220 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. 



bagging is coarse, strong tow cloth, of our domestic manu- 

 facturing ; next to that, Russia hemp bagging. 



" It is now common for those who have entered considera- 

 bly into the cultivation of hops, to build houses over their kilns, 

 which, in wet weather, are very convenient; otherwise, a 

 kiln in the open air would be preferable. It is necessary to 

 have these buildings well ventilated with doors and windows ; 

 and to have them kept open night and day, except in wet 

 weather, and then shut those only which are necessary to 

 keep out the rain. If a ventilator was put in the roof of the 

 building, directly over the centre of the kiln, about six feet 

 square, built like those in breweries and distilleries, they 

 would be found very advantageous. I have seen many lots 

 of hops much injured both in color and flavor by being dried 

 in close buildings. Where the houses over the kilns are 

 built large, for the purpose of storing the hops as they are 

 dried, which is a great saving of labor, a close partition 

 should be made between the kilns and the room in which the 

 hops are stored, to prevent the damp steam from the kilns 

 coming to them, as it will color them, and injure their flavor 

 and quality very much." 



DISEASES, Hops are liable to attack from various insects, 

 blight, mildew, &c. There is no effective remedy of general 

 application for either. The best preventives are new or fresh 

 soil which is rich in ashes and the inorganic manures, and in a 

 fine tillable condition to insure a rapid growth, by which it 

 may partially defy attack ; and open planting on such positions 

 as will secure free circulation of air. When properly man- 

 aged, hops are one of the most productive crops, but their 

 very limited use will always make them a minor object of 

 cultivation. 



THE CASTOR. BEAN, (Ricinus communis, usually called 

 Palma Christi,) 



Is a native of the West India Islands, where it grows with 

 great luxuriance. It is cultivated as a field crop in our mid- 

 dle states, and in the states bordering the Ohio river on the 

 north. It likes a rich, mellow bed, and is planted and hoed 

 like corn. It attains the height of 5 or 6 feet, and bears at the 

 rate of 20 to 28 bushels per acre. The seed is separated from 

 the pods, bruised and subjected to a great pressure, by which 

 they yield near a gallon to the bushel of cold pressed castor 

 oil, which is better than that extracted by boiling and skim- 

 ming. The last is done either with or without first slightly 



