CULTIVATION. 247 



two parallel shafts, and carrying a series of frames, the 

 number of which depends on the distance between the shafts, 

 and that of the bearer cams on the chains. The shafts 

 are rotated by a hand wheel, the vertical position of the 

 frames constituting a set being thereby altered at will. The 

 frames are put upon the conveyer chains by the aid of a set 

 of articulated levers, and are then moved slowly so as to 

 meet the current of heated air whereby their contents are 

 dried. On reaching the bottom the frames are drawn out 

 at one side of the kiln. 



The products of combustion from the fireplace pass 

 into a coiled pipe surrounded on all sides by the cold-air 

 current, and the damp-laden air from the kiln escapes into 

 the atmosphere through a cowl. 



The Andrlik and Hueber kiln (Pig. 74) is mainly designed 

 for the use of large growers or associations. It is heated by 

 a steam or hot-air apparatus composed of vertical cast- or 

 sheet-iron pipes, but its speciality consists in the portable 

 drying surfaces M, M. These platforms are mounted on rails, 

 an arrangement greatly facilitating the loading and unloading 

 of the kiln, the large frames being simply drawn out of the 

 kiln into the hop room (see Fig. 74). Each surface is com- 

 posed of two adjacent parts, which are thus easier to handle ; 

 and the ventilation is assisted by the furnace gases being 

 discharged through the air outlet. 



A similar kiln is that of Kohn, who employs earthenware 

 or fireclay pipes, instead of iron, for the heating apparatus. 



In 1897 a patent for a new method of drying was taken 

 out by Hans Humbser,^ of Furth. The principal part of his 

 system consists in the circulation of warm air at a tem- 

 perature insufficiently high to volatilise any of the aromatic 

 constituents of the hop. 



1 OesterreioHsches landwirthschaftUches Wochenblatt, 1897. 



