HUMULUS LUPULUS. 
and furnished with bracteas; the males are yellowish-white, 
in panicles, and drooping; the females, which are on distinct 
plants, are in solitary cones or strobiles, ovate and pendulous, 
composed of membranous scales of a pale greenish color, 
tubular from being rolled in at the base, and two-flowered, 
each containing one round, flattish seed, of a bay-brown 
color, surrounded with a sharp rim, and compressed at the 
tip. 
At the proper season, while the strobiles are yet scarcely 
ripe, the plants are cut about three feet from the ground, the 
poles on which they are twined pulled up, and the strobiles 
carefully picked off one by one. Those that are Overripe or 
defective are separated from those that are ripe enough, and 
both kinds are carried to the kiln as soon as possible after 
they are picked. The heat of the kiln requires to be regu- 
lated with great nicety, and in order to prevent them from 
drying too fast, many kilns have two floors, on the uppermost 
of which the greener hops are laid, and gradually dried, be- 
fore being brought to support the heat of the lower floor. 
Charcoal is the fuel usually employed, other kinds of fuel 
injuring the flavor of the hops. The strobiles are considered 
sufficiently dry when they become crisp, but they acquire a 
degree of toughness and tenacity before they are bagged, from 
being laid in heaps in the storehouses. Five pounds of moist 
or underripe hops make one pound only when taken from the 
kiln. ‘The best hops are brought to market in fine canvas 
sacks, called “pockets,” each of which contains somewhat 
