Ch. XXX.] HOPS— PICKING, OASTAGE, AND BAGGING. 347 



sary to begin the picking before the dew is evaporated, the pole is shaken 

 to and fro, in order to throw off as much of it as possible. As it alwavs 

 happens that the hops do not ripen at the same time, neither do they all run 

 of one quality upon the same bine. The Farnham planters, who are particu- 

 larly attentive to the maintenance of the long and well-established credit of 

 their hops, not only set out all those that are fresh ripe for the first gathering, 

 but make such distinctions in the appearance of their respective qualities as 

 in their judgment seems m.ost proper, so as to assort them into at least three 

 difierent parcels, each according to their separate value. It is their ju-actice, 

 therefore, " to begin at the bottom of the pole, and to pick the hops, one 

 by one, without bunches, long-tails, or leaves. Those that are just of the 

 proper degree of ripeness, and are full and fair in their appearance, are 

 first gathered, and put by themselves into the bin-cloth : such as are rather 

 inferior in quality, or not exactly taken at the proper degree of ripeness, 

 are of the second sort, and are likewise put by themselves in a basket. As, 

 however, with the Farnham planters, hops that are under-ripe are more 

 esteemed than such as are over-ripe, the second sort takes in only the 

 greenish hops: such as are brown and over-ripe are the third sort; and 

 if the grower is very nice, a fourth basket is set for such as are defective 

 in their form, or have received a check during their growth *." 



It is of the greatest consequence that the hops should be dried as soon as 

 possible after they are picked, since, if they are kept long in the baskets in 

 which they are brought from the grounds, they are apt to heat and spoil : 

 the hops picked in the morning are therefore carried to the " oast,'' or kiln, 

 at noon. 



The operation of onstage is one of great nicety, for the strength and 

 flavour of the hop are extremely volatile. The oast is nearly similar to a 

 malt-kiln, and the hops are laid in parcels of 25 to 30 bushels, about five 

 or six inches thick, upon a hair-cloth. The kiln having been previously 

 heated, the temperature is regulated to one uniform but moderate degree of 

 heat, in order that the hops may not dry too fast, and is kept at that degree 

 until the upper })art of the heap appears to have felt the fire ; when, the 

 lower part being then considered dry, the heap is turned ; but, before that 

 is done, the heat should be somewhat lowered, and restored when the 

 turning has taken place. The thickness of the heap must depend upon the 

 state of the hops, for, if they be full of moisture, they should be laid upon 

 the kiln very thin, and a less degree of heat should be applied, or otherwise 

 the steam arising from them will make them cake, or run into lumps f. 

 They take, in general, about ten or twelve hours in the drying. A fourteen- 

 feet kiln will therefore dry in the twenty-four hours 200 bushels of hops 

 from the bines, or about 3.^0 lbs. of dry hops ; that is to say, at two dryings, 

 for the men work all night. The fuel usually employed is either coke or 

 charcoal, as being the most secure from communicating any smell which 

 might injure the delicacy of the flower %. 



Soon after the hops are upon the kiln, sulphur is commonly applied by 



* Steveuson's Survey of Surrey, p. 361. 



t To guard against this some kilus are constructed with double floors, one about five 

 or six IVet above the other : '• the hops that are greenest, or contain most moisture, are 

 put on the upper floor, and are thus dried very gradually, and fitted to receive and 

 support the greater heat of the lower floor." — Stevenson's Survey of Surrey, p. oCtZ. 



X The cost of erection of a small oa&t-house, with a store of moderate size, will, if sub- 

 stantially built, be from 200/, to 300/. : but many cost much larger suras. 



