PROCEEDINGS OF THE FARMERS' CLtTB. 115 



are unnecessary. Like grapes and other vines, they always produce the 

 fruit on the top, and if that top is trained low, the yield is just as good as 

 when high. I know that Lima beans do better on low poles than high ones, 

 if the ends of the vines as thc}^ fall over the tops of the poles are pinched 

 off, and I have noticed the same result with hops. But as I am not a hop- 

 grower, I cannot give information derived from experience. Perhaps others 

 will. One of the difficulties about hop-growing is, that it cannot be taken 

 up this year and laid down next. When once prepared for, the business 

 must be continued. The roots planted this year, will produce a good crop 

 next, and succeeding years. The poles are at first expensive, but last 

 many years, if made of durable timber, such as cedar, tamerack, chestnut. 

 To grow hops upon a large scale, you must have a good drying kiln. The 

 first preparation of the ground, the roots, the planting, the poles, the kiln, 

 and proper appliances for bagging, all involve considerable outlay, and deter 

 ordinary farmers from the business of hop-growing, except in a neighbor- 

 hood where the small farmer can sell his crop to the large farmer, who has 

 the proper appliances for preparing them for market. You ask " what are 

 the dangers of failure ?" They are as numerous as with any other crop. 

 For instance, I find among the hop-growers whom T visited this season, 

 that some fields are almost a total failure in consequence of being infested 

 with an aphis, similar to that which has destroyed oats and other crops. 

 Then the drouth has very materially affected the product. In some seasons 

 there is a failure to produce the essential principle of hops, called lupulin, 

 that yellow powder which you see in the blossom. When that is the case, 

 the hops, however large the yield may be, are unsalable, or rather salable 

 at a reduced price. There is no crop which the farmer grows, so variable 

 in price. It sometimes ranges within a single year from six to sixty cents 

 a pound. It is considered a good crop at an average of twenty-five cents. 

 It is unlike corn or wheat — it cannot be kept over. Hops must be sold 

 while new, or else they may prove a total loss. There is a hope that a 

 recent discovery may obviate this. Dr. Samuel R. Percy, a chemist of 

 New York, has discovered that by infusing hops in water he can extract all 

 the value, and then evaporate the water, by steam boiling in vacuo, com- 

 bining the extract with molasses, so that he can put all the value of a bale 

 of hops in a five-gallon keg. In this form it can be kept any desired length 

 of time without deterioration. This discovery, if successfully carried out, 

 may give an impetus to the hop-growing of the West. 



Packing Eggs for Winter. 



Mr. 0. M. Teachout, Prescott, Pierce Co., Wis., recommends those who 

 desire to pack eggs for winter, not to let cocks run with the hens. He 

 thinks the hens lay better, and if they happen to sit a few days upon the 

 egg», they are not as readily spoiled. 



How TO Seal Fruit Cans. 



Mr. C. W. Carpenter, Mt. Gilead, Ohio, says: "I wish to add a couple 

 of items to your discussions about canning fruit. First: 



" That putty is generally used hereabouts for sealing up cans of fruit. 



