282 
AMERICAN ACRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
meeting the pavgment. 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 tlie natural ventilation of tlie open eartli, 
and not have a close box cover, and close pave- 
inent 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. The does would dig out 
their burrows in these boxes just as contentedly 
as if they were at work in the open ground, 
and wlien one began to make her nest before 
bringing forth her young, we would turn a 
box, 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. 
\Yhen 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, wliich may come in 5 or C weeks. 
Such a sunken box or burrow is not neces¬ 
sary for the successful breeding of rabbits; but 
with a few boxes like fig. 2 , 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 x3 feet. One end is of stiff fixed wire rods, 
one rod being inserted close to the Avood on 
each side, to prevent gnawing. Tliere is a par¬ 
tition across tlie middle of the box, with a cor¬ 
ner cut out for a door, and there should be an 
outside door as shown. The top lifts off, or is 
hinged and locked down. This box may easily 
-be cleaned out, and is big enough for a pair 
of young rabbits, or one breeding doe. 
Young rabbit breeders should remember not 
to let bucks and does run together, after they 
are 5 or 6 months old; not to feed too much 
green food, nor any rvet food, but to give plenty 
of hay, with some oats, barley, or other 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 Avater, and are usually better without 
it, if they have some green food daily. We 
liave kept rabbits all Avinter on nothing but hay, 
Avith no water, and they did finely. A doe, 6 
or 8 months old, should be left one day with a 
buck, and she Avill probably have young ones 
31 days after. Old bucks are very apt to kill 
the young if they can, and tAvo bucks will gen¬ 
erally figlit and often kill one another. 
How to set a Bar Post. 
“ Any fool can do that,” said neighbor Tuck¬ 
er, as I got the liole dug out to plant mine for 
the fifth time. “ Just chuck your post into that 
’ere hole, and pound the dirt in well, and itAvill 
stay till it rots. Dirt packs a great deal solider 
than stone,” said Tucker by Avay 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 Avay until I found out a better. You see 
if you pack the dirt in solid there is no chance 
for the Avater to run off quick, and the soundest 
AA’ood will rot off just below the surface of the 
ground in a very short time. I haA-e had ’em 
spoiled in three years so that I had to put in 
the other end. That bar post has been in ser¬ 
vice at least 35 years, and if you examine the 
Avood, you will see it is about as sound where 
it 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 tlie bark. The butt should be 
at least eighteen inches below the loAver hole in 
order to hold Avell. I pack in around tlie post 
stones of any convenient size, and pomid them 
in sung Avith a croAvbar. This leaves room for 
the air to circulate all round the bottom part of 
the post, and it is kept about as dry as if it Avere 
above ground. A post set in this way is good 
for an ordinarj’’ life time. I liave some posts of 
forty years standing, and they are good yet. 
The frost of course will move the stones, and 
they Avill need resetting occasionally, but no 
oftener than those packed in dirt.” 
“ Hoav much, do you suppose, you have 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 they are worth 
2 dollars a pair I save seven pairs in forty years, 
or fourteen dollars, not counting the interest for 
every bar Avay. I have forty on my farm, quite 
too many I admit, but that makes a saving of 
$560, Avhich is Avorth 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. 
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 Avriter gave an account of its 
supposed occurrence by a degeneration of the 
cultivated oat. This statement lias brought out 
several letters in reference to the oat. Mr. G. C. 
Hill, of Fond duLac Co., Wis., says that he has 
knoAvn the oat for ten years, doubts its being a 
degenerate cultivated grain, but thinks the seeds 
Avere probably introduced from California, with 
seed wheat. He says: “ Wild oats are a great 
pest in a Avheat growing countr}'. They are 
hard to eradicate by tilling, because only those 
seeds that are near the surface Avill vegetate, 
while those ploAved 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 
Avheat.” 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 says: “ If I Avere 
in Wisconsin, and knew as much about the wild 
oat as I do now, I should be delighted with 
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 Avring and not produce sap, and it 
should not have more than one dcAA', by any 
means, as tlie least dampness sets the seeds to 
craAvling out. As a liay, it is unsurpassed in 
tliis State, and brings the highest price in our 
markets. I cut from 40 to 75 tons 3 'early....” 
Tliese statements shoAV how ditfercntly the same 
plant is regarded in Avidely dissimilar climates. 
In reconciling them, it should be recollected 
that there are but fcAV portions of California in 
Avhich our most valued meadow gras.ses will 
succeed. The Avild oat is the best grass that 
grows there. Witli regard to the alleged identity 
of the Avild and the culti\’-ated 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 
those specimens that showed a pendency to 
lose their Avild character, and continuing this 
for several 3 ’ears, succeeded in producing a 
plump grain, destitute of hairs, and having the 
general characters of the variety of oats knoAvn 
as W'iiite Tartarian. A portion of the original 
bed Avas continued by allowing the plants to 
seed the ground in the natural Ava 3 % Avhile the 
selected seed Avas kept out of the ground until 
spring. Prof B. has made man 3 ' interesting 
experiments in “ennobling,” or improving plants 
from their Avild state, and attributes great im¬ 
portance to the keeping the seed out of the 
ground from the time it matures until tlio time 
for soAviug. This is one of the conditions in 
which most cultivated plants difler from wild 
ones, of which the seed falls at maturity, and 
generally lies all Avinter 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 liop-louse or Aphis. 
These little insects multipl 3 ' so as to be par- 
ticular] 3 ’- observable during tlie month of JUI 3 ', 
and soon cover the entire vine Avith 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 Avith the means employed. 
There are a number of substances, Avhich, if 
they can bo applied, Avill kill Aphides and not 
harm the plants upon Avhich they live. Tobacco 
smoke, and tobacco water are botli used in green¬ 
houses upon tender plants Avith success. 
Mr. F. W. Collins of Rochester, the inventor 
of the horizontal hop 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 Avrites us, that the 
English hop groAAmrs use almost universally one 
or the other of the folloAving Avashes: 
1. A mixture of strong soap suds, to Avhich 
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 gallons of liquor is added, dissolved in 
Avarm water. 
2. Tobacco AAmter made about as strong as 
for sheep dipping; that is, a strong decoction 
made by boiling a pound of tobacco in a gallon 
of Avater. Tlie stems and refuse parts of the 
leaf are usually employed. 
Mr. Collins says: “Tliey raise hops in Eng¬ 
land on a much larger scale than we do in this 
countr 3 ’. Gardens of 50 to 100 acres are quite 
common, and 200 to 300 in one plantation arc 
occasionally seen. They are strictly watched, 
and as soon as tlie vermin begin to appear on 
the vines (or bines as they are called there), they 
go through between the rows Avith a machine, 
like a little fire engine, cariying a tank contain¬ 
ing tlie liquid and a force pump. Tliere is a 
hose Avith a sprinkling nozzle attached, b 3 ’ 
which tlie liquid is throAvn in fine but strong 
jets to the tops of the higliest poles, in such a 
wa 3 '' as to strike the leaves upon the under sides 
where the lice for the most part collect. We 
can easily apply the preparation to our smaller 
3 nxrds with tliegrccn-liouse syringe or the garden 
engine, especially, if the economical system of 
training on short stakes and tAvine be employed. 
Tills brings all the vines witliin 7 feet of the 
ground, and so Avithin reach. This is an ad¬ 
vantage of the horizontal system perhaps not 
heretofore appreciated, and it will be still more 
