vered with earth two inches deep. Set the
poles on the first springing of the vines; never have more than two
poles in a hill, or more than two vines on a pole, and no pole more than
sixteen feet high. Neglect this root-pruning, and multiply poles and
crowd them with vines, and you will get very few hops. Select the most
thrifty vines for the poles, and destroy all the others. Watch them
during the summer, that they do not blow down from the poles. They must
be picked as soon as they are ripe, and before frosts. The best
picking-box is a wooden bin made of light boards, nine feet long, three
feet wide, and two and a half feet deep; the poles are laid across this,
and the hops picked into it by hand. In gathering hops, cut the vines
two feet from the ground, that bleeding may not injure the roots.

_Curing_ is the most important matter in hop-growing. Hops would all be
of one quality, and bring the first price, if equally well cured. The
following description (with slight abbreviation) of the process of
curing, by William Blanchard, Esq., is, perhaps, as complete as anything
that can be obtained. Much depends upon having a well-constructed kiln.
For the convenience of putting the hops on the kiln, a side hill is
generally chosen for its situation; it should be a dry situation. It
should be dug out the same bigness at the bottom as at the top; the side
walls laid up perpendicularly, and filled in solid with stone to give it
a tunnel form: twelve feet square at the top, two feet square at the
bottom, and at least eight feet deep, is deemed a convenient size. On
the top of the walls sills are laid, having joists let into them, as for
laying a floor, on which laths, about one and a half inches wide, are
nailed, leaving open spaces between them three fourths of an inch, over
which a thin linen cloth is spread and nailed at the edges to the sills.
A board about twelve inches wide is set up on each side of the kiln, on
the inner edge of the sill, to form a bin to receive the hops. Fifty
pounds, after they are dry, is all such a kiln will hold at once. The
larger the stones made use of in the construction of the kiln the
better, as it will give a more steady and dense heat. The inside of the
kiln should be well plastered with mortar to make it air-tight. Charcoal
is the best fuel. Heat the kiln well before putting on the hops; keep a
steady and regular heat while drying. Hops must not remain in bulk long
after being picked, as th