Today in 1900, US Patent 660408 A was issued, an invention of Adolf Wolf, for his “Hop-Drier.” There’s no Abstract, although in the description it includes this summary, although it’s a bit odd and not terribly straightforward as I believe there may have been some problems with the OCD on this one:

One purpose of the invention is to provide are obtainable under the present treatment of hops.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a means of drying the hops which will economize in time, fuel, labor, and expense and to construct the driers that the lupulin will be preserved and the hops may be dumped quickly and conveniently without damage.