AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
53 
discovery, as it has been used from time im¬ 
memorial by the inhabitants of the North of 
China, by whom large quantities of sugar 
are extracted from it. But that is the first 
time it has been introduced on anything like 
an extensive scale in Europe. 
HOP GROWING. 0 
(Setting the Poles Continued from page 37.) 
The hop blossoms early in July, and be¬ 
gins to show the seed vessels in August. 
It is usually ripe enough to pick early in 
September, and the picking should not com¬ 
mence till the ripeness is ascertained. This 
is done by observing the change in the color 
of the scales, from a pale yellowish, or straw 
color, to a light brown; the seed, also, 
changes its color, and has a strong, fragant 
odor; while the scales have some degree of 
firmness, so as to be readily rubbed to pieces 
in the hand. When picked just before this 
perfect maturity takes place, however, they 
preserve their bright and beautiful color, and 
appear a little better in the market, though 
not quite so valuable for practical purposes 
as when the seed has grown to its full 
weight. In perfectly ripe hops which have 
been impregnated, a little yellow juice, or 
oil, forms at the bottom of the scales; and if 
the hops are picked as soon as this is dis¬ 
covered, they preserve their bright beautiful 
color; while if left a little longer, till the 
scales begin to turn brown, they acquire a 
little more strength and weight. The hops 
do not all ripen at the same time ; and some 
growers in England are accustomed to begin 
the picking by selecting the ripest—begin¬ 
ning at the bottom of the poles, and picking 
at different times. But this is seldom done 
in this country. The picking here usually 
begins as soon as the scales have that bright 
straw color, and especially if the plantation 
is so large as to require some time to finish. 
It is an error, however, to begin too early, 
and before the hops are ripe, though many 
justify it on the plea of necessity. Picking 
before the hops are ripe causes the juice or 
sap to run where the bine is cut. The bine 
is said to “ bleed.” When this is done, the 
shoots of the next spring are far less vigor¬ 
ous and less productive. If picked before 
the bine has come to maturity, the tips of 
the roots will generally be found to turn 
black and decay up to the point at which the 
root has matured. One prominent cause of 
the deterioration of hops is traced to picking 
before they are ripe. 
When the picking commences here, no 
time is to be lost, since, in case of a r#in or 
storm, great injury would be occasioned by 
bruising them. They should be picked when 
the weather is dry and fair, and never when 
the dew is on in the morning. 
Great care should be taken in picking. 
The vines are cut from one to three feet 
from the ground, and the poles pulled up and 
laid over large boxes holding sometimes 
thirty or forty bushels. If the pickers are 
hired by the day, it matters little what sized 
bin is used, though it is generally large 
enough to enable three or four to pick into 
the 6arne one ; but if they are hired by the 
pound, as they are in many instances, the 
bins are divided inside into three or four 
compaitments, one of which is allotted to 
each picker. Females are usually the most 
expert, and are more frequently employed, 
while one man or boy attends to do the lift¬ 
ing. A good picker can pick from twenty 
to thirty pounds a day. They are picked as 
free as possible from stems and leaves. All 
unripe or worthless hops should be thrown 
out. The boxes are emptied twice a day. 
The process of drying should commence as 
soon as possible after picking. 
Drying.— Hops are dried, soon after being 
picked, in a kiln constructed for the purpose. 
The kiln should be about fourteen feet 
square at the top, twelve feet deep, and three 
or four feet square at the bottom. The fire 
should be made of maple charcoal, directly 
in the center of the kiln, and it maybe with¬ 
out the use of stoves, pipes, funnels, or any 
thing else ; and growers of the largest expe¬ 
rience and most careful experiment and ob¬ 
servation confidently assert that the highest 
and besl flavor and quality of hops can not 
be perfectly preserved in any other mode. 
Thin joists should be laid across the lop, 
edgewise, and laths or slats nailed to them, 
cohered with tow cloth or hair cloth. Care 
should be taken not to spread the hops too 
deep upon this cloth covering, and not to stir 
them after they are spread till they are dry, 
or nearly so, when they may be carefully 
turned. 
A farmer already quoted says : “ Hops are 
dried on a kiln over a fire made of charcoal. 
The kiln is stoned up, in the form of a hop¬ 
per to a grist mill, from seven to ten feet 
high, and from nine to fifteen feet across the 
top. Small timber or joists are placed across 
the top of the kiln, the smaller the better, 
about two or three feet apart, and narrow 
slats fastened to them. A thin tow cloth is 
drawn tightly over the slats, to receive the 
hops for drying.” 
A writer from Northfield says : “ The 
kilns for drying are made now with an arch 
and hot-air chamber, under a room where the 
hops are spread, and hot-air'pipes regulating 
the heat, which requires considerable expe¬ 
rience to make them all first quality after 
being cured. They are then pressed with 
screws into bales, and are ready for the 
market.” 
This foundation wall is sometimes made 
of brick, and plastered inside. A furnace of 
stone or brick is placed in the center, at the 
bottom of the front wall, with an opening 
through the wall to put in the coal. A fun¬ 
nel, winding round within the walls, three 
feet from the top, and out at a chimney, is 
sometimes used ; but it is thought by many 
of the best growers to be quite unnecessary, 
and that, in fact, the simpler the contrivance 
is, the better. There should be sufficient 
draft to cause the fresh air to circulate freely 
within the walls. A sort of roofing is built 
over the kiln to shed the rain, usually with 
eight-feet posts, and having several doors 
or windows, capable of being opened to ad¬ 
mit the air to the hops, and to allow the mois¬ 
ture which collects in the process of drying 
to pass off. The kiln may be made capable 
-of drying from fifty to one hundred pounds 
of hops in twele hours. The hops are spread 
from six to eight inches deep. Some re¬ 
commend to build a kiln large enough to dry 
two hundred pounds at once ; but nothing is 
gained, generally, by too large a kiln. If 
the plantation is large, it is thought best to 
have two or three kilns, and not to try to dry 
too many at once. It is without doubt bet¬ 
ter to have several small kilns than one large 
one, and the cost of several small ones is but 
little more than one large one. 
The kiln is often much more elaborately 
built, it is true, and proportioned in size to 
the quantity of hops to be cured and the 
ability of the grower. It should be so large, 
if there is but one, as to be capable of drying 
the hops very soon after being picked, and 
so as not to require them to accumulate fast¬ 
er than they can be dried. The fire is kin¬ 
dled before the hops are put on, though the 
kiln is to be slowly and gradually heated at 
first. The fire is commonly kept up day 
and night. If the hops are rusty, a little sul¬ 
phur is burned under them, to bleach them 
and improvetheir appearance. This is done 
as soon as they have begun to heat and feel 
moist; but if the hops are damp when first 
spread on the kiln, burn the brimstone im¬ 
mediately. No objection is now made to 
hops treated in this way; indeed, their ap¬ 
pearance is greatly improved. 
Some make a practice of turning the hops 
as soon as the top becomes heated and the 
bottom part of the layer becomes crispy, al¬ 
lowing the fires to go down a little ; but the 
turning should not take place till the hops 
are nearly dry. Much must depend on the 
judgment and practice of the operator. The 
turning is commonly done with a rake. With 
a steady heat, well regulated, a kiln of hops 
is dried in ten or twelve hours ; and if the 
fires are kept up day and night, two kilns 
may be dried in twenty-four hours. The 
operation of drying is one of great nicety, 
and requires much care and attention. As 
soon as the drying is complete, which may 
be known by the brittleness of the stems and 
crispness of the scales, they are removed to 
another dark room near by and left in heaps 
at least twenty days, when the bagging com¬ 
mences. This last room is called the press 
room.—C. L. Flint's Second Annual Report 
to the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture. 
(To bo Continued.) 
POLAND OATS. 
B. P. Foster, in the Michigan Farmer, 
says : 
I have raised the Poland oats for three 
years past. The weather has been very dry 
here in that time, and from my own experi¬ 
ence, I think this kind of oats well adapted 
to the climate of Michigan. I have tried 
several kinds, and these have done the best 
of any that I have sown. 
I obtained a sample of Mr. Tucker’s oats'r' 
and on comparing them with mine, find them 
to be the same, and both are, to all appear¬ 
ance, and accordingto the descriptions I have 
seen, the true Poland oats. 
I will now state in what respect I consider 
them superior to any other kinds, for this 
country, so far as I have tried them. I sim¬ 
ply give the facts : 
1. They require less seed to the acre, as 
they tiller, or stool, out a great deal, from 
five to ten stalks springing from one kernel. 
One bushel, to one and a half, is enough to 
the acre. (This year I sowed mine very 
thick—two bushels to the acre.) 
2. The straw is longer and stiffer, and not 
so liable to lodge. 
3. They yield more, and are heavier, and 
better to feed. 
4. They will produce more on poor land 
than any other kind I ever tried. 
5. They will stand the drouth remarkabty 
well. 
They need not be sown early. Mine were 
ripe when my wheat was. They were 
sown the first of May. 
The fountain at the southern end of the 
Crystal Palace (Sydenham England,) has 
been filled with water, and it is now sur¬ 
rounded with a gay and brilliant border of 
early flowers, including Van Thol tulips, 
hyacinths, jonquils, cineraria, and a variety 
of others in full bloom, which perfume the 
air all round with their fragrance. In the 
tropical quarter of the building some large 
and handsome-looking pagoda-shaped cages 
are being put up, in which a number of par- 
roquets are now placed. They are of the 
small species, obtained from western Aus¬ 
tralia, termed by the natives, “ grass parro- 
quets,” the gieater part of the plumage being 
a brilliant green. Other rare and curious 
birds will be added by degrees. 
A correspondent gives the following : 
What State of the Union of four syllables 
is spelled with four letters of the alphabet? 
[There are two such.— Ed.] 
