90 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



March 



then obtain good trees, and see that they are well 

 set ; and after the trees are once located in this 

 well-prepared soil, we would keep it in its fine, 

 light condition by as frequent top dressings as 

 were necessary to secure the result. 



Composts are better than yard or stable ma- 

 nures for fruit trees, and there is no decaying sub- 

 stance on the farm that cannot safely be employed 

 in the compost heap. Leaves and muck may form 

 the basis of the heap, and all the odds and ends 

 of the premises may be thrown in to hasten their 

 decay and produce then- immediate value. Ashes, 

 whether leached or not, slops, brine, every thing 

 almost thrown upon the heap, prevents waste and 

 make the compound more valuable. 



Richmond, Mass. William Bacon, 



Horticulturist. 



Remarks. — In condensing for our reduced 

 sheet, we have used only the leading points of 

 Mr. Bacon's article — sufficient, however, to guide 

 any inexperienced person in the planting and cul- 

 ture of trees. 



THE HOP CROP. 



The Lispector General reports the amount in- 

 spected during the year 1862, at 394 bales, or 76,- 

 823 lbs., growth of 1861 ; 1,116 bales, or 214,671 

 lbs., growth of 1862— total 1,520 bales, or 291,494 

 lbs. The inspector says : 



The growth and quality of hops in 1862 was 

 very good. Prices opened at ten cents per lb. At 

 that time no prospect of an export demand. The 

 duty on American was taken off the first of Sep- 

 tember, consequently our hops can go to England 

 free ; at the same time the excise duty on English 

 was removed. In justice, I think, the United 

 States should remove the duty on English, al- 

 though but few English ever come to this market. 

 The diff"erence in exchange, with other reasons, 

 has caused quite an excitement in the market, so 

 much so, that prices have advanced to 18 cents 

 per lb. ; at Avhich price England will probably take 

 our surplus. To date we have exported about 

 30,000 bales of the growth of 1862. The Census 

 Report of 1860 gives the quantity of hops grown 

 in the United States at different periods : 



In 1840 1,238,502 pounds. 



1850 3,496,950 do 



1860 10,675,704 do 



In 1860, the State of New York grew 9,650,150 

 lbs. ; taking this quantity from 10,675,704 lbs., 

 leaves but 1,025,554 lbs. for all the other States. 

 Of this amount, Vermont grew 631,641 lbs. ; 

 Massachusetts, 111,301 lbs.; Maine, 102,998 

 lbs. ; New Hampshire, 130,428 lbs. 



Human Toil. — The sentence of toil and the 

 promise of glory have issued from the same throne. 

 Even our troubles here may make the material of 

 enjoyments above the circumscription of the earth. 

 All are agents in the restorative mercy of the 

 great Disposer ; all turn into discipline. The 

 obstacles to knowledge, the struggles of the 

 heart, the thousand roughnesses of the common 

 path of man, are converted into the muscular 

 force of the mind. We are but sowing, in the 

 winter of our nature, the seed which shall flourish 

 m immortality. — Dr. Croly. 



For the Neio England Farmer. 

 EXPERIMENTS IW FEEDING HOGS. 



Mr. Editor: — Your correspondent of Parsons- 

 field, Me., who noticed my remarks in a late Farm ■■ 

 er, seems to get his mind pretty much on potatoes ; 

 but, cooked or uncooked, ten chances to one if he 

 does not mix in meal to make them acceptable to 

 his hogs. My opinion is, that potatoes are not 

 used near as much as formerly for feeding swine. 

 It has been estimated, by some, that for feeding, 

 five bushels potatoes (some say four) are equal to 

 one of corn. As potatoes are now from 50 to 60 

 cents, and corn less than a dollar per bushel, po- 

 tatoes must be the dearest kind of feed. The idea 

 of Lamprey and others, I suppose, is this : that in 

 the autumn months, and first of winter, a great 

 quantity of barley and corn meal is fed out to fat- 

 ten swine. Mush may satisfy at first, but Major 

 Smith told the whole story, for when he ate mush 

 and milk he wanted the distance short between 

 him and the bed ! Swine will eat more of the 

 uncooked meal, will be longer satisfied, and will 

 lie down and grunt and grow imtil next feeding- 

 time. It will stick by the ribs, as the wood- 

 choppers say of pork and beans. 



The writer, of Randolph, in the last Farmer, in 

 favor of cooking, tells us of the hog of 400 pounds, 

 and what Mr. Ellsworth says about cooking. I 

 find Mr. Ellsworth says a good many things, 

 among which are, that swine will thi-ive on ground 

 cobs alone, and that it takes 3^ pounds of meal to 

 make a pound of pork. According to that, the 

 400-pound hog has eaten 1400 pounds of meal; 28 

 bushels, at 70 cents, is equal to $19,60. A gen- 

 tlemen, of Walpole, in the same paper, fed his hog 

 up to 300 pounds, in November, on raw apples 

 and pumpkins. Last fall, when meal was 70 cents, 

 apples were 5 cents per bushel, pumpkins perhaps 

 $3 per cartful. At that price the $19,60 above 

 would buy 212 bushels of apples and S caitfuls 

 of pumpkins to make the hog of 400 weight. 



Ellsworth wrote in 1847. In 1851, P. 0. re- 

 ports, C. H. Pond, Ct., writes : — Generally corn is 

 fed raw ; B. A. Copp, Ct., in same, ■mrites — It will 

 not pay even to get corn ground ; J. J. Thomas, 

 N. Y. — Hogs are finished ofl" by a month's feed of 

 corn in the ear ; H. B. Jones, Va. — It is generally 

 fed on the cob in this way. I am of opinion it 

 makes the finest and best pork ; J. H. Eubank, 

 Tenn. — It is generally fed whole and raw ; J. B. 

 LarM'ill, Ohio — Corn is generally fed raw ; E. Burn- 

 ham, Ohio — It will not do, to either grind or cook ; 

 Mr. Trowbridge, Mich. — I feed corn whole and 

 raw ; Mr. Raymond, Mich — We generally feed in 

 the ear ; Mr. Harlan, Ind. — We feed Avhole ; Mr. 

 Bunnell, Ind. — Fattens his hogs with corn in the 

 ear ; Elihu Hall, 111. — Corn is fed whole and raw, 

 to every species of stock. This is the cheapest 

 and most profitable plan. Three pounds of corn, 

 with this treatment, will make a pound of pork ; 

 Mr. McCready, Iowa — Corn is fed raw. 



Thus it will be seen the practice of the country 

 is in feeding corn uncooked. And if we take the 

 statements of Mr. Hall, the practice is correct. 

 Joseph W. Brown. 

 Kensington, N. H., Jan. 19, 1863. 



The Wool Crop of Michigan. — The wool 

 crop of Michigan for the year 1863 is estimated 

 at 5,500,000 pounds. 



