A  VISIT  TO  A  SUSSEX  HOP  GARDEN. 
79 
are  dropped  into  a  receptacle  or  bin  formed  of  canvas,  secured 
to  a  wooden  frame,  and  not  much  unlike  a  child's  bedstead,  ex- 
cept that  the  canvas  is  more  loosely  nailed  to  the  frame.  At 
stated  times  a  person  called  a  measurer  comes  to  each  bin,  and 
removes  most  of  the  hops,  giving  the  picker  leaden  tallies  to 
indicate  the  number  of  bushels  picked,  or  entering  the  number 
in  a  small  memorandum  book  kept  by  the  picker.  At  the  end  of 
the  picking,  each  picker  delivers  up  his  tallies  or  book,  and  is 
paid  according  to  the  number  of  bushels  he  has  picked.  The 
price  paid  the  pickers  differs  according  to  the  year,  or  the  quality 
or  quantity  of  the  crop.  Some  of  the  pickers  come  a  long  dis- 
tance from  home, — a  great  many  from  London  and  its  environs ; 
and,  at  the  latter  end  of  August,  crowds  of  rough  and  dirty  look- 
ing people  may  be  seen  thronging  the  stations  on  the  South 
Eastern  and  North  Kent  Railways,  en  route  to  the  hop  gardens 
in  the  country.  On  their  arrival  at  the  station  nearest  their 
destination,  they  are  sometimes  met  by  wagons  belonging  to  the 
tenants  or  owners  of  the  respective  farms  on  which  they  are  en- 
gaged. When  they  reach  the  end  of  their  journey  they  put  up 
tents,  and  at  night  the  usually  quiet  and  sombre  country  scenery 
is  illumined  by  their  large  fires,  over  which  they  suspend  their 
kettles,  and  around  which  they  sit  and  smoke  the  fragrant 
weed. 
After  we  have  picked  a  little  at  several  of  the  bins,  we  wend 
our  way  through  the  hop  garden  to  the  "  oast  house,"  or  place 
where  the  hops  are  conveyed  after  the  measurer  has  put  them  in 
bags  for  removal.  The  oast  is  a  curiously  shaped  building,  and 
any  one  utterly  unacquainted  with  its  requirements  would  indeed 
be  surprised  at  its  appearance.  The  shape  somewhat  resembles 
two  figures  8  put  across  each  other,  as  it  is  built  in  circles  called 
roundels,  which  meet  and  are  connected  in  the  centre,  each  hav- 
ing a  spiral  roof  with  an  opening  at  the  top,  over  which  is  placed 
a  revolving  screen  called  a  cowl,  which,  shifting  with  the  wind, 
prevents  an  ingress  of  the  same,  and  facilitates  the  egress  of  the 
fumes  from  the  fires  or  flues.  Some  oasts  have  only  one  roundel, 
while  others  on  large  farms  have  more.  These  roundels  vary 
from  eight  to  eighteen  feet  in  diameter.  On  entering,  we  see  in 
the  centre  of  the  building  several  fires  burning,,  not  unlike  those 
