1867. 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



305 



one lot to another. He is paid by the day. 

 Pickers are paid by the bushel. A tin ticket 

 indicating the number of bushels picked is 

 given to the picker, upon which he draws his 

 money at the office of the grower. A boy at- 

 tends the measurer and helps hold the bag. 

 The call to work, to dinner, &c., is made by 

 blowing a horn. As soon as the kilns are 

 supplied for the night, (for drying goes on 

 night and day,) the work stops. One meas- 

 urer, who acts as foreman, is required to about 

 twelve companies. After picking is over, the 

 poles should be stacked. 



A Vermont hop-grower uses bins about 8 

 feet long, 2h feet high, 3 feet wide at the top, 

 and 2 at the bottom. The object in having 



Fig. 8. PicMng-Bin. 



the bins narrower at the bottom, is to render 

 it more easy for the pickers to stand close to 

 them. A board is fitted across the bin near 

 one end, having a narrow cleat nailed upon 

 each end of it, so as to hook on to the sides of 

 the bin. Upon the centre of this board is 

 nailed another piece about a foot long and 4 

 inches wide, through which a mortice, 1X4 

 inches, is made to receive the standard — a 

 piece of board 4 inches wide and 30 inches 

 long, with a notch in one end for the poles to 

 rest in. The standard is kept at the proper 

 height by a pin, as seen in figure 8. A 

 crotched stake is set for the but end of the 

 pole to rest upon. At such a bin, three girls 

 and a man can work to good advantage. The 

 man pulls the poles, first cutting the vines two 

 or three feet from the ground, lays them upon 

 the bin, helps pick, and throws them off in a 

 pile. By taking four or six rows, and six hills 

 in each row, we bring as many poles together 

 at one place asis convenient. When the bins 

 are too full for convenience in picking, the 

 hops are shoveled into sacks, in which they 

 are conveyed to the kiln. The owner or 

 some very careful man should attend to this 

 and see that all are picked well. Where any 

 are found with bunches of hops, or any large 

 leaves, the picker should sort them and pick 

 them all out. For this, the most careful man 

 is required, and every careless girl in the yard 

 will abuse him as much as she can. Good 

 pickers will gather twenty-five to thirty bushels 

 per day well, but wages should be based on 

 about fifteen bushels for a day's work, as 

 many girls will not pick more than that. 



EXTRACTS AWD BEPLIES. 



FAILURES IN WHEAT GROWING. 



In the New England Farmer, of April 6, I 

 noticed an article on raising wheat in New Eng- 

 land, by H. Poor. He asks wheat growers to tell 

 their experience. I propose to do so at this time, 

 although I do not think it will hold out much en- 

 couragement to my brethren to raise their own 

 wheat. It is now nineteen years since I commenc- 

 ed farming, on what my neighbors termed a worn 

 out farm, and as I was obliged to run in debt for 

 the entire purchase, and had not a dollar with 

 which to buy stock or tools, I felt that in some 

 Avay I must raise on the farm nearly everything 

 that was consumed in my family. The soil of my 

 farm varies from stiff clay to sandy pine plains. 



I have tried many experiments both with spring 

 and winter wheat. It has always proved a failure 

 — not pei'haps wholly so, but I do not think I ever 

 got over ten bushels of wheat to the acre, and 

 most always of poor quality. During my experi- 

 ence as a farmer, I have learnt so to improve what 

 is called "worn out" sandy plain land as to raise 

 from twenty-five to thirty-three bushels of rye per 

 acre on it, but the same land will not produce 

 more than five bushels of wheat per acre. I have 

 learnt to raise fifty bushels of corn per acre, but 

 the same land will not yield a good crop of wheat. 

 I can raise from two to four tons of hay per acre, 

 but I cannot raise good wheat on the same kind of 

 land. I have raised six hundred bushels of onions 

 per acre, but when that same land was soAved to 

 Avheat the crop did not pay for harvesting, except 

 for the straw. I have sowed a part of a field to 

 oats, and a part of the same field to wheat, and 

 got as large oats as man need wish to harvest, but 

 not more than six bushels of wheat per acre. I 

 have sown wheat with oats, but the oats got the 

 best of it. I have sown wheat M'here the land 

 was rich, — after onions for instance — and also 

 where the land was moderately fertile, — follow- 

 ing corn or potatoes ; I have sown it on land 

 long used as pasture, but the results have always 

 been about the same — almost a failure. 



I hope what I have written will not prevent the 

 brotherhood from trying experiments with wheat, 

 though I do advise them not to sow too largely 

 at first. I have no doubt that on some farms, 

 and in many parts of New England, wheat may be 

 grown to some advantage. If we can be reasona- 

 bly sure of twenty bushels per acre, and Avorth 

 from four and a half to five dollars per bushel, 

 according to Brother Poor, a good deal ought to 

 be sown. M. S. Kellogg, 



Chicopee Falls, Mass., April 18, 1867. 

 Remarks. — We are sorry that Mr. Kellogg has 

 had poor success in raising wheat ; but wc thank 

 him for so full a statement of his experiments. 

 Failures as well as successes should be reported 

 and published. "What would the sailor say to a 

 chart which refrained from indicating the places in 

 which other ships had foundered or run aground ? 



BARNS AND CATTLE TIES. 



Last season I built a barn 60x40 feet, posts 18 

 feet, with cellar under the whole. I boarded with 

 spruce, one foot wide, and battened with spruce 

 stuff two and a half inches square, split corner- 

 wise, which makes a good substantial batten. I 

 have 18 stalls or tics, so arranged that each crea- 

 ture eats by itself. I have used bows and chains, 

 but cattle would frequently break loose. I now 

 use straps and like them best of anything I ever 

 used or have seen used. I pass the strap through 

 the ringaround the stanchions, and fasten the buckle 

 end of the strap to the ring, about ten inches from 



