283 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
meeting the pavement. Our reasoning was, 
that when the doe had dug out her nest in the 
box, (which we were sure she would do if we 
started the hole a little for her,) then it should 
have the natural ventilation of the open earth, 
and not have a close box cover, and close pave- 
ment over it ; and yet the loose earth above the 
box should be so enclosed that other rabbits 
could not dig down and work galleries beyond 
the limits of the pen. Tiie does would dig out 
I lieir burrows in these boxes just as contentedly 
as if they were at work in the open ground, 
and when oue began to make her nest before 
bringing forth her young, we would turn a 
bo.x, witli no bottom and a slatted top, over the 
mouth of the hole. In this box the feed was 
placed, and hay and straw for the nest. Thus 
the doe was left entirely to herself and her 
family, and could not well be interfered with by 
curious persons, or even by the owner himself 
"When the young ones are old enough to be tak- 
en from the mother (say 4 or 5 weeks old,) they 
should be removed — certainly in time for the 
next family, which may come in 5 or 6 weeks. 
Such a sunken box or burrow is not neces- 
sarj' for the successful breeding of rabbits ; but 
with a few boxes like fig. 3, and good care, suc- 
cess is quite certain. This box is of about the 
same size as the buried one in fig. 1, viz : li x 
li X 3 feet. One end is of stiff fixed wire rods, 
one rod being inserted close to the wood on 
each side, to prevent gnawing. There is a par- 
tition across tlie middle of the box, with a cor- 
ner cut out for a door, and tliere should l)e an 
outside door as sliown. The top lifts off, or is 
liingcd and locked down. This box may easily 
be cleaned out, and is big enough for a pair 
I'f young rabliits, or one breeding doe. 
Young rabbit breeders should remember not 
to let bucks and does run togetiier, after they 
are 5 or months old ; not to feed too much 
green food, nor any wet food, but to give plenty 
of hay, M'itli some oats, l)arley, or otlier small 
grain, in connection with green food, clover, 
grass, young lettuce, cabbages, roots, etc. Cel- 
ery leaves are good occasionally, and so are 
any other sweet herbs they will eat. They 
need no water, and are usually better without 
it, if they have some green food daily. We 
have kept rabbits all winter on nothing but hay, 
with no water, and they did finely. A doe, 6 
or 8 montlis old, should be left one day with a 
buck, and slie will proljably have young ones 
31 days after. Old bucks are very apt to kill 
the young if they can, and two bucks will gen- 
erally fight and often kill one another, 
How to set a Bar Post, 
" Any fool can do tliat," said neighbor Tuck- 
er, as I got tlie hole dug out to plant mine for 
the fifth time, " Just chuclc your post into that 
'ere hole, and pound the dirt in well, and it will 
stay till it rots. Dirt packs a great deal solider 
than stone," said Tucker by way of a clincher. 
"Not so fast, neighbor Tucker," said I. "There 
is gumption needed in setting a bar post as 
much as in setting a hen. I used to do it in 
your way until I found out a better. You see 
if you pack tlie dirt in solid there is no chance 
for the water to run off quick, and the soundest 
wood will rot ofT just below the surface of the 
ground in a very short time. I liave had 'em 
spoiled in three years so that I had to put in 
the other end. Tliat bar post has been in ser- 
vice at least 35 years, and if you examine tlie 
wood, you will see it is about as sound where 
jt has been under ground as it is above. 
"I dig a good sized hole to begin with, and then 
put in a good sound post of chestnut or white 
oak stripped of the bark. The butt should be 
at least eighteen inches below the lower hole in 
order to hold well. I pack in around tlie post 
stones of any convenient size, and pound them 
in sung with a crowbar. Tliis leaves room for 
tlie air to circulate all round the bottom part of 
tlie post, and it is liept about as dry as if it were 
above ground. A post set in tliis way is good 
for an ordinary life time. I have some posts of 
forty years standfng, and they are good yet. 
The frost of course will move the stones, and 
they will need resetting occasionally, but no 
oftener tlian tliose packed in dirt." 
" How mucli, do you suppose, you liave saved 
by that operation," asked Tucker with a sneer. 
"No contemptible sum," said I, "as you can 
easily calculate. Bar posts set in dirt will last 
say five years ; in stone forty. If tliey are worth 
3 dollars a pair I save seven pairs in forty years, 
or fourteen dollars, not counting the interest for 
every bar way. I have forty on my farm, quite 
too many I admit, but tliat makes a saving of 
|560, which is worth looking at." 
It is by attention to small things that the 
farmer makes his money and his fortune. A 
penny saved is as good as a penny earned. 
Connecticut. 
^ vm %m\ t-mi 
More About Wild Oats. 
In February last, we published an account 
from a correspondent in Wisconsin, of the oc- 
currence of the Wild Oat {Avena fatua\ in his 
vicinity. The writer gave an account of its 
supposed occurrence by a degeneration of the 
cultivated oat. Tliis statement has brought out 
several letters in reference to tlie oat. Mr. G. C, 
Hill, of Fond duLac Co., Wis., sa3-s that he has 
known the oat for ten )'ear3, doubts its being a 
degenerate cultivated grain, but thinks the seeds 
were probably introduced from California, with 
seed wheat. He says : " Wild oats are a great 
pest in a wheat growing country. Tliey are 
hard to eradicate by tilling, because only those 
seeds that are near tlio surface will vegetate, 
while those plowed under deep will produce a 
crop in after years. My plan is to seed down 
and mow or pasture." .F. V. Morrison, of Uls- 
ter Co., N. Y., states that a few years ago, in 
Brown Co., Wis., the wild oat "would over-run 
and nearly destroy cultivated oats and spring 
wheat." On the other hand, James Cass, of 
Sacramento Co., Cal., wonders that we consider 
the appearance of the wild oat in Wisconsin, as 
something to be regretted. He s.a\'s : " If I were 
in Wisconsin, and knew as mucli about the wild 
oat as I do now, I should be delighted witli 
its appearance,".,., "In curing it for hay, it 
must- be cut as soon as the top seeds are turn- 
ing, and put into cock as soon as you can give 
a handful a wring and not produce sap, and it 
Bbould not have more than one dew, by any 
means, as the least dampness. sets the seeds to 
crawling out. As a hay, it is unsurpassed in 
this State, and brings the higliest price in our 
markets. I cut from 40 to 75 tons yearly. .. ." 
These statements show how differently the same 
plant is regarded in widely dissimilar climates. 
In reconciling them, it should be recollected 
that there are but few portions of California in 
which our most valued meadow grasses will 
succeed. The wild oat is the best grass that 
grow'Sthere. With regard to the alleged identity 
of the wild .and the cultivated oat, the principal 
proof lies in the experiments of Prof Buck- 
man, formerly of the Royal Agricultural Col- 
lege, England. He, by planting and selecting 
tliose specimens that sliowed a tendency to 
lose their wild character, and continuing this 
for several )-ears, succeeded in producing a 
plump grain, destitute of liaiis, and having the 
general characters of tlie variety of oats known 
as While Tartarian. A portion of the original 
bed was continued by allowing the plants to 
seed the ground in tlie natural way, while the 
selected seed was kept out of the ground until 
spring. Prof B. has made many interesting 
experiments in "ennobling," or improving jjlants 
from their wild state, and attributes great im- 
portance to the keeping the seed out of the 
ground from the time it matures until the time 
for sowing. This is one of the conditions in 
which most cultivated plants di9"er from wild 
ones, of which the seed falls at maturity, and 
generally lies all winter in the earth. 
How the English destroy the Hop Aphis. 
■ 
The hop crop of this country has been greatly 
damaged in many sections — almost destroyed, 
for three years part by the hop-louse or Aphis. 
These little insects multiply so as to be par- 
ticularly observable during the month of July, 
and soon cover the entire vine with mildew-like 
green masses of life, sucking its juices, and de- 
stroying the crop. Some patents have been 
issued for preventing this destruction, but we 
are not familiar with the means employed. 
There are a number of substances, which, if 
they can be .applied, will kill Apliides and not 
liarm the j^lants upon which they live. Tobacco 
smoke, and tobacco water are both used in green- 
houses upon tender plants with success. 
3Ir. F. W. Collins of Rochester, the inventor 
of the horizontal liop yard plan, which has been 
described in this Journal, .and in our hop book, 
spent last summer abroad looking into the 
modes of hop culture. He writes us, that the 
English hop growers use almost universally one 
or the other of the following waslies : • « 
1. A mixture of strong soap suds, to which 
salt and saltpeter are added, so that a brine is 
made about half as strong as common beef- 
prickle, and to this one pound of copperas to 
five g.allons of liquor is added, dissolved in 
warm water. 
2. Tobacco w.ater made about as strong as 
for sheep dipping: that is, a strong decoction 
made by boiling a pound of tobacct in a gallon 
of water. The stems and refijse parts of the 
leaf are usually employed. 
Mr. Collins says : " Tlie}' raise hops in Eng- 
land on a much larger scale tlian we do in this 
country. Gardens of 50 to 100 acres are quite 
common, and 300 to 300 iu one plantation .are 
occasionally seen. They are strictly watched, 
and as soon as the vermin begin to appear on 
the vines (or bines as they are called there), thej- 
go through between the rows with a machine, 
like a little fire engine, carrying a tank contain- 
ing tlie liquid and a force pump. There is a 
hose with a sprinkling nozzle att.ached, by 
which the liquid is thrown in fine but strong 
jets to the tops of the highest poles, in such a 
way as to strike tlie leaves upon tlie under sides 
where the lice for the most part collect. We 
can easily apply the preparation to our smaller 
yards with the green-house syringe or the garden 
engine, especial!}', if the economical system of 
training on short stakes and twine be employed. 
This brings all the vines within 7 feet of the 
ground, and so within reach. This is an ad- 
vantage of the horizontal system perhaps not 
heretofore appreciated, and it will be still more 
