The southern counties of England, particularly Surrey and Kent, now yield
their valuable produce of hops in this month. The common hop, _humulus
lupulus_, is propagated either by nursery plants or by cuttings. These are
set in _hills_, formed by digging holes in the spring, which are filled
with fine mould, and the number of which varies from 800 to 1,000, or
1,200 per acre. One, two, or three plants are put in each hill; but, if
hops are designed to be raised from cuttings, four or five of these, from
three to four inches in length, are planted and covered one inch deep with
fine mould.
At the end of the first year it becomes necessary to put poles into the
hills, round which the bines reared from plants are wound; at the
expiration of the second year, full-sized poles, from 15 to 20 feet, are
set, (though the hop-bines will run to the height of 50 feet,) in the
proportion of two poles to each hill, and a similar number of hop-plants
are fastened loosely round each pole, by means of withered rushes. Hops
begin to flower about the latter end of June or the beginning of July. The
poles are now entirely covered with verdure, and the pendent flowers
appear in clusters and light festoons. The hops, which are the scaly
seed-vessels of the female plants, are, when the seed is formed,
(generally about the end of August,) picked off by women and children; for
this purpose the poles are taken up with the plants clinging to them. The
seeds are then dried over a charcoal fire, exposed to the air for a few
days, and packed in sacks and sent to market.
The culture of hops, though profitable when it succeeds, is very
precarious: as soon as the plant appears above ground, it is attacked by
an insect somewhat similar to the turnip-fly, which devours the young
heads. Hop-gardens, situated on chalky soils, are peculiarly subject to
its depredations. In the months of June and July, the hops are liable to
be _blown_ by a species of _aphis_, or fly. This insect, however, does not
endanger the growth of the plant, unless it be in a weak state, in
consequence of the depredations committed on its root by the larvae of the
ottermoth, _phalaena humuli_.
The hop is a most valuable plant: in its wild state it is relished by
cows, horses, goats, sheep, and swine. When cultivated, its young tops are
eaten, early in the spring, as substitutes for asparagus, being wholesome
and aperient. Its principal use, however, is in brewing malt liquors,
communicating that fine bitter flavour to our beer, and making it keep for
a longer time than it otherwise would do. Hops also serve some important
purposes in medicine.
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