Hop Growing.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume IX, Issue 925, 12 March 1881, Page 6

Hop Growing.

(By “ PROGRESS.”) In ,Passing through Ormohd the other day,* v accbmpAtribd by' afbW-of my friends, ‘I was 1 much struck by seeing half an acre of hops'. growing in a garden adjacent to the road si,de. „• A. gentleman working i in , thp garden, kindly gave , me permission to walk: through and inspect the grounds ; he 1 kindly gave me his time, and took ho little trouble to show me, > the whole establishment. The hops grown at Ormond are the best I have ever seen'in New Zealand, and far excelthose produced in Nelson." The flower is much target, and .the' plant, more vigorous.' Mr in whosegarSfen this little plot of hops are now to be seen, tells me that he will clear £lOO this year from that half acre, and that next year . fre { intends putting in an acre of thetth What are the. farmers withYheiY land ? I see 1 on all sides of the district, dand lying waste, and fences down; f and when you ask the dwhers what t^eyMard-doing, .with their property they,will tell you that, it will nqt pay'fo farm* and that when an article is produced;: that there is pojgarkbt for the same. . Now I will 1 guarantee that if all the lands in’Poverty Bay were planted in -hops that a ready market, would be found, both in New Zealand, and Australia. . There is no dotrbt that growing- potatoes in the Bay will not” pay. A settler at Matawhero has started potatoe growing, and is ofiering them at 10s per bag} which is very (jheap, as thhy\ are very good indeed, and be deserves great credit; but when .you. compare them with the Canterbury crop which they are shipping to any part of New Zealand at two pounds 1 ten shillings, paying all freight as well, per ton there is every reason to believe .that turning the sod in the Bay will not realize the owner a fortune. But if you want to produce an article that will selh and one that will repay you for .your trouble, then commence hop: growing. Mr Gillies informed me that he would be only too happy to show anyone how to plant them out, and to dry them. He has had forty years’ experience in this industry. He states also that Poverty Bay equals any place in the world for the hop culture. It would be well if the County Council would offer a bonus to any settler that produced a top of the best, well dried, and saleable hops ; audio an extra prize .for the highest price obtained per lb. ( It might be the means of stimulating us to action. If any one would care for a nice drive to Ormond, it would well repay them to visit these gardens of hops / and it would be sufficient proof of their payable qualities—it would at once put grass seed in the shade. Mr Gillies, besides having to attend to his hops, manages half an acre of a garden, where he cultivates all kinds of fruit trees aud vegetables, so that all his time-is not taken up by looking after the hops.

And now, as I have mentioned about fruit trees, grown there, I may say a few words about the grafting. All the trees are blight proof, and are grafted in the centre of . the blightproof stock, which is a great advantage, as they never break when they become heavily laden with fruit. Not so with many you sometimes 5 buy; they are grafted on the sides, or budded, and the consequences is that as soon as they bear, the weight breaks the boughs, and destroys the tree, and time, money, and labor are wasted. Mr Gillies has just imported a grand lot of fruit trees from New South Wales, where he has had much to do with the orchard and garden. . What surprised me most was the peculiar peas which were supported by no artificial means; and grew to the height of four feet, the stem of which varied from half an inch to two inches in circumference. They branched out at every ring, and from these branches hung the peas, but the 1 best of it all is, when you take off the crop, you mow them down just as you would a plot of maize, and in a month they are ready to pull again. This is certainly a plant that all gardeners should try

and procure for it; sayes much time,and labor. * The peas are ofc an im-. and once bear for years, always jcuttipg them down when cleared: of its ,crbp. r . If sqmepne ’with apd a Jitfle fliopey, em-_ bark ,in bop !grpwing,/in.' this well adapted neighborhood; I have not the' slightest d°l4Pt thai in a very few* years they would make a competence for themselves ab 4 ■ families. The only optlay would, be in the first year ; the plants notjoost ippch, buf the grpund jha?, to be well ploughed before the plants .are put in, to give them a fair jStarbi ;It would be welb jfw Ibpse who h?yg large families' to fCQmmqnce. operations kt once. i kW. Gillies, who is a practical man, and \ understands ) the process thdr°Pgbly M would, be obly too happy to render all the assistance necessary.