u 



U P 



The moil convenient way of picking them is into a j about eight or ten feet wide, built of brick or llone 



having a door at one fide, and a fire-place in the 

 middle of the room, on the fioor, about thirteen 

 inches wide within, and thirteen inche^i high in I'jnath 

 from the mouth of it, almoft to the back partof tlie 

 kiln, a paflage being left juft enough for a man to 



long fquare frame of wood, called a Bin, with a cloth 

 hanging on tenter-hooks within it, to receive the 

 Hops as they are picked. 

 The frame is compofed of four pieces of wood joined 



together, fupported by four legs, with a prop at each 

 end to bear up another long piece of Nvood, placed at 

 a convenient height over the middle of the bin -, this 

 ferves to lay the poles upon which are to be picked. 

 This bin is commonly eight feet long, and three feet 

 broad ; two poles may be laid on it at a time, and 

 fix or eight perfons may v.'ork at it, three or four on 

 each fide. 



It will be beft to begin to pTck the Hops on theeaft or 

 north fide of your ground, if you can do it conveni- 

 ently •, this will prevent the fouth-weft wind from 



' breaking into the garden. ^ . 



Having made choice of a plot of the ground contain- 

 ing eleven hills fquare, place the bin upoii tKe hill 

 which is in the center, having five hills on each fide ; 



' and when thefe hills are picked, remove the b\s} into 

 another piece of ground of the fame extent, and fo 

 proceed till the whole Hop-ground is finiflied. 

 When the poles are drawn up to be picked, you muft 

 take great care not to cut the binds too near the hills, 



- efpecially when the Hops are green, becaufe it will 



' .; rnate the fap to flow exceflively. 



And if the poles do hot come up without difficulty, 



\ they fhould be raifed by a piece of wood in the. na- 

 ture ofi^ lever, having a forked piece of iron, with 



■ - teeth on the infide, fattened within two feet of the 



end. 

 ' The Hops muft be picked very clean, i. e. free from 



leaves and ftalks, and, as there fliall be occafion, two 



or three times in a day the bin n^uft be emptied into a 



• Hop-bag made of coarfe linen cloth, and carried im- 



' mediately to the oafl-, or kiln, in order to be dried ; 



./for if they fhould be long in the bin, or bag, they will 



be apt to heat, and be difcoloured. 



fr - r" 



If the weather be hot, there fhould no more poles 

 , be drawn than can be picked in an hour^ and they 

 fhould be gathered in fair weather, if it can fie, "knd 

 when the Hops' are dry; this will fave forrie expence 

 in firing, ' and preferve their colour better when they 

 are dried. 



go round the end of it ; this they call a horfe, fuch as 

 is commonly made in malt-kilns, the fire pafTint^out 

 at the holes at each fide, and at the end of it. 

 The bed, or floor, on which tlie Hops lie to be dried 

 is placed about five feet high above •, about that is 

 a wall near four feet high, to keep the Hops from 

 falling. 



A 'window is made at one fide of the upper bed to 

 fhove off the dry Hops down into a room prepared to 

 receive them. The beds are made of laths, or Vails 

 fawn very even, lying a quarter of an inch diftant 

 from one another, with a crofs beam in the middle 

 tofup'port them ; the laths a.re let in even with the top 

 of the beam, and this keeps therri even in the places i 

 this they call an oaft. ' * 



The Hops are laid on this bed by bafkets full, with- 

 out any oaft-cloth, beginning at one end, and fo go- 

 ing on till all is covered, half a yard thick, without 

 treading them ; then they even them with a rake,' tW 

 they may lie of equal thicknefs. 

 This being done, they kindle the^fire belgw, either 

 of wood or charcoal, but the latter is accounted the 

 better fuel for Hops'-, this fire"*Ts\Jtept as much as 

 may be at an equal or conftan't heat, 'and only at the 



, mouth of the fun;iace, for the air will fufficiently dif- 



'' . perfeit.^ _ 



They do not ftir them till they are thoroughly dried, 

 ,1. e. till the top is as fully dried as the bottom ; but 

 if they find any place riot to be fo dry as the reft, 

 (which may be known by reaching over them with 4 

 . uick or wand, and touching them in fevcral places,) 

 they obferve where they do not rattle, and where they 

 do 5 and where they do ndt'rSttle, they abate them 

 « there, and difpofe' of them where the places were 

 firfl: dry. 



i '1 



ft , jfi^A^t 



^,They k^ they are thoroughly dry, by the 



;^ ^^Bnt^^^ of the inner ftalk, if it be fhort when it is 

 nabbVd'rw^ wlien 'tliey find, they take out the 





1 ^The befl: method of drying Hops is with^ charcoal on 

 aii oafl: or kiln, covered with haii--clotK,'of the fame 



h 1 



fire, and fiiove out the Hops at the window that is 

 made for thatpurppfe, into the room made to re- 

 ceive them, with a coal-rake made with a board at 



.f -- 



form and fafhion that is ufedfor'd'ryihg malt.- ,,T^ the end of a pole, and then go in at a door be- 



is no need to give any particular dire£|:ions for the j low, and fweep up the Hops and feeds that fall 

 making it, fince ^yery carpenter, or bricklayer, in throujgh, and put them to the other Hopsj^thcn they 



thofe countries where Hops grow, or malt is made, 

 knows how to build^them. 



--, ^ 



" lay another bed of green Hops, and renevy the fire, 

 and proceed as before, ; , 



n^The kiln ought to be fquare, arid may be of ten, 1 This method is difapproved by fome, becaufe' (they 



;\^elve, fourteen, or fixteen feet over at the top, where I fay) the Hops lying fo thick, and not bemg turned, 



• : the Jiops are laid, as your plantation requires, and | the under part of them muft needs dry before the up- 

 ybur room will allow. There ought to be a due pro- 

 . portion l)etween the height and breadth of the kiln, 



-■- ^ ' > • 



per ; and the fire pafllng through the whole bed^to dry 

 the uppermofl:, muft neceflarily over-dry, an3 much 



V 



and the beguelsofthe fteddle where the fife is kept, ..prejudice the greateft part of the Hops, both in 



viz. if the kiln be twelve feet, fquare on the top, it 

 ought to be nine feet high from the fire, and the fted- 



ftrength and weight, befidesthc 'unrieceflary expence 

 of firing, which muft be long continued to dry tho- 



..-: die ought to be fix feet and a half ftjuare, and fo pro- J ^ roughly fo many together. 

 ' portlonable in other dinienfions, '^ ^ ^^ - ' - 



. - The Hops muft be fpread even upon the oaft a foot 



, ' thick or more, if the dep^,h of the curb will allow it, 



J, but care is to be taken not to overload the oaft, if the 



^ Hops be green or wet/ " f V ' ■ ; ^ '^\ * 



:vyThe oaft ought to be firft warmed with a fire before 



'■'. the Hops are laid on,^ and then an even fteady fire 



! 'muft.be kept under them ; it muft not be too fierce 



; at firft, left it fcorch the Hops ; nor muft it be fuf- 



. fered to fink or flacken, but rather be increafed till 



J; 'the Hops be near dried, left the moifture, or fweat, 



''■" which the* fire Tias raifed, fall back, or difcolour 



; them. When they have lain about nine hours, they 



muft be turned, and in two or three hours more thev 



may be taken off the oaft. It may be known when 



they are well dried by the brittlenefs of the ftalks, 



and the eafy falling off of the Hop leaves. 



..^Therefore fome have improved on this method, and 

 advifed to^ make the kiln much as is before directed as 



, to the Dutch way. 



. Firft to make a bed of fiat ledges about an 



1 I *< 



r« I ihpV 



inch 



two 



;. acrofs one another the flat way, chequerwife, at about 



. tliree or four inches diftance one from the other, the 



edges being fo entered one into the other, that the 



floor may be even and fmooth •, this bed may be made 



[I on two or three joifts, fet edgewife, to fupport 



to reft 



it from finking. 



This bed is to be covered with large double tin, loi- 

 dered together at each joint, and the ledges muft be 

 fo ordered, before they arc laid, that the joints of the 

 tin may always lie over the middle of the ledge, the 

 bed being wholly covered over with tin ; boards niuit 

 - ^ ^ J ^^ ^^^^^ about the edges of the kiln, to keep up tht^ 



The Dutch and Flemings have another method of Hops, but one fide muft be made to remove, thatthi 

 drying their Hops: they make a fquare kiln, or room, "" -^ - - - 



ff^as before 



\ 



Oti 



