Baraboo weekly news. [volume] (Baraboo, Wis.) 1912-197?, 1925-12-31
Wonderful Hop
Picking Machine

The following article was writ
ten by the unique, original and wit
ty Hugh Kelley, who set out on the
great adventure on Christmas Day.
There never was a hop picking
machine and doubt if there ever
was an approach to one but in a
playful mood the late humorist
evolved the wonderful contraption
and the appearance Of the article
in The News a number Of years ago
created no little merriment. The
article by the late Mr. Kelley fol
lows:
Wonderful Hop Picking Machine
BY Hugh Kelley
Several years previous to the
hop boom" John Dean was run
ming the Dean wooden mill, located
on the lower water power, where
the city pumping station now
stands Being Of an inventive
turn Of mind and seeing the straits
the growers were subjected to in
procuring pickers, Mr.. Dean began
evolving a picking machine and in
side Of a year had it revolving.
The writer may experience a little
difficulty in conveying a clear des-
Cription Of the machine after a
lapse Of SO many years, although
| WAS the engineer on the first
completed machine and operated it
during it's initial trip The motive
power was steam, gasoline being
then practically unknown The
steam was utilized through two
cylinders, much after the pattern
Of our traction engines, only much
smaller and about one-third the
weight On top of this carriage
was mounted a Crane-like arrange
ment much resembling a steam
shovel, with a hood carrying eighty
four steel fingers working just the
opposite from hay tedder, gather
ing instead Of scattering. This
mood went up one side of the
standing pole and down the other
ralting IN all the hops and leaves.
These dropped down through q
pipe in which was working a cyl
indrical fan that sent the leaves
scurrying across the field. At the
lower end of this pipe was heated
drum into which the hops fell and
where they were partially dried.
Under this was another drum filled
with the fumes of burning sulphur,
and here the drying process was
completed and the proper coloring
given to the hops. They were
then pressed by machinery into a
burlap sack and when it attained
about 200 pounds weight it was
dropped from the machine. The
boiler consumed a few barrels of
water and one cord Of four foot
wood every twelve hours, and all
the help required was two women
to sew up the bales as they were
dropped from the machine and two
men with fish poles to push in the
arms, or laterals, that stood out so
far from the parent vine that the
fingers could not reach tn an Of
course, after the hops were picked
the poles were still to pull, strip
and stack, but when you remember
that ii did away with the costly hop
house, kiln, drier, press, pickers
and boarding house, you can mag
inc what a boon it was to the grow
crs. Unfortunately. it did not
make its advent until the year that
brought the crash and for this rea-
son many who had been in the hop
business never saw it, We were
to make the test in the yards of M.
e. Spring, on the farm now owned
by L. d. Burtch; and one morning
in the early fall OF 1868 we started
from the wooden mills On leay-
ing the Lake Road at the late Geo
rye Capener's home, we had to
climb sharp incline and in hitting
the engine unusually hard | broke
a link litter. This let the forward
end of the blade drop to the ground
breaking the eccentric strap into
several pieces. We hurriedly took
down the main rod on that slide,
covered the steam ports and block
cd the side valves. After several
attempts we found the one engine
unable to move The machine. Just
then Abe johnson came along with
a yoke OF oxen and helped us over
the hill. when we made our way to
the yards. Here we found that al
though we could do all the other
work we did not have power to do
the pressing, The nearest machine
shop was at Mansion Mr.. Spring
borrowed VIM H. Canfield's buck
board, the lightest rig in the
country, and hitching up the fast
est horse in his barn. started the
hired man for Mauston. At the
shops OF Boorman he secured a