KTLNS FOR ri'RTXf; 7T0IS. 177 



than is possil>Ic I y llic arlificial liot-air cure in Kn^- 

 land and yXnicrica, and tliat tills accr)unts in part f'^r 

 the peculiaritifs f»f Spalt li<»i)s that mmniand such 

 extraordinary prices. The dealers buy the hops loose 

 from the grower, sack them, carefully assort the hops, 

 j)uttin.n- all of one coh^r and streng-th together before 

 bleachin.L;- them with sulphur; sin.c^le firms thus handle 

 and bleach 20,000 bales or more. Spalt hops arc never 

 bleached. 



In ]Cn£;land and America, curinj:]^ is done in spe- 

 cially constructed houses, in which temperature, mois- 

 ture and sulphur fumes can Ijc reo^ulated to a nicety. 

 The construction of these curing houses will be first 

 described. 



KXflLISII OAST HOUSES 



are w-ell and briefly described by Whitehead: 



"The kilns for drying hops are of simple construc- 

 tion, being occasionally square, but more frequently 

 round, chambers, from 1 6 to 20 feet in diameter, with 

 stoves or fireplaces in them, and from 14 to 18 feet 

 liigh; at this height a floor of narrow joists, or oast 

 laths, an inch and a-half or so apart, is laid over the 

 chamber. At this point the sharply sloping roof com- 

 mences, being carried up to an apex with a circular 

 ai:)erture of from two to three feet, upon wdiich a cowl 

 is fixed. The roof is from 20 to 26 feet high. A sec- 

 tion of a kiln is given in Fig. 92, R, in which the rela- 

 tive height of the various parts is indicated. The kiln, 

 or chamber, is in some cases merely a room with open 

 iron stoves in it, as shown in the two lower kilns of the 

 ground plan D in Fig. 93 and in Fig. 92 B, 

 having holes at intervals in the walls, just above 

 the ground level to allow the admission of cold 

 drafts to drive up the hot air through the 

 hops above. Over tlie open stoves, iron plates 

 are hung, five 01 six feet from the floor, to break 



