erroneous. The summer months, when the growth of the bine is most active, are the months in which natural nitrification is going on in the soil, converting soil nitrogen and the nitrogen of dung, guano, fish, rape dust, shoddy or other fertilizers into nitrates, and placing this nitrogen at the disposal of the plants; and it appears reasonable, therefore, to suppose that nitrate of soda will be most useful to the hops at the earlier stages of their growth, before the products of that nitrification become abundant. This would especially be so in a season immediately following a wet autumn and winter, which have the effect of washing away into the drains the residual nitrates not utilized by the previous crop.
The necessity, whether dung is used or not, and whatever form of nitrogenous manure is employed, of also supplying the hops with an abundance of phosphates, cannot be too strongly urged. The use of phosphates for hops was long neglected by hop-planters, and even now there are many growers who do not realize the full importance of heavy phosphatic manuring. On soils containing an abundance of lime no better or cheaper phosphatic manure can be used than ordinary superphosphate, of which as much as 10 cwt. per acre may be applied without the slightest fear of harm. But if the soil is not decidedly calcareous—that is to say, if it does not effervesce when it is stirred up with some diluted hydrochloric (muriatic) acid—bone dust, phosphatic guano or basic slag should be used as a source of phosphates, at the rate of not less than 10 cwt. per acre. On medium soils, which, without being distinctly calcareous, nevertheless contain a just appreciable quantity of carbonate of lime, it is probably a good plan to use the latter class of manures, alternately with superphosphate, year and year about; but it is wise policy to use phosphates in some form or other every year in every hop garden. They are inexpensive, and without them neither dung, nitrate of soda, ammonia salts nor organic manures can be expected to produce both a full vigorous growth of bine and at the same time a well-matured crop of full-weighted, well-conditioned hops.
The use of potash salts, on most soils, is probably not needed when good dung is freely used; but where this is not the case it is safer in most seasons and on most soils to give a dressing of potash salts. On some soils their aid should on no account be dispensed with.
Experiments in hop-manuring have also been conducted in connexion with the South-Eastern Agricultural College, Wye, Kent. The main results have been to demonstrate the necessity of a liberal supply of phosphates, if the full benefit is to be reaped from applications of nitrogenous manure.
Tying, Poling and Picking.—Tying the bines to the poles or strings is essentially women’s work. It was formerly always piecework, each woman taking so many acres to tie, but it is found better to pay the women 1s. 8d. to 2s. per day, that they may all work together, and tie the plants in those grounds where they want tying at once. The new modes of poling and training hop plants have also altered the conditions of tying.
Many improvements have been made in the methods of poling and training hops. Formerly two or three poles were placed to each hop-hill or plant-centre in the spring, and removed in the winter, and this was the only mode of training. Recently systems of training on wires and strings fastened to permanent upright poles have been introduced. One arrangement of wires and strings much adopted consists of stout posts set at the end of every row of hop-hills and fastened with stays to keep them in place. At intervals in each row a thick pole is fixed. From post to post in the rows a wire is stretched at a height of 12 ft. from the ground, another about 6 ft. from the ground, and another along the tops of the posts, so that there are three wires. Hooks are clipped on these wires at regular intervals, and coco-nut-fibre strings are threaded on them and fastened from wire to wire, and from post to post, to receive the hop bines. The string is threaded on the hooks continuously, and is put on those of the top wire with a machine called a stringer. There are several methods of training hops with posts or stout poles, wire and string, whose first cost varies from £20 to £40 per acre. The system is cheaper in the long run than that of taking down the poles every year, and the wind does not blow down the poles or injure the hops by banging the poles together. In another method, extensively made use of in Kent and Sussex, stout posts are placed at the ends of each row of plants, and, at intervals where requisite, wires are fastened from top to top only of these posts, whilst coco-nut-fibre strings are fixed by pegs to the ground, close to each hop-stock, whence they radiate upwards for attachment to the wires stretching between the tops of the posts. This method is more simple and less expensive than the system first described, its cost being from £24 to £28 per acre. In this case the plants require to be well “lewed,” or sheltered, as the strings being so light are blown about by the wind. These methods are being largely adopted, and, together with the practice of putting coco-nut-fibre strings from pole to pole in grounds poled in the old-fashioned manner, are important improvements in hop culture, which have tended to increase the production of hops. Where the old system of poling with two or three poles is still adhered to they are always creosoted, most growers having tanks for the purpose; and, in the new methods of poling, the posts and poles are creosoted, dipped or kyanized.
At Wye College, Kent, different systems of planting and training have been tried, the alleys varying in width from 10 ft. down to 5 ft., and the distance between the hills varying quite as widely, so that the number of hills to the acre has ranged from 1210 down to 660. The biggest crop was secured on the plot where hills were 8 ft. apart each way. As a rule, indeed, a wide alley and abundant space between the plants, thus allowing the hops plenty of air and light, produced the best results, besides effecting some saving in the cost of cultivation, as there were only 660 or 680 hills per acre. Of the various methods of training, the umbrella system gave the biggest crop in each of the three years, 1899, 1900, 1901; and it seemed to be the best method, except in seasons when washing was required early, in which case the plants were not so readily cleared of vermin.
Much attention is required to keep the bines in their places on the poles, strings or wire, during the summer. This gives employment to many women, for whose service in this and fruit-picking there is considerable demand, and a woman has no trouble in earning from 1s. 6d. to 1s. 10d. per day from April till September at pleasant and not very arduous labour. The hop-picking follows, and at this women sometimes get 4s. and even 5s. per day. This is the real Kent harvest, which formerly lasted a month or five weeks. Now it rarely extends beyond eighteen days, as it is important to secure the hops before the weather and the aphides, which almost invariably swarm within the bracts of the cones, discolour them and spoil their sale, as brewers insist upon having bright, “coloury” hops. Picking is better done than was formerly the case. The hops are picked more singly, and with comparatively few leaves, and the pickers are of a somewhat better type than the rough hordes who formerly went into Kent for “hopping.” Kent planters engage their pickers beforehand, and write to them, arranging the numbers required and the date of picking. Many families go into Kent for pea- and fruit-picking and remain for hop-picking. Without this great immigration of persons, variously estimated at between 45,000 and 65,000, the crops of hops could not be picked; and fruit-farmers also would be unable to get their soft fruit gathered in time without the help of immigrant hands. The fruit-growers and hop-planters of Kent have greatly improved the accommodation for these immigrants.
Concerning the general question as to the advisability or otherwise of cutting the hop bine at the time of picking, A.D.
