The record-union., 1893-10-21

Sweeps Down Upon the Hop Fields
of Kent.
Special Correspondence of the RECORD
UNION. Copyright 1881
MAIDSTONE, England, Sept. 30, 1898.
A traveller journeying through the mag
nifcent garden shire OF Kent cannot fail
to be impressed with the amplitude and
snugness of most of its country home
steads. They are very ancient, stone
built and exceedingly large; low but
wide, with Outspreading wings and lean
tos." Centuries-oid ash, lime or oak
trees leading TO and from them. The
outbuildings are large and substantial.
Great orchards are set about them. The
groupings are pictures OF rustic opulence,
thrift and good husbandry. They almost
cause the wanderer to long to know
them and tarry within them. But a
stranger not understanding one of the
sources of the great wealth Of Kent will
curiously regard certain strange looking
structures standing near every farm
house in many districts.
They are round and tall and white.
Some have red-painted cones, and these
are i'll turn surnlounted by white cowls,
shaped like an arched ian, their mouths
always opening in the direction opposite
that from which the wind blows. Against
gray and wintry horizons these odd
structures form weird silhouettes. But
wherever you see them you may know,
at any time of the year, that you are in
the long-fanous hop country of Kent.
1t is TO these quaint, and always plctu-
rescue old kilns, or "oasthouSeS," as
they are here called, that the hops are
brought for drying, or curing, after they
are picked blythe motley throngs in the
odorous gardens and fields.
In all OF England, perhaps, $4,000 acres
are planted III hops. Nearly one-half of
the entire area is within the shire of
Kent. The system of hop-raising, pick
ing and drying Is simple and Interest
ing. The plants, which are perennial.
are set in hills one foot high, six feet
apart and in rows, as we plant Indian
corn in America. These hills, from being
rounded are called crowns" There
are about 200 TO the acre, and each one
requires from two to four poles from ten
TO sixteen feet in length, according TO the
variety Of the hops planted. These poles
are Of larch. alder, ash, chestnut, and oc-
casionally OF oak, and owing to the search
ty OF woods in England, in themselves
represent very large outlay,
Early in April the 'crowns'' are opened
and trimmed Of the last years shoots
which have been cut close to the ground,
and these sets are used for propagation
Ia nursery beds. The new biue or stem
now springs from the bottom OF the per-
manent setting. In the open winter
months the hop-garden has been dug to
depth of eight inches with hat-tined forks.
Shortly after the opening of the crowns"
and trimming of The old bines polling"
is begun. This is done by the acre or by
10 ho lal 81 to
and children lay out the poles while he
makes the holes with an iron 'hop-
pitcher" Women are solely employed
IN the next process, called hOp-tying.
The puny shoots must be trimmed away,
and two or three of the hardy ones tied to
the poles. This is done by the acre, and
whatever portion of the hOp-garden is
attended to by one woman is called a
taking" For securing the shoots to
the poles without injury, rushes are ex-
ciusively used, and these are harvested
from marshes, haughS beside streams or
wet meadows, and dried in manner to
render them tough, by children. The
women must go over their "takings"
many times, cutting out sickly or broken
blneS and tying IN newer and healthier
ones until the work is beyond their
reach.
Tnen the men resume the work. They
go over the "takings' as the women have
ladders, until they reach the top OF the
poles. Then "niggeting" season begins
and only ends when the hop-gardens are
in full bloom. The nigget is an imple-
ment with iron tines, something like a
huge hoe slit into several narrow divis-
ions. With this, the alleys; between
the rows, are kept as clean OF weeds as a
newly plowed field, and the soil is con-
stantly broken and pulverized about the
'croWnS" that the roots may derive all
possible nutrition, air and free moisture.
These comprise all the necessities of cul-
tivation, but the alarms, veXations and
anxleties Of the hop-grower are only
fairly begun as his heaviest labors are
ending.
No one ever knew of an American peach
crop, good or bad, that was not half
dozen times menaced by this or that, or
ruined by something else altogether. So
tits with the h0pvines and hops in Kent
For nearly two months before they are
secure from danger every true Briton
who quaffs his -four ale'' or "bItter' is
subjected 10 qualms and starts and pangs
through announcements of successive
impending calamities TO the Draw bant-
ling Of Kent and every hop district of
that shire is in perturbation and turmoil
1ndeScrlbable. The ''mlldew' has rotted
the hop, the wet weather has drowned it,
the drought has scorched it, the blight
has taken the very lite out of it, the smut
has smothered it, the tiles, from which it
can only be rescued by millions of mys-
teriously arriving ''lady- BIRDS" are eat
ing its head soff, innumerabIe insects are
preying upon its tendrils and body, and
even the pestiferous heas have made
deadly assault upon its very stem and
rootsi Bulletins are posted at every ale
house in Kent Nothing else is talked
about ia every parish of the shire. The
London market is ''feverish'' while the
hop is IN its throes. In fact, all southern
England is solemn and serious until the
hop has passed from bine to bud and
bloom and is ready for the tens of thou
sands OF hands that are tingling 10 wiring
its neck fer gain.
Picking and curing are the final pro-
eesses. Perhaps from $4,000 to 100000
souls could at one time be found in the
hop-gardens of Kent. Half of these are
from London, and comprise the most in
describable lot of human various"
ever drawn together by common inter-