102 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
As a preparation for the gathering of the hops, strong frames of wood, called 
“ bins,” or “ cribs,” about nine feet long and four feet wide, are placed m 
difl'erent parts of the plantation, fixed upon legs three feet high; thus affording 
room for three or four pickers on each side, who, together with the man who 
collects the poles, are called a “ set,” and deposit the hops, when picked, in 
a coarse cloth, which is hooked to the insides of the frame so as to form a 
large bag in the centre. 
The bine is first cut about two or three feet above the ground, much lower 
being considered injurious to the root, by the profuse bleeding which it occa¬ 
sions” and the pole is then wrenched from the earth by means of what in Kent 
is called a ‘‘hop-dog.” This instrument is constructed of a strong, tapering 
stick, near three inches in diameter, and about five feet long; at the distance 
of nearly afoot from the larger end of which a small bar of iron, of about a 
foot long, is clenched; and being bent in the middle into an acute angle, the 
inside is roughened by the smith into something like teeth, which, when fixed 
upon the lower end of the pole, as it were, bite and hold it fast. 
The poles are then laid horizontally across the frames, and two are usually 
given to one set; but smaller frames or baskets are also very commonly used, 
and it is then customary for one woman to engage a basket for herself and 
family. The price of payment varies according to the quantity grown, and is 
often not named until after the picking. Upon an average growth the pay is 
about 1(M. the basket of five bushels ; and a tolerable good picker will earn 
2s. a day. The number of bushels picked by each set being kept by means 
of the double-tally.* 
The weather deemed most favorable for picking is that which is neither very' 
sultry nor moist; for if the sun be very hot and scorching, it is apt to shrivel 
and discolor the hops before they can be gathered off the poles ; and if the 
morning be dewy, those which are picked in a damp state become musty. To 
prevent injury from the sun, the pole-pullers therefore take down no more 
than the pickers can strip in a short time; and if it be necessary to begin the 
picking before the dew is evaporated, the pole is shaken to and fro, in order to 
throw oft'as much of it as possible. As it always happens that the hops do not 
ripen at the same lime, neither do they all run of one quality upon the same 
bine. The Farnham planters, who are particularly attentive to the mainte¬ 
nance of the long and well-established credit of their hops, not only set out all 
those that are fresh ripe for the first gathering, but make such distinctions in 
the appearance of their respective qualities as in their judgment seems most 
proper, so as to assort them into at least three different parcels, each according 
to their separate value. It is their practice, therefore, “to begin at the bottom 
of the pole, and to pick the hops, one by one, without bunches, long-tails, or 
leaves. Those that are just of the proper degree of ripeness, and are. full and 
fair in their appearance, are first gathered, and put by themselves into the bin- 
cloth : such as are rather inferior in quality, or not exactly taken at the proper 
degree of ripeness, are of the second sort, and are likewise put by themselves 
in a basket. As, however, with the Farnham planters, hops that are under 
ripe are more esteemed than such as are over-ripe, the second sort takes in on¬ 
ly the greenish hops: such as are 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 pos¬ 
sible 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 carried 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 to one uniform but moderate degree of heat, in order that the hops 
may not dry loo 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 dry¬ 
ing. A fourteen feet kiln will therefore dry in the twenty-four hours 21)0 bush¬ 
els 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 an adjoin¬ 
ing store, called the “stowage-room,” in which they are bagged. 
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 immediate¬ 
ly handled, and the sample would be thus materially injured. They are there¬ 
fore 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 in bags of about seven and a half feet in length, and 
eight in circumference, which are universally of 2h cwt., while the weight of 
* This simple device is formed of two thin pieces of wood, which are neatly 
planed and accurately fitted together by means of a shoulder formed on the 
principal part, or tally, which is three inches longer than the inferior part, or 
chec/c ; the two, when joined together, making the double-tally, which is gen¬ 
erally twelve inches long by one and a half square. One of these is appropri¬ 
ated to each set, who receives the check part, the tally remaining with the 
foreman, who, as the baskets are delivered, cuts one notch at the same time 
upon both by joining them together. 
the pockets is only 1^ to 1J 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 admit 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 to¬ 
wards 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 hour .—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 periods of its vegeta¬ 
tion ; but the coloring principle does not present itself at all times in the same 
quantity or of the same quality. In the young leaves the coloring principle is 
of a delicate blue, in those of a middle age the color is deeper, and in the ripe 
leaves itapproaches to black. It has likewise been proved by observation, that 
the coloring 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 1 
The manufacturers of woad cakes govern themselves upon this subject 
according to their own observations, and their modes of procedure vary more 
or less in difl'erent countries. 
In England and Germany, the leaves are cut as soon as they begin to droop, 
and their bluish color 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 of by the color which 
a leaf affords when pressed between two linen cloths. 
In the Roman states, the leaves are considered to be matured when they 
lose the intensity of their color, 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 wfiich he states that, according to his observations, the quantity of 
indigo contained in the leaves of the plant in the most favorable seasons, in¬ 
creases progressively from the eleventh to the sixteenth day of their vegeta - 
lion, after which time it remains stationary during four or five days, and then 
begins to decrease. The observations of M. Giobert have been confirmed in 
the south of France, at Bedford, and in nearly all Italy ; and from them may 
therefore be deduced 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 suitable de¬ 
gree of moisture, for without this the leaves will not have reached maturity 
in twelve or sixteen days, and they should not be gathered belore 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 coloring 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 degenerate. 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 stirred 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. Fermen¬ 
tation commences in a short time, the mass swells and cracks, and there flows 
out from it a black liquor w hich is conducted into the reservoir by the chan¬ 
nels 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 day3, the mass is again 
beaten down, and this operation is renewed several times during the twenty 
