1854. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



479 



EXTHACTS AND REPLIES. 



QUERIES ABOUT HOPS. 



Mr. Brown : — For some months past, I have 

 been thinking of engaging in the cultivation of 

 hops on a small scale, but I hardly know how to 

 begin. Will you, or some of your correspondents, 

 please inform me through the Fanner, the whole 

 process of the propagation and cultivation of hops, 

 also with regard to soil and manure to be used. 

 Especially inform me whether they are raised from 

 the root or the seed, and if from the root, the best 

 time for transplanting. Thus doing, you will 

 much oblige, A Subsciber. 



Kenncbunk, Me., 1854. 



Remarks. — Dr. Brown, of Wilmington, or some 

 gentleman in that land of hops, we have no doubt 

 will reply to these queries. 



BRITTLE WHEAT STEMS THE LOCUST TREE. 



Mr. Brown : — I wisli to inquire through the 

 columns of your valuable paper, what is the 

 cause of wheat straw being brittle ? We have a 

 nice piece of wheat wliich is very heavy headed 

 and of a good growth of straw, but it is very brit- 

 tle. It will not bear a half day's sun without 

 being so brittle that it cannot be bound, unless the 

 dew is on. The land is a mellow loam, with 

 roundish stone in it. It was broken up 4 years 

 ago, sowed to oats in the spring, and bore a good 

 crop ; the next year corn, with a fair crop, it be-j hausted with tobacco and wheat crops, in Mary- 

 ing manured in the hill, also some spread on and land, brought into the most luxuriant clover at 



Island, N. Y., about the year 1817, said he be- 

 lieved nothing in the timber way could be so great 

 a benefit as the general cultivation of this tree. 

 He carried seeds back to England with him, sowed 

 them, and says he sold more than a million of the 

 trees. The seed is ripe in October, and if not 

 sown immediately, should be kept in the pods till 

 the following spring. It is well to steep the seeds 

 in cold water before sowing them. 



The other questions we are not able to answer. 



SII ELL-MARL. 



Mr. Brown : — You will confer a favor upon 

 many of your readers by answering the follow- 

 ing questions, through the columns of the New 

 England Farmer. 



What is the value of shell-marl compared with 

 other fertilizers ? 



To what kind of soil is it best adapted ? 



Is it good on any or every kind of soil ? 



What kind of crop is it best suited for? 



How much to the acre for a good crop ? 



T. B. h. 



Rockingham, Vi., Aug. 28, 1854, 



Remarks. — If you have found a deposit of good 

 marl, strongly impregnated with calcareous sub- 

 stances, you will be able to bring your lands into 

 a high state of fertility. We have seen lands ex- 



plowed in. The nest crop was corn, with the ad- 

 dition of more manure, and brought a heavy crop, 

 and this year wheat. The land is a gentle slope 

 to the soutli, with wood-land on the west, a part 

 of the way 



What kind of tree is the locust, and to what opinion of another on the subject, t 

 563 is its wood applied? I never saw any of gQ^g extracts from the address of 



them, and you will greatly oblige me, by giving 

 me information about it. If it is of any use as a 

 forest tree, I -should be glad to know it, as wood 

 is getting scarce here. L. Howard. 



Ludlow, Vt., Aug. 18, 1854. 



Remarks. — The locust tree is deciduous, a native 

 here, and valued highly for its timber — particular- 

 ly for posts and for s!iip-building. They are readily 

 propagated by seeds, or l)y cuttings of the roots, 

 and will grow in almost any soil that is not too wet. 

 They grow rapidly, and are highly ornamental as 

 well as useful tree. 



In this country tliore are three popular varie- 

 ties, distinguisliedl)y tlie color of the heart-wood ; 

 viz., the red locust, when the heart-wood is red, 



once by the use of marl. The land itself being a 

 clay loam. Not having had any particular per- 

 sonal knowledge of the effects of marl in our own 

 agricultural operations, we prefer to give you the 



and introduce 

 of Lord SoMER- 

 viLLE, President of the Board of Agriculture, in 

 England, some fifty or sixty years ago. He says ; 



Marl is a substance, containing calcareous 

 earth, found in the bowels of tiie earth, in differ- 

 ent situations and at various depths. 



Clay Marl. — Clay marl is so called from its re- 

 semblance to clay, of Avhich it contains a consid- 

 erable quantity in its composition. It is of many 

 different colors ; but all of these agree in one par- 

 ticular point. 



Stone Marl. — Stonc-niarl is so called on account 

 of hardness ; and differs from the former in being 

 less easily soluble in water. 



Slate Marl. — Slate-marl is found in thin lamina\ 

 or layers, like slates, and is of a consistence liard- 

 cr than clay, and softer than stone-marl. This 

 substance is also of difficult solution in water. 



Shell Marl. — Shell-mavl is distinguished from 



and wliich is esteemed by far the most beautiful 



andduralile timber ; the green locust, which is the! every other substance of that nature, both by the 



I ; 1. i,..o .. ,»^o„r^;^.K ,.-^11,^,., I. >,..f 'shells it contains, and the cohesi(jn of its parts, as 

 most common, wiiicn has a greenish yellow heart,- ' ... . i .' 



and is held next in esteem to the red ; and the 

 white locust, which has a white heart, and is con- 

 sidered tlie least valuable of all. In the wes- 

 tern States there is another variety called the 

 black locust. Tliesc trees sometimes attain the 

 height of 70 or 80 feet. 



"William Couhett, that eccentric genius, when 

 he engaged in farming and gardening on Long 



well as its specific gravity, being less than either 

 of them. It is most fre(|uently met witii in situa- 

 tions where the ground lias furmerly lieen covered 

 either by lakes or pools of stagnant water. When 

 the shells are in a fresli state, and covered with 

 the enamel on tlie outside, sliell-niarl is of very 

 little value ; but when they aroin a decayed state, 

 it is by far the richest and most cflicacious of any 

 that we are acquainted with. 



The benefit of all marl in agriculture, is, in a 



