240 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



The green hops should be spread as evenly and as light 

 as possible over the kiln. The fire at first should be mode- 

 rate, but it may be increased as the hops dry and the steam 

 is evaporated. 



The hops, after lying a few days, will gather a partial 

 moisture, called a sweat. The sweat will probably begin to 

 subside in about eight days, at which time, and before the 

 sweat is off, they ought to be bagged in clear dry weather. As 

 the exact time when the hops will begin to sweat, and when 

 the sweat will begin to subside or dry off (the proper time 

 to bag them), will vary with the state of the atmosphere, 

 it will be necessary to examine the hops from day to day, 

 which is easily done by taking some of them from the centre 

 of the heap. If on examination you find the hops to be 

 very damp, and their color altering, which will be the case 

 if they were not completely dried on the kiln, overhaul and 

 dry them in the air. 



Hops should not remain long in the bin or bag after they 

 are picked, as they will very soon heat and become insipid. 

 The hops should not be stirred on the kiln until they are 

 completely and fully dried. Then remove them from the 

 kiln into a dry room and lay in a heap unstirred until bag- 

 ged. This in done with a screw, having a box made of 

 plank the size of the bag into which the cloth is laid and 

 the hops screwed into the box, so constructed that the sides 

 may be removed and the bag sewed together while in the 

 press. The most convenient size for a bag is about five feet 

 in length, and to contain about two hundred and fifty pounds. 

 The best material is coarse, strong, domestic tow cloth ; next 

 to that, Russia hemp bagging. 



Those who have entered considerably into the cultivation 

 of hops, build houses over their kilns, which are convenient 

 in wet weather, otherwise, a kiln in the open air would be 

 preferable. It is necessary to have these buildings well ven- 

 tilated with doors and windows ; and to have them kept 

 open night and day, except in wet weather, and then shut 

 those only which are necessary to keep out the rain. Or if 

 a ventilator was put in the roof it would be found advan- 

 tageous. I have seen many hops injured both in color and 

 flavor by being dried in close buildings. Where the houses 

 over the kilns are large for the purpose of storing the hops, 

 make a close partition between the kilns and the room in 



