1922.] 



Cultivation of tfte Hop Crop. 



147 



be careful that the heat produced does not exceed the given 

 maximum. 



Control of Draught. — This is closely wrapped up with the 

 control of the fires and is fundamental to successful drying. It 

 is especially important during still, foggy nights. Every effort 

 must he made to get a good draught from the beginning. 

 Assuming that the oast is sufficiently high and well ceiled, the 

 other points of importance are to see that (he cowl points directly 

 away from whatever wind there may be; failure to do this leads 

 to certain spoiling of the hops. Well balanced cowls, kept well 

 oiled, should automatically swing round with the wind, bul ;i 

 wise precaution consists in tying a piece of string to the tongue 

 of the cowl. The other end is attached to a stone on the ground 

 so that, if by mischance the cowl sticks, it can easily be swung 

 round. Next, the kiln must be warm before the hops are loaded, 

 and the hops must be spread as lightly as possible over the 

 drying floor. 



Sulphuring. — During the diving of hops brimstone is 

 burnt fur the purpose of bleaching or mellowing the green 

 colour of the hops, especially when unripe, so that the whole 

 sample may present an attractive, and uniformly yellow colour. 

 It is sometimes wrongly thought by buyers that this is the sole 

 function of the brimstone. This is not the case for, if experi- 

 mentally or accidentally hops are dried without sulphur they 

 assume a harsh, partly green and partly bronze colour, which 

 resembles the original colour of the green uncured hops less than 

 does the sulphured sample. Again, such unsulphured hops hav i 

 a peculiar smell resembling that of withered foliage. There is 

 also some slight evidence that the use of the brimstone helps to 

 hasten drying, and to preserve the hops if long storage is 

 necessary. 



The peculiar colour associated with unsulphured hops may 

 frequently be observed by picking up a handful of hops from off 

 the hair when the lighting of the brimstone lias been delayed 

 a few minutes after drying has commenced. This server to 

 indicate the importance of lighting the brimstone immediately 

 the hops have been levelled, because the sulphur can only pro- 

 duce its effect on the hops before they have begun to get dry. 



The quantity of brimstone required is about 1 lb. per 40 sq. ft. 

 of drying floor, perhaps rather more when hops are green and 

 rather less when ripe. Brimstone is sometimes burnt directly 

 upon the fires, but a better method consists in burning it in 

 separate iron pans within the kilns. 



(To be concluded.) r> 2 



