GRADING A.ND MARKETING HOPS. 229 



be readily seen that if a buyer is j^iven a sample of 

 the best portion of a crop, trouble will result when it 

 comes to inspection. On the other hand, should the 

 grower submit his worst sample, he will not receive 

 what he is justly entitled to for his entire crop, as no 

 buyer will object to hops that are better than the pur- 

 chased sample. 



Therefore, if a grower will keep his different qual- 

 ities separate and submit samples of each quality to the 

 buyer, and sell accordingly, there will be no misrepre- 

 sentation and no chance for dispute. The ordinary 

 grower will usually do well to have as few grades as 

 possible, at least two — the main crop and late picked. 



It is customary when a trade is made between 

 buyer and seller, for the former to take his purchasing 

 sam]:)le or samples and lay on a board or table beside the 

 lot he has bought. He then proceeds to examine each 

 bale with a tryer, which is an instrument about i6 

 inches long and three-eighths of an inch in diameter, 

 with a crosspiece at one end, about four inches long, for 

 a handle. The other end comes to a sharp point and 

 has a hook similar to a fishing hook. This tryer is 

 thrust into the bale, the cloth of which has been cut to 

 a length of about two inches, and the tryer is then given 

 half a twist and w^ith drawn. The hook brings out a 

 good-sized handful of hops, which the buyer proceeds 

 to examine and compare with the purchase sample. 

 Each handful of hops is laid on a board or table and 

 compared. By this means one can get a correct idea of 

 the contents of each bale, especially to determine its 

 condition as to curing. It is sometime's necessary 

 to examine a bale in more than one place, to look out 

 for false packing, of which we spoke in a previous 

 chapter. 



Hops that will crumble when compressed in the 

 hand are over-dried and |)robably high-dried. Their 

 brittleness indicates that the moisture, as well as the 



