196 THE HOP. 



harvest at midnight. As a floor four feet deep and 

 1 6 feet square will contain about 45 boxes, or 

 900 bushels, the green weight of 4,500 pounds 

 shrinks to some 1,100 pounds. Thus, the 3,400 pounds 

 of water in the hops has to be evaporated and carried 

 off during the 12 hours. Hot air to evaporate the 

 w^ater, and a strong current to carry the vapor off are 

 essential. Hence, the need of an abundant inlet of 

 cool air into the stove or heating pipes, and of ample 

 ventilation to draw off the hot vapor in such a way 

 as to create a strong draft or current of heated air 

 through the light and fluffy mass of hops. 



After the floor is laid, the fire should be started and 

 the heat raised to the desired point in two to four 

 hours. If the heat is rushed up quickly, it will cause 

 the hops to pack, whereas they should be kept so light 

 that the heated air will freely circulate about every hop. 

 At the start, open wide the ventilators in the cowl, to let 

 the steam off freely, and as long as steam is emitted, 

 see that the sulphurous acid fumes permeate the air. 

 When the steam is gone, or nearly so, stop the sulphur 

 and close the ventilators halfway. This is in about 10 

 hours, generally, on a 12-hour cure, depending on 

 the condition of the hops. Finally, close the ventila- 

 tors tight, to allow the top layers to be dried off. 



It is not possible to describe in words the con- 

 dition hops are in when the cure is done and the floor 

 ready to renew. It must be learned by actual experi- 

 ence, just as the qualities and curing of cigar leaf 

 tobacco can be judged only by experts. Meeker 

 attempted to do this in his Ipook, from which we quote: 



"An ideally cured hop would show only a wilted stem, or 

 core, of a purplish-green cast, being soft to the touch and 

 flexible; the globules of lupulin, standing out prominently, 

 bright and unchanged from that of an uncured hop. In prac- 

 tice, however, most of the stems are not only wilted, but are 

 dried so as to be brittle and harsh to the touch, and show 

 the sharp corners, which will be readily understood by any- 

 one taking a specimen between the thumb and finger and 



