642 FIELD AND GARDEN PRODUCTS 



from a week to ten days earlier than the other standard varieties arid 

 enables the grower to begin picking so much earlier. 



A second consideration is the capacity of the drying plant to 

 handle the crop as fast as harvested. If the acreage is large and the 

 crop heavy, the facilities for handling and drying the hops will be 

 taxed to their utmost, and if more hops are picked than can be put 

 upon the kilns and dried without delay, they undergo heating, and 

 are thereby seriously damaged in quality or lost entirely. Because of 

 inadequate facilities, therefore, growers frequently begin picking 

 before the hops are ripe and continue picking after they have passed 

 what is recognized as the most suitable stage for harvesting. 



A third consideration, which is recognized by all progressive 

 growers, is the effect of the picking time upon the quality of the 

 product. The development of the essential oil, the desirable soft 

 resins, and other valuable constituents reaches ite height about the 

 time the hops become fully ripe, in which condition they are gen- 

 erally regarded as possessing the finest flavor. 



From the standpoint of the consumer the time of picking is a 

 matter of great interest, and it should be also to every grower, as a 

 much higher quality of hops would result from picking at the proper 

 time. However, for reasons previously mentioned it is often very 

 difficult to secure pickers when the crop is just ripe. In addition to 

 the difficulties just mentioned, the several parts of the field rarely 

 ripen exactly together; often when a field is practically level slight 

 variations in quality of soil or moisture content will result in uneven- 

 ness in ripening, and while it is customary in picking to work around 

 and through the field, choosing first the ripe portions, it is rarely 

 possible to pick all of the crop at the most desirable degree of 

 ripeness. 



While growers recognize in a general way the importance of a 

 proper picking time, the disadvantages arising from a disregard of 

 this time are not appreciated by all. There are several important 

 objections to improperly picked hops which reduce their market 

 value. 



Necessity for Clean Picking. In picking every effort should be 

 made to reduce to a minimum the quantity of leaves, stems, and 

 other foreign material. The presence of leaves in cured hops renders 

 them unsightly and materially reduces their market value. The 

 opinion is frequently expressed by the more important hop dealers 

 that one of the principal points for raising the quality of the Ameri- 

 can hop is clean picking. 



Disadvantages of Unripe Hops. Unripe hops contain more 

 water in proportion to their weight of dry substance than those 

 which are ripe; consequently in drying the "conversion" is not so 

 high ; that is, the ratio of the dry hops to the weight of green hops 

 put upon the kiln is smaller when the hops are unripe. Unripe hops 

 are also more difficult to dry on the kiln, probably because of their 

 higher water content and tendency to pack together as soon as wilted, 

 and they do not keep so well when stored. Since the lupulin in 

 unripe hops has not reached its full development, there is an abso- 

 lute loss of weight by picking in this condition. The aroma is not so 



