176 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



Aprii. 



enclose another acre and a quarter of land with 

 a hi<r\i fence, stock it with fowls, and reap 

 four dollars a day instead of two ? Or, why 

 could he not have ten such lots with a like in- 

 creased income, if he was careful that all his 

 stock was equally well kept ? 



I ask these questions earnestly hoping that 

 some one will enlighten us on the subject. 

 Eggs have averaged three cents each in our 

 market for a year past, and how much higher 

 they will go unless some one does go to raising 

 poultry on an extended scale, no one can tell. 

 At any rate, I desire that our Farmer shall be 

 a leader in all good works. If one liills down 

 in the race, let him be picked up, the dust 

 brushed off, a few words of encouragement 

 given and the runner set on his way again. 

 Depend upon it, it is a great deal better than 

 telling him he is a bad boy and must run di- 

 rectly home, unless } ou can show him plainly 

 and conclusively that what he is running for 

 cannot be reached. When I see that such is 

 indeed the fact, I shall lie ready to give in ; 

 but I am not ready to throw over my feathered 

 friends as impracticable just yet. Idex. 



CULTIVATION OF HOPS. 



The high pi-ices which hops now command 

 will induce many to engage in the business. 

 Without practical experience in the art of 

 growing or curing them, the cultivator should 

 proceed cautiously. No sort of produce proba- 

 bly has fluctuated in price like the hop. This 

 year they are 50 cents or more per pound ; 

 and in a year or two, judging from the past, 

 theiy may be worth only Irom 5 to 10 cents. 

 Of late, too, insect depredation has proved 

 most disastrous in many sections. 



We copy fi'om the Rural New Yorker the 

 following article, written by Mr. J. M. Weller, 

 of Wayne county, N. Y., in reply to questions 

 which had been asked by another corresjjon- 

 dent : — 



"1st. IIow far apart should the hills be 

 ])lanted ? Ans. Seven feet one way and eight 

 the other, without regard to cheai)ness of land. 

 2d. I would not plant the corn rows near 

 the rows ol'hops, and would alternate the hills 

 by leaving out the corn wlu^-e the hop 7-oots 

 arc planted, od. I Avould advise Hat culture 

 instead of hilling. 4th. IIow many poles to a 

 hill.*^ Two. 5th. How long should they be P 

 From 18 to 22 i'eet. Gth. How many vines to 

 a pole ? Two. 



I will give a little more advici! than is asked 

 or called lor, with I'cgard to the roots and 

 planting. The roots or seed, are last year's 

 runners ; they should be cut five or six inches 

 long; three pieces to a hill ; they should be 

 cut so that the eyes, or buds, should be; hdt on 

 both ends of the roots. They should be plant- 



ed about the same depth proper for potatoes, 

 and should be dug early, before the buds on 

 the roots start, put in a cellar and kept there 

 until you are ready to plant your corn. Three 

 bushels to the acre if the roots are good, are 

 enough. 



Another correspondent from Wisconsin sends 

 the Rural the following on the same subjects : 

 "Plant seven feet apart each way. I make no 

 hills, but set a small stake 18 inches long to 

 denote where the hill is. I have always plant- 

 ed potatoes and think it much better than corn 

 for hops, the first season ; plant the potatoes 

 deep so as to avoid hilling as much as possible. 

 I use a small cultivator, with three shovel teeth, 

 the first season. Flat culture is the best for 

 this section. My land is sandy, and we some- 

 times have droughts that injure the hops, if 

 hilled. Set only one pole to the hill the sec- 

 ond season, unless it is a very strong hill ; 

 then I set two. Afterwards set two, and to 

 the strong hills three — leaving only two vines 

 to a pole. I\Iy poles are from It) to 20 feet 

 long, but I think by observation, that poles 

 from 12 to 16 feet are long enough. Cedar 

 rails are best. 



The growing is nothing to getting hops in 

 good order for market. One-half, perhaps, of 

 the hop crop does not command over one-half 

 price in market, for the want of proper drying- 

 houses and machinery for packing, and proper 

 care in picking. Any neglect on the jiart of 

 the hop grower in any of these things must re- 

 sult in loss." 



Mr. L. H. Hansen, of Clifton, Va., an ex- 

 perienced hop-grower, informs the Baltimore 

 Farmer that he plants hills at six feet distance. 



"Holes two feet square and irovafive to six 

 ( ?) feet deep Avere dug in the fall. Early in 

 the spring the holes were filled with fresh horse 

 and cow maniu'c, about one foot and six inches 

 from the bottom. On top of the manures the 

 top soil was thrown, and about two feet of the 

 hole left open for planting. Three weeks af- 

 ter the manure had been deposited in the hole, 

 the hops were planted and surroimded by the 

 subsoil, which, by exposure to the air, sun, 

 frost and i-ain, through the winter, had lost its 

 oll'ensiveness to vegetation. In every hole on/t/ 

 one plant. The first year the vines were tied 

 to small poles, to enable the laborers to clean 

 properly around the plants. The next year, 

 and so on for every year, early in the spring, 

 the dirt was removed from the main root, and 

 all side roots cut o(f close to the main root, 

 and the dirt then put back. As many of the 

 wiUings as were re(juired for next spring's 

 ])laMting, were put in ditches one loot deep, 

 kept clean during the summer, and plant(!(l the 

 next spring. On the head of the hop-root 

 ordj/ two or three eves were allowed to grow 

 into vines, the balance nipped oil", so that only 

 one pole was reciuired for every hill. These 

 vines grew stronger, made more hops, and 



