80 
A  VISIT  TO  A  SUSSEX  HOP  GARDEN. 
used  in  ordinary  kilns.  These  fires  are  kept  supplied  by  char- 
coal and  "Welsh  coal,  thereby  causing  little  or  no  smoke,  and 
roll  sulphur  is  occasionally  added,  in  order  to  give  the  hops  the 
pale  yellow  and  healthy  tinge  so  much  sought  after  by  the  brewei  s 
of  fine  ales,  such  as  Messrs.  Bass  and  Allsop  are  noted  for. 
After  ascending  a  ladder,  we  find  some .  men  emptying  the 
bags  of  hops  we  had  just  left  in  the  garden  on  to  a  seemingly 
wooden  floor,  which  we  are  informed  is  made  of  horse-hair,  in 
order  to  let  the  heat  from  the  several  fires  penetrate  evenly  and 
sufficiently  through  the  hops  on  the  top  of  it.  This  hair  floor  is 
supported  by  a  framework  of  wood,  strong  enough  to  allow  the 
dryer  to  walk  on  and  turn  the  hops  when  necessary  ;  but  the 
sulphurous  fumes  which  pass  through  them  and  escape  at  the 
top,  render  that  performance  very  disagreeable.  The  time  the 
hops  require  to  be  subjected  to  this  heat  or  drying  varies  from 
eight  to  eleven  hours,  according  to  their  age  and  ripeness,  after 
which  they  are  taken  off  and  transferred  to  a  cooling  room  for  a 
short  time. 
In  about  two  or  three  hours  they  are  ready  for  packing,  and 
the  process  is  commenced  by  stretching  the  top  of  one  of  the 
pockets,  as  they  are  called,  on  a  circular  framework  in  the  floor. 
The  hops  are  now  gradually  thrown  in,  and  a  man  gets  inside 
and  treads  them  down  as  tightly  as  possible.  In  some  oasts  a 
press  is  used  to  compress  the  hops  in  the  pocket,  acting  like  our 
tincture  presses,  the  screw  being  propelled  tand  withdrawn  by 
means  of  a  winch. 
After  the  bag  is  pressed  full,  it  is  taken  out  of  its  confinement 
and  sewn  up,  the  weight  of  it  printed  on  it  by  means  of  stensil 
plates,  the  grower's  name  and  address  having  been  stamped  on 
the  bag  previous  to  filling — the  name  of  the  county  being  par- 
ticularly plain  and  truthful,  as  the  price  varies  with  the  locality 
— for  example,  East  Kent  hops  generally  are  worth  more  than 
West  Kent,  and  Sussex  hops  less  valuable  than  either,  that  is  to 
say,  for  proportionate  samples.  The  samples  are  drawn  from  the 
different  pockets  and  forwarded  to  merchants  in  London,  who 
offer  them  for  sale. 
After  having  tired  ourselves  in  the  packing  room,  we  thank 
our  rustic  informants  for  their  courtesy  in  explaining,  and  their 
