NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Tlio most convenient size for n h»g of hops 

 hiuiillo and tr;insport, is nl)out live feet in 

 gtl), anil to cotilaiii about 250 ponmls. The 

 St ba^ptinp; is coarse stronsj tow clotli of onr 

 meslic manufacturing; next to that, Russia 

 mp hagufing. The East India sugar, and gui- 

 bags, so called, ought never to be used, 

 le sugar bags ar* of an unreasonable weiglil, 

 liolh they and the gurney bags are of no 

 ue to the brewer; whereas the other bags 

 worlh prime cost. 

 It is now common for those who have enter- 

 considerably into the cultivation of hops, to 

 Id bouses over their kilns, wh.ch, in wet 

 ithor, are very convenient ; otherwise, a 

 n in the open air, would, in my opinion, be 

 fer.ible. It is necessary to have these build- 

 well ventilated with doors and windoivs ; 

 to have th.^m kept open night and day, ex- 

 t in wet weather, and then shut those only 

 icb are necessary to keep out the rain. If 

 entilator was put in the roof of the building, 

 ectly over the centre of the kiln, about six 

 |uare, built like those in breweries and 

 illenes, I am of the opinion they would be 

 nd very ailvanlageous. I have seen many 

 ol hops much injured, both in color and 

 or, by being dried in close buildings. 

 Vhere the houses over the kilns are built 

 for the purpose of storing the hops as 

 y are dried, — which is a great saving of la- 

 , — a close partition should be made between 

 kilns and the room in whxh the hops are 

 ed, to prevent the damp steam from the 

 s coming to them, as it will color them and 

 ire their llavor and quality very much. 



xjiect that many of our larmers will object 

 he mode of manuring hops which I have 

 immended, their common practice being to 

 the manure in the hills when they plant 

 hop'5, and afterwards to apply the manure 

 he hills at the first and second hoeing:-. I 

 the hop-roots are very liable to be injured 

 verm's, and to decay. My opinion is, that 

 manure in the hill has a tendency to pro- 

 5 the worms, and its fermentation at their 

 s to cause their decay ; and that the crop 

 5t more, if as abundant, as when manured 

 le inanner I have recommended. And fur- 

 , that a hop yard manured in this manner, 

 continue in a healthy state for many years, 

 also expect the quantity of' manure 1 have 

 mmended, will be objected to by many, it 

 g the common received opinion' that hops 

 liavc little or no manure. I lind it a 

 complaint amongst the larmers where 

 ;ve been cultivated many years, that the 

 • raised per acre does not exceed the 

 half raised by their ancestors, on the same 

 ; infering that the " hops are running out," 

 is termed, and cannot now be cultivated to 

 niage. Hops, I believe, in common with 

 orts of gra.n and vegetables, lluur^sh best 

 jrnduce the linest crojis, when cultivated ou 

 lands which require little or no manure — 

 such were the lands which their ancestors 

 vated. The same complaint I presume 

 Id be made against all sorts of grain and 

 tables, if raised wath little or no manure, 

 ;nds that have long been cultivated, 

 om my own observation- I am confident 

 DO crop can be more imj^roved and mcicas- 

 y high cultivalioa than tops. 



i'roin tlie llallowill (,'azcttc. 



vvixTKii \\iii;A'r. 



Messrs. Printcis — Having been for several 

 yoaiN successfully engaged in the cultivation »!' 

 winter wheat, 1 think it may be interesting to 

 some of your readers to know the result of my 

 experiments. 



I was led to its cultivation, by observing it to 

 be one ol'the slajilc commodities of the middle 

 States, where the winter is unequal and varia- 

 ble, and where the g-round is occasionally fro- 

 zen to as great a depth, as in Maine, without 

 any covering of snow to protect it ; and where 

 severe cold and sudden thaws sometimes alter- 

 nate through the winter. I was also informed 

 by a gentleman residing on the .St. Lawrence, 

 in the Slate of New York, that winter wheat 

 was successfully cultivated in bis neighborhood, 

 in a climate similar to that of Maine, although a 

 prejudice h.ul existed there, as it iloes here, 

 that it would not bear the severity of our win- 

 ters. 



My first experiment was made five years 

 since, with seed brought from New Orleans. 

 Having been informed in the middle Stales that 

 wheat sown late was not so liable to be injured 

 by the Hessian Fly, as when sown early, 1 did 

 not sow mine till October. It was sown on 

 light soil, and in the spring looked well. It was 

 however struck with rust before it was ripe ; 

 and the crop was very much injured. As the 

 winter had not injured my wheat, 1 was not dis- 

 couraged, but have every year since sown 

 wheat at ditTerent periods, between the last of 

 August and tenth of October. All that I have 

 sown on light soil, h:is looked well in the spring ; 

 but what was sown late, that is, after the middle 

 of September, has been invariably struck with 

 rust before it was ripe; while what was sown 

 early has as invariably given a good crop. 

 Most of my experiments have been made on j 

 green-sward. After haying, I have selected a ' 

 piece of ground, which required ploughing, and | 

 generally of a light loam. I have ploughed it! 

 once, and harrowed it twice or thrice, putting 

 on between the harrowings from 15 to 20 loads 

 of manure to the acre, and sowing the seed be- ' 

 fore the last harrowing. I have alwavs fed it 

 in the autumn, believing that it would be less I 

 likely during the winter to mould or die, if eat- j 

 enclose, than if left long on the ground. Ij 

 have found that the lighter the soil, the less li-' 

 able was the wheat to be destroyed by the win-! 

 ter; but this is of less importance than at first 

 might be supposed ; for each remaining root, 

 sending up from 10 to 20 heads in the spring, 

 will supply the places of a great many killed in 

 the winter. One piece tliat I raised this season, 

 on rather heavier soil than I had been accus- 

 tomed to cultivate with wheat, appeared in Slay 

 to be two thirds dead, but when I reaped it in 

 July the ground was nearly covered with grain; 

 and it has yielded probably 20 bushels to the 

 acre. I have never accurately measured my 

 ground and crop but once : which was last year, 

 when I raised 40 bushels of excellent wheat 

 upon one acre 125 rods of land, being 21 bush- 

 els 29 quarts to the acre. This wheat weighed 

 last autumn from G5 to 66 lbs. the bushel; one 

 bushel last week weighed 6.3 lbs. having prob- 

 ably become lighter by drying. A bushel of 

 the same wheat gave 50 lbs. 10 ounces of Hour, 

 the toll having previously been taken out 



Tbe cultivation of winter wheat is preferable 



53 



to that of summer wheat on a great variety of 

 accounts. It is sown, and the ground prepared, 

 at a season of much greater leisure. One of 

 the greatest disadvantages of our northern cli- 

 mate is the extreme shortness of our spring, .so 

 that it is ditTicult for our farmers to complete 

 the work, which is absolutely neco'isary to be 

 doiie, after the frost is out oi' the ground, anil 

 before the season of planting is over. If there- 

 fore any work, as the sowing of wheat, can be 

 advantageously postponed till the autumn, it is 

 of great importance. The winter wheat is less 

 liable to injury from insects than the summer ; 

 mine has never suffered from them. It aflcrds 

 good fall feed, and the larger (|uaiility of root* 

 and stubble to be jiloughed in make the land in 

 a better state for the next crop. The grain is 

 heavier, and the same number of pounds will 

 yield a larger quantify of (lour, and of a much 

 superior quality. For these reasons, it cannot 

 be too strongly urged upon the attention of our 

 farmers. From my experience I should recom- 

 mend that winter wheat should not be sowed 

 later than the middle of Septem1>er, that the 

 soil, on which it is sowed, should be a light 

 loam, and that about five pecks of seed be sown 

 to the acre. 1 have also found the use of plas- 

 ter on wheat advantageous, as also rolling the 

 wheat after it was well up. Winter wheat might 

 probably do better ai"ter peas and beans than on 

 green-sward. 1 intend trying it after both and 

 also after a summer fallow, but have not hither- 

 to done it. R. H. GARDINER. 

 0.4KL.\NDS, Gardiner, July 30, 1023. 



From the Glasgow Journal, (Scotland.) 

 MANGEL WURZEL. 



Mr. John Hall, of Little Marshall, Ide, near 

 Exeter, recommends the cultivation of Mangel 

 Wurzel. The land is dressed, drilled, and ma- 

 nured in the same way as turnips arc cultivated 

 in Scotland. The seed is covered not more 

 th;in an inch deep ; when u|>, and having six 

 leaves, let the plants be hoed out to one foot 

 distance in the rows, which, (the rows,) if two 

 feet apart, will give upwards of 20,000 plants 

 an acre ; and should these average 10 lbs. each, 

 (I had rn.iny last season upwards of 18 lbs. al- 

 thougli an unfavorable time prevailed,) the pro- 

 duce would be between 80 and 100 tons of food. 



Keep the intervals horse-hoed as often as con- 

 venient, and as long as the luxuriant growth of 

 the leaves will permit. The seed-time for this 

 plant is best between the 20lh of April, and the 

 1st of May, by which last named period those 

 who are desirous of a superior crop will do well 

 to have their sowing liaishcd. 



The same care that is bestowed on potatoes 

 for their goodly preservation is requisite for 

 well keeping mangel wurzel ; and it is of par- 

 ticular consequence that the roots be housed in 

 dry weather, and before frost sets in, as, if 

 hnused wet, they are a|)t to get woolly and bad 

 lasted, (not, therefore, so suitable for milch 

 kine for whom they arc, when good, peculiarly 

 desirable ;) and, if frosted, they become slimy 

 and rotten, or what is provincially termed here, 

 "• they slope away." When taken care of, by 

 caving or housing in a dry situation, they will 

 remain good till May or June. If these roots 

 are given carelessly to cattle when first takea 

 up, or, to speak generally, any time before 

 Ciiristmas, they, containing as they then do so 

 much moisture, are apt to blast and .scour them ; 



