THE CULTIVATOR. 
85 
brown and over-ripe are the third sort; and if the grower is very nice, 
a fourth basket is set for such as are defective in their form, or have 
received a check during their growth.” 
It is of the greatest consequence that the hops should be dried as 
soon as possible after they are picked, since, if they are kept long in 
the baskets in which they are brought from the grounds, they are apt 
to heat and spoil; the hops picked in the morning are therefore carri¬ 
ed to the “ oast,” or kiln, at noon. 
The operation of oastage is one of great nicety, for the strength and 
flavor of the hop are extremely volatile. The oast is nearly similar 
to a malt-kiln, and the hops are laid in parcels of 25 to 30 bushels, 
about five or six inches thick, upon a hair-cloth. The kiln having been 
previously heated, the temperature is regulated toone uniform but mo¬ 
derate degree of heat, in order that the hops may not dry too fast, and 
is kept at that degree until the upper part of the heap appears to have 
felt the fire ; when, the lower part being then considered dry, the heap 
is turned; but, before that is done, the heat should be somewhat low¬ 
ered, and restored when the turning has taken place. The thickness 
of the heap must depend upon the state of the hops, for, if they be 
full of moisture, they should be laid upon the kiln very thin, and a less 
degree of heat should be applied, or otherwise the steam arising from 
them will make them cake, or run into lumps. They take, in general, 
about ten or twelve hours in the drying. A fourteen feet kiln will 
therefore dry in the twenty-four hours 200 bushels of hops from the 
bines, or about 350 lbs. of dry hops; that is to say, at two dryings, for 
the men work all night. The fuel usually employed is either coke or 
charcoal, as being the most secure from communicating any smell 
which might injure the delicacy of the flower. 
When sufficiently dry, the hops are shovelled to the upper floor of jj 
an adjoining store, called the “ stowage-room,” in which they are bag- 1 
ged. 
The bagging for market does not take place until some days after 
the hops have been carried to the store-room, as from the extreme 
state of brittleness in which they are when taken from the kiln, they 
would be broken if immediately handled, and the sample would be 
thus materially injured. They are therefore laid in heaps upon the 
floor, in order to give them that degree of toughness and tenacity 
which they acquire by a moderate degree of sweating. They are then 
put either into bags or pockets. The first picking, being generally of 
the brightest colour, are usually put into the pockets; and the late 
pickings, from being brown, are packed into bags of about seven and 
a half feet in length, and eight in circumference, which are universal¬ 
ly of 2J cwt. while the weight of the pockets is only 14 to 14 cwt.; that 
of the bagging itself is 25 lbs. The mode of bagging is as follows:— 
A circular hole, covered by a trap-door, and sufficiently large to ad¬ 
mit the mouth of a hop-bag, is made in the floor of the stowage-room. A 
few hops are tied tight in the lower corners of the bag, in order that, 
when full, they may be lifted and removed with ease. A hoop, rather 
larger than the circumference of the hole, is used to stretch out the 
bag, by means of hooks on the outer side of it, the inner side of the 
hoop, when the bag is let down into the hole, either resting on the 
floor, or on a frame of wood made over it. When the bag is thus 
stretched out, and let into the opening, the “ feeder” throws down a 
few shovel-fuls; and the “bagster,” descending into the bag, with flat 
shoes, or leathern socks on his feet, treads the hops regularly and 
carefully down, especially towards the sides. More hops are then 
thrown down, and closely pressed, until the bag is filled; the tighter 
and closer the better, for the firmer they are packed the longer will 
they keep. The hoop is then loosened, the bag is let down to the lower 
floor, more hops are tied into the upper corners, and it is sowed up as 
closely as possible, the whole operation being generally completed 
within an honr.— British Husbandry. 
PREPARATION OF WOAD CAKES. 
The manufacturer of woad cakes should avoid cutting the leaves of 
the plant, till the period when they are richest in indigo; this substance 
is, to be sure, contained in the leaves of the isatis, during all the peri¬ 
ods of its vegetation ; but the colouring principle does not present it¬ 
self at all times in the same quantity or of the same quality. In the 
young leaves the colouring principle is of a delicate blue, in those of 
a middle age the colour is deeper, and in the ripe leaves it approaches to 
black. It has likewise been proved by observation, that the colouring 
principle is obtained from the young leaves with more difficulty than it 
is from those advanced towards maturity. 
It appears then, that the most advantageous time for gathering the 
leaves of woad, is when they have acquired their full growth. But 
by what marks is this to be determined ? 
The mauufacturers of woad cakes govern themselves upon this sub¬ 
ject according to their own observations, and their modes of procedure 
vary more or less in different countries. 
In England and Germany, the leaves are cut as soon as they begin 
to droop, and their bluish colour to degenerate into a pale green. 
In Thuringia, the leaves are gathered when they begin to droop, 
and to give out a strong, penetrating odor. 
In Tuscany, the time for cutting the leaves is judged by the colour 
which a leaf affords when pressed between two linen cloths. 
In the Roman stales, the leaves are considered to be matured when 
they lose the intensity of their colour, and begin to fade. 
In Piedmont, the leaves are gathered when they begin to fall. 
In the south, the leaves are considered as being mature when they 
exhibit a violet shade upon their borders. 
We are indebted to M. Giobert, of Turin, for an excellent treatise 
upon woad, in which he states that, according to his observations, the 
quantity of indigo contained in the leaves of the plant in the most fa¬ 
vorable seasons, increases progressively from the eleventh to the six* 
teenth day of their vegetation, after which time it remains stationary 
during four or five days, and then begins to decrease. The observa¬ 
tions of M. Giobert have been confirmed in the South of France, at 
Bedford, and in nearly all Italy ; and from them may therefore be de¬ 
duced a general rule, by which the cutting of the leaves of woad may 
be governed, whenever the vegetation of the plant has been favored by 
the combined action of a good soil, a warm atmosphere, and a suita¬ 
ble degree of moisture, for without this the leaves will not have reach¬ 
ed maturity in twelve or sixteen day, and they should not be gathered 
before approaching that state. 
The extraction of the indigo is uniformly performed with more ease 
at an earlier -period of vegetation, than when the leaves are perfectly 
mature,- the quantity of colouring matter obtained is equally great, and 
the hue of it is handsomer. 
The leaves of the isatis are gathered by plucking them off with the 
hand, or by- cutting the stalks with a knife or pair of scissors; but 
whichever way is practised, care must be taken not to injure the stalks 
or tops of the plants; the cuttings may be repeated once in six or eight 
days, so as not to allow time for the quality of the leaves to degene¬ 
rate. A mixture of the leaves of strange plants, and of the bastard 
woad, with those of the isatis tinctoria, must be carefully avoided. 
The leaves, when gathered, are put into baskets and conveyed to 
the work shop in which the manufacture of woad cakes is carried on; 
when they have begun to wither, they are ground between two mill 
stones equally channelled; the bruised substance being frequently stir¬ 
red with a shovel, and the grinding continued till the nerves of the 
leaves can no longer be perceived by the eye. All the juice which flows 
out during grinding, is carefully preserved to moisten the paste with 
when it is fermenting. 
The paste is carried under a shed, the ground of which is a little 
sloping, and paved with cemented stones, in which are little channels 
for conveying into a reservoir the juice which flows out. Under the 
highest part of the shed is formed a bed of the paste three or four feet 
in length ; to render this bed as compact as possible, it is beaten down 
with heavy pieces of wood. Fermentation commences in a short 
time, the mass swells and cracks, and there flows out from it a black 
liquor which is conducted into the reservoir by the channels in the 
pavement. In some manufactories this liquor is allowed to run off upon 
the ground without the shed; but the odor which it diffuses in this case 
is very offensive. 
Whilst fermentation is going on, attention is paid to reuniting the 
mass when it cracks, and to moistening it either with urine, or with 
the juice which flowed from it when between the mill stones. 
After the paste has fermented well for three or four days, the mass 
is again beaten down, and this operation is renewed several times dur¬ 
ing the twenty or thirty days that the fermentation lasts; the paste 
being in the intervals moistened with the juice, and the surface of it 
united. 
In a cold season, or when the leaves are poor and dry, fermentation 
will not be completed in a month; in Italy they often allow four 
months for it, and sometimes the bed is not removed till the following 
spring. 
There is a kind of worm which often takes possession of these beds, 
and sometimes in such numbers as to devour all the indigo contained 
in them; in this case the beds must be turned over, and, if this be not 
sufficient, the whole must be again ground in the mill. 
After fermentation the paste seldom appears of a uniform texture, 
and there will be found in it some remains of nerves which are visible 
to the eye; for this reason it is subjected to a second grinding, after 
which it is ready to be made into cakes; this is done by filling round 
wooden moulds with it, or by forming loaves four or five inches in di¬ 
ameter, and eight or ten in height, and usually weighing about three 
pounds and a quarter. In the south of France the moulds are usually 
much smaller, and the loaves of woad known by the name of shells, 
weigh but little more than one pound. These cakes should, when 
broken, appear of a violet colour, and exhale a good odor. 
The cakes are placed upon hurdles and carried to a dry and airy 
place to harden. 
In most countries the cakes are sold in this state to the dyers, who 
