m 
litllr Crops- 
liice and salt. 
Their U»e in Curia* Hay. 
A coiiRESPON dent, who is a dairyman, 
and lias a large quantity of hay to cut and 
store, inquires \Vlic,ther it is advisable to 
lime or sail, hay in the mow for the purpose 
of curing it., lie. says, “ I see it advised in 
the newspapers, from time to lime, that hay 
can he taken quite green from the field, and 
by being limed or salted in the mow it will 
cure perfectly, so ns to come out fresh and 
bright in the spring. I do not. know as tins 
advice is trust worthy, but I shall he satisfied 
unfrequently overloaded. Hops fully ripe then, and the earth is drawn up to the rows 
and gathered dry, admit of curing in a thick- j with the hoe, care being taken not to cover 
er stratum than when obtained in opposite the vines nor disturb their position. There 
conditions. From eighteen inches to two should not be much hilling. At time of 
feet thick, when first put on the floor, admit harvest (in October) the vines are loosened 
of being generally well managed. They 1 with three-pronged hoes, and hands follow 
should be thoroughly stirred by walking who pull up the vines, shake the dirt from 
through them, taking care to keep the feet I (hem, and leave them in the sun to cure, if 
close "on the drying cloth, or by a large' dry weather, two days’sun will cure them, 
wooden shovel, as 0OOn as the surface begins Then stack as our Northern farmers do 
to get dry. Some stir them ugaill in a few beans, and leave in the stack two weeks, 
hours, or, when time admits, throw them in- w hen picking should commence. 
to a lump, allowing the fire to go down. - ■++■+ 
“ It is worthy of remark that when hops FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. 
mc g&Lliered ctamly—tluit i» wilhoiit many , :<lo „ 
T c,0 f .T 'Z The Practical Farmer In view 
,,,, tW drying I oor ami ».« ‘ tej of sho , t „ ft will be well for 
should ho spread* Clean picking anti illoi — i **r n r 
1 ,/voo Lmnnfc xtrliM liriv'i* Itllt 111 nllMl t 1 ! II1 I V fit 
nimstrial Copies. 
advice 18 trust won.IJ, J- , ough, careful drying, provided the hops are 
will, your judgment,«« ® = sound mid ripe, are llie two cssenlial condl- 
noo.pt your views il you will Iwot »» Solpl , ur , in II,c si,ape of 
liar vest (in October) the vines are loosened PROM ENGLAND, 
with three-pronged hoes, and hands follow 
who pull up the vines, shake the dirt from letter from .lames Vick, 
them, and leave them in the sun to cure, if Portsmouth, England, June 32, 18,1. 
dry weather, two days’ sun will cure them. According to promise, I send you a few 
Then slack as our Northern farmers do lines from Europe—not, that I claim any 
beaus and leave in the slack two weeks, merit for thus keeping my word, for you are 
when picking should commence. indebted more, I fear, to the everlasting lain 
___ of England for this communication, than to 
FIELD NOTES AND QUERIES. any nice sense of honor on the part, of the 
writer. In short, it rains, rains, and has 
it.mtN <»»• Korn ire. rained almost incessantly for a week. I have 
The Practical Farmer says:—“In view just returned from the exhibition grounds 
of the short hay crop, it will be well for n f tke £j. ints a „d Berks Agricultural and 
those farmers who have put in plentifully of Horticultural Societies, pretty thoroughly 
second to Margarette, third to Keene’s 
Seedling. 
The Seedsmen. 
James Carter, Dunnett & Beale, and 
Sutton A Sons made a very fine display of 
seeds, roots and grasses. The roots, of 
course, were of last season’s growth, hut in 
an excellent state of preservation and of 
monstrous proportion, fifty pound mangel 
wurtzels, and ruta-bagas about half this 
weight. Perhaps I will write you from the 
Continent. 
them.” # .... i 
We have had no experience in liming hay 
for the purpose above indicated, and there¬ 
fore cannot say that any had result would 
follow from (coiling hay treated in this way, 
but we should not care to use any gie.it 
quantity of such kind of hay for stock, even 
though the lime had all the virtues claimed 
for it in preventing must, Ac. 
As to salting luvy in the mow, wo have 
become well satisfied from repeated trials 
1hat it is a very bad practice. Salted bay 
injures stock by compelling the animal tit 
times to take more salt into the system than 
is needed, thereby deranging the health, and 
sometimes producing serious losses. We 
have seen cows fed on hay salted in the 
mow,and apparently oI good quality, which 
produced very bad results, running the stock 
down thin and poor, and necessitating an 
abandonment of its use. A very small quail- 
I it v of salt or of lime used occasionally on 
hay might not produce any injurious effect 
upon stock; but the trouble is, when the 
practice becomes established if is apt to lie 
used frequently, and in such quantities as to 
prove injurious. 
To make good hay, proper attention as to 
cutting and drying must bo observed, and 
the application of no substance in the mow 
can be used as a substitute for certain opera¬ 
tions in the field. A good hay tedder in the 
meadow is the best means of getting rid of 
moisture ami in providing against musty 
fay. Recommendations for curing bay in 
the mow by the use ol salt, lime, Ac., are of 
roll brimstone, is frequently used in Eng¬ 
land, at the Commencement of the fires; it 
aids the progress of drying and imparts a 
bright yellowish hue to the hops. Used in 
small quantities it does not injure the hops 
for brewing purposes; but when employed 
to excess its effects must be objectionable. 
Perhaps it would he Safer not to employ it at 
all, as there is a prejudice against it, more 
particularly by brewers on this side the At¬ 
lantic. 
“ It is of the utmost importance that hops 
should ho perfectly and uniformly dried, or 
they will not keep, especially when trans¬ 
ported to the moist climate of Britain. If the 
leaf and stalk of the hop, when rubbed be¬ 
tween the lingers, yields no moisture, the 
curing may be assumed as sufficient. We 
have frequently seen in our dry climate the 
center of bales of liops moldy, damp and 
clammy, solely in consequence of careless 
and insufficient curing, and such samples are 
mostly quite worthless,and not unfrequently 
the occasion of heavy losses to brewers.” 
sown corn and a good supply of sugar beets. 
Fifteen to twenty tons of the former and 
lliirty to forty tons of routs per acre, will go 
Soaked, aner wading around for half a day. 
From the indifferent manner in which Eng¬ 
lishmen paddle about in the water, one 
anil gfpartnunt 
LETTERS FROM THE SOUTH. 
From Ctmiibrlilue, 3U«I. 
In looking over your welcome paper, dated 
May ti, 1871, I read a communication from 
far to make up the loss of the hay If woldd the idea that the people are web- some person, without name or initial attach- 
neilher of these have been put in, the only f f)0le( j i j^ 0 ( being thus favored, 1 feel that ed to it. The least that lie conkl have done 
neither of these have been put in, the only 
remedy now is a crop of rut a bnga or com¬ 
mon white turnips. The middle of the 
present month will yet do for the first, and 
two or three weeks later for-the latter. 
These latter should he sown, besides other 
places, 011 the headlands of cornfields, pre¬ 
viously well and deeply stirred with tliecul- 
tivator, and fertilized with superphosphates. 
Rnta bugus from American grown seed arc 
preferable tQ foreign, us they run much 
less to what is called neck, and make better 
shaped and more regular tubers. This 
crop requires drill culture. Holbrook’s 
Seed Drill and Cultivator is the proper im¬ 
plement, marking nut, the rows, dropping 
and covering the seed and rolling the ground 
all at one operation and with great accuracy. 
The drills should be wide enough for a 
horse to pass between—not less than two 
I have had enough of the rain for the pres¬ 
ent, and propose to occupy a few hours in 
writing. 
We left New York with the thermometer 
at something over 90' in the shade, and that 
is the last we have known of warm weather. 
The thickest overcoats could hardly keep n.s 
warm enough during the voyage, and since 
our arrival winter clothes and summer over¬ 
coats have been in constant demand 
fM-anon nml Crops in Ensrlftml. 
The present season has been very un¬ 
favorable for vegetation, cold, windy and 
dry until about ten days ago, and since that 
almost incessant cold rains. Crops do not 
look well in this section; iu fact they were 
was to give some authority for the statements 
he made, which drew my attention, in answer 
to the question, Are Northern men wauled 
in the South? II the statement which lie 
has made is true, the answer would he they 
are not. But I look upon the writer of that 
article, or the section in which he was lo¬ 
cated, as ail exception to the generality of 
the Maryland people. My own opinion is, 
that there has been a want of heart in the 
writer, or in the community in which he 
lives. My experience with the people of 
Maryland is very different from that writer. 
I tun a Northern man, from New Jersey, 
and have been living in Maryland between 
one and two years, near Cambridge, Dor- 
mostly quite worthless, and not unfrequently aiul iV,mlf f l _- ! peeled to find crops much in advance ot our 
the occasion of heavy losses to brewers” increasing the Corn Crop. own at this season, bit^ tn this was disap- 
__ If farmers could increase the yield of their pointed — particularly in regard to grass. 
MP n ■RTTR'RAq' flnw CRAP corn crop five bushels per acre with the The cut of grass is light and short. 1 have 
MK. u. jjujuuid unur, sarae labor, by planting a better variety of seen hundreds of acres cut, lying spoiling 
I uave just been reading, in the Rural seed, the increase in yield would be clear upon the ground, where it had lain for 
New-Yorker of May 20th, an account of gain. According to my recollection, which about two weeks waiting fora ray of snn- 
Mr. Burras’ corn crop; and, while I agree extends over a period of some thirty or more shine. If the sun appears, and thoie ri a 
witli him in the main as to the mode of years, the improvement in corn has not been prospect of a few hours of fine weather, the 
culture I cannot, bv any means agree with as great as that of some other grains, the . Tedding Machine’ is brought out, which 
culture, I cannot, l>.y any means agree with 
him in his estimates of the profits of said 
crop. Either your types have made bad 
work with his manuscript, or else his head 
is badly muddled in the matter of figures, 
vegetables and IruiU Indeed, some old keeps the grass in motion, tossing it high in 
farmers are planting varieties of corn but (he air, at every passage of the machine, anti 
little better, if any, than they planted lliirty drying it rapidly, if the weather gives but 
come and settle with them, and are willing 
to make their homes homes for us. As for 
neighbors, I never had any better in Jersey, 
mid wish for none better. As for dealings 
in business matters, I find them kind, and 
liberal even to half a cord of wood ; as re¬ 
gards to selling produce, potatoes. Ac., at 
home markets or in Baltimore, there is al¬ 
ways a difference iu all places and in every 
Stale, if a Northern man comes here to buy 
a farm, they do not raise on the price. Some 
of the same farms that 1 looked at before I 
very doubtful expediency, and for the most wJj(U> seem , rem; trkftble is his statement 
part do more butt than goo< , since many djev ai , e J)0t mere “ estimates" but facts 
persons will store their bay m a half cured ^ fl * w taUeil from llis « ledger.” 
condition, depending on the salt or lime to ^ firg(; ]ace u strikes me hc lias es ti- 
do what can only properly be done by well- Ujr . ]ab0I , too low 0 ne dollar a day 
tlireeled labor in the field. for hands or for teams, including board, is 
The making of good hay is un art very oheapei . Ul . m we can gcl help here in 
imperfectly practiced, ns the condition ot Micl)j wI|We a lum d !im1 lcam mu jil\ 
Stock in spring ofni bears witness. There fi . oin tliree to four dollars a day, 
are many old farmers who seem to have very ^ u jg mnch less tlian g0O(1 llfll1llg C!l1 
poor notions in reference to cutting, curing tQ WQrk and l)oar(1 themselves. But 
nnd Storing hay in order to secure it m the ^ ^ ^ ^ , je . 
best manner, and so that it wil. contain the ^ $ W .o 
most nutriment, immense sums are annually » hm-rowim; . 4.0 
lost to the country by carelessness and inat- “ .;;;;;; ;;;;;;;;;;;;;; |2 
tention in properly securing the hay crop. >- cultirntimr . hi-* 2 
A good ted or I,ay Moral'is Utile better “ lit 
Hum straw, and not from any lault of the •* buskin# and cribbing. 3.0 
•weather, but because improperly cured, or thawing snuks... 
left standing until the stems had become too Total cost of corn.S125.C 
fnr changed into woody fiber. Now, how Mr. Borras can get 777,42-5 
There are seasons and times when it is bushels of com husked and cribbed for $3 i 
WCll 1.1/ UI&UMW* It LIIV. --- ^I/WVI .J--- j - r - . , 1 ,1 
now cultivated could be got together, with I ever, with their large crops of rnta-baga and still they do not raise on the pnee; ty 
statements of lmw estivated, where grown, I mangold wnrtzcl for winter use, and vetches wish io hold out inducements to the Not h- 
afford to work and board themselves. But, tude (hear 41 ), but how much south, and 
as to Ills figures, lie says: where, I should like to know.—H. Morgan, 
To plowing..$10.00 . 1 Vfiync Co ,, O. _ _ 
*• narrowing . 4.00 ! 
" planiliig . 2.00 Beets nud MhiikaIiIm tor Forace. 
“ cultivating .IB* It is laic to make the inquiry, but 1 should 
. $m.OO 
. 4.00 
.. 2.00 
.. 2.75 
10.25 
“ i liimiiog and cutting weeds. 7.00 like some of your readers, who liavc expen- 
n Sund edbbi,;,:::::.:::::;:::::::: l S cnee this year, to mu nswuat arc the best 
“ drawing stalks.. 5.50 varieties of beets and mangolds Ip grow for 
Total cost of corn..*.$125.00 stock. I have seen the Yellow Globe man- 
Now, how 3Ir. Borras can get 777,42-56 
bushels of corn husked and cribbed for $3 is 
very difficult to cure grass properly; but a mystery to mo, and how he cau make the 
even in bad weather the judicious manage- above figures foot up $125 is a greater 
jnent of the spreader and bay cap is to be mystery still. Then lie has added (he value 
preferred to curing in the mow with salt, of twenty loads Of pumpkins At $20. Pray 
And it is a question whether lime might not what, have the pumpkins to do in estimating 
also prove injurious to stock when used in the value of llie corn crop? Were he esli- 
goldand the Improved Imperial Sugar beets 
highly recommended. I have grown the 
latter one season and like them much ; but 
the continent, ami hope for better weather 
on my return. An English gentleman and 
florist, whom 1 once had the pleasure of 
meeting and entertaining at Rochester, very 
kindly took the great trouble of a journey 
from London to Liverpool to meet us on the 
arrival of the steamer, and had evciythiug 
arranged for our comfort The first day in 
Liverpool we spent mainly at the 
Exhibition of llie Liverpool Hortieiil!nrnl 
Society. 
It was remarkable only for well grown 
min nts and the scarcitv of fruit. Half a 
is there ft bet ter variety. In the East (and P ot P ,ants :l1h1 jeau t\ of ft ml. Half 
,. T x », | dozen pines nnd n few stmwbenies wcic nil 
1 think in the West) root culture must be- I ‘• f »zcn piut» .u>u 
come a more marked feature than if is in 
husbandry, and I wish to call attention to 
this matter now, that our farmers may.ob- 
Illb' I MriVE 111 u» IWUO \.w uvwvin mmvi. ..- HOW |”I'M.- -- -- - | . • 
sufficient quautities to be serviceable in cur- muting the nett proceeds of tils nine acres of serve and >e piepaai o giw in mimi ton 
ing buy in the mow. X. A. Willard. hmd this would do; but it is the profits of that is very important to stock feeders. Is 
of it, for I have not seen nor heard of the 
least appearance of it. As to Yankees, poli¬ 
tics or turncoats, as lie terms it, my opinion 
is that it rests a great deal with the man 
himself. We find good and bad men in poli¬ 
tics in all sections of our land, North. Enst, 
West and South, no one section better than 
it ought to he. As to the extract which he 
alluded to, and the twelve reasons given in 
the Democrat and 11* raid, the object of the 
Editor was to prompt our citizens to still 
more usefulness in encouraging immigration 
in our midst; bis object was to do good; 
but your correspondent’s object seems to be 
to do harm, and cast a had reflection on our 
Stale at large. 
My object in answering that correspond¬ 
ent is to cast a different, and l trust a true, 
light upon things as they are here, ivitli 
truth and veracity. I have no ax to grind, 
CURING HOPS. 
A CORRESPONDENT of llie RCRAL NltW- 
Youker asks information from experienced 
readers as to the essential in hop curing. 
We shall ho glad to publish such statements 
as the experienced may make. Meantime 
we have an article at hand, cut some time 
ago from a Canada paper, which seems sen¬ 
sible: 
“ Much depends upon the proper construc¬ 
tion of the building, which should have am¬ 
ple space, both for drying and cooling. As 
his corn crop which he is after, and $30 and 
upwards per acre profit on the corn crop is 
a little loo much. This will never do Mr. 
Hurras. You must try again. 
Livonia, Mich. J. S. Tidbits. 
--«-•-*- 
TO GROW PEANUTS. 
“An Experimenter” writes:—■“ Will you, 
or some of the readers of the Rural New- 
Yorker, please to inform me how to raise 
peanuts? The soil upon which I wish to 
grow them is sandy.” It is asserted (wc 
have no experience with the crop) that the 
not the beet the best root for feeding dairy 
cows? I have found it so, but I should like 
to hear from others.—c. s. F. 
Toi>i»’ij>s£ Tobacco. 
that I observed. My object in answering nuu wncajioi.u- 
Tlu> Exhibition of the Counties of Berks cut is In cast a diltercnl, and 1 trust n true, 
ami limits light upon things as they arc here, with 
was very creditable, especially in the stock Uailll veracity. I have no ax to grind, 
departments. The sheep were excellent, no land to sell, no interest in that wuv--onl\ 
nearly all Hampshire Downs, with a few to put the people here in the right Kght >e- 
nuiny , J . . c f . (ore the people ol the Northern States, and 
Leiceslers, the pigs unsightly masses o, fat, Nortlimi men with their fami- 
many of them unable to walk, and the home 
U, do good to Northern men with their fami¬ 
lies if tliL-y will come and settle here. Our 
r . . »i. ,...1 u-n 
Tomlins Tobacco. of our State fairs. The horse show was pc- 
How should this be done? Should the cu jj ar —scores of monstrous, heavy animals, 
plant be allowed to get into blossom before larger than any I ever saw in America, and 
topping commences? Or should the buds p 0n j uS () fall mall sizes, from the little Shet- 
be pinched out as soon as they appear—I | um i u , t) but not a horse that would be cun- 
know that both methods are practiced ? s „i e ml with us a fair farm home, or even a 
Which is right? How many leaves should carriage horse. Ponies and donkeys are very 
be left on a plant ? Twelve to sixteen are p rtpn i ar j n England, and if is no strange 
left by planters; but which Is the right mutt- thing to see a little pony drawing four pet¬ 
tier, the soii being good ? If some of the gon3 j n a carriage, either one of which 
tobacco growers would exchange such ex- AVoU ]d weigh about as much us the pony. I 
cattle not as good, or as numerous as at most ] J( .<i'rls and homes are open for them, and we 
if our Stale fairs. The horse show was pc- will try and do them good. A e vv an (North- 
,„ lia r—scores of monstrous, heavy animals, ern men w ith enterprise, and the spirit of he 
..Huai m • ! - . , limes in which we live. Advance is llie 
larger than any I ever stuv ill Atneuca, and ^ Lewis IIoff. 
ponies of all tnutU sizes, from the little Shot- Cambridge, Md. 
Homes in Minneaolu. 
Here, every one that is of age, whether 
male or female, can procure for him or her¬ 
self a homestead of eighty acres; or it he has 
been a soldier, a homestead of one hundred 
and sixty acres, for the small sum of four¬ 
teen dollars and fifty cents; and that l<»(> 111 
ine floor; keeping up a constant ventilation the peanut is most grown, is plowed shallow 
by Vreelv admitting the external atmosphere (four or five inches) in early spring; plnnt- 
to the fires, and thence through the drying ing is done from the 10th to the 20th of 
floor and the roof of the building. Begin May, in rows three feet apart, two seeds 
with a moderate lire, and continue so as far as being planted each eighteen inches in the 
practicable, gradually lowering it as the hops row, and covered an inch to an inch and a- 
gel nearly cured flops arc often irrepara¬ 
bly injured by too hot or intermittent fires, 
but never by such as are -slow and regular. 
Where two hatches of hops arc gathered 
daily, as nearly twelve horns as possible 
should be given to each in drying. Some¬ 
thing will depend on each of such conditions 
sixteen. Let us hear from llie tobacco 
growers.—A Connecticut Grower. 
Winter Oats. 
F W. Marshall. —We have no expe¬ 
rience, personally, with winter oats. We 
have seen oats that were called a distinct 
half deep. Some planters put an extra have seen oats that were called a distinct 
quantity of seed in every fourth or fifth row variety sown in October and produce a 
to furnish plants for transplanting in case good crop the next season, beside affording 
\ 1) , I A_tt.Il _4 JVA .,1 .. m! ■« ra. 
any arc missing. As soon as weeds appear 
a light plowing is given, throwing the earth 
from the vines, and the vows are cleaned 
with the hoe. The cultivation is repeated 
as the stale of ripeness, amount, of moisture as often as necessary in order to keep clean, 
in the hop? w hen gathered, arising from at- At the first hoeing, when the vines cover 
mosplicric causes, and especially the quanli- half the space between the rows, the double 
ty placed on the drying floor, which is not moldboard plow is carefully run through 
excellent late fall and early spring pasturage 
for sheep and calves, But,we do not remember 
but one such experiment, and that several 
years ago. We have not hoard of the va¬ 
riety in many years, although we have seen 
reports of crops of winter oats in England. 
Perhaps some of our readers can give us 
information. 
Tlie Implements 
were massive—too heavy for our use and 
horses. Steam is a great farm aid in this 
country, and there is great rivalry among 
the manufacturers. I observed buildings 
erected for llie exhibition ot two American 
reapers, and three of our leading sowing 
machines. 
Tlie Show of Flowers 
was not superior, except in roses, and they 
were superb. England is the home of tlie 
rose. It is beautiful everywhere, as fine in 
the cottage as the palace garden. Straw¬ 
berries were few and fine —only about a 
dozen dishes, and of only fair size. r l be 
I first premium was awarded to President, 
great rivalry among oud ot ' J1S long us' they lived.' Also, how 
observed buildings man y young men there arc in the: East who 
mot two American are spending the best part ot then i'c* 11 
our leading sowing working l>»r others, am , • j t p e 
ten not laying up anything, wl»0 mg n o 
securing homes for themselves n. o l ’■ e 
' Flowers This' has long been called tlie mosv 
it iu roses, and they healthy State in the Union, 
is tlie liume of the tier, ii « ram»* prairie; OT, top. 
, .. dark loam, the same a»you lmd im ,,cn o'*, 
ery where, as fine m w ph c iavcy subsoil; excellent fur gram 
ice garden. Straw- ” r Btock rawing. Railroad land adjoining 
fine —only about a tke homesteads can be bad, it desired, toi 
inly fair size. The five to ten dollars per acre for cash, oi 
arded to President, credit.—A. A. 11., II ill man, Alia 
