Agriculture. HOPS.

Waikato Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1636, 30 December 1882, Page 6

Agriculture. HOPS.

. l 'l, L F.C.S.W "

IUTHOBPF " THE CHKMISTBY OF AGBICOXTUpE. 7 ' Hop-ghowing' is now a i.very important qripnial^industry. - At Bftjpsdale, in yiotdria, i&different parts ofWasmama, and in New Zealand is is proving so profitable, that the areas under cultivation are annually being added to by the planting of new ground. In the latter colony particularly is progress being made. Within a*!e# yeSrs theeitent ~6i ' the hop gardens in the Nelson province has increased from only two acres to several hundred aores, and it will not be many seasons before this area is doubled. In some parts* of South Australia we may predict that ere long the hop will be fairly introduced. Vabietieb op Hops. — There are many varieties of the cultivated hop, but notice need only be taken of those most extensively cultivated at Home and in the colonies. (a.) — The^ Goldings. — In a favourable soil and congenial climate they grow to a great height, requiring poles 15 feet high. The ground .best suited for them is a rich porous friable loam or a well and carefully-manured calcareous soil. On poor land they are sure to fail. (b.) — The White-bines are the most, highly esteemed in the famous Farnham gardens, and require the same class of soil as the goldings, which they much resemble in appearance and growth. Their flower is considered to have the more delicate flavour, while that of < the goldings is generally believed by brewers to possess more strength. Both these varieties are valued for the brewing of the finest ales. On the average of years they yield smaller crops than the coarser hops. (c.) — The Jones's rank next in place with the brewer. They require very short poles and give good crops. (i>.) — The Grape has many sub-varieties, and requires medium-sized poles. It thrives best] in thoroughly-drained heavy or clayey soils. It is employed for the ordinary qualities of beer. The soils and climate of some parts of New Zealand are well suited for the grape, as may be judged from the fact that at Nelson, where it is cultivated to the nearly complete cxplusion of all other varieties, it sometimes grows at the rate of an inch per hour or two feet in 24 hours, and yields from 14 to 20 cwt. per acre. (c.) — The Colegali is smaller than the grape, but produces enormous crops in Sussex and the weald of Kent. It is an inferior hop, and is sometimes surreptitiously sold in the market as goldings. Its flavor is unpleasantly rank, and much d^liked by the English brewer. Influence of the Quality of Soils on Hops. — There are few plants whose quality is more influenced by the condition and character of the soil in which they are grown than the one under notice. In Surrey the hops of the neighbourhood of Farnh'ani have from time immemorial born the highest pripe in the British hop market. " They grow on the marly soils, rich in phosphate of lime, which are derived from the rocks of the green sand formation, and so much does their excellence depend upon the natural quality of the soils that the value of the crop changes sometimes, on the mere crossing of a hedge. The change of the quality of the soil in this locality is often sharp and sudden, and hence the equally sudden change in the quality of the crops it produces."— Prof. J. W. F. Johnstone. The hops obtained from the clays of Kent and Sussex are coarse, whilst those of Betford in Nottinghamshire are "pre-eminent in rank-ness."Theseareknownbythenameofctai/-/jop«, and are not at all liked by persons accustomed to the agreeable flavor of the produce grown on the firm soils of Kent. The latter, again, is not so delicate in flavor as Worcester hops. These are superior in this respect even to the best of Kent goldings, and are found to ripen beer quicker than any other species of hops met with in the market. They grow on the red soils of Worcestershire, which are formed from the new red sandstone. Hops similar to those of Worcester are obtained in Hereford, where the soils are also derived from the new red sandstone. The hop-soils of Tasmania, Victoria, and of some parts of New Zealand are rich, porous, and so far resemble those of Kent and Surrey from which the Canterbury and Farnham hops are obtained. In the last named colony, however, and in the Nelson district particularly, the soils and climate are of such a character that artificial drainage will be found necessary, immedistely the growers discover that the best quality of hops are gathered only ir.om land through which there is, at all seasons, a free circulation of air and water. At present, a day's rain stops the work of digging for, at least, two days, and this is not tOi be wondered at when we consider the clayey nature of the ground, and the heavy yearly rainfall in the locality, viz., 61*3 inches, or over 6200 tons of water per acre per annum. From the foregoing it may be concluded that the requirements of a good hop soil are thorough drainages, porosity, friability, and the presence of an- adequate supply of available plant food. Manuring Hop- Soils. — Our knowledge of the fertilisers best suited for ordinary farm crops is -very extensive, but unfortunately, exact . information concerning the rational manuring of hop-land is sadly wanted, and it is to be hoped that some of our. reliable agricultural chemists will soon make good the deficiency. Old Tusser of Henry VIII's time says that the ground should be " Well-doonged and wrought as a garden plot should." And this practice has obtained till the present time in England and other European countries. The dung should be thoroughly rolled, and dug into the soil. In Kent and other places woollen rags in a compost form are applied to the hop plants, and are so much valued for that purpose, that £5 per ton is sometimes given for them. Shoddy sells at about £2 per ton and contains only 2 per cent of nitrogen, whereas, woollen rags may contain over 4 per cent. It is to this constituent of plant-food only, that anymanurial action of wool is due, and considering the slowness with which the material decomposes, even under the best of circumstances, it is surely probable that, ere long, growers will abandon its use in favour Of substances which more readily surrender their nitrogen in forms available to the roots of plants. Composted fish manure is generally used, with good results, in some parts of Europe. Bone-dust is frequently productive of excellent' effects, and particularly when thoroughly rotten. On wet clayey soils, new bone-meal sometimes fails, from the absence of the conditions which accelerators decomposition. Guanod applied to the growing plants' have given satisfactory results. Farmyard manure and bone-dust together (prepared by alternating layers of the two in a heap, and allowing them to become rotten) would undoubtedly be an excellent mixture on poorish hop ground. It -may safely be predicted, that the day is not far distant,'when hop-growers, both in Europe ' arid Australasia, will find it greatly to their advan-" tage to employ some artificial manuresj which j science has so successfully introduced— in face of much "practical" prejudice, for general farm use. CciiTivATioN of Hops.— The details of garden work, vary so much in different localities and, countries, that this division of the' subject I must be confined to general observations.' l When tHe' ground has 'been well bfoken* up, j 1 squares, a[n r 'ticrls'iwill run^abottjfc^lgOCl'iliillisH and in the ftrianffles about 1400 ibillsV'

"planting in August and September, the poling In Ootober v and the training of the vines abouMhefMtof November. Inskcl ESsts of Hop-sahdenB. — The most common of -these jus the wireworm, which by; pjfflfctrating the roots, destroys the growth 6u the plants. A simple and popular remedy? consists in placing slices of potato in the immediate neighbourhood of the roots, and, after* time, digging them up, when the woKjps are-ifbund tb,|ccompany them. The "red spider" is also ".troublesome in some places, and is not 1 readily got rid of.