THE GENESEE FARMER, 



21^ 



ON THE CULTIVATION OF HOPS. 



TnE first thing to be done tovrards raising a good 

 crop of Hops, is to secure a large kind. This being 

 done, prepare the ground by thoroughly pulverising 

 it, either by spading or plowing, and then procure 

 some tinely rotted barnyard manure, and inti- 

 mately incorporate it with the soil ; then set out 

 the roots, one in a place, about the same distance 

 apart that corn is planted. When the vines are 

 well up, they should be thinned out to one in a hill, 

 and the thriftiest one left, as it will produce larger 

 ^id better, tliough perliaps not as many. 



As soon as they are about a foot high they should 

 be poled, and assisted to wind about the poles, if 

 necessary. The cultivation is much the same as of 

 corn, only care should be taken not to tear up or 

 disturb the roots, as they run close to the surface. 



They should be allowed to stand as long as is safe, 

 before the early frosts, but should never remain out 

 in one, as it injures the favor. When ready to 

 pick, the vines may be cut off close to the ground, 

 and the poles taken up and put under cover for fu- 

 ture use. The hops, as soon as picked, must be 

 spread thinly to dry, in an airy place, and not ex- 

 posed to the sun or rain. 



The next season^ it is well to apply a top-dressing 

 of manure ; and when they have stood three or four 

 years, and the ground is well lilled witli roots, take 

 them up in the fall after picking, divide and re-set 



them. STEPHEil POWEES. 



WiUerfbrd, Washington Oo., Ohio. 



DOES IT INJTJEE BUTTE R TO COLOE IT 1- AND 

 IF SO, WHY? 



Most assuredly it does, and the reasons are these : 

 Yoxi cannot change the color of butter after churn- 

 ing, without changing its taste or flavor likewise. 

 When you add carrots to butter, you give a carrot 

 taste to the flavor of the butter, and it is the same 

 with all other coloring material. Pure butter has 

 but one flavor, if properly made, and when you add 

 any thing to it, then it is not butter, — it is a com- 

 pound, and the preserving qualities are injured. I 

 aak, who would like to eat butter that had been 

 purchased in the roll, at a country store, and had a 

 taste of something like pumpkin, carrot, saffi'on, 

 and the like ? 



To those who are troubled with white butter, I 

 would recommend the propriety of coloring the 

 cow, in this wise : — Give her carrots, yellow corn 

 meal, well cooked and salted, together with cut 

 cornstalks. Boiled potatoes and wheat bran may 

 also be used with cut stalks ; or the stalks may be 

 fed whole, and the cooked food separate. If you 

 wUl foUow these directions, and keep away your 

 boiling water, the butter wiU be sufliciently colored. 



Nichols, Tioga Oo., X. Y. A. L. SMITH. 



CELLAR FOR A FAEM-HOUSE. 



TnEEE are few departments of the faiTn-house 

 that are of more importance than the cellar, yet it 

 is perhaps more generally neglected than any other 

 pai't of the premises, being out of sight, it is left to 

 take care of itself, and will seldom bear very close 

 inspection. There should be a reform here, and I 

 will state what I consider the proper mode of con- 

 structing a good and convenient cellar. 



After settling in your mind the proper height of 



the cellar, (which should not be less than seven nor 

 more than eight feet high,) dig one foot deeper than 

 you intend the bottom when finished; then dig 

 under at the bottom all round from four to sis 

 inches, and lay a course of flat stoned projecting 

 beyond the outside of the main wall at least four 

 inches, to prevent rats from working under. Lay 

 your foundation in water lime mortar, carrying it 

 up in the same as far as you can be safe from frost, 

 and the re uainder in quick lime mortar. Lay the 

 wall in two distinct courses of stone, and do not 

 allow the inner and outer stones to touch each 

 other, but fill the middle with mortar to make a 

 solid wall. Make your windows with double glass 

 sashes, and you need have little fears that frost will 

 penetrate to injure anything. 



If your ceUar bottom is dry, poi-ous, gravelly 

 soil, you do not need a drain, but that is seldom the 

 case. The sure way is to dig a drain from one side 

 to carry oft' superfluous water, and if a wet, clayey 

 bottom, lay drain tUe around or through it, so as 

 eftectually to draw off all tlie water, and then cover 

 the bottom between and over the tile with small 

 stones to the depth of one foot, and cover the whole 

 with water lime cement. In situations where there 

 is no fall for draining, the sides may be plastered 

 witli cement, to keep out water as much as possi- 

 ble. Lay timbers down while the mortar is soft, 

 for sills to be used for divisions, and make simple 

 board partitions, as they are less expensive than 

 brick, and answer equally well in most cases. 



The cellar should be divided into at least four 

 apartments, viz : a milk room, fitted with shelves 

 for the milk pans ; a store room for provisions, with 

 cupboard, &c. ; a larger apartment for the storage 

 of fruit, cider barrels, &c. ; and a dark room for 

 potatoes and other vegetables, as they keep better 

 when excluded from liglit. Have ample arrange- 

 ments for lighting and ventilating all the apartments 

 (except the dark one), at all times, and you have a 

 place for everything necessary about a cellar, and 

 with but little expense after once built. A few 

 other conveniences might be added, if thought to 

 be of consequence ; but the above is generally sufii- 

 cient for common purposes, and would be a great 

 improvement over the majority in use. ***** 

 ■ • 



ON HARROWS AND HARROWING. 



There are various kinds of harrows in use by 

 different fanners in the country, but the square- 

 hinged thirty tooth harrow is perhaps more gene- 

 rally used than all others, throughout western New 

 York. The Geddes harrow has been introduced to 

 a limited extent, but has been generally abandoned 

 after a short trial. The triangular harrow, single 

 and double, (one behind and within the other,) has 

 also had its day here. The Scotch harrow is now 

 coming into use, and is very well liked on smooth 

 land; but it is difficult to turn, clogs badly on 

 rough land, and is not, on the whole, so well 

 adapted to all kmds of work as the first named 

 above. Thei'e are some new patent harrows which 

 seem to possess good qualities, viz : the square, di- 

 agonal hinged harrow, improved by Wm. Andee- 

 soN, (see Pat. Off. report, page 142 plates, '54,) and 

 Ramsey's flexible harrow, (Pat. Off. rep. '54, page 

 166 plates,) both of which appear to be better 

 adapted to pulverise the soil and overcome obstruc- 

 tions, with ease of draft and turning, and we judge 



