April i, 1886.J THE TROPICAL AGRICULTURIST. 



7oy 



WKEDS. 



>;ir, — I have be»^ii a little suroriseil that tlie v.triovis 

 nrticles ou agriculture in the daily papers have omitteil 

 t<» ineutiou thu change which tin; nvn- American digger 

 ifi working iu the cultivation of farm lands. More es- 

 pecially have I heeu surpriKeil, ln'cause at the present 

 state of agriculture any alteration that can tend to de- 

 crease the cost of growiug crops is ob\'i<nisly one of 

 great impt>rtance. 



t If you will permit me, I will give some description of 

 his implement anil of its results on some lands which I 

 have recently viewed. The American digger differs 

 from the ordinary plough, which it is iu some districts 

 amost entirely superseding, in that the former has a 

 skimmer tixed midway between the coulter and the 

 share and mould board, and that the two furrows from 

 the skimmer and the mould board are more completely 

 turned over than the single furrow from the mould- 

 board of the old plough. The effect of the work is that 

 the skimmer furrow (about --in. deep) with all the 

 weeds and couch grass is first turned upside down, and 

 then cohered with the mould-board furrow (4-in. to 6-iu, 

 deep) and the weeds being completely secluded from 

 the light, die, and rot iu the ground. 



The following may be given as some of the effects of 

 using this implement ; (1 > Origiiially after ploughing up 

 wheat stubble it was necessary to also cross plough, 

 twice draij-harrow, twice chain-harrow, and finally burn 

 or cart off the coueh grass or twice. But now all these 

 operations arc avoided by the American digger. (Ji 

 The couch grass, after being completely killed and rot- 

 ted, forms manure for the next crop sown on the land. 



On one farm of ^W acres the use of this implement 

 haa saved ,-£100 a year in labour, besides yielding to the 

 soil a considerable manurial value, estimated by the 

 tenant (the best and most practicable farmer in the 

 midland counties, who had been doing battle with couch 

 grass for over forty years), at £1 per acre. 



In conclusion, I may mention that on another farm 

 where considerable difKculty had always been experi- 

 enced with couch grass, the result of the American dig- 

 ging the land after seeds, and again when it was iu 

 wheat stubble, was to completely, and I speak advisedly, 

 free it from that and other weeds. — Artevh Tahp, 15, 

 lireat George-street, Westminster, Jan. 2(5. — Field. 



ENGLISH HOPS. 



HOW THKY ABB RAISED, CURED AND SOLD. 



Mr. K. Meeker, of Washington Territory, who is 

 reported the largest hop fanner in the t. niteil States, 

 has recently paid a visit to the principal hop-growing 

 districts of England, and reports some of his observ- 

 ations to Hu exchange, from which we make the follow ing 

 eKtract.«. Successful liop growing depends upon two 

 fondi'ion,^. to produce the best and to produce them as 

 cheaply as your neighbours. England now has nearly if 

 not quite 70,UOO acres in hops ; Germany can, with a 

 moderate crop produce a large surplus; Australia now 

 sends her quota to swell the grand total, but, after all, 

 the country that .sends the best hops and the cheapest 

 will cojnmand the market. 



However harshly it may grate upon the ears of our 

 hop growers, it is a fart that our .Vmericau qualities aro 

 not »p to the standard of what they sbouM he. In the 

 I.onrloh market the hop must stand its comparison 

 with the product of th'- world. I have seen Ui.Wi 

 .samples of all tcitids of hops groupetl on the boards un- 

 der the skylight. Hops for the market must be ripe, 

 shoid 1 be of a golden color, even in color, thoroughly 

 di-y, dried at a low temi)erature, and the sain[>les when 

 dr ivn should be soft and springy — silky is the term used 

 in England. 



Ivipiness asually brings the desired color, hut the 

 ivenness of color is governed more by the management. 

 For instan^'e, if one fills a bin from the bottom up with 

 early and late pickings, it is almost absolutely certain 

 that some of his samples will show •• streaky." and un- 

 der the English rules can he be thrown out as *' false 

 packed," an«l thf- f^nwt^r is subject Ut punishment by 

 law. In view of the fact that our Western States mark- 

 et wautj our early-^ickcd bops and will not buy out 



ripe hops, a better method is to separate the firt week's 

 •r ten days' picking from the later. Then we get the 

 even color that is so desirable in any m;irket. Hops 

 nnist be thoroughly dried, and at a low heat. 



In visiting the hop fields of Mid Kent I saw their 

 stacks of poles, many of which did not look larger 

 than good-si/ed bean poles with us; saw where great 

 fields of hops bad recently been " tligged" ; saw the 

 laborers at work digging i spading with a pronged spade), 

 aud I really believe that the English actually cultivate 

 their hops in the Winter, and that, too, by hand. 

 The whole of the 70,(1(10 acres now in England are 

 so " digged '' by linnri. 



The Euglish hop brings a better price than our hops, 

 or at least has for this year. Were it not for this 

 difference wo could crowd the English hop growers to 

 the wall, for their hops cost them more than with us. 

 The rents, tithes and manure cost them not less than 

 eleven cents per pound, and the sum total not less 

 than t\\ enty cents, and very of t*^ii nmeh above that, and 

 yet the Euglish growers say that they see no better 

 opportunity in other crops. 



.\11 English hop growers bale their h~ps as fast as 

 dried, some of them while hot. They never let them 

 coi'l until in the hole. They have eo stoves in their 

 " ^■.■^st houses" but use au open fire with charcoal and 

 coal that does not sniokn. I saw a vine-cuttiug machine 

 to cut hop vines into short pieces, to be used for bed- 

 ding for animals aud for absorbents iu manure piles. — 

 Antci'icaii Ci'ltivutoi: 



EXPERIMETNS WITH S'H'EDISH PLOUGHS. 



Hulugalle Ratemahatmaya reports to the (Govern, 

 ment Agent, North- Western Province, that he selected 

 a tract of field of ten amunams' extent, and used the 

 new ploughs in patch of two amunams, and cultivated 

 the remaiuder under the usual system, by means of the 

 native ploughs. 



From the earliest stage he noticed the crop iu the 

 patch where he had used the new ploughs to be far 

 healthier than that in the remaining eight amunams 

 both in growth and also in general appearance. 



He realized 18 amunams during the /iri;iioii>^ Maha 

 harvest in the strip wherein he had now used the 

 new ploughs, which was equivalent to ninefold ; 

 and the present yield of the strip of eight amu- 

 nams, in which he had used the native ploughs this 

 harvest, was precisely the same, viz., nine-fold, whilst a 

 few beds lying on the upper level of the tract yielded 

 less, seven to eight- fold. But in the patch where he 

 used th« new ploughs ha raised 3:J amunams aud 1 p(Sla, 

 which is a little above Itj-fold, au.l about double the crop 

 realized frt)ni the native ploughs. 



It has been often remarked that the.se ploughs are 

 rather too heavy. The Katemahatmaya admits that 

 they are heavier than the native ploughs, and unless 

 cattle are useil in a more sparing manner than is gener- 

 ally the habit of the natives, who use one and the same 

 pair of cattle from morning till evening, ho has no 

 doubt they will meet with fhis diifieulty. He was aware 

 of this at the time he took the experiment in hand, and 

 adhered to the precaution, therefore, to have two sets 

 of cattle, and had them clianged, one sot being used in 

 the morning aud the other in the evening. 



The Teacher of the Pauapitiya School -eports that ho 

 has just gathered his croo of the field which he cultiv. 

 ated in accordance with the instructions given in the 

 Director's Primer of Agriculture. The field is two acres 

 in extent, in which he .sowed :.'{ bushels of paddy, which 

 have yieldeil 7(1 bushels, lie .sowed paddy too early, 

 and lieavy rain .set in when the plants were in blossom, 

 otherwise he might have had a crop of 1()() bushels. 



The remaining portion of the same field is seven acres 

 in extent, aud was cultivated by his neighbours, who 

 ha«l only a crop of (JS bushels. 



In this conned ion he states that be finds by experience 

 that the bittiT the ground is prepared, the less the 

 paddy required to bi- sown ; and the less the quantity 

 sown, the tn-tter the >ield of the crop. 



In l.-^fi- he .sowed in the field in ipiestiou 3.'. bushels, 

 which yielded 51 bueheU ; iu i683, 4| bushels yielded 40 



