336 
Fifty Years of Hop Farming. 
used for porter, according to tradition. Some planters are most 
careful as to the picking, and pay a better price to have the 
hops picked singly and as far as possible without leaves and 
branches. 
In Kent and parts of Sussex the hop-picking is a fine 
harvest for thousands of immigrants from the slums of London. 
As many as from 40,000 to 50,000 " strangers " come into Kent 
to pick hops in good seasons. Very fair accommodation is 
provided for these now. In former times they were housed in 
heads of barns, lodges, and extemporised quarters made of 
thatched hurdles and sheep-gates, and were huddled together 
like pigs. On most hop-farms now there are substantial " hopper 
houses " built of brick and tile, or brick and corrugated iron, 
with cooking-houses. In parts of the Worcestershire and Here- 
fordshire hop-plantations, hop-pickers come from large towns 
near. 
Drying. 
During the last fifty years great improvement has been 
made in the management of hops, that is, in their treatment 
after they have been picked. In the first place, the picking only 
lasts now from sixteen day3 to three weeks ; while in the " good 
old days," as the pickers lament, it lasted frequently from five 
to six weeks. Consequently the later pickings were brown from 
exposure to the weather, and often blackened within the cones 
by aphides. These brown and diseased hops were saleable for 
porter-brewing. There was no foreign competition. Now, hops 
of this description are practically unsaleable. Every planter 
hastens to get his hops picked in the shortest possible time. 
This of course entails many more pickers and more enlarged kiln 
accommodation, which is now available upon most hop-farms. 
At the same time there has not been a corresponding increase 
of cooling-room space, as the dried hops are packed at once 
while warm. It was the practice to let the hops lie cooling for 
several days before they were packed, as it was considered that 
this gave them weight. But their aroma escaped, and much 
moisture was taken up, to the detriment of their keeping 
qualities. In these circumstances it was necessary that the 
hops should be fully dried — "home dried" — or they would not 
keep. This frequently entailed a loss of valuable properties. 
If hops are packed at once and while they are warm, they need 
not be so thoroughly desiccated. 
Much more judgment is used now, and more pains are 
taken in drying hops; but there is room for further considerable 
improvement. Thermometers are occasionally employed to en- 
