" or sacks to the
"oast-houses" to be dried. For this purpose, anthracite coal and
charcoal are used in the kiln, a shovelful or two of sulphur being added
to the fire when the hops are put on. The process of drying takes eleven
hours, and afterwards the dried hops are packed in pockets which, when
full, weigh about a hundredweight and a half each, the packing being
effected by hydraulic pressure. They are then sent to market, the
earliest arrivals fetching very high prices. As much as L50 per cwt. was
paid in 1882, but the ordinary price averages from L4 to L8 per cwt.

_Humulus Lupulus_, the hop, belongs to the natural order _Urticaceae_--a
plant of rather wide distribution, but said to be absent in
Scotland--and is a herbaceous, dioecious perennial, usually propagated
by removal of the young shoots or by cuttings. According to Sowerby, the
genus is derived from _humus_, the ground, as, unless supported or
trained, the plant falls to the earth; and the common name "hop" from
the Saxon _hoppan_, to climb. William King, in his _Art of Cookery_,
says that "heresy and hops came in together"; while an old popular rhyme
records that:--

"Hops, carp, pickerel, and beer,
Came into England all in one year."

Tusser in his _Hondreth Good Points of Husbandrie_, published in 1557,
gives sundry directions for the cultivation of hops, and quaintly
advocates their use as follows:--

"The hop for his profit I thus do exalt,
It strengtheneth drink, and it savoureth malt;
And being well brewed, long kept it will last,
And drawing abide--if you draw not too fast."

The hop has many varieties--thirty or more--among which may be mentioned
prolifics, bramblings, goldings, common goldings, old goldings,
Canterbury goldings, Meopham goldings, etc. When once planted they last
for a hundred years, but some growers replace them every ten years or
sooner.

The principal enemies of the hop are "mould" caused by the fungus
_Sphaerotheca Castagnei_, and several kinds of insects, especially the
"green fly," _Aphis humuli_, but the high wind is most to be dreaded. It
tears the hop-bines from the poles and throws the poles down, which in
falling crush other bines, and thus bruise the hops and prevent their
growth, besides obstructing the passage of air and sunlight, and causing
the development of mould or mildew. The remedy for mould is dusting with
sulphur, and for the green fly,