Many thanks for this Terry. My real interest is not in the casual labour for picking but in the permanent labour for year-round care and attention. My (limited) horticultural experience is that anything that grows that far and that fast must be on native ground or a weed or require quite a lot of knowledgeable attention to be sure it performs the way that is wanted. cheers, David On 30/05/2008, at 2:03 AM, TERRY DIPPLE wrote: > David - by the time we got there, they were already flowering (late > Aug/Sep). They grew in long rows about 100/200 yds up strings about > 6/7' > high attached to wires, forming "binds" (like grape-vines) which had > sharp > bristles. Pole-pullers (like my father, taking a long holiday from > coal-mining) would cut them down using a sharp hook on the end of a > long > pole. They would be thrown into a "crib" made from sacking, and the > women > and girls would pick the hops (no leaves) off the binds (I played > the gipsy > twins). Twice a day a "busheler" would come and "bushelem up", and > we would > get paid/bushel. They would then be taken into the oast houses to > dry. The > only chemical I can remember being used was Sulphur (probably for > killing > some bugs). There is a book on hop-picking you can buy from Bromyard > FHS. > Regards - Terry > > -----Original Message----- > From: eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Daniell > Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:24 AM > To: eng-hereford@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [HEF] Hops > > Hi Terry, I'd agree but I still need to know if any particular name > was given to people with the necessary expertise to look after the > plants - or was / is it a simple and straightforward crop - like peas > or beans or whatever. You know, you plant them, prop them up, > harvest them then clear away the mess (or burn or dig it in?). I > suspect some of my / our family may have done just that. Was hoping > for some clues. > Cheers > David > > On 30/05/2008, at 1:00 AM, TERRY DIPPLE wrote: > >> David - I used to go "hop-picking" from 1-6 years of age, at Leaks' >> farm - >> Withington, Herfs. I would have thought if someone from >> Worestershire had a >> notice in a London paper, they would have married the daughter of a >> landowner/farmer of hops, not a ag. Lab planting hops. >> Terry (Ohio) >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com >> [mailto:eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Daniell >> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 8:18 AM >> To: Herefordshire Rootsweb >> Subject: [HEF] Hops >> >> Can anyone tell me the correct description in the old censuses of >> people whose main occupation was growing hops? >> Or was this perforce a seasonal occupation? >> (so at census time they would not have been doing that?) >> Would they have been classes as ag-labs or would it have required >> enough skill to be regarded as a separate 'trade'? >> >> I notice in a recent message someone is described as a hop-planter. >> Might this have been someone who owned a plantation as distinct from >> an employee who planted them and trained them onto sticks etc? >> >> Thanks for any advice, >> David >> >> "14th October 1793, Sun Newspaper, London >> A few days since, at St. John's Worcester, Mr ROLLASON, Printer & >> Bookseller, Coventry, married to Miss OVEN, daughter of the late Mr >> James >> OVEN, Hop-planter and Grazier, Dilwyn Herefordshire >> Diane J." >> ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- >> A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- >> A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com >> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >> the body of the message > > ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- > A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- > A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message

Hi David As I think I tried to explain in my first reply to this message, hops are grown on farms and so the year round care and cultivation is undertaken by the normal farm labour force - the "ag labs", "farm labours" or "indoor farm servants" of the census. ("indoor in this case means a man who had his lodging in the farmhouse, ie a single man, not one who worked indoors). All of these have wonderful specialist knowledge of all the crops and animals that they tend, but at different times of the year would be concentrating on different crops and cultivations. For those involved with growing hops Mary's website that you quoted gives a very good summary. Nowadays through the hopyards are not ploughed and hoed, instead the weeds are supressed by spraying. The only exception to this, beyond the pickers, were that the women of the village (normally the wives of the ag labs) were employed to "tie-in" the strings and train hop bines at the start of their growth. This did not need the same skills as pruning a vineyard or orchard, as the growth was only annual. Polly ----- Original Message ----- From: "David Daniell" <ddaniell@woosh.co.nz> To: <eng-hereford@rootsweb.com> Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 12:00 PM Subject: Re: [HEF] Hops Many thanks for this Terry. My real interest is not in the casual labour for picking but in the permanent labour for year-round care and attention. My (limited) horticultural experience is that anything that grows that far and that fast must be on native ground or a weed or require quite a lot of knowledgeable attention to be sure it performs the way that is wanted. cheers, David On 30/05/2008, at 2:03 AM, TERRY DIPPLE wrote: > David - by the time we got there, they were already flowering (late > Aug/Sep). They grew in long rows about 100/200 yds up strings about > 6/7' > high attached to wires, forming "binds" (like grape-vines) which had > sharp > bristles. Pole-pullers (like my father, taking a long holiday from > coal-mining) would cut them down using a sharp hook on the end of a > long > pole. They would be thrown into a "crib" made from sacking, and the > women > and girls would pick the hops (no leaves) off the binds (I played > the gipsy > twins). Twice a day a "busheler" would come and "bushelem up", and > we would > get paid/bushel. They would then be taken into the oast houses to > dry. The > only chemical I can remember being used was Sulphur (probably for > killing > some bugs). There is a book on hop-picking you can buy from Bromyard > FHS. > Regards - Terry > > -----Original Message----- > From: eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com > [mailto:eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Daniell > Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 9:24 AM > To: eng-hereford@rootsweb.com > Subject: Re: [HEF] Hops > > Hi Terry, I'd agree but I still need to know if any particular name > was given to people with the necessary expertise to look after the > plants - or was / is it a simple and straightforward crop - like peas > or beans or whatever. You know, you plant them, prop them up, > harvest them then clear away the mess (or burn or dig it in?). I > suspect some of my / our family may have done just that. Was hoping > for some clues. > Cheers > David > > On 30/05/2008, at 1:00 AM, TERRY DIPPLE wrote: > >> David - I used to go "hop-picking" from 1-6 years of age, at Leaks' >> farm - >> Withington, Herfs. I would have thought if someone from >> Worestershire had a >> notice in a London paper, they would have married the daughter of a >> landowner/farmer of hops, not a ag. Lab planting hops. >> Terry (Ohio) >> >> -----Original Message----- >> From: eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com >> [mailto:eng-hereford-bounces@rootsweb.com] On Behalf Of David Daniell >> Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 8:18 AM >> To: Herefordshire Rootsweb >> Subject: [HEF] Hops >> >> Can anyone tell me the correct description in the old censuses of >> people whose main occupation was growing hops? >> Or was this perforce a seasonal occupation? >> (so at census time they would not have been doing that?) >> Would they have been classes as ag-labs or would it have required >> enough skill to be regarded as a separate 'trade'? >> >> I notice in a recent message someone is described as a hop-planter. >> Might this have been someone who owned a plantation as distinct from >> an employee who planted them and trained them onto sticks etc? >> >> Thanks for any advice, >> David >> >> "14th October 1793, Sun Newspaper, London >> A few days since, at St. John's Worcester, Mr ROLLASON, Printer & >> Bookseller, Coventry, married to Miss OVEN, daughter of the late Mr >> James >> OVEN, Hop-planter and Grazier, Dilwyn Herefordshire >> Diane J." >> ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- >> A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the >> quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- >> A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com >> with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and >> the body of the message > > ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- > A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- > A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com > with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and > the body of the message ---- ENG-HEREFORD Mailing List ---- A genealogy and local history list covering the County of Hereford ------------------------------- To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to ENG-HEREFORD-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message