aoa 
MOOBE’S RURAL NEW-YORKER, 
(Jicld Gjjnrp. 
HOP CULTURE—PROSPECTS. 
I saw in a Rural Nkw-Yokker an inquiry 
as regards the prospects of hop growers the 
coming season. The response was that you 
thought the prospects good, provided grow¬ 
ers get a crop of good quality. They ask 
how tlds is to l>c accomplished. I answer, 
first, to be sure to secure a good quality of 
the right kind of plants. The English Cluster 
stands far in advance of nil, or any other va¬ 
riety, both for productiveness, and quality 
of hop. "We should be. as cautious in select¬ 
ing the variety of hops as we would be on 
fruit trees, seeds, dm. The English Cluster 
hop can be profitably grown in any climate 
or soil that will produce any kind of grain or 
potatoes. 
As regards profit to the grower, I say first, 
at a low average of 1,500 pounds per acre, 
and at a low average price of 40 cents per 
pound, the crop would bring $600.00 per 
acre. The expenses of cultivation and har¬ 
vesting are to be deducted therefrom. Some 
fix the expense of production as high as 10 
cents j>er pound ; others as low as 6 cents. 
This variation depends upon the number of 
pounds produced per acre, as a light crop 
costs nearly as much labor as a heavy yield. 
My experience teaches me that an average 
yield of hops can be grown at an expense not 
exceeding 7 cents per pound, making an ex¬ 
pense. of $105.00 per acre ; deduct this from 
the $ 600 . 0(1 and the grower is left in possession 
of a net profit of $495.00 per acre. 
To start with, the plants will cost about 
$22 per acre. The next year the vines need 
poling, which can be done at an expense of 
about #30 per acre. Many fanners have 
plenty of poles upon their own land which 
will cost them nothing but the time and labor 
of cuttiug and hauling them. After the 
plants and poles are once secured there will 
be no additional expense in that direction for 
20 years or more. The first crop will, or 
should, pay all those expenses and leave a 
profit of $423.00 per acre, and a paid up in¬ 
vestment for 20 years or more. Last year, 
1872, good hops sold readily at the grower’s 
door for 50 and 56 cents per pound, many of 
them realizing from #10,000 to $15,000 for 
their hop crop. No wonder they are the 
most jovial and happy lot of creatures on 
earth. 
The use of malt liquors has increased, not 
only on account of the large access of the 
German population, but because of the grow¬ 
ing taste for them among Americans. The 
taxes on alcoholic liquors will induce a great¬ 
er use of malt liquors. There will therefore 
be an increasing demand for hops. Conse¬ 
quently the future prospect for hop growers 
s certainly most encouraging. E. f. 
Coblesktll, N. V. 
- 4 4 4 » ■ 
ORANGE DENT CORN. 
Last spring I purchased a package of corn 
called the Orange Dent; planted it the 17th, 
of May. At first it grew very slow, and i 
was fearful that it would prove a humbug, 
as the coni plant ed beside it the same day 
was nearly a week ahead of it in growth. 1 
was surprised to notice a few days later that 
the Orauge Dent had taken a sudden start., 
and w'as growing rapidly; in fact I never 
saw a field of corn grow faster, and before 
many days had passed it was far in advance 
of the other (I will here state that the other 
kind referred to was the common eight rowed 
white, which was planted on a dry ridge in 
the garden, while the Orange Dent was 
planted a few rods from t he other on damper, 
and of course considerably later, ground. 
Although it was blown flat to the ground by 
a hard wind it was but a short time in get¬ 
ting up again. When it had arrived at its 
full growth it was certainly the finest piece 
of com 1 ever saw, and was pronounced so by 
all who saw it. It was well eared, and 
although it did not have as muny in number 
as our small yellow com (a great many of 
the stalks having only one ear) they were 
very large and many of them would shell out 
nearly a pint of corn. The kernels are long 
and wedge-shaped, and I think three bushels 
of ears would make nearly, if not quite, two 
bushels of shelled, though I have never tried 
it. The ears grow higher from the ground 
than most varieties, and, therefore, it is 
very desirable to grow near a bam, or where 
fowls are kept. 
I also planted a small piece in another field, 
and, although it proved to be tbe poorest 
spot in the field (it being on clay soil which 
was covered with water just after planting, 
only a part of it coming up) it grew very rank 
and well eared, while the common yellow 
planted beside it looked like pop corn, it be¬ 
ing very small and puny. Tbe Orange Dent 
has one fault, however, it is lute in ripening, 
and 1 am satisfied that if planted on late 
ground or planted very late on any ground 
as far North os the latitude of Wayne Co., N. 
Y., only a portion of it will get ripe ; yet I 
think this objection can be overcome by 
planting early on early ground. As a test I 
shall plant it again the coming season, as it 
has proved to be very prolific with me. I am 
certain that if grown in a locality, or on 
ground that is favorable to its ripening, it 
must prove useful. r. F. 
Clyde, N. Y. 
-44 - 4- ... ■ — 
NOTES ON WHEAT. 
Odessa Wheat. —A Minnesota correspond¬ 
ent of the Farmer’s Union says he has raised 
three crops of this wheat beside Scotch Fife 
—that it yields threo to live bushels more per 
acre than any other variety he has grown, 
and weighs from two to three pounds per 
bushel more. He states that the Commis¬ 
sioner of Agriculture has applied to him for 
500 bushels of it for distribution in small 
quantities 
Eureka Wheat is called a “new hybrid,” 
originating in Minnesota, the originator claim¬ 
ing that one grain of it will produce 1 
feet of heads and 1,670 grains. 
Tied Osaka Wheat, is a variety highly spoken 
of by Minnesota farmers, one of whom says 
lie produced 560 bushels from 13%' bushels of 
seed. Fife wheat, sowed upon adjoining 
ground, produced 22 bushels per acre. 
“ Pride of Butte ” Wheat is a new variety, 
which has been highly commended in Cali¬ 
fornia. In I860, in cutting a crop of barley, 
Mr. Wm. Van Wokrt of Butte Co., Cal., ob¬ 
served some scattering heads of line-looking 
wheat, from which he gathered about half a 
gill of wheat, which he planted in February, 
1870. The past season, as the result of these 
plantings, he harvested 230 bushels from this 
half gill. It is a bearded variety, stands 
well on summer fallow, lues very white straw 
and chaff, a light velvety substance covering 
the entire chaff. 
“ Oran Early Spring Wheat" is being dis¬ 
tributed by the Department of Agriculture, 
we learu. Oran iB a city of Algeria and the 
capital of a Province of the same name. 
Whether this wheat has been imported from 
there we are not informed. 
--444- 
ALFALEA NOT A GRASS. 
Certain parties are sending circular to 
farmers and others in the Western States, 
recommending the Alfalfa or Lucerne as a 
most wonderful prolific kind of grass, which 
will yield six to eight tons of hay per acre 
and never die out. It is also recommended 
as a beautiful lawn grass; in fact, it is the 
greatest thing ever discovered, all of which 
some persons will probably believe, and pur¬ 
chase need of this oldest of all known culti¬ 
vated forage plants. Swindlers of all kinds 
arc usually just sharp enough to tell a story 
containing a small moiety of truth with a 
big lie attached, which makes their ignorance 
more apparent to those who happen to know 
anything of the subject referred to. Now, 
as Alfalfa is not a grass any more than peas 
or beans, those fellows who advertise it as 
such show their ignorance at the start, con¬ 
sequently, we are not bound to believe them 
even if they should, in part, tell the truth. 
Lucerne is far too old a plant for any one to 
be humbugged into purchasing the seed for 
any other purpose, soil or climate, except 
that to which it is adapted. In some localities 
it is a most excellent forage plant, but is not 
valued very highly where our best species of 
meadow and pasture grasses succeed. 
-444- 
GRASS FOR AN ORCHARD. 
I have an apple orchard of about two acres 
on a hillside, that is in grass, being in many 
places run out. I should like to re-seed it 
with grass again. Now 1 wish you would ad¬ 
vise me whether I shall plow and harrow’ it, 
or only harrow it, and re-seed it. What kina 
of grass seed and how much per acre for 
permanent mowing. The land slopes south, 
is a light sandy loam, well manured, but. very 
diy. The trees do well, growing from one to 
two feet new’ wood every year ; are ten to 
twelve years old and have borne a little.—8. 
8., Sherburne Falls, Moss. 
We advise you to sow orchard grass seed— J 
two to three bushels per acre—harrow and 
roll the land—not plow it. 
-■■ 
FIELD NOTES. 
Parsnip Culture. —R. H. Hughes is in¬ 
formed that parsnips require practically the 
same treatment as to culture, that the carrot 
does. If you desire to feed them to stock 
during the Winter, they should lie dug in the 
Fall, and put in pits, or the cellar, so that 
they can be taken out without being in a 
frozen condition. If you desire them for an 
early spring market (when they bring the 
best price usually,) leave them in the ground 
where they grew. Freezing while they are 
in the ground does not harm them. 
A Preventive of Die Potato Disease is 
found by a French farmer wlio for three 
yearn has Introduced a small quantity of the 
residue of the bark used in tanning, into each 
hole on plant ing his potato crop, and each 
time he has been completely succcsssful in 
preserving his fields free from the annoying 
disease. 
Egyptian Joint Pop Corn, a Western farm¬ 
er says, is the best corn for soiling purposes. 
He says it will give in the hill from five to 
ten ears to the kernel planted, and if drilled 
thickly from three to five nubbins, and fre¬ 
quently good seed enough can be saved from 
the fodder. 
Spring Wheat in Neosho Co., Kansas .—A 
correspondent from the above count}’ asks 
that some one who has had experience in 
growing spring wheat in Kansas, will give 
an opinion as to how it will do in the above- 
named country, and what is the best variety 
to sow. 
Peanut Culture in Ohio .—We would not 
advise H. H. W. to undertake the culture of 
peanuts in Ohio expecting the crop to be u 
profitable one. North of Virginia very few 
peanuts are raised for market, and for very 
gOod and satisfactory reasons. 
Clover Seed May be Soien at anytime now. 
We never found that we gained anything by 
sowing it before the ground became warm 
enough to germinate wheat. This answers 
—T. O. 
Salt for Wheat .—What do your subscrili- 
ers think of sowing salt on either fall or 
spring wheat ; when is the best time to sow, 
and how much per acre '! —New Subscriber. 
(iToitomir. 
LIME AND SALT MIXTURES. 
Prof. Johnson recommends for fertilizing 
purposes to mix one bushel of salt and two 
bushels of dry lime under cover, and allow 
the mixture to decompose gradually, thus 
forming no intimate chemical union of the 
two materials. For this purpose the mixture 
should bo made at least six weeks before use, 
or still better, two or t hree mouths, the heap 
mentioned being turned over oceasionnally. 
This salt and lime mixture, when applied at 
the rate of twenty or thirty bushels per 
acre, forms an excellent top-dressing for 
many crops. It acts powerful!)' on the veg¬ 
etable matter of soils ; fifty-six bushels up- 
plled to ft turnip crop have produced as large 
a crop as barnyard manure. It is also very 
destructive to grubs aud insects in the soiL 
Like salt it attracts moisture from the air, 
aud is useful against drouth. Its decompos¬ 
ing power is remarkable, and if three or four 
bushels of it are mixed with a load of swamp 
muck, the latter will be reduced to a powder. 
ARTIFICIAL MANURE FOR CORN. 
What manure, if barn-yard manure could 
not be obtained, would be best adapted to 
raise a good crop of corn. Would Peruvian 
guano, or some artificial manure, do as well 
as barn-yard manure i if so, what firm in 
New York or Rochester sells the genuine, 
what is the price, how and when (wnat sea¬ 
son, etc.,) is it to be applied, and how much 
per acre ?— Ouriositax, Naples, N. Y. 
We have had too little experience in the 
use of artificial fertilisers to undertake to 
answer the above questions satisfactorily, 
and submit them to such of our readers as 
may have had experience 
- 44 *- 
ENRICHING WITH BUCKWHEAT. 
I have a small piece of land (clay soil) 
which I wish to lighten and enrich by solving 
to buckwheat and plowing under. Will you, 
or some of your numerous friends please in¬ 
form, through the Rural, how much seed I 
ought to sow per acre, and at what time 
ought it to be plowed under ? Also, what 
crops ought to follow, in order to most im¬ 
prove the soil and prepare it for garden pur¬ 
poses ?— T. E. B., Sheffiekl, Pa. 
Sow one to one and a-half bushels per acre; 
plow in when in bloom. Plant with Bvveet 
or pop coni. 
--- 44-4 - 
ECONOMICAL NOTES. 
—— 
Potash for Dissolving Bones.—W. T. A. 
asks “ If crude potash can be substituted for 
ashes in dissolving bones in a vat at a less 
expense than paying the market price for 
bone dust and freights, provided one can get 
the. bones l’or nothing and ashes are scarce : 
if so, in what proportion should it Vie diluted 
with water to be strong enough to act upon 
the bones?” Let those having experience 
answer. 
The Amount of Nitrate of Potash in 100 
pounds of tobacco stems, W. T. A. is inform¬ 
ed, can only be determined by analysis. We 
have no analysis that determines the question. 
THUMPS IN SWINE. 
A Chauntre, Kansas, correspondent of the 
Rural New-Yorker asks if there is any 
remedy for thumps in swine, lie having .lost 
three from that disease. Just, about a year 
ago, James H. Wentworth of Pennsylvania, 
wrote us that this disease is caused by wind 
getting in the cavity of the stomach outside 
the entrails, which wind compresses the 
lungs so that they cannot expand enough to 
allow the animal to breathe easily, hence the 
“thumps.” For when they inhale the air to 
inflate the ldngs, that compresses the air ill 
the cavity of the stomach, and ns it cannot 
be compressed enough to allow a full inflat ion 
of the lungs, the re action of the wind in the 
cavity compresses the lungs before they are 
half inflated, and forces out the air inhaled, 
with a thump, if not remedied, the wind 
accumulates in the cavity till it is so full the 
lungs cannot expand by inhalation, and death 
is inevitable. 
Mr. Wentworth having thus stated the 
cause of the disease says :—“ I will now give 
you a remedy that has never failed with me 
or my neighbors (which iu more easily ap¬ 
plied than the Ohioan’s), which is simply to 
catch the hog affected with the thumps, and 
take the little blade of a pocket knife and 
pierce a hole through the sides of the hog to 
the hollow between the last two ribs. Be 
sure you stick the knife clear through, and 
not far enough to touch the intestines. As 
soon as the opening Is made you will discover 
the wind coming out freely, the lungs are 
relieved of the pressure behind them, and 
the hog is cured. I have tried this often, and 
have never failed at any stage of the dis¬ 
ease. ” 
-- 444 -- - 
CHARACTERISTICS OF SWINE. 
I noticed, while looking over the reports 
of the committees at the National Swine 
Breeders’ Association, that they put the 
Chcslures (or Jefferson County Swine of New 
York) and Yorkshires together. Will the 
committee, or some one else who is acquainted 
with the Yorkshires, please give the charac¬ 
teristics of the breed, stating whether they 
differ widely in the amount of hair or not, or 
is it CTieshirea which they refer to ? And 
will the committee on Chester Whites, where 
they speak of the coatings Vicing tliinnish, 
white, straight, and if a little wavy not ob¬ 
jectionable—please state whether they mean 
no bristles on the body or tail, as those who 
have the respective breeds in this section are 
desirous to know their particular points .—A 
Reader in the Co. Gent. 
•- 444 - 
PIGS SCOURING. 
In the Rural New-Yorker of Feb. 15tli, 
you will find, on page 106, the description 
how 1 keep my pigs. 1 lost three of them in 
the same way, by scouring; the third I 
opened, and found in the stomach a half pint 
of dirt, Borne sandy, just as he ate it from a 
bank. They run out nil the time, so that 
they could get all the dirt, that they wanted, 
from their first existence. What is the cause 
of their eating the dirt '( Was it something 
that I fed them, or was it because I did not 
feed them something caused them to eat the 
dirt f What is the remedy ? 
Butler Co., Neb. Jefferson Winship, 
-- 444 - 
PIG-PEN PAPERS. 
Hog Cholera.—The Editor of the Farmers’ 
Journal says:—When once the cholera Ls in 
your herd, give at the rate of 1 oz. of carbol¬ 
ic acid to 25 hogs, well dissolved and mixed 
with swill, and repeat every two or three 
days. Be sure and remave every effected 
hog at once, and bury all carcases immedi¬ 
ately. 
To Remedy the Protrusion of the Rectum 
in Pigs a correspondent of the New England 
Fanner recommends pouring on a strong so¬ 
lution of alum twioe a day for a few days. 
