144 



Cultivation of the Hop Crop. 



[May, 



When the hops have " feathered." a name given to describe 

 the condition of the cones when the bracts have dried and opened 

 out like the feathers of a bird on a frosty morning, and whilst 

 the strigs are still sappy, the temperature is allowed to rise to 

 150° — 155° F., to quicken the rate of drying. It is probable 

 that such high temperature tends to evaporate some of the more 

 volatile oils in the hops and so depreciate their flavour, but 

 may be justified by the economy of time and fuel. In any case 

 the temperature must not go above 160° or the hops will be 

 burnt. 



The Practice of Hop Drying. — Loading. — A kiln of hops can 

 usually be dried in about 10 hours, so that each kiln can be 

 loaded and unloaded twice in 24 hours. Hops that are picked 

 in the morning are loaded as soon as they arrive at the oast, 

 but the afternoon's pickings are stored until the morning's hops 

 are dry and are loaded at night. Care must be exercised in stor- 

 ing the afternoon's pickings that these do not heat in the bags 

 before they are loaded lest they be discoloured. In some cases 

 the hops are stored in a " green-loft " above the cooling floor 

 in the oast, so that they can be easily carried on to the kilns 

 at night, but if so, considerable precautions must be taken in 

 sultry weather and with unripe hops. The green loft must be 

 well ventilated and each bag of hops should be untied and stood 

 up. so that air can freely circulate around. A better plan, 

 though one entailing more labour, is to erect a staging outside 

 and near the oast upon which the bags of green hops can be laid 

 and freely exposed to air; a temporary roof of galvanised iron is 

 advisable to protect such hops from rain. 



The quantity of hops to be loaded is a matter requiring careful 

 judgment, and beginners may be warned that no practice pre- 

 judices profits more in hop growing than over-loading at the 

 beginning of picking when hops are green and contain much 

 moisture. Such practice not only results in spoilt hops from 

 reeking but it disconcerts the drier who cannot be expected sub- 

 sequently to do himself justice. When hops are fully ripe they 

 may be loaded 10-11 in. thick on well-constructed kilns ; this is 

 equivalent to about f bushel per sq. foot, East Kent measure, 

 where hops are measured in 5 bushel baskets. In districts 

 w T here " bins " are used the measured bushel of green hops 

 is frequently much less than the basket measure. If hops are 

 unripe, the cones small, the oast badly constructed, or the drier 

 inexperienced, the load should be considerably less. 



In loading great care must be taken to spread the hops 

 uniformly over the drying floor and to leave them as light as 



