1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



337 



grown. For a five-acre field, two hundred 

 square feet of surface of drying room will an- 

 swer. For yards of ten or more acres, two 

 drying-rooms will be found convenient. The 

 hops picked in the forenoon should be put on 

 to dry at noon, and those picked in the after- 

 noon are placed in the kiln at evening. Figs. 

 9, (at the head of the column,) and 10, with 

 the descriptions, will give an idea of what is 

 needed lor a large yard. 



The kilns are round in form, and may be 

 constructed of wood or stone. If of wood, a 

 balloon frame will be found most convenient. 

 The floor shown at m, Fig. 9, should be fifteen 

 or sixteen feet from the ground. It is gener- 

 ally made of one by one and a half inch strips 

 of boards, set on edge. Over this floor is a 

 cloth, somewhat resembling that used for 

 strainers, hard twisted with small meshes. On 

 the cloth the green hops are deposited to be 

 dried. The kiln, if constructed of wood, 

 should be lathed and plastered, above as well 

 as below the floor. Air-holes are shown at R, 

 which should have a door, so as to be able to 

 close down at pleasure. There are large doors, 

 P, P, into which the hops are thrown from the 

 platform O. A ventilator, Q, is placed at the 

 top of ^ach kiln. The other parts will be un- 

 derstood from the references below the figures. 

 The stoves should be large enough to receive 

 three-foot wood, and the stove-pipe not less 

 than ten inches in diameter, so arranged as to 

 equalize the heat, and dry the hops evenly. 

 The horizontal pipe should be six or eight feet 

 from the kiln-cloth, and extend slightly up- 

 ward. All dust is to be removed from the 

 cloth daily, and before starting a fire. The 

 pipe should be supported upon standards, with 

 forked iron tops. The utmost precaution 

 should be taken against fire, as the building, 

 during the drying season, will be like a "tin- 

 der-box," and it should not be entrusted to a 

 careless hand. The time required for dry- 

 ing a kiln, Avith the hops say twelve to fif- 

 teen inches deep, will be twelve to fourteen 

 hours. To determine when the hop is dr}', 

 examine the inside. Three-fourths of all 

 should break or crumble when pressed by the 

 hand. During the drying, it is customary to 

 burn brimstone three or four times ; first, 

 when the hops are warmed one-third of the 

 way through, and last when the heat has 

 reached the surface. The amount of sulphur 

 requii-ed will depend upon the condition of the 

 hops. If they are rusty, more will be required 

 than at the beginning of picking. The person 

 having charge must determine this matter ; 

 from two to three ounces are generally used. 

 Two or three hours before allowing the fire to 

 go down, the hops should be stirred. This is 

 generally done by going through them, taking 

 care to keep the feet under them ; then level 

 them off. During this operation the air-holes 

 should be closed. Some turn them over with 

 a shovel, when two-thirds dried. The hops 

 are now ready to be removed from the kiln, 



but there is no objection to allowing them to 

 remain on the kiln until it is wanted for another 

 lot of green hops. Care should be taken not 

 to break them. 



In the same treatise, Mr. Jameson gives di- 

 rections for building a press for baling ; but 

 as ready-made presses, with full directions for 

 using, may be purchased, we omit the details. 

 Hop-Sacking can be procured from merchants, 

 and is known as "Dundee bagging." The size 

 of the bales will be regulated by that of the 

 press ; they generally weigh from two hundred 

 to two hundred and fifty pounds. 



For several years past the hop crop has been 

 very much injured, and in some cases nearly' 

 destroyed by the Hop Louse and other insects. 

 The louse comes early in July, and if not 

 checked increases until it ruins the crop. 



CUTTrNG HAY EARLY. 



It is now better understood than formerly 

 that some kinds of hay should be cut early, 

 especially for cows. But in the declaration of 

 new doctrines we are disposed to go to the 

 extreme. Because some grass cut in June or 

 early July, makes better hay, it is not to be 

 assumed that all grass will. Clover, orchard 

 grass and timothy attain their growth and ma- 

 turity rapidly and early, and very soon, if not 

 cut, lose their good quality ; and this is so also 

 of some other kinds of grass growing on rich 

 and warm uplands, and on any highly culti- 

 vated land. But there is a great deal of mead- 

 ow which affords a very superior quality of hay, 

 though cut late in August. This is the case 

 with much of the bottom lands, or river mead- 

 ows, where the grass does not attain half its 

 growth by the fourth of July, and, if cut so 

 early, would want its superior quality. It 

 dries up rapidly, the juices being only par- 

 tially developed, and it lacks nutriment. Any 

 one who has had occasion to mow a strip of 

 such grass in the early part of July, and to cut 

 the grass adjoining this strip four weeks later, 

 will be struck with observing the difference, 

 not only in quantity, but in the quality of the 

 two cuttings. There is also a great deal of 

 upland natural meadow, where the grass is of 

 slow growth and late, and where the quality of 

 it for hay improves nearly as long as it con- 

 tinues to grow, retaining its good color and 

 rich aroma quite late in the season. In seasons 

 of low temperature, such meadows will furnish 

 an excellent cjuality of hay, cut as late as the 

 first of September. — Comitry Gentleman. 



Heavy Merino Fleeces. — C. N. Hay- 

 ward of Bridport, Vt., recently sold to L. J. 

 Wright of Weybridge, five ewe tegs which 

 sheared 76^ lbs of wool — the heaviest fleece 

 weighing 17^ lbs. 



