CULTURE OF THE HOP.

Otago Witness, Issue 72, 2 October 1852, Page 3

CULTURE OF THE HOP.

Tho following extract from a recently published work on the Culture ot the Hop has been handed to us for insertion .—. — The Hop is of the order " Direeia," viz., male and. female ai c .separate plants. It is usual to plant L male to 100 female sets ; but 1 to 1000 might proVjabiy sufiioe. It requires pood deep soil, as the plant rooti, deeply, and lahts a. number of year.-.. Two oi three seis should be put in together, and the eaith heaped over them, rhe.->e moucids beinj^ 0" fret apart every way. By h-uirsg the mounds in one row opposite the spaces of the nexl, it enables you to run the plough, or horse hos, in three directions, which is an advantage. At this diblaiK'f apart 1200 mounds ■will go to nn acre; and as me average yield of each mound is about 1 Im.sliel, or l{r lb., dn acre will produce in a favourable season 1(5 to IS cwt. of hops. Tho first year poles of 6" feet a'e sufficient, but afterwards they will be required of l'J feet. No pruning is needed the first two years. After the second year the earth should be removed aiouud the stump at the fall of the year.-the old stem cut away, leaving two or three young shoots for the following year, and the mounds made up again over them. Though from fhc yield per acre the profit would appear to be considerable, it must be home in mind that at home it is a very uncertain crop, and it remains to be t>een whether Unit disadvantage will occur in Now Zealand. - r ; The expense of piepnring the ground is eoafciderable; trenching or double digging is in mbslC<ja£e3 ,' indispensable, yet small patches of good .eS^bf-ro&R^A, be found of several feet deep, iv which. >ea?e-SSella^;>" bour wuuld be sayed. " ,vf* ;&i s - I '-*,"