CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. 



rising and drifting steam of the hot kilns, they will be coloured and injured by 

 the steam settling down upon them. 



After hops are dried and removed from the kilns, they should be allowed to 

 remain in a cool place, neither too close nor too airy, for a week or fortnight, 

 to go through with an after process, commonly called toughening. It is the 

 same process through which nay and the straw of grain and all such products 

 pass, after packing away. After hops are removed from the kiln and suffi- 

 ciently dry for that purpose, there is still some moisture left in some of them, 

 either in the core or the thick part of the leaves, which will escape by nature's 

 law of evaporation, some of it lodging in the leaves, that are now dry, render- 

 ing the whole mass tough, and some portion escaping into the air. 



After hops have laid long enough, to be fit for bagging without risk, the 

 sooner it is done in my opinion the better; as they waste less in strength and 

 flavour after they are screwed into bags, than they do when lying loose in 

 bulk. 



There are a number of varieties of the hop, Humulus Lupulus. Beside the 

 male hop, I know of but three varieties, viz: the long whites, the French and 

 the teasel. Mine, are the long white, as are most of the hops raised in this 

 vicinity. This is also esteemed the best, both as to its productiveness and the 

 quality of the product. 



In one respect hops are an exception to the farinaceous and most other kinds 

 of agriculturaLcrops, as neither by fermentation, distillation, or any other 

 process, can they be made to produce an intoxicating liquor. They are a 

 strong antiseptic, and are used to preserve yeast and beer of all kinds, and 

 perhaps other materials. The quantity of hops raised in this country has 

 variea from year to year, ranging from one million to three million pounds. 

 An average crop in Great Britain is about forty-four million pounds. The 

 amount of our crop for the last year or two has exceeded a million; and per- 

 haps has come up to a million and a half. . When the shippers find it a good 

 article of export, our hop growers find themselves very liberally paid for their 

 long course of care and labour in growing and curing the article. 



The estimated number of inhabitants in the United States is fifteen millions. 

 Allowing five individuals to a family, which was about the average in New 

 England at the last census, the quantity of hops raised in the country would 

 give about half a pound to a family through the nation. This is evidently a 

 small supply, for yeast and small beer, to say nothing of the bakers, who are 

 regular and free consumers of the article. However, much of it goes with a 

 far greater quantity of barley to be consumed by the brewers of pale ale and 

 porter. 



To judge of the quality of hops, as the chief virtue resides 

 in the yellow powder contained in them, which is termed the 

 condition, and is of an unctuous and clammy nature, the more 

 or less clammy the sample appears to be, the value will be in- 

 creased or diminished in the opinion of the purchaser. To this 

 may be added the colour, which is of very material consequence 

 for the farmer to preserve as high as possible, since the pur- 

 chaser will most generally insist much on this article; though, 

 perhaps, the brightest coloured hops are not always the strongest 

 flavoured. The hop is liable to many diseases, and the attack 

 of numerous insects. 



The following letter from Mr. FIDLER to Judge BUEL will 

 be found both interesting and beneficial to the cultivator of the 

 hop. 



ALBANV, August 11, 1834. 



Dear Sir Agreeable to your request, I send you some account of the method 

 of curing hops, as practised by the most successful persons I have known in 



