AGRICULTURE. 
to sow it in a seed bed for transplantation, 
which is begun in October, and if there be 
no frost in November, is continued through 
that month, when the plants are about two 
feet long. Were this operation to take 
place earlier, they would be more secure 
from the frost. Dibbling is employed for 
the purpose, and the plants are set at about 
the distance of eighteen inches by ten. In a 
favourable year the profit is considerable, as 
indeed it ought to be, to compensate for the 
frequent and inevitable failure attending this 
cultivation. An indispensable point in re- 
gard to this article, is to catch at opportuni- 
ties of fine weather, for the purpose of reap- 
ing and threshing, which must be done in 
immediate succession. In reaping, extreme 
care is requisite, to prevent the shedding of 
the seed. Both in lifting it from the ground 
and conveying it to the barn floor, the ut- 
most attention must be applied. As rain, 
at this critical period, may be considered 
nearly fatal to this produce, celerity of ope- 
ration is of the first consequence, and as 
many assistants as possible should be pro- 
cured, and not a moment of fine weather 
should be suffered to pass unimproved. 
The cultivation of hops demands a greater 
capital than that of any other plant. The 
cost of the first year’s preparation and plant- 
ing will amount to about eighty pounds per 
acre, and the subsequent annual expense will 
be little less than half that sum; and after all 
the expense, preparation, and attention, 
which may be employed, no crop is more pre- 
carious. The serious consideration of a farmer 
is demanded, before he resolves to introduce 
this plant where it has not been usually cul- 
tivated. And not only the circumstances 
already mentioned, but that of the accessi- 
bility or distance of manure, (for which the 
largest quantities are called for by hops,) and 
the fact, that a small solitary hop ground 
seldom thrives like those which cover a large 
extent of country, from whatever cause this 
may proceed, should be fully weighed. Ruin 
may easily follow the want of adverting to 
these and other considerations, and they 
cannot therefore be too strongly impressed 
on the sanguine adventurer. A flat deep 
bog, in a sheltered situation, makes an ex- 
cellent hop soil, constituting, indeed, a natu- 
ral dunghill. For the application of such 
land to hops, the chances are favourable. 
The best preparation for this plant, when 
such a spot as this does not occur, is made 
by two successive crops of turnips or cab- 
bages, fed off by sheep, early enough for the 
ploughing and planting in March. The 
plants should be inserted in rows, at eight 
feet distance from each other, and about 
six feet from hill to hill. Four fresh cut- 
tings should be planted in each spot which 
is to form a hill. In April they should be 
poled, an operation requiring that critical 
__ accuracy, which, depending on changeable 
and casual circumstances, can be derived 
only from experience. The binds must next 
be tied to the poles. The superfluous vines 
must be pruned about Midsummer, and are 
a useful food for cows. September is the 
month for pulling them._ But the manage- 
ment of hops is a subject most operose and 
delicate, requiring extreme experience, at- 
tention, and dexterity; and the details of 
which would, if extended only equally to its 
importance, occupy bulky volumes. 
COURSE OF CROPS. 
No subject of greater importance has been 
treated by modem writers in husbandry, 
than the succession of crops. Before the 
present reign, although a considerable num- 
ber of writers on agriculture existed, this 
topic was little treated, and by many scarce- 
ly adverted to. It has at length obtained 
something approaching to that attention 
which it merits. The main principles upon 
which all practices on this subject proceed 
aTe, that some crops are more exhausting 
than others : that some, although of a very 
impoverishing character, yet by being con- 
sumed on the farm, return to it as much as 
they deducted originally from it, and, per- 
haps, even more : that some admit profit- 
able tillage and accurate cleaning, during 
their growth; while by others the land is 
almost unavoidably rendered foul by weeds, 
is exhausted without return, and, when they 
are applied in succession, will be extremely 
and fatally impoverished. By experience 
much is found to depend on a certain ar- 
rangement of crops of these different and 
opposite characters; and in no one circum- 
stance is the theory or practice of husbandry, 
in the present day, so materially advanced 
as in relation to this subject Unless this 
department be well understood, the efforts 
of the farmer in others are either abortive or 
injurious. An important difference is ob- 
servable between culmiferous and legumi- 
nous plants, or those which are cultivated 
for their seed, and such as are raised for 
their roots. The former bind the soil, while 
the latter uniformly give it openness and 
freedom. The former also are decidedly 
more exhausting, though unquestionably, in 
themselves, the most profitable. No soil 
