CUBING, COOLING AND BALING. 217 



suaded many growers to dry them without sulphur, 

 but when they got the hops they were badly disap- 

 pointed. The hops contained moisture and impurities 

 and lost strength rapidly, and the next year all the 

 brewers' chemists advised the liberal use of sulphur. 

 Much has been said against the sulphuring of hops, 

 but the weight of scientific and practical knowledge, 

 and the experience of brew r ers, is overwhelmingly in 

 favor of bleaching with sulphur fumes when the process 

 is properly conducted. The Bavarian government's 

 commission, under the chairmanship of the great Lie- 

 big, made a most elaborate investigation as long ago 

 as 1855, and established the great truth that when this 

 process is properly done nothing but good results. All 

 scientific and practical experience since has abundantly 

 confirmed this result. 



But too strong a sulphurous acid gas, made by 

 having too much sulphur or by not allowing proper 

 ventilation, is certainly bad for the hops. Too much 

 gas, like too much heat, tends to give hops unfavorable 

 characteristics. Either or both also remove more wa- 

 ter than necessary The grower's object should be to 

 retain as much water as can be done without detriment 

 to the keeping qualities of the hops, thus having a 

 greater weight for market. American and English 

 hops in market usually contain fully 7 to 10 per cent, 

 of water; they might contain 10 to 15 per cent, without 

 much danger of heating. Re-sulphured hops in Ger- 

 many contain 20 to 22 per cent, of water. 



The use of impure sulphur is even worse. Only 

 the very best virgin roll brimstone should be burned. 

 A few cents saved in buying cheap or inferior sulphur 

 may cause the loss of many dollars in selling value of a 

 crop. 



The prejudice against sulphured hops, in the minds 

 of certain brewers, is due to the fact that the proc- 

 ess is unmercifully abused by irresponsible persons. 



