128 
HOPS, 
year, at 3s. or 3s. 6d. per acre. The hop-pullers re* 
ceive from 6d. to 8d. per day, with a pint of thickened 
milk, or something similar, for breakfast every morn¬ 
ing; two quarts of drink per day, and two dinners 
every week. The pole-man, he who brings and re¬ 
moves the poles, has all his meals, drink, and from 4s. 
to 6s. per week. The coal (pit-coal coaked) with 
which they are dried, is also an expense of consi¬ 
derable consequence; it is chiefly procured at Pin- 
sax, in this county, at a distance of several miles 
from some of the plantations, where it costs 2§d. or 3d. 
per bushel; twenty-eight bushels are a ton, and it 
takes two tons of coak to dry one of hops. The drier 
is paid from 12s. to 2 Js. per week, varying according 
to the number of kilns he has to attend: he has also 
his meals and drink. He who has the management of 
the bagging, is paid 4d. per cwt. exclusive of his as¬ 
sistant. There are different articles used for bagging; 
the Lubecks, and a sort of cloth manufactured at Dud¬ 
ley, in this county, are the most in use, and chiefly the 
latter. The price varies according to the demand. 
The Lubecks are dearest; they cost, in general, from 
28s. to 34s. per piece, and are thirty-six yards long, 
and about 31 inches wide. The Dudleys cost from 
22s. to 32s. and are of the same dimensions, each piece 
making eight sacks, four yards and three quarters 
long. 
c* 
“ Most of the estates which grow many hops, have 
plantations in which the poles are raised. Ash and 
barked oak are preferred; but willow, poplar, and 
alder, are also used. Where the estate does not pro¬ 
duce a snfficiency, they are bought at the woods and 
coppices in the neighbourhood, at from 5s. to 15s. per 
hundred: their length is from eight to. eighteen or 1 
twenty 
