HOO 



HOO 



live term in botany, to express the 

 partial covering of a flower, &c., by a 

 petal or leaf, which is curved over it. 



HOOF. The solid or cloven nail 

 of the feet of cattle or horses ; it re- 

 sembles horn in composition. Hoofs 

 are used in the manufacture of glue 

 and Prussian blue ; scraped into 

 shreds, they form admirable manure, 

 yielding 15 per cent, nitrogen in the 

 natural state, or upward of 18 per 

 cent, ammonia duruig decay. Four 

 hundred pounds in compost will be 

 sufficient for an acre. 



HOOP. The wooden or metallic 

 fastening of casks. Hickory is in 

 the greatest esteem for this purpose ; 

 but young trees of ash, oak, birch, 

 &c., answer well. Several machines 

 have been patented for splitting 

 hoops ; they are, however, expensive. 

 The usual principle is to pass the 

 wood between rollers, which carry it 

 upon a sharp edge that splits it cen- 

 trally ; motion is given to the rollers 

 by horse power. 



HOOVE, or HOVEN. See Ox. 



HOPPER. The receiver of a mill 

 or machine in which the grain, roots, 

 &c., are placed. 



HOP-OAST. A kiln used for dry- 

 ing hops. The floor of the kOn is 

 generally of wire cloth, and the heat 

 is generated in a stove with flues be- 

 low. The hops, after being put on 

 the kiln, are frequently turned, and 

 in general they are rendered sufli- 

 ciently dry in the course of a few 

 hours ; when dried, they are taken to 

 a loft and left to cool for a day or two, 

 and then put into bags, having been 

 previously subjected to the slight ac- 

 tion of the fumes of burning sulphur 

 (sulphurous acid), by which they are, 

 to a certain extent, bleached. This 

 is not to be recommended, for it par- 

 tially destroys the fine odour. 



HOPPLE. A mode of fettering 

 the legs of horses and cattle turned 

 out to graze. 



HOPS. Hamulus Inpulus : family 

 Urlicacea. The following is chiefly 

 from Mr. Rham : 



" Hops are extensively cultivated 

 for the flowers, which give flavour 

 and permanence to beer, by being 

 380 



boiled with the wort in brewing 

 They impart a pleasant, bitter, and 

 aromatic flavour, and prevent Ihe too 

 rapid progress of fermentation. Beer 

 which is well hopped will keep long 

 and become very fine, without any 

 of those artificial means of fining 

 wiiich make the common brewer's 

 beer so much inferior in quality to 

 that which is home-brewed. 



" The hop is a slender climbing 

 plant, with a perennial root, which 

 requires careful cultivation. It is 

 very tender, and the produce is pre- 

 carious, sometimes giving a great 

 profit to the grower, and at other 

 times failing altogether. The soil of 

 a hop garden must be rich to a con- 

 siderable depth, or made so artificial- 

 ly. The subsoil must be dry and 

 sound ; a porous rocky subsoil, cov- 

 ered with two or three feet of good 

 vegetable mould, is the best for hops. 

 The exposure should he towards the 

 south, on the slope of a hill, or in a 

 well-sheltered vaUey. Old rich pas- 

 tures make the best hop gardens. 

 They should be dug two or more spits 

 deep, and the sods buried at the bot- 

 tom, where they will gradually decay 

 and afTord nourishment to the slen- 

 der roots of the plants, which strike 

 deep. A very large quantity of the 

 richest rotten dung, at least 100 cu- 

 bic yards per acre, should be well in- 

 corporated with the soil by repeated 

 ploughings, till it is entirely decom- 

 posed, and produces that dark tint 

 which is the sure sign of an abun- 

 dance of humus. The ground should 

 be prepared by laying it up with the 

 spade in high ridges before winter, to 

 expose it as much as possible to the 

 mellowing influence of the frost. A 

 succession of green crops, such as 

 rye, cut green or fed off with sheep, 

 or clover, are an excellent prepara- 

 tion, by cleaning the land. It is bet- 

 ter to be two, or even three years, in 

 preparing the ground and getting it 

 perfectly clean, than to plant the 

 hops in a foul or unprepared soil. 



" The young plants are raised in 

 beds, and may be raised from seed ; 

 but it is more usual to plant the young 

 shoots which rise from the bottom 



