MISCELLANEOUS CROPS 647 



breaks through the hops. During this period of drying the heat is 

 concentrated on the lower layers of hops, and here the greatest care 

 is necessary to avoid injury. When the heat begins to break through 

 the hops the upper thermometer will show a rapid rise of tempera- 

 ture, while the one below the floor will show a decline. From this 

 point on to the end of the drying the two thermometers will show 

 approximately the same degree of temperature. 



As already stated, hops are frequently cured in from ten to 

 twelve hours, but, other conditions being equal, a higher tempera- 

 ture must be used than when the time is extended to eighteen or 

 twenty hours. The advantages of slower curing or curing at a lower 

 temperature should be universally understood by hop growers. Even 

 a moderately high temperature continued too long will damage the 

 quality of the hops, the same as too high a temperature. In order 

 mat the hops may be dried at as low a temperature as can be made 

 to do the work a strong draft is necessary during the drying to con- 

 tinuously carry off the moisture from the hops. There is no doubt 

 that the principle of the air-blast kiln at present most satisfactorily 

 meets these requirements. 



No definite rule has yet been given for determining when hops 

 are sufficiently dried. The condition in which they may be safely 

 removed from the kilns can at present be told only by experience. 

 The amount of drying will vary from day to day, being dependent 

 upon weather conditions and the ripeness of the hops, In general, 

 drying should continue until nearly all the stems or cores are shriv- 

 eled, but are still soft and pliable. If overdried, the stems crumble 

 and break readily, and the lupulin loses its bright, clear yellow ap- 

 pearance and turns brown. Ii hops are taken off the kilns slack or 

 underdried they are very apt to heat, which turns the lupulin brown, 

 and to develop a spur musty smell which makes .them undesirable. 

 If they are high dried or overdried they will break badly and become 

 chaffy, and they also develop a burnt, peanutty odor. 



The thin leaf-like portions of the hop usually become dry 

 enough to break readily by the time the stems are dried sufficiently 

 to make safe the removal of the hops from the kiln. This condition 

 may be remedied by closing the ventilators half an hour before the 

 drying is finished. This will also somewhat restore hops that have 

 been overdried, as the further escape of moisture from the kilns is 

 prevented, which then tends to equalize in the hops, soon softening 

 and toughening them. Many careful dryers make a regular practice 

 of gradually closing the ventilators as drying proceeds, and finish 

 the kiln with them tightly closed. The same result may be indiffer- 

 ently accomplished by opening all the doors of the kiln and letting 

 the nops cool for about an hour, as by this process they absorb mois- 

 ture from the air and become less brittle. 



Sulphuring. The practice of sulphuring hops, which is now 

 almost universal, is a response to the demands of the market chiefly 

 for the pale yellowish-green grades. The use of sulphur not only 

 gives the hops the desirable yellow color, but makes them more uni- 

 form in appearance, thus increasing their salability. Many dealers 

 are guided more by color than by other qualities, and sueli dealers 



