1883.] THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



of Corn or Potatoes may be planted the first 

 year, and both should be well cultivated, and 

 the ground kept mellow, and the Hop hills 

 entirely free from all weeds and grass. In 

 the fall, before freezing, two shovelsful of 

 fine manure should be placed on the top 

 of each hill of Hops. Too much manure 

 causes a tendency to blight. 



The second spring, the spaces between the 

 rows of Hops should be plowed — plowing 

 away from the hills. The space left, after 

 the plow has turned over as much of the 

 ground as it can, must be raked over, or 

 forked over, and the manure worked into the 

 ground. Thorough cultivation must be kept 

 up during the summer. Before the vines 

 begin to run, two poles should be set sixteen 

 inches deep into each hill, and the vines as 

 theymake growth must be tied to these poles ; 

 two vines are enough for each pole. They 

 should be gone over every few days, and 

 when the vines get out of reach it is easiest 

 to tie them sitting on horseback ; unless 

 securely tied they will not do well. Bushes 

 and yarn are used for tying. The poles 

 should be from eighteen to twenty-two feet 

 long, and cost all the way from four to six- 

 teen cents each. Cedar are the best. 



When the seeds are brown and the Hop 

 opens rich with yellow dust or pollen, is the 

 time to begin picking. They are picked 

 mostly by children, for five cents a bushel, 

 without board. An average picking is from 

 two to three boxes of eight bushels. The Hops 

 are carried from the field in sacks, and spread 

 on cloths over slats in the dry-house, where a 

 fire is kept up in a stove. In twelve or six- 

 teen hours they will be dry enough to store 

 in the hop-room. A damp day is best for 

 pressing, which is done by hand or otherwise, 

 in bales of two hundred pounds. 



The third year after planting, the hills 

 must be raked over and the sprouts, called 

 sets, must be removed. One hill will produce 

 about four quarts of sets on the average. 

 These sets sell by the bushel for planting 

 new yards, a bushel being rated at twenty- 

 two pounds. The price varies according to 

 the supply from fifty cents to ten dollars per 

 bushel. The coming season they will be 

 high, on account of the extreme dry weather 

 last year and the large demand. It costs, all 

 told, not less than two hundred dollars an 

 acre to get the first crop of Hops. The yield 

 runs all the way from four to twelve hundred 

 pounds an acre, the average being about 

 eight hundred pounds. 



There are other modes of stringing Hops 

 besides on poles. One good mode is to stretch 

 wires from poles on the outside of the field, 

 with resting poles between, and train the 

 vines on wires reaching from a small post 

 in the hill to the main wire above. 



There is no crop which repays careful 

 culture more than Hops, and there is nothing 

 better adapted to grow in out-of-the-way 

 places, along fences and in garden corners. 

 In such places a hill of Hops may be planted, 

 and by digging in manure every year it will 

 grow for a life-time, and produce a good 

 crop. Grass will run them out, and this 

 must be kept from the hill. Hops may be 

 trained on fences, and do well. They like the 

 sunlight, and on this account do not produce 

 well, trained on trees. In several counties 

 in New- York — Montgomery, Schoharie, Ot- 

 sego, Madison, and Oneida — Hops are a 

 leading and profitable industry, 



P. D. Curtis. 



ortieiltwal Societies., 



NEW-YORK HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



MARCH MEETING. 



Never were the comforts of home more 

 warmly appreciated and thoroughly enjoyed 

 than they were at the last meeting of the 

 Society in its new hall, by the members, 

 who, in spite of the most terrific snow-storm 

 of the season, turned out en masse to greet 

 each other and welcome their friends. The 

 members now feel that in bringing in their 

 choice plants for exhibition they decorate 

 their own homes as well ; consequently they 

 are far more lavish in their gifts, and seem- 

 ingly less interested in carrying off the 

 prizes ; and it is a better indication of the 

 Society's health and permanent prosperity 

 to have its members more eager to make 

 an exhibit than to make money. It makes 

 them also more contented, social, and good- 

 natured when they are thus freely contribu- 

 ting their floral treasures for the public good. 

 A most gratifying feature at these exhibi- 

 tions, and one which becomes gradually 

 more and more apparent, is the interest 

 taken in them by amateurs. Nearly one- 

 half of the exhibits seem to have been made 

 by non-professionals. 



Notwithstanding the extremely discoura- 

 ging weather the exhibition was nearly equal 

 to the best the Society has ever held. The 

 display of Boses, both cut and in pots, was 

 simply grand and an important feature of 

 the exhibition. We have never seen finer 

 Marechal Niels, Niphetos, Cornelia Cooks, 

 Perle des Jardins, General Jacqueminots, Bon 

 Silenes, Gloires de Paris, Baroness Boths- 

 childs, and Souvenirs de la Malmaison, on ex- 

 hibition, and what may be said of these may 

 also be said of many other varieties on the 

 tables. There were several rival collections 

 of cut flowers, both amateur and profes- 

 sional, containing objects of great interest, 

 and which elicited much praise. The lovers 

 of Orchids had a grand feast over some hand- 

 some specimens of Dendrobiums, La?lias, 

 and Phalsenopsis. Among the latter was a 

 fine plant of Scliilleriana, a rare variety, in 

 perfection of bloom. The owners of these 

 plants deserve great credit for bringing them 

 out on such an unfavorable day. 



An attractive feature of the exhibition were 

 twelve magnificent plants of Azaleas ; finer 

 varieties, or plants better furnished with 

 bloom, we have never met. We believe they 

 were from the establishment of Mr. Keller, 

 at Bay Bidge, one of our most successful 

 growers of that class of plants. Especially 

 noticeable was also a collection of Cine- 

 rarias, from Mr. P. E. Cope, that for size, 

 and vigor of plants, variety and intensity of 

 color and markings of the flowers excelled, 

 probably, anything ever before exhibited in 

 this line in this country. 



Well grown Lilacs, in pots, very dwarf, 

 and a complete mass of bloom, were conspicu- 

 ous objects. Among the other entries were I 

 Hyacinths in variety, Lily of the Valley; 

 Primulas, Carnations, old and new varieties ; 

 Pansies of extraordinary size and brilliant 

 colors. There were also on the tables some 

 forced Cauliflowers, Cucumbers, and Mush- 

 rooms and a remarkably well preserved dish 

 of Vicar of Wakefield Pears. 



The essayist of the day, Mr. John Thorpe, | 



our esteemed correspondent and well known 

 horticulturist, presented a valuable paper 

 on " Window Gardening," which was ordered 

 to be printed in full in the transactions. 

 We notice, with pleasure, the greatly im- 

 proved appearance and general style of the 

 last monthly report just received. Mr. Murk- 

 land, the indefatigable secretary, seems 

 constantly on the alert to prepare pleasant- 

 surprises for the members of the Society 

 and to labor for their best interests. 



The next exhibition will be held at Horti- 



i cultural Hall, 26 and 28 West Twenty- 

 eighth street, near Broadway, on April 3d, 

 at 2 p. m., and promises to be of unusual 

 interest. Mr. Charles Parnell, favorably 



. known to our readers, will read a paper on 

 Lawns, their formation and management. 



THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY HORTICULTURAL 

 SOCIETY. 



The recent meeting at New Orleans proved 

 in every way a grand success, surpassing in 

 many respects all meetings of the kind ever 

 held in America. The motion to extend the 

 scope of the society so as to make it national 

 was lost, and probably for the good of all 

 concerned. Our country is too large, its 

 interests are too varying, and national organ- 

 izations too unwieldy for successful manage- 

 ment. The American Pomological Society — 

 a notable exception — owes its great useful- 

 ness principally to the excellent plan of sub- 

 division into States, an arrangement which 

 is not practicable in a society devoted to 

 all horticultural interests. The Mississippi 

 Valley Horticultural Society cannot promote 

 its noble aim better than by following its so 

 gloriously commenced course. But there is 

 room for an Atlantic Coast Horticultural 

 Society, comprising all the States east of the 

 territory occupied by the Mississippi Valley 

 Horticultural Society, and also for another, 

 comprising all the Pacific States. The 

 amount of practical and substantial benefit 

 that might be rendered by these three 

 societies would be infinitely greater than 

 anything that could be accomplished by a 

 national organization. 



HINTS. 



An ounce of practice is worth a pound of 

 theory. Our monthly hints are based on this 

 precept, and, as the results of actual experi- 

 ence, can be relied upon as safe and correct. 



FREE TO EVERY SUBSCRIBER. 



Our Premium list contains some of the 

 choicest novelties in the Horticultural line, 

 which are offered free to every subscriber. 

 Send for it. 



OUR EXHIBITION TABLE, 

 Pansies and Cinerarias Mr. P. E. Cope ex- 

 hibits an exquisite collection of Cinerarias and 

 Seedling Pansies ; some of the latter were as 

 large and'perfect in color as any we ever saw. 



Dumesnil Fertilizing Moss. — Several healthy 

 and vigorous plants growing in this novel me- 

 dium. Although moss will hardly supersede 

 the old-fashioned earth with the professional 

 florist, for parlor culture it has in its favor that 

 its use dispenses with the difficulty of obtaining 

 proper soil; it is light and easily handled, and 

 causes no dirt about the room ; and also that, on 

 account of its porosity, it holds moisture a 

 long time without retaining enough to become 

 stagnant. 



