1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



663 



of this plough broke up and fined the furrow, 

 not only of the stubble but also of the meadow 

 portion of this lot — the latter appearing to be 

 aliout as mellow and porous as the former. 



The advantages of a swivel plough for side- 

 hill work are wt 11 known and fully appreciated 

 by fainiers For level land it may also be re- 

 commendt d for its avoidance of dead furrows, 

 so much dreaded by the man on the mowing 

 machine, and for its allowing the "nigh" and 

 "off" oxen or horses to alternate in furrow- 

 travelling, which i.fifords the team no inconsid- 

 erable relief. George Bachelx»er. 



Stanstead, P. Q., Oct 8, 1868. 



Canada Cattle. — We notice by an article 

 in the Prescott Telegraph that in consequence 

 of the scarcity of forage in many parts of Can- 

 ada, farmers are obliged to reduce, their stock, 

 and that thousands have already crossed the 

 line. The remark is made that it would be 

 bard to conceive what the farmers would havp 

 done with their surplus stocks had it not been 

 for the American buyers. We see by the 

 same paper that J. P. Wiser & Co., of Pres- 

 cott, who fatted 750 head of cattle last year, 

 a large part of which were marketed at Cam- 

 bridge this spring, are again purchasing largel}- 

 of the finest steers and oxen for feeding thi.«i 

 season. Mention is made of their purchasing 

 a fine pair of oxen weighing 4000 lbs. for $200, 

 a premium pair for $180, and 67 very good 

 steers at $55 each in specie. It appears that 

 they are breeders as well as feeders, and took 

 most of the premiums for fat cattle, and many 

 in other classes at the late show of the StiUth 

 Grenville Agricultural Society. 



HOPS IN "WISCONSIN. 



The danger of, running into specialties in 

 farming is strikingly illustrated by the disas- 

 trous experience of hop-grow(^rs in Wisconsin 

 the present season. It is said that many far- 

 mers went into the business so exclusively that 

 they have not raised grain eno'^gh for their 

 own use, and some have been obliged to go 

 into bankruptcy in consequence, and others 

 have mortgaged their farms to meet their ob- 

 ligations. The extent of the infatuation is 

 illustrated by a correspondent of the Wiscon- 

 sin Farmer who says : — 



From one station alone, (Kilboum City) were 

 shipped last spring roots enough to plant twelve 

 thousand acres ! I as-ked my neighbor, who lives 

 right opposite niy house, about two weeks before 

 hop-picking, how he thought his hops would yielii, 

 and what he would contract them for. His reply 

 was, that if the most responsible insurance com- 



pany on earth, were that day to offer to insure him 

 a ton per tjcre and lifty cents per pound for the 

 whole crop of 5^ acres he wouldn't pay a quarter 

 per cent for the policy. That man picked only 

 about half his yard, and was to-day querying 

 whether he wouldn't have made money to let ihc 

 whole go unpicked ; for he couldn't get a shilling 

 (12^c) a pound for the best of his harvest. 



The hop-lonse has this year ruined neajly or 

 quite half the hops in the State. I have ^nly s-etn 

 two lots that I would last year have graded as 

 "prime." Two buyers and one brewer told me to- 

 day that they had only seen o?ie sample of perfect. 

 There are to-day several thousand acres of hops 

 in Sauk county, all testifying in their unpicked, 

 blighted hlackness, as they rattle in the autumn 

 wind, that their ruin was wrought even as by a 

 deadly plague, or a simoom all in a few hours. I 

 have wrought in hop fields and sf en hops looking 

 fair as I left them at night, ruined next morning, 

 to the extent that I threw away and forbade the 

 picking of scores upon scores of hills. And f.iur 

 to five days was the longest time required for lice 

 to render fiir and bright fields black, mouldy, 

 slimy, nasty and slinking. Let no lady olijcct to 

 the unclean langiuige; for twenty thousand ux 

 more lady hop-pickers will bear witne.-s ihat a 

 skunk is as desirable company as a hill of hops 

 with lice a quarter of an inch thick all over it. 



I believe some two thousand farmers m Wis- 

 consin will in a year from now be doing just what 

 I saw a very shrewd man and extensive raiser do- 

 ing to-day — selling hop-poles for firewood. 



An old Agricultural Fair. — Col. Har- 

 ris, editor of the Ohio Farmer, during a re- 

 cent visit to the East, was present at the late 

 Fair of the Addison Co., Vt. Agricultural Soci- 

 ety. After giving a very favorable ac ount of 

 that exhibition, he indulges in the following 

 reminiscence of a Fair held at the same place 

 in his boyhood : — 



Speaking of the Addison County Fair reminds 

 me that well on to tive and forty years ago, T at- 

 tended the first Agricultuial Fair evei' held in this 

 county, and on this very spot of ground, and my 

 father won a premiun) on a bull calf—not the un- 

 dersigned, who has since made some noise in the 

 world, which the aforesaid bull calf never did, ex- 

 cept when he was knocked on the head the next 

 year, for an overgiown scallawag. At ttiat fair, as 

 I recall it from my dozenth year or thereubuuis, 

 we had gala times. Upon four monster wheels of 

 marble carts from Dr. Judd's marble works, was 

 erected a huL-e platform upon which were mounted 

 the represeniatives of the trades and of agricul- 

 ture; in the centre was a pole with a sl.eafof 

 wheat fastened at the top; twenty yokes of oxen 

 dragged this car through the village, while hun- 

 dreds of people followed it with gaping mouths 

 and admiring eyes, among whom was one "uiiich 

 his name it is" the iditor of the Ohio Farmer ; and 

 here he stands now up'mthe same sjiot; iintof all 

 the men of that day, how tew are here ! I cannot 

 name one except Edwin Hammoid. V' ry 

 thoughtfully 1 lurned away and took up my 

 journey. 



— The Germantown Telegraph says that peren- 

 nials should be divided and transplanted during 

 the early part of Novembei if not aitended to be- 

 fore. This will cause the flowers to be larger m 

 size and of much deejer colors. 



