lly dry. While they are in a sweat, it will be best not to move
them for fear of burning, slacken the fire, when the hops are to be
turned, and increase it afterwards. Hops are sufficiently dried, when
their inner stalks break short, and their leaves become crisp, and fall
off easily. They will crackle a little when their seed is bursting, and
then they should be removed from the kiln. Hops that are dried in the
sun lose their rich flavour, and, if under cover, they are apt to
ferment and change with the weather, and lose their strength; moderate
fire preserves the colour and flavour of the hops, by evaporating the
water, and retaining the oil of the hop. After the hops are taken from
the kiln, they should be laid in a heap, to acquire a little moisture
to fit them for bagging. It would be well to exclude them from air by
covering them with blankets. Three or four days will be sufficient for
them to be in that state. When the hops are so moist that they may be
pressed together without breaking, they are fit for bagging. Bags made
of coarse linen cloth, eleven feet in length, and seven in
circumference, which hold about two hundred pounds weight, are most
commonly used in Europe: but any size that best suits may be made use
of. To bag hops, a hole is made through the floor of a loft, large
enough for a man to pass through with ease. The bag must be fastened to
a hoop, larger than the hole, that the floor may serve to support the
bag; for the convenience of handling the bags, some hops should be tied
up in each corner of the bag, to serve as handles. The hops should be
gradually thrown into the bag, and trod down continually, till the bag
is filled. The mouth of the bag must then be sown up, and the hops are
then fit for market. The closer and harder hops are packed, the longer
and better they will keep; but they should be kept dry. In most parts
of Great Britain where hops are cultivated, they estimate the charge of
cultivating one acre of hops at forty-two dollars, for manuring and
tilling, exclusive of poles and rent of land; poles they estimate at
sixteen dollars per annum, but in this country they would not amount to
half that sum; one acre is computed to require three thousand poles,
which will last from eight to twelve years, according to the quality of
the wood used. The English growers of hops think they have a very
indifferent crop if the produce of one acre does not amount to one
hundred and thirty-three dollars,