hops, and the writer was shown a most ingenious and yet exceedingly simple machine which performs this operation in a highly satisfactory manner. Hops, as delivered at the brewery, are packed in large bales, each weighing 180 pounds; the quantities required for immediate use are taken out of these bales, broken on the machine above referred to, and then placed loosely in large canvass bags, provided with hoop-like handles. As a matter of course, these quantities are all carefully weighed before being dumped into the copper. Scientific observation and practical experience have taught the brewer not to boil the hop too long. Formerly the plant was boiled “all to pieces,” the object being to expedite the precipitation of the albuminous wort by means of the extracted tannin. At present, the boiling time is reduced to a minimum, and yet, by reason of the opening of the hop-cone, the effects and essential functions of the hop are not in any manner impaired. In the purchase of hops, the brewer must use good judgment and great care so as to secure an article rich in lupulin, fully mature, not too old, cleanly picked and properly dried. If he obtains such hops, he may still have room for complaint on account of the lack of that flavor which is the result of long-continued cultivation and the natural advantages of a favorable soil. The latter causes have made Bohemian hops famous all over the world. Any brewer who strives to produce the very highest grade of beer will always use a certain proportion of these extra-aromatic hops in conjunction with the domestic product. For all practical purposes, however, American hops are as good as, if not better than, the average foreign article, with the exception of a few varieties, the production of which is also confined to a rather narrow territory. [Sidenote: COOLING THE BREW]