78 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Feb. 



They must then be drawn over the edge of a board 

 — a board fence for instance — by two men, and 

 rubbed and worked upon until they are pliable. 

 But the raw hide, if we understand the matter, is 

 never very soft. It may, perhaps, be made plia- 

 ble by the process we have described. 



CULTURE OF HOPS. 



Will you, or some of your subscribers, tell me 

 what you think of hop raising, whether it will pro- 

 bably be good business for a few years, and what 

 kind of soil is best adapted to their growth ? How 

 far apart should they be set, and how many poles 

 to the hill ? I have started a yard the past sea- 

 son, but am not quite satisfied as to the best meth- 

 od of cultivation. If you, or some of your sub- 

 scribers, can give me any light on the matter, you 

 will confer a favor, and at some future day I will 

 give you the result of my first experience in the 

 business. Samuel Stanford. 



Irashurg, Vt., Dec, 1861. 



Remarks. — There is no good reason for doubt- 

 ing that you may make a fair profit in the skillful 

 cultivation of hops, provided they are properly 

 prepared, put up, and offered in the markets at 

 the right time. 



The plants are usually placed on hills at the dis- 

 tance of five or six feet, and two or three poles are 

 commonly placed on a hill. The first year poles six 

 or eight feet long will answer, but twelve feet poles, 

 or even longer, will be needed afterwards. The soil 

 should be as dry as for Indian corn, should be 

 deep and rich, and can hardly be stirred too much 

 during the growing season. 



The State of New York is the gi"eat hop garden 

 of the Union — that State having produced in 

 1859, nine million six hundred and fifty-four 

 'pounds ! The same year the English crop was 

 cut off, which caused a brisk demand for Ameri- 

 can hops, and 49,000 bales were shipped from the 

 port of New York alone. We export only when 

 the English crop is cut off, which, together with 

 the bad condition in which many of the American 

 hops are put up, our cultivators not taking suffi- 

 cient pains in that important particular, cause 

 great fluctuations in prices. 



TO STOP VOMITING IN CATTLE. 



Boil tansy and mint together ; give one quart of 

 tliis to the beast. K it does not stop in an hour, 

 give the same quantity again, and repeat it till the 

 vomiting ceases. I had a case of this kind which 

 was cured by giving two quarts of this liquid. 



Danhy, Dec. 26, 1861. Lyman 11. FisK. 



bunch on a colt's jaw. 



I have a three years' old colt that has got a 

 bunch on his under jaw, al)out as big as a hen's 

 egg. It grows tight to the bone, like a wen that 

 comes on cattle. Can you, or any of your sub- 

 scribers, tell me of any remedy for it ? 



Richmond, Dec. 21, 1861. A Subscriber. 



ESSEX transactions FOR 1861. 



This finely printed book of 200 pages has just 

 come to my hand. It contains the usual docu- 

 ments, together with about 50 pages of essays, by 

 writers of taste and experience. Among the names 

 appended to the Reports are many of the best ex- 

 perienced cultivators of the county. Notwith- 

 standing the Society has ever been liberal in dis- 

 pensing premiums, often paying out one thousand 

 dollars a year, it has been so managed as to secure 

 as a permanent fund on interest, all the money it 

 has received from the State, diu'ing its forty years 

 existence, which, together with the experimental 

 farm, donated by the late Dr. Treadwell, of Sa- 

 lem, makes its present available means not less 

 than $16,000. If there be any other agricultural 

 Society in the State that has been more discreetly 

 managed, I should like to be advised of it. It has 

 pursued the even tenor of its way, directing "its 

 eyehds right on, and its eyes right forward," avoid- 

 ing all gambHng movements and fancy improve- 

 ments. So may it ever be. 



December, 1861. 



warts on colts. 



Can you, or any of your correspondents, inform 

 me of a remedy for warts upon colts ? I have a 

 yearling colt, whose nostrils and under lips are 

 fast getting covered with large, seedy warts. I 

 have applied lamp oil, but without effect. 



Wuyland, Jan. 2, 1862. SUBSCRIBER. 



Remarks. — Mr. A. Briggs, of Deerfield, Mass., 

 says that potash dissolved to a paste, laid upon 

 the wart for half an hour, and then taken off and 

 the part washed in vinegar, wiU cure a wart on 

 man or beast. 



will DOVES PULL UP CORN? 



I have kept doves for the last fifteen years, and 

 have never had any com pulled up by them, al- 

 though my neighbors say they pull up theirs, and 

 damage their grain crops considerably. If this is 

 so, I must kill them, though I have thought they 

 do as much good as hurt. H. T. Gates. 



Neio Worcester, Jan., 1862. 



Remarks. — Doves are very destructive to the 

 young peas, but we have never known them to 

 pull up corn. 



Fresh Maple Molasses. — A correspondent 

 of Field Notes gives the following. Maple mo- 

 lasses well made and put up in cans right from the 

 kettle, and hermetically sealed, as you would can 

 and seal fruits, will keep as fresh as when first 

 boiled from the sap, and tlais is decidedly the best 

 plan for keeping, as when made in cakes, if ex- 

 posed to the air, it will lose somewhat of the pe- 

 culiarly delightful flavor for which it is so prized, 

 and is often injured by insects. All this is obviat- 

 ed by canning while hot. To many ftimilies who 

 do not make on a large scale, this need be but lit- 

 tle expense, as the cans that have been emptied 

 through the winter can be used until autumn 

 fruits demand them again. Put up your best in 

 this way. Where large quantities are made for 

 market, the buyers must select and can for them- 

 selves. 



