50 



NEW ENGLAND FAEMER. 



Jan. 



burden of timothy. Last winter the grass was 

 winter-killed in spots. On these spots I intend to 

 sow rcdtop and timothy in the spring. I also in- 

 tend to sow bone. When is the best time to sow 

 the bone, now or in the early spring ? I should have 

 sown it before, but could not get it wliere I k)wwit 

 is pure. Would it be better to mix ashes with it, 

 say two parts bone and one part ashes ? 



Is there any way in which I can underdrain it ? 

 The upper end of the field is only two i'eet higher 

 than a ditch at the other end, a distance of twenty- 

 one rods. 



I have many other questions I would like to ask, 

 but would not give too many at a time. 



EXPEKIOR. 



Ml/ Farm in Old Connectimit , Nov. 15, 1866. 



Remarks. — Your one-eighth of an acre may l^e 

 worth to you for one season, two or three dollars as 

 pasture land. Every cord of muek you haul out — 

 if it is of good quality — is worth ^2, deposited on 

 the field where you are to use it. The muck may 

 be ten or even twenty feet deep. If so, you can 

 figure yourself into a large property in a hurry ! 

 At any rate, do not hesitate to haul out — use the 

 inuck! 



Sow the bone at the time you put on the grass 

 seed. Sow the ashes by itself, this fall or winter. 



YoiT can partially drain the piece spoken of by 

 the use of stones. The ditches may be made as 

 deep as you please, leaving a clear outlet for what 

 fall there is. 



MATERIAL FOR WATER PIPE. 



I am especially desirous of learning what is re- 

 garded at the present time, the most seiwiceable 

 and enduring pipe to be used as a substitute for 

 lead, in conducting water from wells, springs, &c. ; 

 also, where obtainable, and price, if known to you. 

 My thought is, you published this knowledge 

 awhile since in your valuable journal, but I find 

 my^^clf unable to refer to it. Vv'hen your greatly 

 coveted "Monthly" issue shall again appear, this 

 difflcidty, I well know from a long past experience, 

 will be obviated. 



Ax Old Friend and Subscriber. 



Pepperell, Mass., Nov. 15, 1866. 



UOW TO FATTEN AND WHEN TO KILL HOGS. 



Will some one of the readers or Editors of the 

 New England Farmer ])lease inform me if it 

 makes any dilfci'cnce what hogs are fed on the last 

 four weeks before they are killed ? If it does, 

 please say what is best. Docs it make any differ- 

 ence when it is killed } If it does, when is the Ijcst 

 time, especially with reference to its shrinking 

 when cooked. I find some pork will shrink nearly 

 one-half, whilst some others will swell a little. 

 Tlie dittcrcnce must ])e in the feeding, killing, or 

 breed of hogs. I i)refer that pork should gain in 

 cooking rather than lose. Young Farmer. 



RuxOury, Vt., Nov. 16, 1866. 



EARLY TOMATOES. 



Last year, my father covered his asparagus l)ed 

 thickly with horse numure atul some frozen toma- 

 to vines which had by some accident grown there. 

 Last spring the coarse parts that remained were 

 raked olf, when numberless tomato plants came up, 

 strong and vigorous. Some of them were trans- 

 planted ; a few were left, which ripened fruit a 

 week or two earlier than any in the neighborhood 

 started under glass, or in t)oxes in the house. The 

 transplanted plants grew rapidly, and bore abun- 



dantly. Might not a useful hint be taken from this 

 chance experiment ? Mary. 



Parsonsjield, Me., Nov. 10, 1866. 



salting MUTTON. 



A sitbscriber in Maine, who lost a lot of mutton 

 that he put into the same pickle which preserved 

 beef perfectly good, wishes to know the cause of 

 his failure, and how to succeed next time. If the 

 meat was perfectly good, the pickle new, and the 

 tub sweet — important "ifs" — we cannot divine the 

 cause of his failure. We generally use rather less 

 salt for mutton than for beef. On the other hand, 

 if the meat was a little tainted, if the same pickle 

 had been used for beef or pork, or if the barrel 

 was foul, we need not search further for the cause 

 of failure. 



TEMPERATURE OF "WATER FOR SCALDING HOGS. 



I have learned by many experiments that 165 de- 

 grees is about the right temperature of water for 

 scalding hogs. Many "bad scalds" may be avoid- 

 ed by observing this rule. a. w. c. 



Sheldonville, Mass., Nov. 15, 1866. 



HOP CULTURE. 



A correspondent of the New York World 

 says that England is now paying irom £10 to 

 £l2 per cwt. — equal to 70 to 80c per pound 

 in our currency. Such extravagant prices will 

 be likely to stir the Yankee blood to a fever 

 heat. True, hops are subject to diseases, and 

 so are our other crops. Like our grains and 

 fruits they have enemies that prey upon them, 

 and we should learn to contend with these diffi- 

 culties. The English hop planter destroys the 

 hop louse by an apjjlication of strong tobacco 

 water. We can do the same. He cures the 

 mould with Hour of sulphur. We have not yet 

 been troubled with that disease, and there are 

 many others which have not afflicted us. 



The following remarks on the cultivation of 

 this crop are by the Rural American : — 



"The ground intended for the hop yard 

 should be well manured, then ploughed in 

 April, dragged and marked four feet each way : 

 then with a hoe on every other mark each way 

 dig a hole about three inches deep, into which 

 drop a hop root from three to six inches long ; 

 then cover with dirt to make it level. The 

 root, if it does well, will throw up a sprout 

 from eacli joint. Every other hill on the hop 

 row, and next row entire, can be planted to 

 corn or beans, as the hops do not require to be 

 poled the iirst summer. Every fall each hill of 

 hops must have two or three shovels full of 

 manure put on it, to enrich the ground, and 

 prote(;t the roots from freezing. The follow- 

 ing spring the manure nnist be pitched off from 

 tlie hills, and the runners, if any, dug out and 

 cut off, to prevent them from spreading all over 

 the ground, and to preserve the hills in their 

 places. There are l)ut few runners tlie first 

 spring, but a plenty afterwards. After the 

 runners are removed, the poles can be set, two 

 to each hill, about one foot apart at the bottom, 



