168 
NAT. OaUEK. — SCABRiO^. 
nal, and furnished with bracteas ; the males are in drooping panicles 
of a pale, greenish-yellow color ; the calyx consists of five, oblong 
concave, minutely serrated lea/lets ; the filaments are five, capillary, 
and supporting oblong anthers, which open at the apex by two pores ; 
the female flowers are in solitary, pendlous, ovate cones or strobiles, 
composed of membranous scales of a pale greenish color ; tubular, 
from being rolled in at the base, and containing the germen which is 
small, supporting two short, subulate styles, tipped with awl-shaped, 
downy stigmas ; the seed, which is enclosed in the tubular part of 
the scale, is round, flattish, truncated, and of a bay brown color. 
The liop is not confined to England and America, but has been 
introduced into many other parts of the world. The culture of this 
plant was introduced into England from Flanders, about the year 
1524. From England into America at the time of its settlement. 
The strobiles were first used for preserving malt hquors in the lat- 
ter part of the reign of Henry VIII. ; but the prejudice against them 
continued for a long time, as the citizens of London, a century af- 
terwards, petitioned Parliament to prevent their use. 
At the season when the strobiles are sufficiently ripe, the plants 
are cut a foot or two from the ground, and the poles on which they 
are supported, pulled up. The strobiles are then carefully picked 
off", care being taken to separate those that are defective from those 
that are sound ; both kinds are carried to the kiln, for the purpose 
of drying as soon as possible after they are gathered. The heat 
of the kiln requires to be regulated with great nicety, to prevent 
their being dried too rapidly — to obviate this occurrence many kilns 
have two floors, on the upper one the greener hops are laid, and 
gradually dried, before being brought to support the heat of the 
lower floor. Charcoal is usually employed, as the other kinds of 
fuel are said to injure the flavor of the hops. The strobiles are 
considered sufficiently dried when they become crisp ; but they re- 
quire some degree of tenacity and toughness, from lying in heaps 
on the floors of the store-houses, previous to their being bagged. 
