The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1893-02-05
WAY TO CURE HOPS.
Ezra Meeker Tells How to Turn
Out Eirst-Class Bales.
Why SULPHUR rs EMPLOYED.
Setting the Hfres-Every Aop Hsrked
Over-Chofcs Product Always
Brings Good Prsss.
From Ezra Meeker's View Handbook

/ pegIne. before tbs. the raising OF nop9 u
/ the sct Of an agriculturi=t. Afterwards,
that OF the manufacturer. for here is the
raw MATERIAL" ready TO be- reduced to q
| condition or form suitable fog use.
| Vast quantities Of hops ase spoiled OF
| greatly injured at the house gbile under
| going the process of being prepared for the
| market. If they be no, sufficiently cured
| they are liable to heat in the bale; If too
much. especially at high hest. the ''life"
| t-ubstance) is dried out of shem; if too
| thin flooring, they will be cosorIess; il too
deep. will Sag" and become discolored.
and 20 on through the list, more readily
| encountered ID experience th.n described
| in writing.
We always start the fires atsea.t twenty
four hours before putting on tsie hrs, door
| ing. and keep them going in earnest. Il is
| good plan to shut the daInDsr in the VEN
| tiiator 80 as to condne the leat and not
only dry out the walls and doors both
| above and below, but also 80 fairly heat
the whole building from ounaation TO top
| Of cupoIa-
cialiy If the ground door beadamp or the
| plastering green or the house got seasoned
out.
i
| full force for three days before laying the
| first flooring.
| Every hop should be 'forksd over" in
| laying the floor. Be careiut- and not let
| the men dunn the boxes on ttie hops that
| are LAID" but make them empty on the
floor away from the pile teiat has been
| forked over.
| Half the battle i. won if ths flooring is
Oh !atA hat "a a l.@E
| spread over the surface. One Ito have an
even flooring must seemingly Say the hops
little deeper as he approaches the door,
as those first laid will have settled a little,
| which those last iaid in their surn will do.
| We have Of late years lad sur flooring
| much heavier than before. Sixty to sew
enty-iive boxes, averaging twenty-five
| pounds hops when cured. on a twenty
| four-foot house is not too Eeavy. This
| will make the hops about three feet deep
| when first laid.
| Star. the FIRE before the last COX Of hop,
| is on. Is our Instructions. Nos moment
| should be lost, as the weight q hops Will
| settle the mass fast and soon Shut off cir
| cuation. In fact We often hee up while
| the mer are laying the hooE, and every
! thing is then ready to begin the process so
| soon as the hops are laid.
|
| point at which the heat is to Se and keep
it there. at the same point, during the
| whole process.
| 1t is a mistaken idea that the hops will
| bear greater heat at one TING more than
| another. Only do no, give then too much
hea. at any time is the main psint.
"Weli. how high wond you run the
| heat, anyhow" 10 a question: often and
often asked. The answer TO tbs is to keep
| it just as low as possible and get the hops
| of in time for the new flooring that must
| in turn be laid.
There is a limit to this II. that if the
hops lie too long before curing they will
| sag and finally inipre.
| In this climate 1T Is found in practice
| that about $50 deg. Fahrenheitss as low as
| one can safely run. as the h5ps ripened
later in the season, we last yea succeeded
| in keeping the heat down % Us deg,
| though it took two full days ;o=get floor
| ing Off Try it at this and PCT sample
| cut from bale alongside of ora cured at
the usual temperature and see the differ
| ence in the "aroma" given off and you
| will never, never. never want Is run at a
| high heat Afterwards.
| OF course such work take slots Of
| houses" as an Old hand at the business
| expressed it to the writer. Ye-, it does;
but 1t paws TO do it. In any evsnt, it does
not ay 20 raise q crop and then turn in
| and destroy hat its value by hest.
| We had six twenty-four-foot hop houses.
| and built three more new ones. for sixty
six acres. and ''just took all the time We
| wanted" las, year.
Result, sold the crop, $1,000 sounds, at
% cents per pound. net, but you could
smell them way ont OF doors from the
house. the men said. Open sut sample
| Of one of these bales in the sarsple room.
| and the perfume would inS@antly fill
| every corner OF the room.
1 p-a
| the temperature down: if you want the
best prlce. keep it down; if yos. want to
| be party in building up thu business,
keep it down, and you will m@ke money
| by doing so.
| We start the sulphur fires as Eoon as the
men have finished laying the ha1r. Don't
| wait a moment, but get the sui shur pans
| at work as soon as possible, and zee p them
! az it until the last damp spotznas disap-
| peared. Burn the sulphur away from the
| stove in pans placed on posts for or five
| feet high in at least four pieces in the
| room.
Sulphur is not burned primarily for COL
oring the hops, as popularity supposed.
| though TO some extent the EJECT is TO
! heighten and "even up" the c.,ior. The
| sulphur fumes take g chemical sOid upon
the iupuline OF the hop that reserves il
| and likewise acts as a drier.
1t takes very much less fuel, aence less
heat to cure & flooring OF hops where
| plenty Of sulphur Is used, than yhere lit
| tie is burned. In fact, it is imrracticable
to cure the deep Aoorings witho.t the free
! use OF sulphur.
Sulphur as dr.er, at the usrsal cost of
| 2z cents pound, is cheaper thasl wood at
! 81 a cord used alone. OF course, This is no.
from the heat generated by the burning
| sulphur, but from the chemical action of
| the sulphurous acid gas generated and
| passing through the hops.
| In former years. way back II the COS,
| We used 10 burn six or eight rS.ns 10 the
| ton OF hops, now not less than: 100. and
| more frequently 100, or, in otbSz words. q
| pound and half to the box. Had We not
| had large experience IN this linezSe would
! hesitate 10 recommend this IN ace Of the
| almost universal belief among grEs wers that
the excessive" use OF sulphur vas iniuri-
| Gus.
| When one can repeatedly sell GEAR after
| year Loo bales or more TO one-customer
| 70 be kept until the hot seasos" before
| using, that tells the whole story: and that
| brings to the front the reason why the
| price Is made Satisfactory"
Such hops, veil rIrenei, curea al low
| temperature and thoroughly klIphured
| need never go a-begging on th2 London
! market. for they are always wanted, no
/ matter how abundant the supply.
! The miller can tell by the touch" when
! the uour IS right, the dairymEid by the
! "appearanCe' thaE only experience wl!l
/ give when the butter Is "work@t" sutil-
! clent the housewife by the tap Oz the loaf