"""june'.g^s""'}  Hop  Culture  in  Wisconsin,  245 
fingers  the  grains  are  very  easily  broken  and  adhere  to  the  fingers,  but 
on  exposure  to  the  Hght,  or  when  from  older  hops,  it  becomes  darker 
in  color,  more  opaque,  and  less  gummy  when  rubbed  between  the  fin- 
gers, according  to  the  age.  Owing  to  the  difficulty  of  separating  the 
powder  from  new  hops  (from  the  tendency  it  has  to  adhere  to  the  scales, 
because  of  the  resinous  exudation  with  which  it  is  coated,  making  its 
yield  by  mechanical  process  smaller),  and  the  comparatively  high  price 
of  new  hops,  as  compared  to  old,  making  it  less  remunerative,  the 
powder  is  mostly  obtained  from  old  hops.  When  the  hop  becomes 
old  the  resinous  exudation  coating  the  lupulin  concretes,  and  no  longer 
adheres  to  the  leaf,  when  it  can  be  easily  separated  by  whipping  the 
strobiles  and  sifting.  When  liops  have  become  a  year  old,  or  as 
soon  as  the  new  crop  comes  into  market,  they  are  called  old,  and  com- 
mand only  about  one-half  the  price  of  the  new  crop.  When  two  years 
old  they  are  called  old-olds,  and  are  still  less  valuable,  and  when  five 
years  old  are  considered  worthless  to  brewers,  although  they  still  con- 
tain the  lupulin,  which  still  possesses  a  part  of  its  bitterness,  but  is  des- 
titute of  volatile  oil. 
The  age  of  a  hop  can  be  told  pretty  accurately  until  it  has  attained 
three  years,  after  that  it  is  very  doubtful.  During  the  first  year  they 
retain  their  bright  color  and  fine,  strong  aromatic  smell,  and  the  lupu- 
lin is  bright  yellow. 
The  second  year  they  become  darker,  more  dead-like,  losing  their 
bright  color,  and  have  a  sweetish,  slightly  cheesy  odor,  the  latter  due 
to  the  oxidation  of  the  volatile  oil,  converting  it  into  valerianic  acid. 
The  lupulin  is  of  a  golden-yellow  color. 
The  third  year  the  color  is  not  much  changed,  but  the  odor  becomes 
faint,  with  the  same  cheesy  smell.  The  lupulin  is  of  a  dark-yellow  or 
reddish  tint.  As  the  narcotic  properties  are  due  to  the  volatile  oil,  the 
hop  should  be  obtained  as  fresh  as  possible  ;  and  the  "  tincture  "  made 
from  a  fresh,  well-matured  hop  is  preferable  to  one  made  from  old 
lupulin,  although  it  would  not  be  as  uniform  in  strength,  from  the  great 
range  in  quality  \  but,  as  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  either  hops  or  lupulin 
fresh  at  all  times,  the  lupulin  is  preferable,  as  it  is  of  more  uniform 
strength  and  retains  its  properties  longer. 
The  hop,  when  old,  is  of  very  unequal  strength,  from  the  loss  of 
lupulin  sifting  out  in  handling. 
