Management of Hops. 
573 
of the former or a chaldron of the latter with a little charcoal 
will dry a ton of hops, at a cost of about 25s. per ton, or Is. 3d. 
per cwt. When the hops are dried sufficiently, which is ascer- 
tained by the feel more than appearance, they should be taken 
off the hair ; for if they are allowed to remain ten minutes or a 
quarter of an hour too long they will be overdried, and become 
too brittle, harsh, and difficult to get cool ; they want narrowly 
watching and taking at the right time. It is better that there 
should be here and there a tough hop than that they should be 
too much dried ; for by letting them lie two or three hours in a 
lump after they come off, those tough hops will become more 
dry, and when the hops are sifted it will take all tough ones out : 
but there has of late years been an objection to sifting, as it 
breaks the hops too much, the merchants preferring them whole 
and flakey ; there is consequently a little more difficulty in 
getting them quite right than when the general custom was to 
sift, which was the case until within the last ten or twelve years ; 
for the two extremes require to be avoided, they must be neither 
underdone or overdone: when overdone it breaks them to 
pieces too much, and they are not so saleable; not that the hop 
sustains any particular injury by being done a little more than 
necessary, as it is requisite they should be well done, or they will 
not keep. Therefore, when I state that it is better to take them 
off with a few tough hops than to overdry them, it is with the 
supposition that those tough hops become dcme whilst lying in 
a lump, or are taken out with the hop-sieve or otherwise ; for it 
is a much worse fault to pack them under than over-dried ; for if 
hops are not dried they will not keep, and consequently it is 
difficult to meet with purchasers, unless for a lower price for 
present use. If the hops are not sifted, it is a good plan to throw 
them up in a round lump ; and as the large and tough hops will 
roll down to the outsides of the lump, they can be put on one side 
and laid for a little Avhile on the hair again. It is not from 
lying a little while longer than they ought that hops acquire that 
peculiar smell of the fire which some have. This is an injury 
done in the early stage of drying, by having too hot a fire at first, 
or too fierce an application of burning sulphur, either of which 
is considered bad management on the part of the drier, and is 
sometimes caused by loading the kilns too hard before the hops 
are quite ripe ; but it is the fault of many driers — fearing they 
shall not get them off in time — to give them too much fire at 
first. On a good oast they may be driven a little at last, but 
must not be hurried at first. 
Packing or bagging should be done as soon as the hops are 
sufficiently cool to press well under the feet without breaking to 
pieces, or what is termed mudging. To get them cool they 
should be spread as thin as possible over the cooling-floor, and 
