260 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



June 



slats one and a quarter inches square, and laid one- 

 half inch apart, and the whole covered with a kind 

 of open cloth made for the purpose. On this floor 

 the hops are spread from four to six inches deep, 

 and a fire of charcoal made in the room below, 

 and the temperature raised to about one hundred 

 and twelve degrees. It usually takes about twelve 

 hours to dry a kiln, they being stirred up every 

 hour, and a teaspoon of sulphur put on the fire 

 about as often ; the object of which is to bleach or 

 whiten them. After being dried so that no mois- 

 ture can be extracted by squeezing them between 

 the thumb and finger, they are taken off and pre- 

 pared in bales of one hundred and fifty to two 

 hundred ])ounds, and sent to market. 



The poles are stacked upright in piles of about 

 one hundred, and left until the next spring. Hops 

 can usually be sold in any city where there are 

 brewers, but I believe that New York and Albany 

 are said to be the best markets for them in the 

 United States. Any other information which I 

 can impart in regard to their culture will be cheer- 

 fully given. H. 



Rensselaer County, N. Y., 1862. 



EXTBACTS AND REPLIES. 

 PEAK TREES AND HENS. 



I built me a hen-house last fall large enough for 

 fifty hens, and this spring I intend to fence ofi" 

 one-third to one-half an acre for them to run in, 

 and also intend they shall be kept in the yard, for 

 if there is anything I dislike, it is to have hens in 

 my barn or garden. 



I am in hopes my hens will pay all expenses 

 and leave a little profit ; but to make sure, I intend 

 to set out the yard as full of trees as I can, and 

 have them do well. It seems to me that hens in 

 an orchard of any kind of fruit will be of great 

 benefit to the fruit and the trees ; to the fruit, by 

 picking up all insects that injure our fruit, if they 

 should be unlucky enough to fall to the ground ; 

 and to the trees, by keeping the land in good con- 

 dition. I should prefer to set standard pear trees, 

 twenty-five to thirty feet apart, and then fill up 

 with dwarfs, but do not know much about pear 

 trees. The soil is thin, and consists of a gravelly 

 loam, quite stony, on a gravelly subsoil, but it is 

 rather moist and bears good crops of grass. The 

 exposure is about south-east. 



From the imperfect outline I have given, can 

 you recommend me to set out pear trees ? 



A. J. Aldrich. 



North BlacJcstone, April, 1862. 



Remarks. — The land you describe is not so fa- 

 vorable for pear trees as a clayey loam would be, 

 but by enriching and deepening the soil and 

 mulching the trees so as to keep them moist, you 

 may succeed. 



ashes and night soil. 



It is said by some that it is wasteful to mix 

 ashes with the contents of the privy. Is it so ? 

 And if so, why, and to what extent is it wasteful ? 



Farmingvillc, 1862. Inquirer. 



Remarks. — It is supposed that alkaline sub- 

 stances mixed with green manure, set their am- 

 monia free, wliich escapes and is lost. 



saving seed corn. 



Friend Brown : — Your monthly visits to our 

 yeomanry make us acquainted with the opera- 

 tions of others in the various branches of business 

 employing our farmers through the country ; the 

 profit, or loss, or convenience realized by their 

 difi"erent skill, economy and perseverance evinced 

 in their management. Like us, having farms, 

 buildings, fences, stock and fruit, with all the va- 

 riety of soil, seeds, and culture, as well as time 

 and place of sowing and harvesting and marketing 

 or using — and the result of experience in the em- 

 ployment of machinery or manual labor, and all 

 that relates to feeding and training both the fami- 

 ly and the animals for the highest usefulness. A 

 fund of knowledge is available at our homes, 

 through the New England Farmer, giving our 

 sons a taste for reading, and writing even, that 

 will save the time and expense of travel for per- 

 sonal intercourse, or give double value to such 

 travel for such information. Please accept a few 

 words on saving seed corn. 



Many years ago, I was particular to have the 

 ears filled out with a kernel on the top. This was 

 quite a saving and a gratification to me, and others, 

 seeing how invariably it was secured. One old 

 man said to me, "I have always picked the first 

 ripe ears from the stalk in the field, thus gaining 

 two or three weeks, and sometimes the ripening 

 before a frost, and hundreds of dollars to my in- 

 terest for such seed." Another man, on viewing 

 my field, said, "My grand object has been to get 

 twin ears to plant. I sometimes find three or four 

 upon one stalk. I can assure you it pays well, 

 but I never thought of the filling out and early rip- 

 ening in saving seed." 



Since then, I have adopted all three of these 

 characteristics, and recommend it. The laws of 

 our all-wise Creator are true, "What a man sow- 

 eth, that shall he also reap." 



Benjamin Willard. 



HolyoTce, April 9, 1862. 



seeding with fowl meadow. 



I have a piece of land which I would like to lay 

 down to fowl meadow. It is low and clear from 

 stones ; the soil is rich and composed of black 

 mold. Now I would like to know which is the 

 best time to sow it, spring or fall ? If spring, 

 would it be advisable to sow any other grain with 

 it, and if so, what kind, and how much seed to the 

 acre ? Thomas Goldsmith. 



Auburn, N E., 1862. 



Remarks. — The common grains that we usu- 

 ally sow grass seed with, would scarcely succeed 

 on lands suitable to grow fowl meadow grass. 

 Sow in the spring. Some of the crop is usually 

 left to ripen so as to sow itself annually. It is a 

 fine seed, and we should think six to eight quarts 

 per acre would be sufficient, perhaps less. 



TO prevent cows from kicking. 



Put a trace chain tightly around the cow for- 

 ward of the hips. 



I had a heifer last season that kicked so that 

 she could not be milked. My man put a chain 

 around her a few times, and it broke her entirely. 



East Hardwick, Vt., 1862. P. 



