days has sent many hundreds of hoppers into Kent, who
will have to wait till the fields are ready for them. At
Dover the number of vagrants in the workhouse is treble
the number there last year at this time, and in other towns
the lateness of the season is responsible for a large increase
in the number of casuals.

To cap their wretchedness, when at last the pick
ing had begun, hops and hoppers were well-nigh
swept away by a frightful storm of wind, rain, and
hail. The hops were stripped clean from the poles
and pounded into the earth, while the hoppers, seek
ing shelter from the stinging hail, were close to
drowning in their huts and camps on the low-lying
ground. Their condition after the storm was pitia
ble, their state of vagrancy more pronounced than
ever; for, poor crop that it was, its destruction had
taken away the chance of earning a few pennies,
and nothing remained for thousands of them but to
pad the hoof back to London.

"We ayn t crossin' sweepers," they said, turning
away from the ground, carpeted ankle-deep with
hops.

Those that remained grumbled savagely among
the half-stripped poles at the seven bushels for a
shilling a rate paid in good seasons when the
hops are in prime condition, and a rate likewise
paid in bad seasons by the growers because they
cannot afford more.

[[170]]

p169 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p170w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p171

v?