596 



NEW ExVGLAND FARMER. 



Nov. 



ocean on the west to yield copious moistures sup- 

 plying water for dew. But the all-wise Creator 

 and giver of every good and perfect gift, was at 

 no loss to make that country Avhat she once was 

 — the granary of the world. Egypt is a level 

 country — the Nile, which waters it, rises in the 

 mountains of the Moon, as the rivers in South 

 America do in the Andes, causing the Nile, to 

 overflow its banks at a proper period every year. 

 The rain lasts long enough, and the distance is 

 just great enough to produce the flood two months 

 after the rain has fallen. 



For the New England Fanner. 



REMARKS ABOUT RAISING HOPS. 



Messrs. EoiTors : — I do not intend to boast of 

 my knowledge at hop raising, not doubting that a 

 number of my townsman could give your interro 

 gator of Kennebunk better directions in the process 

 of raising and curing hops than lean. Hop rais 

 ing was the most profitatjL? branch of my father's 

 farming business ; from 171)2 to 1797, while a lad, 

 I worked on a hop plaiitation, and such informa- 

 tion as I can give after so long a period of having 

 my attention entirely directed to other business, 1 

 freely communicate to our Kennebunk friend. I 

 have no practical knowledge of raising hops from 

 the seed. In a liill of hops over one year old, will 

 be found two kinds of roots, — the tap or ground 

 root, which penetrates deep into the earth, and is 

 the main support of the plant, (this root does not 

 vegetate, and therefore is unfit for seed,) and the 

 surface roots, v.hich lie nigher the top of the hill ; 

 these roots, have germs which when planted, pro- 

 duce the vine ; they must be cut four inches or 

 more, long, with eye-shoots visible upon them, 

 and some 2, 3 or 4 pieces put in a hill. 



The way I was taught to raise hops, was in this 

 wise ; first plow a good piece of land ; manure 

 well by spreading or afterward in the hill ; mark 

 the ground, 3 ft. G or '..) inches apart, in squares, 

 and at planting time put in corn or potatoes in 

 every second row, and hop roots in every second 

 hill in the other row, which will give the first 

 year the three hills of corn or potatoes to one of 

 hops ; the hop vines will not be in a hurry to 

 come up, and when they do, will appear rather 

 slender the first season, and will require good at- 

 tention by hoeing well tlirec times. The next 

 thing to be attended to is to have the poles ready 

 for use ; if birch, they will last longer when cut 

 in August or September, than when cut in the 

 spring, as a matter of course ; all kinds of poles 

 will l)e cut in fall or winter by an economist. The 

 poles ought to be from 12 to 20 feet long, and if 

 the bark is shaved off from them all, they will be 

 more durable. The second year before the hops 

 sprout, one or more shovels full of good compost 

 manure must be thrown upon every hill of hops 

 which will be the most direct means to oljtain a 

 blessing. Then set two or more poles to a hill ac- 

 cording to the richness of the soil and number of 

 shooting vines ; the nest thing will be to select 

 tvro of the best vines to each pole, when long 

 enough, and wind them around the poles, in the 

 direction of the suu"s course, and confine them 

 with shreds of soft yarn ; after all is ready, run 

 the horse-plow between the rows, four furrows, 

 turning them toward the hills, then hoe the top 

 hills and cover up all the superfluous vines that 



they may not run up the pole to choke and in- 

 jure those already going up, as two vines are a 

 plenty for one pole. Hops, while growing, want 

 a great deal of looking to ; high winds blow the 

 vines from the poles, which must be replaced 

 that they may climb to the end of their journey. 



But jNIr. Editor, if your Kennebunk correspon- 

 dent will jump into a car on the Maine R. R., 

 and ride to Wilmington, Mass., and call on Mr. 

 Abiel or Eldad Carter, either of them could com- 

 municate more practical information in a half 

 day on the subject of raising Imps, than I could 

 communicate in a week ; they have probably kept 

 up with the improvements of the times, having 

 steadily pursued the business from year to year for 

 many years; there he could see the kiln and the 

 press, and ha'se "ocular demonstration," which 

 would be wortli more to him than all the scrib- 

 bliugs I could send into market. S. Brown. 



Wimingion, Sept. 20, 1854. 



For the New England Farmer. 



LIGHTNING RODS ARE NOT HUMBUGS. 



Messrs. Editors : — I noticed in your paper of 

 the 26th of August, an article referring to a pre- 

 vious article, Avhich I did not see, and making 

 the inquii'j, Are lightning rods humbugs 1 the 

 writer of which appears to be in much doubt, and 

 expresses a very earnest desire to have some one 

 fully acquainted with the subject, and in no way 

 counected with the manufiicture of lightning 

 rods, to publish his knowledge in the Fanner, in 

 order that your thousands of readers may receive 

 the benefit of such knowledge, and be able to pro- 

 tect their buildings from lightning, without fear 

 of being humbugged. Two writers in the Farmer 

 of Sept. 23d expressed their views, and repeated 

 a few long-established facts in regard to the ter- 

 mination of the rod in the ground, t! e utility of 

 isolated fastenings, the doctrines of Franklin, &c. ; 

 but none have yet given any rule in detail, or 

 answered the question at issue. The desire, on 

 the part of your corrt^pondent, to receive the 

 much coveted information from a person not en- 

 gaged in the business, is very natural ; but to 

 find one who is not and never has been engaged 

 in the business, competent to explain the laws of 

 the fluid, together with the modus operandi of 

 erecting efficient conductors, would be a little 

 contrary to nature. 



I have studied the science of electricity some, 

 and was engaged in manufacturing and erecting 

 lightning rods three years previous to 1841. I 

 am neither directly nor indirectly interested in 

 tlie business at the present time, therefore I may 

 presume to tell what I do know, and testify to 

 that Avhich I have seen, without fear of being 

 called a humbug. I say that lightning rods, 

 when properh' constructed, are not only not hum" 

 bugs, but will afford perfect protection to any 

 building, and at an expense not exceeding the 

 means of the occupant of the most humble 

 dwelling. The laws of eletricity are as regular 

 and as easily understood as any other natural 

 law. Any person, with a small electrical ma- 

 chine and ieyden jar, can demonstrate the one 

 great principle that electricity will follow a good 

 conductor any distance round, provided it finally 

 terminates near where it is destined to go, rather 

 than pass a very short distance through the aiVs 



