THE HOP.

Waka Maori, Volume I, Issue 17, 18 January 1879, Page 246

THE HOP.

ITS CULTURE AND TREATMENT. (Concluded.) The season of picking the hop is usually the beginning of or during the month of February, according to the season ; the period may be fixed by the flowers of the hop acquiring a strongJseent, and being. sticky to the touch. The manner of performing the work of picking is this : Frames of wood are raised in the most convenientpart of the plantation ; these frames consist of four boards nailed to four upright posts, the whole frame being about 8 feet long, 3 feet wide, and 3 feet high.Six, seven, or eight pickers, generally women and children, are placed at the same frame, three or four being on each side. The plants being cut through at the root, the poles are lifted up and laid on the frame with the hops upon them. The pickers then carefully pick off the flowers of hops, which they drop upon large cloths which are attached to two poles streteher-like, and are laid across the frame. "When this cloth is full the hops are empted into a wool-bale or large sack, or may be carried direct to the hophouse, and there shot into bins to be ready for the kiln.

• The hops are then kiln-dried, which is done by placing them upon the kiln either on hair cloths, or the floor of the kiln must be covered, with finely perforated wire gauze; the hops should be 10 or 12 inches deep. The heat is gradually increased, so that the hand, when plunged into the hops, will only just bear the heat. This temperature should be continued steady eight or ten hours ; they are then taken from the kiln and laid in a large room or loft, until they become cool. The next process is packing the hops into bags or pockets. In the floor of the room are round holes equal to the size of the mouth of the bag. The mouth of the bag is then turned over a strong hoop, which is made to rest on the edge of the hole, the bag being let through the hole, and the packer goes into it; a child or woman puts the hops into the bag in small quantities at a time, and the packer tramples them firmly down, till it is full, when the bag is drawn up, and the top sewed down. The hops are now ready for sale. In the meantime the poles have been stripped of the stems attached to them, and piled in stacks to await the following year. From this general account of the manner of cultivating the hop, it will be seen that the cultivation of it is attended with considerable care and attention ; yet it is so remunerative a crop as to amply repay the greatest attention. The reasons why it is not more generally cultivated in England are: —1. The large outlay required for poles. 2. Prom its liability to disease. At the first stage of its growth it is attacked by an insect of the flea kind; at a more advanced stage it is attacked by numerous lice, as they are called, the young of a little green fly; and plants of the mushroom family grow upon it, forming mildew or blight. The kiln and packing-room are constructed under one roof—the lower or ground floor for receiving bins and kiln, the upper floor for cjcling and packing. The construction of this building is very simple, and comparatively inexpensive, but would nevertheless require plans and specifications to thoroughly understand its construction. One such building would do as the depot for a whole district, where the hops might be brought to be kiln-dried, packed, and shipped. If hop-growing is remunerative in England, how much more should it be in this country, where the cost of poles is only the labor of cutting them, and where there is no insect which attacks them. With a little care and attention, the hop might be one of the largest and most profitable exports of New Zealand.