202 KITCHEN GARDEN. 
should be carefully and frequently stirred. Where many 
acres are raised, a drying-house is built of stone in the form 
of a tunnel, say two or three feet square at the bottom, 
where an old stove is placed, and some twelve feet or more 
square at the top. Care should be taken before, during, and 
after drying to prevent the sweating of the hop,which is very 
injurious. Care should also be taken in packing in square 
bales of hemp cloth, placed in a box prepared the shape of 
the bale, with the side boards so arranged as to be removed 
from the bale when filled. 
The hop crop at present is more profitable than adiiost 
any other. Farmers in Otsego and Orange Counties, N. Y., 
are realizing at the present price of hops (30 to 35 cents 
per pound) from $300 to $400 per acre. Some districts 
have gone into their cultivation very extensively, and the 
demand still keeps full pace with the supply. 
Complaint was recently made by the inspector of hopsin 
Massachusetts, that “ too many male hops were permitted 
(six hills are sufficient) to the acre in that State,” and also 
they were injured by “ too early picking, before they were 
ripe, and bad picking.” Care must be taken to avoid 
‘frosts, and on that account a warm southern exposure is 
preferable. If a sandy soil is chosen, irrigation is of great 
advantage. Clay soil is very favorable if no water is 
ailowed to rest on its surface or subsoil—that is quite fatal 
to the hop. Side hills that are liable to be washed should 
beavoided. Mr. H. R. Potter of Hast. Hamilton, Madi- 
son County, N. Y., reported in the Albany Cultivator 7801 
Ibs. of hops as the product of five acres in 185!. This, 
however, was one of the largest crops ever known. The 
whole expense of cultivation, interest, &c., was above $100 
per acre or $550. 
