HOPS. 239 



Cultivating the second year. After gathering in the fall, 

 the hops should be hilled or covered with compost and all 

 the vines removed. The following spring when the ground 

 is dry, the surface is scraped from the hill, and additional 

 compost is added, when a plow is run on four sides, as near 

 as possible without injury to tjie plants. All the running 

 roots are laid bare and cut with a sharp knife within two or 

 three inches of the main root, and the latter are trimmed if 

 spreading too far. It is well to break or twist down the 

 first shoots and allow those which succeed to run, as they 

 are likely to be stronger and more productive. Cutting 

 should be avoided unless in a sunny day, as the profuse 

 bleeding injures them. The poles will keep much longer, if 

 laid away under cover till again wanted the following spring. 



Curing or drying. This is an important operation. It 

 may be done by spreading the hops thinly in the shade and 

 stirring them often enough to prevent heating. But when 

 there is a large quantity, they can be safely cured only in a 

 kiln. The following mode is recommended by Mr. 

 Blanchard : 



" For the convenience of putting the hops on the kiln, the 

 side of a hill is generally chosen. The kiln should be dug 

 out the same bigness at the bottom as at the top ; the side 

 walls laid up perpendicularly, and filled in solid with stone, 

 to give it a tunnel form. Twelve feet square at the top, 

 two feet square at the bottom, and at least eight feet deep, 

 is deemed a convenient size. Sills are laid on the top of the 

 walls, having joists let into them like a floor ; on which laths, 

 about one and a half inches wide are nailed, leaving open 

 spaces between them three-fourths of an inch, ove-r which a 

 thin linen cloth is spread and nailed at the edges of the sills. 

 A board about twelve inches wide is set up on each side of 

 the kiln, on the inner edge of the sill, to form a bin to re- 

 ceive the hops. The larger the stones made use of in the 

 construction of the kiln, the better ; as it will give a more 

 steady and dense heat. The inside of the kiln should be 

 well plastered with mortar to make it completely air-tight. 

 Charcoal made from yellow birch, sound hickory or maple is 

 the only fuel proper to be used in drying hops. The kiln 

 should be well heated before any hops are put on, and care- 

 fully attended, to keep a steady and regular heat. Fifty 

 pounds of hops, when dried, is the largest quantity that 

 should be dried at one time, on a kiln of this size, and unless 

 necessary to put on that quantity, a less would dry better. 



