As the county of Kent has always taken the lead in hop-growing in
England, and as it includes about two-thirds of the hop acreage of the
British Isles, the recent developments in hop cultivation cannot be
better studied than in that county. They were well summarized by Mr
Charles Whitehead in his sketch of the agriculture of Kent,[2] wherein
he states that the hop grounds--or hop gardens, as they are called in
Kent--of poor character and least suitable for hop production have been
gradually grubbed since 1894, on account of large crops, the importation
of hops and low prices. At the beginning of the 19th century there were
290 parishes in Kent in which hops were cultivated. A century later, out
of the 413 parishes in the county, as many as 331 included hop
plantations. The hops grown in Kent are classified in the markets as
"East Kents," "Bastard East Kents," "Mid Kents" and "Wealds," according
to the district of the county in which they are produced. The relative
values of these four divisions follow in the same order, East Kents
making the highest and Wealds the lowest rates. These divisions agree in
the main with those defined by geological formations. Thus, "East Kents"
are grown upon the Chalk, and especially on the outcrop of the soils of
the London Tertiaries upon the Chalk. "Bastard East Kents" are produced
on alluvial soil and soils formed by admixtures of loam, clay-loams,
chalk, marl and clay from the Gault, Greensand and Chalk formations.
"Mid Kents" are derived principally from the Greensand soils and
outcrops of the London Tertiaries in the upper part of the district.
"Wealds" come from soils on the Weald Clay, Hastings Sand and Tunbridge
Wells Sand. As each "pocket" of hops must be marked with the owner's
name and the parish in which they were grown, buyers of hops can,
without much trouble, ascertain from which of the four divisions hops
come, especially if they have the map of the hop-growing parishes of
England, which gives the name of each parish. There has been a
considerable rearrangement of the hop plantations in Kent within recent
years. Common varieties as Colegate's, Jones's, Grapes and Prolifics
have been grubbed, and Goldings, Bramlings and other choice kinds
planted in their places. The variety known as Fuggle's, a heavy-cropping
though slightly coarse hop, has been much planted in the Weald of Kent,
and in parts of Mid Kent where the soil is suitable. In very old hop
gardens, where there has been no change of plant for fifty or even one
hundred years in some instances, except from the gradual process of
filling up the places of plants that have died, there has been
replanting with better varieties and varieties ripening in more
convenient succession; and, generally speaking, the plantations have
been levelled up in this respect to suit the demand for bright hops of
fine quality. A recent classification[3] of the varieties of English
hops arranges them in three groups: (1) early varieties (e.g. Prolific,
Bramling, Amos's Early Bird); (2) mid-season or main-crop varieties
(e.g. Farnham Whitebine, Fuggle's, Old Jones's, Golding); (3) late
varieties (e.g. Grapes, Colgate's).
The cost of cultivating and preparing the produce of an acre of hop land
tends to increase, on account of the advancing rates of wages, the
intense cultivation more and more essential, and the necessity of
freeing the plants from the persistent attacks of insects and fungi. In
1893 Mr Whitehead estimated the average annual cost of an acre of hop
land to be L35, 10s., the following being the items:--
Manure (winter and summer) L6 10 0
Digging 0 19 0
Dressing (or cutting) 0 6 0
Poling, tying, earthing, ladder-tying, stringing,
lewing 2 3 0
Shimming, nidgeting, digging round and hoeing
hills 3 0 0
Stacking, stripping, making; bines, &c. 0 17 0
Annual renewal of poles 2 10 0
Expense of picking, drying, packing, carriage,
sampling, selling, &c., on average crop of,
say, 7 cwt. per acre 10 5 0
Rent, rates, taxes, repairs of oast and tacks,
interest on capital 6 0 0
Sulphuring 1 0 0
Washing (often two, three or four times) 2 0 0
--------
Total L35 10 0
Seven years later the average cost per acre in Kent had risen to quite
L37.
The hops in Kent are usually planted in October or November, the plants
being 6 ft. apart each way, thus giving 1210 hills or plant-centres per
acre. Some planters still grow potatoes or mangels between the rows the
first year, as the plants do not bear much until the second year; but
this is considered to be a mistake, as it encourages wire-worm and
exhausts the ground. Many planters pole hop plants the first year with a
single short pole, and stretch coco-nut-fibre string from pole to pole,
and grow many hops in the first season. Much of the hop land is ploughed
between the rows, as labour is scarce, and the spaces between are dug
afterwards. It is far better to dig hop land if possible, the tool used
being the Kent spud. The cost of digging an acre ranges from 18s. to
21s. Hop land is ploughed or dug between November and March. After this
the plants are "dressed," which means that all the old bine ends are cut
off with a sharp curved hop-knife, and the plant centres kept level with
the ground.
_Manuring._--Manure is applied in the winter, and dug or ploughed in.
London manure from stables is used to an enormous extent. It comes by
barge or rail, and is brought from the wharves and stations by
traction engines; it costs from 7s. 6d. to 9s. per load. Rags, fur
waste, sprats, wool waste and shoddy are also put on in the winter. In
the summer, rape dust, guano, nitrate of soda and various patent hop
manures are chopped in with the Canterbury hoe. Fish guano or
desiccated fish is largely used; it is very stimulating and more
lasting than some of the other forcing manures.
The recent investigations into the subject of hop-manuring made by Dr
Bernard Dyer and Mr F. W. E. Shrivell, at Golden Green, near
Tonbridge, Kent, are of interest. In the 1901 report[4] it was stated
that the object in view was to ascertain how far nitrate of soda, in
the presence of an abundant supply of phosphates and potash, is
capable of being advantageously used as a source of nitrogenous food
for hops. An idea long persisted among hop-growers that nitrate of
soda was an unsafe manure for hops, being likely to produce rank
growth of bine at the expense of quality and even quantity of hops.
During recent years, however, owing very largely to the results of
these experiments, and of corresponding experiments based upon these,
which have been carried out abroad, hop farmers have much more freely
availed themselves of the aid of this useful manure; and there is
little doubt that the distrust of nitrate of soda as a hop manure
which has existed in the past has been largely due to the fact that
nitrate of soda, like many other nitrogenous manures, has often been
misused (1) by being applied without a sufficient quantity of
phosphates and potash, or (2) by being applied too abundantly, or (3)
by being applied too late in the season, with the result of unduly
delaying the ripening period. On most of the experimental plots
nitrate of soda (in conjunction with phosphates and potash) has been
used as the sole source of nitrogen; but it is, of course, not be to
supposed that any hop-grower would use year after year, as is the case
on some of the plots, nothing but phosphates, potash and nitrate of
soda. Miscellaneous feeding is probably good for plants as well as for
animals, and there is a large variety of nitrogenous manures at the
disposal of the hop-farmer, to say nothing of what, in its place, is
one of the most valuable of all manures, namely, home-made dung. These
experiments were begun in 1894 with a new garden of young Fuggle's
hops. A series of experimental plots was marked out, each plot being
one-sixth of an acre in area. The plots run parallel with one another,
there being four rows of hills in each. The climate of the district is
very dry.
_Weight of Kiln-dried Fuggle's Hops per Acre._
+-----+-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | | | | | |Average|
|Plot.|Annual Manuring per Acre.| 1896 | 1897 | 1898 | 1899 | 1900 | of 5 |
| | | | | | | | Years.|
+-----+-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
| | | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. | Cwt. |
| A |Phosphates and potash |13(1/2)| 7(1/2)| 8(1/4)|20(1/4)| 8 |11(1/2)|
| B |Phosphates, potash and | | | | | | |
| | 2 cwt. nitrate of soda |16(1/2)| 9(1/4)|10(1/4)|22(1/4)| 9(3/4)|13(1/2)|
| C |Phosphates, potash and | | | | | | |
| | 4 cwt. nitrate of soda |16(1/2)|12 |12(1/2)|23 |11 |15 |
| D |Phosphates, potash and | | | | | | |
| | 6 cwt. nitrate of soda |15(1/4)|13 |13 |22(1/2)|10(1/2)|14(3/4)|
| E |Phosphates, potash and | | | | | | |
| | 8 cwt. nitrate of soda |15 |13(1/2)|15(1/4)|23(1/2)|11 |15(1/2)|
| F |Phosphates, potash and | | | | | | |
| | 10 cwt. nitrate of soda |15 |13 |15 |24(1/2)|10(1/2)|15(3/4)|
| X |30 loads (about 15 tons) | | | | | | |
| | London dung |13 | 8 | 9(3/4)|24(1/2)|10(3/4)|13(3/4)|
+-----+-------------------------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+
The table given above shows the annual yield of hops per acre on each
plot, and also the average for each plot over the five years
1896-1900.
The general results seem to show that the purchase of town dung for
hops is not economical, unless under specially favourable terms as to
cost of conveyance, and that it should certainly not be relied upon as
a sufficient manure. Home-made dung is in quite a different position,
as not only is it richer, but it costs nothing for railway carriage.
As a source of nitrogenous manure, purchased dung is on the whole too
expensive. There is a large variety of other nitrogenous manures in
the market besides nitrate of soda, such, for instance as Peruvian and
Damaraland guano, sulphate of ammonia, fish guano, dried blood, rape
dust, furriers' refuse, horn shavings, hoof parings, wool dust,
shoddy, &c. All of these may in turn be used for helping to maintain a
stock of nitrogen in the soil; and the degree to which manures of this
kind have been recently applied in any hop garden will influence the
grower in deciding as to the quantity of nitrate of soda he should use
in conjunction with them, and also to some extent in fixing the date
of its application.
Dressings of 8 or 10 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre, such as are
applied annually to plots E and F, would be larger than would be put
on where the land has been already dressed with dung or with other
nitrogenous manures; and even, in the circumstances under notice,
although these plots have on the average beaten the others in weight,
the hops in some seasons have been distinctly coarser than those more
moderately manured--though in the dry season of 1899 the most heavily
dressed plot gave actually the best quality as well as the greatest
quantity of produce.
With regard to the application of nitrate of soda in case the season
should turn out to be wet, present experience indicates that, on a
soil otherwise liberally manured, 4 cwt. of nitrate of soda per acre
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 1/2 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 L20 to L40 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 L24 to L28 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. Hall has ascertained
experimentally that if the bine is cut close to the ground at a time
when the whole plant is unripe there are removed in the bine and leaves
considerable quantities of nitrogen, potash and phosphoric acid which
would have returned to the roots if the bine had not been cut until
ripe. The plant, therefore, would retain a substantial store of these
constituents for the following year's growth if the bine were left.
Chemical analyses have shown that about 30 lb. of nitrogen per acre may
be saved by allowing the bines to remain uncut, this representing
practically one-third of the total amount of nitrogen in the hops, leaf
and bine together. There are also from 25 lb. to 30 lb. of potash in the
growth, of which nine-tenths would return to the roots, with about half
the phosphoric acid and a very small proportion of the lime. It has been
demonstrated that by the practice of cutting the bines when the hops are
picked the succeeding crop is lessened to the extent of about one-tenth.
As to stripping off the leaves and lower branches of the plant, it was
found that this operation once reduced the crop 10% and once 20%, but
that in the year 1899 it did not affect the crop at all. The inference
appears to be that when there is a good crop it is not reduced by
stripping, but that when there is less vigour in the plant it suffers
the more. Hence, it would seem advisable to study the plant itself in
connexion with this matter, and to strip a little later, or somewhat
less, than usual when the bine is not healthy.
_Drying._--After being picked, the hops are taken in pokes--long sacks
holding ten bushels--to the oasts to be dried. The oasts are circular or
square kilns, or groups of kilns, wherein the green hops are laid upon
floors covered with horsehair, under which are enclosed or open stoves
or furnaces. The heat from these is evenly distributed among the hops
above by draughts below and round them. This is the usual simple
arrangement, but patent processes are adopted here and there, though
they are by no means general. The hops are from nine to ten hours
drying, after which they are taken off the kiln and allowed to cool
somewhat, and are then packed tightly into "pockets" 6 ft. long and 2
ft. wide, weighing 1(1/2) cwt., by means of a hop-pressing machine,
which has cogs and wheels worked by hand. Of late years more care has
been bestowed by some of the leading growers upon the drying of hops, so
as to preserve their qualities and volatile essences, and to meet the
altered requirements of brewers, who must have bright, well-managed hops
for the production of light clear beers for quick draught. The use, for
example, of exhaust fans, recently introduced, greatly facilitates
drying by drawing a large volume of air through the hops; and as the
temperature may at the same time be kept low, the risk of getting
overfired samples is considerably reduced, though not entirely obviated.
The adoption of the roller floor is another great advance in the process
of hop-drying, for this, used in conjunction with a raised platform for
the men to stand on when turning, prevents any damage from the feet of
the workmen, and reduces the loss of resin to a minimum. The best
results are obtained when exhaust fans and the roller floor are
associated together. In such cases the roller floor, which empties its
load automatically, pours the hop cones into the receiving sheets in
usually as whole and unbroken a condition as that in which they went on
to the kiln.
_Pests of the Hop Crop._--In recent years the difficulties attendant
upon hop cultivation have been aggravated, and the expenses increased,
by regularly recurring attacks of aphis blight--due to the insect
_Aphis (Phorodon) humuli_--which render it necessary to spray or
syringe every hop plant, every branch and leaf, with insecticidal
solutions three or four times, and sometimes more often, in each
season. Quassia and soft-soap solutions are usually employed; they
contain from 4 lb. to 8 lb. of soft soap, and the extract of from 8
lb. to 10 lb. of quassia chips to 100 gallons of water. The soft soap
serves as a vehicle to retain the bitterness of the quassia upon the
bines and leaves, making them repulsive to the aphides, which are thus
starved out. Another pest, the red spider, _Tetranychus
telarius_--really one of the "spinning mites"--is most destructive in
very hot summers. Congregating on the under surfaces of the leaves,
the red spiders exhaust the sap and cause the leaves to fall,
producing the effect known in Germany as "fire-blast." The hop-wash of
soft soap and quassia, so effective against aphis attack, is of little
avail in the case of red spider. Some success, however, has attended
the use of a solution containing 8 lb. to 10 lb. of soft soap to 100
gallons of water, with three pints of paraffin added. It is necessary
to apply the washes with great force, in order to break through the
webs with which the spiders protect themselves. Hop-washing is done by
means of large garden engines worked by hand, but more frequently with
horse engines. Resort is sometimes had to steam engines, which force
the spraying solution along pipes laid between the rows of hops.
Mould or mildew is frequently the source of much loss to hop-planters.
It is due to the action of the fungus _Podosphaera castagnei_, and the
mischief is more especially that done to the cones. The only
trustworthy remedy is sulphur, employed usually in the form of flowers
of sulphur, from 40 lb. to 60 lb. per acre being applied at each
sulphuring. The powder is distributed by means of a machine drawn by a
horse between the rows. The sulphur is fed from a hopper into a
blast-pipe, whence it is driven by a fan actuated by the travelling
wheels, and falls as a dense, wide-spreading cloud upon the hop-bines.
The first sulphuring takes place when the plants are fairly up the
poles, and is repeated three or four weeks later; and even again if
indications of mildew are present. It may be added that sulphur is
also successfully employed in the form of an alkaline sulphide, such
as solution of "liver of sulphur," a variety of potassium sulphide.
(W. Fr.)