made thervnto the more speedie and continuall recourse besides that that the Maisters eye shall manye times withstande and preuent the seruants negligence Finally by this meanes it may be with most ease and least charge holpen with dunge Of the quantitie THe quantitie of your Garden must eyther bee measured by the proportion of your yerely expences of Hoppes in your house or by the cost you meane to bestowe in the preparation and keeping thereof or by the paynes and businesse that you are disposed or able to employe vppon it or else according to the profite and gaynes that you meane to leuie and winne by it which later consideration pleaseth and flattereth much a couetous mannes conceyt whose vaine or humor or rather vaine humor is so resisted in the rules appertayning herevnto as many times the greedinesse of his desire is the ouerthrowe of his purpose as shall hereafter appeare A proportion of the charge and benefite of a Hoppe garden BVt to be resolued in all these poyntes that conscerne the quantitie of your Garden you must make your account in this voyse One man may well keepe twoo thousand hils and yet reserue his wynters labor for anye other purpose Vppon euery Acre you maye erect seauen eyght or nyne hundreth hylles as hereafter shall be declared Vpon euery hyll well ordered you shall haue three poundes of Hoppes at the least Three poundes of these Hoppes will largely serue for the bruing of one quarter of Mault One hundreth poundes of these Hoppes are commonly woorth .xxvj. s. viij d. So as one acre of grounde and the thirde part of one mans labor with small cost besides shall yeelde vnto him that ordereth the same well fortye markes yearely and that for euer And here is to be noted that grounde orderly vsed doth not only yeelde the more the greater the harder and the weyghtyer Hoppes but also they shall goe further they shall endure longer they shall be holesommer for the body and pleasaunter of verdure or taste than such as be disorderly handled These things considered you may proceede to the making of your Gardeyn wherein you are yet to haue counsell for the laying out thereof for the due season and the right trade to cut and set Hoppe rootes what choyse you shall make of them what charge you shall be at for them you are yet also to learne the tyme when and the way how to prepare your grounde and to make it able to entertaine and nourishe them to frame your hilles to maintayne them and to pull them downe to cutte to fashion to erect and to preserue serue your Poales to gather to drye and to packe your Hoppes with manye other circumstances necessarily appertaining hervnto Finallye you must be taught the reformation of many enormities and abuses whyche are receyued in most places for good rules the which God willing I will set forth truly according to the notes of experience although not learnedlye after the rules of Rhetoricke Of the preparation of a Hoppe Garden YOu must lay forth the grounde which you determine to imploye this waye in as leuell square and vniforme wyse as you maye If your grounde be grassye roughe or styffe it should be first sowen with Hempe or Beanes which naturally maketh the grounde moolowe destroyeth weedes and neuerthelesse leaueth the same in good season for this purpose But in what plight or state soeuer youre grounde be tyll it in the beginning of Winter with the Plough if it be great or with the spade if it be small and this doe not only the yeare before you plant it but also euery yeare after euen so long as you meane to receyue the vttermost commoditie of your Garden assuring your selfe that the more paynes you take and the more cost you bestowe rightly herevpon the more you doe double your profite and the nearer you resemble the trade of the Flemming The tyme to cut and set Hoppe Rootes IN the ende of Marche or in the beginning of Aprill repayre to some good Garden orderly kept as wherein the Hoppes are all of a good kynde all yerely cut and wherin all the hylles are raysed very high for there the rootes will be greatest then compounde with the owner or keeper thereof for choyce rootes which in some places will cost sixe pence an hundreth but commonly they shall be giuen vnto you so as you cut them your selfe and leaue euery hyll orderly and fully dressed but what order you shall vse herein I will hereafter shewe Rules for the choyce and preparation of Rootes ANd now you must choose the biggest rootes you can finde that is to say such as are in bignesse three or foure inches about And let euery roote which you shall prouide to set be nine or ten ynches long Let there be contayned in euerye such roote three ioyntes Let all your rootes be but the springes of the yeare last past You must haue great regarde that you cumber not your Garden with wylde Hoppes Wylde Hoppes are not to be discerned from the good by the rootes but eyther by the fruite or by the stalke Of the good Hoppe THe good and the kindely Hoppe beareth a great and a greene stalke a large and a harde bell Of the vnkindly Hoppe THe Hoppe that lykes not his entertaynement namely his seate his grounde his keeper his dunge or the maner of his setting c. appeareth at the first out of the grounde greene and small in stalke thicke and roughe in leaues verye like vnto a Nettle which will be commonly deuoured or much bytten with a little black flie who also will doe harme vnto good Hoppes where the Garden standeth bleake or the Hoppe springeth rath but be not discomforted herewith for the heate of the Sommer will reforme this matter and the later Springs will be little annoyed with this Flie who though she leaue the lease as full of holes as a nette yet she seldome proceedeth to the vtter destruction of the Hoppe Of the wylde Hoppe OF the wylde Hoppe the fruite is eyther altogither seede or else loose and light belles the stalke is redde howbeit herein the difference betweene the good and the badde Hoppe is not to be discerned vntill the stalke be twoo or three yardes high for at their first comming vp the one as well as the other appeareth redde and the best Hoppe is then the reddest Prouide your rootes therfore where you are before hande assured of their goodnesse Of setting of Hoppe rootes HAuing made your prouision of rootes in this wise returne therewith to your Garden speedilye and eyther set them immediately or lay them in some Puddle neare therevnto or burie them in the grounde vntill conueniencie of winde weather and leysure the want whereof may sometimes preuent good expedicion shall serue Prouided alwayes that you leaue them not in water or Puddle aboue .xxiiij. houres but in the earth you may leaue them as long as the time of setting endureth Your Garden being dressed as before I aduised
labor in raysing vp your hilles and also except your hilles stande to neare togither if these three things meete in one Garden the best way of reformation is to set the fewer Poales to an hyll or to let them remaine the longer Otherwise the Hoppes will growe from one poale to another and so ouershadow your Garden the fault therof being onely to be imputed to the neerenesse of the hilles But hereof shall be sayde more in the tytle of Reformacions The Hoppe neuer stocketh kindely vntill it reache higher than the Poale and returne from it a yarde or two for whylest it tendeth clyming vpwarde the braunches which growe out of the principall stalke wherein consisteth the abundance of encrease growe little or nothing Let the quantitie of your Poales be great that is to say nine or tenne ynches about at the lower ende so shall they endure the longer and withstande the winde the better To descrybe the pryce of Poales or what it will cost you to furnishe a Garden conteyning one acre of grounde it were a harde matter bicause the place altereth the pryce of woode But in a Wayne you maye carye a hundreth and fyftie Poales and I see small cause why a loade of these shoulde be dearer than a loade of any other woode After the first yeare Poales will be nothing chargeable vnto you for you maye eyther picke them out of your owne prouision of Fuell or buye them of your neyghbours that haue no occasion to applye them this way For the yearely supply of twoo loades of Poales will maintayne one acre continually Your rotten and broken Poales will doe you good seruice for the kindling of your fiers in the Oste wherevpon you should drie your Hoppes and they should be preserued chiefly for that purpose At Poppering where both scarcitie and experience hath taught them to make prouision hereof they doe commonlye at the East and North side of their Gardens set and preserue Alders wherewith they continually maintaine them Before you set vp your Poales laye them all alongst your Garden betweene euerye rowe of hilles by three or fower togither I meane beside euery hill so many Poales as you determine to set thereon so shall you make the more speede in your woorke Of the erection of Poales You must set euerye Poale a foote and a halfe deepe and within twoo or three ynches at the most of the principall roote If your grounde be rockie and shallowe tarie the longer before you set vp your Poales so as your Hoppes maye be growen two or three foote high that you may aduenture to make a hyll or banke at euery Poale to staye and vpholde the same wythoute burying anye of the yoonger springs which may afterwarde be couered with lesse danger and annoyance to the principal roote Let the Poales of euery hyll leane a little outwarde one from another as is hereafter shewed Of Ramming of Poales THen with a péece of woode as bygge belowe as the great ende of one of youre Poales ramme the earth that lyeth at the out side of the Poale therevnto but meddle not within the compasse of youre Poales as they are placed least you spoile the springes Of Reparation of Poales IF any of your Poales chaunce to breake when the Hoppe is growen vp some vse tenderly to vndooe and pull away the broken Poale and to tye the toppe of those Hoppes to the toppe of a newe Poale then wynding it a turne or two about according to the course of the Sunne to set it in the hole or besides the hole where the broken Poale stoode and some other being loth to take so much paynes turne it about some of the other Poales that stande vppon the same hille and so leaue it But the best waye is to set a newe Poale beside the broken Poale and to tye the broken Poale to the same whiche may vpholde the sayde broken Poale and preserue the Hoppe Of the preseruation of Poales ANd although we are not yet come to the laying vp of Poales I am bolde herein as I began to late so to make an ende to rathe bicause I woulde couch the whole matter of Poales togither laying them by themselues I meane comprehending vnder one tytle the businesse appertayning vnto them For the preseruation and better continuance of Poales some make houses of purpose and laye them vp therein Some set them vpright to a tree and ouer them make a penthouse of boowes or boordes Some lay a great heape of Hoppestalkes vppon the grounde and vppon them a great heape of Poales and vpon the Poales againe lay another heape of stalkes c. These men doe hereby expresse no great experience although by their diligence they signifye a good desire You shall neede to doe no more but thus At the endes or sydes of your Garden take three Poales standing vpon three hilles placed directlye one by another and three like Poales vppon three other hilles of the next rowe right ouer against them constrayne them to meete togither by two and two in the toppes and so holde them till one with a forked wande maye put three Withes like vnto three Broome bandes which must be made of the stalkes of Hoppes vppon eache couple of the sayde sixe Poales so shall the same sixe Poales being so bounde by two and two togither stande like the roofe or rafters of an house To keepe the Poales that shall lye nethermoste from rotting by the moystnesse of the grounde vse within the compasse of your sayde sixe hils vnderneath the Poales that you haue fastened togither in the tops to rayse three little bankes 〈◊〉 thwart from hyll to hyll as though you woulde make your sixe hylles to bee but three If you thinke that you haue not Poales ynowe to fylle the roume pull downe the Wyths or bandes lower your roume will be lesse ¶ Of tying of Hoppes to the Poales WHen your Hoppes are growne about one or twoo foote high bynde vp with a Rushe or a Grasse such as declyne from the Poales wynding them as often about the same Poales as you can and directing them alwayes according to the course of the Sunne but doe it not in the morning when the dewe remayneth vpon them if your leysure may serue to doe it at any other time of the day If you laye softe greene Rushes abroade in the dewe and the Sunne within twoo or three dayes they will be lythie tough and handsome for this purpose of tying which may not be foreslowed for it is most certaine that the Hoppe that lyeth long vpon the grounde before he be tyed to the Poale prospereth nothing so wel as it which sooner attayneth therevnto ¶ Of hylling and hylles NOwe you must begyn to make your hils and for the better dooing therof you must prepare a toole of Iron fashioned somewhat like to a Coopers Addes but not so much boowing and therfore lykest to the netherpart of a shoouell the powle whereof must be made with a round hole to
you it shall be easie for you to direct your hils aright and that in equall distance with a Poale or rather with a lyne that will not stretche tying therevppon shorte threedes or placing in it pynnes according to the proporcion of space which you meane to leaue betweene your hylles whereof if one be placed out of order it shall blemishe and hurt a great part of your Garden If your Garden be one acte in bignesse lye square leaue betweene euery hole three yardes or eight foote at the least in space as well that the hilles may be made the greater that the Hops of one Poale reache not to another as also that the Sunne may the more freely and vniuersally passe through your Garden which by this meanes may yearely be plowed betwixt the hylles whereas otherwise it must be digged a more tedious and costly businesse If your Garden be very little you may sette the hilles somewhat nearer togither namely seauen foote a sunder Your lyne being layde leuell you must dygge vnderneath euery threede or pinne placed vpon the same a hole like to a Pitfall one foote square and one foote deepe When you haue made twenty or thirty holes take vp so many rootes from where you bestowed them as ought to be set therein and go to woorke on this wise alwayes watching a tyme if you maye that the wynde be in some part of the South or West but be not so scrupulous herein that you ouerslip the Moneth of Aprill least Salomons saying be spoken of you Hee that regardeth the wynde shall not sowe and hee that hath respect to the Clowdes shall not reape For hee that neglecteth the Moneth of Aprill shall haue a bad season to cut or plant Hoppes Take twoo or three of your rootes which by this time will yeelde forth greene sciences or buds and will also haue small rootes or beardes growing out of them the which must be all pared awaye harde by the olde roote ioyne them close togither so as in any wise they may be euen in the toppes set them also altogither bolte vpright directlye vnder the foresayde threede or pinne holding them harde togither with the one hand while you fyll the hole with the other with fyne moulde prepared and layde readye before hande regarding that the toppes of the rootes be leuell wyth the face or vppermost part of the grounde Take good heede also that you set not that ende downewarde that grew before vpwarde which you shal know by the buddes that appeare in the knots of ech roote let no part of the deade stalk remayne vpon the vppermost ioynt thereof And here is to be noted that the readyest and euenest waye is alwayes to set your rootes at one certayne corner of the hole which corner shoulde alwayes be right vnderneath the sayde pinne or threede as is afore shewed At this time you must make no hill at all but onely couer the toppes of your rootes about twoo ynches thick with the finest moulde you can get Abuses and disorders in setting SOme vse to sette at euerye corner of the hole one roote but this is a naughtie and a tedious trade bicause a man shall bee longer in dressing one of these than about foure other To be short you shall this way so cumber both your selfe and your Garden that you will soone be wearye with woorking and your Garden as soone wearie of bearing Some wynde them and set both endes vpwarde and herein both the cunning of the workman and the goodnesse of the rootes are togither very liuely expressed for if the rootes were good they coulde not so be wounde or if the workman were skylfull hee woulde not be so fonde to set them in that order Some vse to laye them thwart or flat but I saye flatlye that the same is an ouerthwart and proposterous way for they can neyther prosper well as being set contrarye to their nature and kind of growing nor be kept as they ought to be Some vse to make hylles and then set their rootes therein but these conclude themselues from ministring succour vnto them at anye time after besides manye inconueniences hereby ensuing Some set their rootes and then burie them with a great hyll made vppon them and this is all one with the other sauing that the hill so choketh these as most commonlye they growe not at all Finally there be as many euill wayes to set as there be ignorant men to deuyse Prouision agaynst annoyance and spoyle of your Garden IF your Garden be small and verye nigh to your house you may arme euerye hill with a fewe thornes to defend them from the annoyance of Poultrie which manye times will scrape and bathe amonge the hylles and so discouer and hurt the Springes but a Goose is the moste noysome vermine that can enter into this Garden for besides the Allegorie that may be applyed in this case a Goose will brut vppon euery yong science or Hoppe budde that appeareth out of the grounde which neuer will growe afterwardes and therefore as well to auoyde the Goose as other noysome cattell let your closure be made strong and kept ryght ¶ Of Poales IT remayneth that I speake nowe of Poales bicause poaling is the next work nowe to be done If your hilles be distant three yardes a sunder prouide for euery hill foure Poales if you will make your hilles nearer togither three Poales shall suffice And note that in the first yeare you must occupie as manye Poales as in anye yeare after the reason whereof I will declare in the tytle of Hilles c. Alder Poales are best for this purpose as wherevnto the Hoppes seeme moste willinglye and naturally to encline bicause both the fashion of these Poales being as a Taper small aboue and great belowe and also the roughnesse of the Alder ryne stayth the Hoppe stalke more firmely from slyding downe than either Ashe or Oke which for continuance be somewhat better howbeit these with the order that I shall prescrybe will endure sixe or seauen yeares These are also best cheape and easiest to bee gotten in most places and soonest growen readye for this purpose There is in the Springs of these least daunger in growing or in being destroyed or bitten by cattell Finallye by the expence of these there ensueth least annoyaunce to the common wealth as well for the causes aforesayde as also bicause they growe not in so great quantitie to so good timber nor for so many purposes as eyther Oke or Ashe The best tyme to cutte your Poales is betweene All hallowentyde and Christmas but you must pyle them vp immediatly after they are cut sharped reformed in length and smoothed least they rotte before you occupie them You may not leaue any scragges vpon them the reason whereof you shall conceyue in the tytle of gathering Hoppes Your Poales may not be aboue .xv. or .xvj. foote long at the most except your ground be very rich and that you haue added therevnto great
receyue a helue lyke to the helue of a Mattocke and in the powle also a nayle hole must be made to fasten it to the helue This helue shoulde boowe somewhat lyke to a Sythe or to the steale of a Sythe and it must be lyttle more than a yarde long Some thinke it impertinent and not necessary to make hylles the first yere partly bicause their distrust of this yeares profite quallifyeth their diligence in this behalfe and partly for that they thinke that the principall roote prospereth best when there be no newe rootes out of them forced and mayntained But experience confuteth both these coniectures for by industrie the first yeares profite will be great and thereby also the principall settes much amended as their prosperitie in the seconde yeare will plainely appeare But in this worke you must be both paynefull and curious as wherein consisteth the hope of your gaynes and the successe of your worke For the greater in quantitie you make your hylles the more in number you shall haue of youre Hoppes and the fewer weedes you shall haue on your grounde the more Hoppes you shall haue vpon your Poales In consideration whereof I say your labour must be continuall from this time till the time of gathering in raysing your hylles and cleering your grounde from weedes In the first yeare that you plant your Hoppe-garden suppresse not one science but suffer them all to clyme vp to the Poales for if you shoulde burie or couer all the springs of any one of your three rootes which you did latelye set the roote thereof perisheth and perhaps out of some one roote there will not proceede aboue one or twoo springes which being buryed that roote I saye dyeth and therefore the more poales are at thys time requisite After the first yeare you must not suffer aboue twoo or three stalkes at the most to growe vp to one Poale but put downe and bury all the rest Howbeit you may let them all grow till they be foure or fyue foote high at the least whereby you shall make the better choyce of them which you meane to maintaine whereby also the principall roote will be the better c Some suffer their Hoppes to clyme vp to the toppes of the Poales and then make the hilles at one instant of such quantitie as they meane to leaue them which is neyther the best nor the seconde waye But if for expedition you be driuen here vnto begin sooner that is to say when the Hoppes be foure or fyue foote long and afterwardes if leysure shall serue refreshe them againe wyth more earth But to make them well and as they ought to be made you must immediatly after your poales are set make a little banke or circle rounde about the outside of them as a mention how wide your hyll shall be and as a receptacle to retayne and keepe moysture wherof there cannot lightly come to much so it come from aboue If your Garden be great by that time that you haue made an end of these circles or banks it will be time to proceede further towardes the buylding vp of your hylles Nowe therefore returne agayne to the place where you beganne or else where you see the Hoppes highest and with your toole pare of the vppermost earth from the Alleys or spaces betweene the hylles and laye the same to your Hoppes vppon and within the circle that you made before alwayes leauing the same highest of any part of the hill and so passe through your Garden againe and againe till you haue raysed your hylles by little and little to so great a quantitie as is before declared and looke howe highe your hylles is so long are your newe rootes and the longer your newe rootes or springes be the more larger and better your Hoppes will be Great and ouergrowen weedes shoulde not be layd vpon the hylles as to rayse them to their due quantitie but when with diligence and expedition you passe through your Garden continually paring away eche greene thing assoone as it appeareth you shall doe well with the same and the vppermoste moulde of your Garden togither to maintaine and encrease the substance of your hylles euen till they be almost a yarde highe In the firste yeare make not your hyll to rathe least in the dooing therof you oppresse some of those springes which woulde otherwise haue appeared out of the grounde Abuses in hylling SOme obserue no time and some no measure in making their hylles but hauing hearde say that hylles are necessarye they make them they care not when nor howe Some make hylles once for all and neuer after plucke downe the same but better it were to make no hill than so to doe for after the first yeare it doth derogate not adde any comfort to the roote if it be not newe made and dressed c. Some vse to breake off the toppes of the Hoppes when they are growen a .xj. or .xij. foote high bicause thereby they barnish and stocke exceedingly wherein though I cannot commende their dooings yet doe they much better than such as will haue their Poales as longe as their Hoppes But if your Poale be very long and that the Hoppe haue not attayned to the toppe therof before the midst of Iuly you shall doe well then to breake or cut of the toppe of the same Hoppe for so shall the residue of the growing tyme serue to the maintenance and encrease of the braunches which otherwise woulde expyre without dooing any good in that matter bicause that whole time woulde then be employed to the lengthening of the stalke which little preuayleth I say to the stocking or increase of the Hoppe And here is to be noted that many couetous men thinking in haste to enlarge their lucre doe fynde at leysure their commoditie diminished whylest they make their hylles to thicke their Poales to long and suffer to many stalkes to growe vppon one Poale wherein I saye whyle they runne awaye flattering themselues with the imagination of double gaynes they are ouertaken with treble dammage that is to say with the losse of their time their labour and their cost ¶ Of the gathering of Hoppes AT what time or rather before that your Hoppes begyn to chaunge colour that is to say somewhat before Michaelmas you must gather them and for the speedyer dispatch thereof procure as much helpe as you can taking the aduantage of fayre weather To doe the same in the readyest and best order you must pull downe foure hylles standing togither in the middest of your Garden cut the rootes of all those hilles as you shall be taught in the Tytle of Cutting c. Then pare the same plot leuell it throwe water on it treade it and sweepe it so shall it be a fayre floore whereon the Hoppes must lye to be picked Then beginning neare vnto the same cut the stalkes a sunder close by the toppes of the hylles and if the Hoppes of one Poale be growen fast vnto another cutte
them also a sunder with a sharpe hooke You may make the Forke and Hooke which cutteth a sunder the Hoppes that grow togither here is instrument to serue both these turnes as as is here after shewed Then you may with the forked ende thrust vp or shooue off all such stalkes as remayne vpon eche Hoppe Poale and carie them to the floore prepared for that purpose For the better dooing hereof it is very necessarie that your Poales be streyght without scrags or knobbes In any wise cut no more stalks than you shall cary away within one houre or twoo at the most for if in the meane time the Sunne shyne hote or if it happen to rayne the Hoppes remayning cut in that sorte will be much impayred thereby Let all such as helpe you stande rounde about the floore and suffer them not to pyngle in picking one by one but let them speedily strype them into Baskets prepared ready therefore It is not hurtfull greatly though the smaller leaues be mingled with the Hoppes Remember alwayes to cleere your floore twice or thryce euery day and sweepe it cleane at euery such time before you go to woorke againe If the wether be vnlyke to be fayre you may carie these Hoppes into your house in Blankets or Baskets c. and there accomplish this work Vse no lynnen hereabouts for the Hoppes will stayne it so as it can neuer be washed out If your Poales be scraggye so as you cannot stryppe the stalkes from them in this order you must pull them vppe with mayne force and this is paynefull to your selfe hurtfull to your Hoppes and a delaye to your worke Then must you lay these Poales vpon a couple of forked stakes driuen into the grounde being twoo or three yardes distant one from another as Spittes vpon Raunges and so dispatch this businesse if the wether be fayre if it be lyke to be fowle you must be fayne to carie the Hops togither with the Poales into your Barne or house In any wise let not the Hoppes be wet when you cut them from the hylles neyther make any delay of gathering after the same tyme of cutting for in standing abroade they will shed their seede wherein consisteth the chiefe vertue of the Hoppe and hereof I cannot warne you to often nor to earnestly Nowe by order I shoulde declare vnto you the manner of drying your Hoppes but bicause I must therwithall descrybe the places meete for that purpose with manye circumstances appertayning therevnto I will be bolde first to finish the worke within your Hoppe garden and then to leade you out of the same into the place where you must drye your Hoppes c. When your Hoppes are gathered assoone as you haue leysure take vp your Poales and pyle them that remaine good as I haue shewed you in the tytle of Poales Then carie out your broken Poales and the Hoppe strawe to the fyre Nowe may you depart out of your Garden tyll the Marche following except in the meane time you will bring in dunge or good earth to the maintenance therof towards the heigthening of your hylles or else will plowe it c. What there is to be done in Winter herein TO be curious in laying dunge vpon the hylles in Winter as to comfort or warme the rootes as some doe it shall be needelesse rather plucke downe the hylles and let the rootes lye bare all the Winter season and this is vsually done where Hoppes are best ordered especially to restrayne them from to rathe sprynging If the grounde be great that you keepe you shall be driuen so to doe otherwise you shall not be able to ouercome your worke in due time In any case you must auoyde new horsedung as a very noysome and pernicious thing for your Hoppes Stall dung is the best that can be wyshed for to serue this turne so it be throughly rotten Rather vse no dunge than vnrotten dunge about the dressing of your Hoppes but omit not to bring into your Garden dung that maye there be preserued till it be good or needefull to be vsed ¶ The order for reforming your grounde IN March you shall returne to your Garden and finde it replenished with weedes except by tillage c. you haue preuented that matter already It must as well therefore as bicause the earth maye be the more fyne and easie to be deliuered vnto the hylles be digged ouer or plowed ¶ The order of cutting Hoppe Rootes In the dooing hereof be carefull that you spoyle not the olde settes as for the other rootes which are to be cut awaye you shall not neede to spare them to the delay of your worke Take heede that you vncouer not anye more than the toppes of the olde settes in the first yere of cutting At what time so euer you pull downe your hylles cut not your rootes before the ende of March or in the beginning of Aprill and then remember the wynde In the first yeare I meane at the fyrst time of cutting and dressing of your rootes you must with a sharpe knyfe cut awaye all such rootes or springes as grewe the ye are before out of your settes within one ynch of the same There groweth oute of the olde settes certayne Rootes ryght downewardes not ioynted at all which serue onely for the nourishing and comfort of those sets or principall rootes there be other lyke vnto them growing outwarde at the sides of the settes If they be not met withall and cut a sunder they will encumber your whole Garden Bicause it maye seeme harde to discerne the olde settes from the newe springes I thought good to aduertise you howe easye a thing it is to see the difference therof for fyrst you shall be sure to fynde your settes where you did set them nothing encreased in length but somewhat in bignesse enlarged and in few yeares all your settes will be growen into one so as by the quantitie that thing shall plainely appeare and lastlye the difference is seene by the colour the olde roote being redde the other whyte but if the hylles be not yearely pulled downe and the rootes yearely cut then in deede the olde settes shall not bee perceyued from the other rootes If your settes be small and placed in good grounde the hyll well mayntained the newe rootes will be greater than the olde If there growe in any hyll a wylde Hoppe or whensoeuer the stalke waxeth redde or when the Hoppe in any wise decayeth pull vp euerye roote in that hill and set newe in their places at the vsuall time of cutting and setting Of diuers mens follyes MAny men seeing the springs so forward as they will be by this time are loth to lose the aduauntage thereof and more vnwilling to cut awaye so many goodlye rootes but they that are daungerous in this behalfe take pitie vpon their owne profyte and are lyke vnto them that refrayne to laye dung vpon their corne lande bicause they woulde not beraye it with so vncleanlye a thing And
some that take vppon them great skyll herein thynke that for the fyrste yeare they maye be left vnhilled and vncutte c. deceyuing themselues wyth this conceypte that then the settes prosper best wythin the grounde when they sende least of their nature and state out of the grounde In this respect also they pull awaye or suppresse all such springs as soone as they appeare which growe more and besides them which they meane to assigne to each Poale as though when a mans fingers were cutte off his hande woulde growe the greater In deede if there be no hyll maintayned then the moe springes are suffered to growe from out of the principall roote the more burden and punishment it wil be to the same But when the springs are maintayned with a hill so much as remayneth within the same is conuerted into rootes which rather adde than take awaye anye state from the principall roote in consideration hereof the suppressing of the springes maye not be too rathe for whatsoeuer opinion be hereof receyued the many springes neuer hurt the principall roote if the hylles be well mayntained but it is the cumbring and shadowing of one to another that woorketh the annoyance When you haue cut your Hoppes you must couer them as you were taught in the tytle of setting and proceede according to the order alredye set downe Of disorders and maintayners thereof SOme there be that despyse good order being deceyued with a shewe of increase which sometimes appeareth in a disordered grounde to them I say and say it truly that the same is a bad and a small increase in respect of the other I saye also that although disorderly dooings at the first may haue a countenance of good successe yet in fewe yeares the same and all hope thereof will certainly decay Some other there be that despise good order satisfying themselues with this that they haue sufficiently to serue their owne turne wythout all these troubles and surelye it were pittie that these shoulde be troubled with any great abundaunce that in contempt of their owne profite and of the common welth neglect such a benefite profered vnto them ¶ Of an Oste. NOwe haue I shewed vnto you the perfect platforme of a Hoppe garden out of the which I led you for a time brought you in againe when tyme required and there woulde I leaue you about your businesse were it not to shew you by description such an Oste as they drie their Hoppes vpon at Poppering with the order thereof c. Which for the small charges and trouble in drying for the speedie and well drying and for the handsome and easie dooing thereof may be a profytable patterne and a necessarie instruction for as many as haue or shall haue to doe herein Of the seuerall Roumes for an Oste FIrst a little house must be buylt of length xviij or .xix. foote of wydenesse eyght wherein must be comprehended three seuerall roumes The myddle and principall roume must be for your Oste eight foote square The forepart which is to containe your greene Hoppes and the hinder part which must receyue your dryed Hops will fall out to be fyue foote long and eyght foote wyde a peece The chiefe matters that are to be by mee descrybed herein are the Furnace belowe wherein the fyre is to be made and the bed aboue whereon the Hoppes must lye to be dryed this I haue chieflye to aduise you of that you buylde the whole house and euery part thereof as close as you can and to place it neare to your Garden for the better expedicion of your woorke and somewhat distant from your house to auoyde the danger of fyre Of the Furnace or Keele THe floore or nether part of your Furnace must be about thirteene ynches wyde The depth or heygth thereof must also be thirteene ynches The length of it must be about sixe or seauen foote that is to saye reaching from the forepart of the Oste almost to the further ende thereof so as there be left no more roume but as a manne may passe betweene the wall and the ende of it It must be made wyde belowe and narrowe aboue fashioned in outwarde shape somewhat like to the roofe of an house It must haue hoales at each side the length of one Bricke a sunder and not the bygnesse of halfe a Bricke placed checkerwise Of the bedde or vpper floore of the Oste whereon the Hoppes must be dryed THe bedde or vpper floore whereon the Hoppes shall lye to be dryed must be placed fyue foote aboue the nether floore whereon the furnace standeth The two walles at eche side of the house serue for the bedde to rest vpon two wayes Nowe must two other walles be buylt at ech ende of your Oste whereon the other two parts of the bedde must rest and by this meanes shall you haue a close square roume beneath betwixt the lower floore and the bedde so as the floore belowe shall be as wyde as the bedde aboue These two walles must also bee made fowre foote aboue the bed that is to say nine foote high At the one ende belowe besides the mouth of the furnace you must make a little doore into the roume beneath the bedde At the other ende aboue the bedde you must make a windowe to shooue off from the bed the dryed Hoppes downe into the roume belowe prepared for them The bedde should be made as the bedde of any other Oste sauing that the Rayles or Lathes which serue therefore must be sawen verye euen one ynche square and layde one quarter of an ynche asunder And nowe once agayne wishing you to make euery doore windowe and ioynte of this house close I will leaue buylding and proceede to the drying of Hoppes sauing that I maye not omit to tell you that you shoulde eyther buylde all the walles of this house with Bricke or else with Lyme and Haire pargit ouer all the walles postes and beames thereof or at the least that roume wherein the furnace standeth And although I haue delayed you from time to time and brought you from place to place and tediously led you in and out and to and fro in the demonstration herof yet must I be bold to bring you round about againe euen to the place where I left you picking from whence you must speedily conuey your pyckt Hoppes to the place built and prepared for them and with as much speede hasten the drying of them The orderly drying of Hoppes THe first businesse that is to be done herein is to go vp to the bedde of the Oste and there to receyue Baskets fylled with Hoppes at the handes of one that standeth belowe Then beginning at the further ende least you shoulde treade on them laye downe Basketfull by Basketfull till the floore or bedde be all couered alwayes stirring them euen and leuell with a Cudgell so as they may lye about a foote and a halfe thicke and note that vpon this Oste there is no Oste cloth to be