214: . THE HOP. 



ground, near the stove, and set fire to it with a few hot 

 coals or with a red-hot iron. 



If the hops are nice and free from rust, one pound 

 of sulphur is used for a floor in a 24-foot kiln, but when 

 very rusty, from two to five pounds are used; others 

 use only two to three ounces at a time, and burn it 

 three times, first when the hops are warmed one-third 

 the way through, and last when the heat has reached 

 the surface. On the coast, from one to four pounds 

 of sulphur per 100 pounds of dried hops is the range. 

 Usually a little sulphur is burned, with ventilators 

 partly closed, just before the hops are done, to finish off 

 the drying. The bleaching effect is not as much at 

 this time as when the hops are more moist. 



Some Oregon growers find that "the best way to 

 burn sulphur is in iron kettles, hung by a hook on 

 wires stretched across each corner of the kiln, and high 

 enough to be above the heads of anyone passing under- 

 neath. These kettles can be lifted off with a forked 

 stick and set on the stove to get hot when the fire is 

 started, and again hung on the wire as soon as the sul- 

 phur is burning well. The kettles can be replenished 

 by dropping sticks of sulphur in them while burning. 

 They should be kept burning until the hops are 

 dry enough to rattle on top. The amount thus used 

 will be found to be about one pound to each 20 pounds 

 or 25 pounds of dried hops/' Meeker burns the sul- 

 phur outdoors, but close to the fan, by which the fumes 

 are sucked up with the air and forced in a powerful cur- 

 rent through the hops after the air is heated. 



No other chemicals should be used, as they de- 

 stroy the vitality of the dried hops and cause them to 

 fall to pieces and look and feel husky, like chaff. There 

 are four reasons for using sulphur: i. The fumes de- 

 crease the hygroscopic power of hops; that is, render 

 them less able to retain the moisture that is both within 

 and without them, and thus the fumes help to carry off 



