1853 . 
THE CULTIVATOR. 
143 
the State, contains the following provisions, which 
we present in a condensed form: Each Town clerk 
has a blank book, in which every'dog-owner shall 
annually register a correct description of his dog, 
paying at the same time one dollar for each dog, 
and five dolars for each bitch—for which he re¬ 
ceives a certificate from the clerk. The clerk 
pays the money to the supervisor, retaining ten 
per cent as fees. All dogs not registered thus, are 
noted by the assessor, and the board of assessors 
designate a justice, who is to fine every owner five 
dollars for each unregistered dog, besides cost of 
prosecution, and every man meeting such dogs 
off their owners’ premises, may slay them. When 
any sheep are killed, the owner may testify to the 
identity of the offending dog, but not to the 
amount of damages, and the dog-owner is liable 
for the amount. But if the dog is not identified, 
the loss is to be paid for out of the dog-fund, and 
if this is insufficient, the demand becomes a town 
charge. This is the substance of the law. 
The amount of property in sheep destroyed an¬ 
nually by dogs throughout the Union, is enor¬ 
mous. It is strange that so many State legisla¬ 
tures refuse the most stringent enactment against 
this murderous assault on the agricultural enter¬ 
prise and prosperity of the country. In some of 
the western States, where these losses appear to 
have been most severe, agricultural editors have 
stated, that the best way to prevent the robberies of 
waives , is to bait them with strychnine —and if the 
dogs choose to eat this bait, that is their look out. 
Culture of Hops—No. 3. 
Baleing Hops.—After our hops are cured, we 
have but one thing left to do with them, and that 
is, to put them in bales of good shape, to contain 
as near as may be about 200 pounds each. 
The process of baleing hops is quite simple. 
The hops are let down into a strong curb or box 
of the required size, (generally about 4| feet in 
length, by 4 feet in height, and 17 inches in width,) 
a piece of baleing cloth first being laid on the 
bottom of the curb, of the right length for the 
bale; two men enter the curb and tread the hops 
as they are let down, until it is full. Another 
piece of cloth is then laid on the top of the hops, 
a follower put on and pressed down with a screw, 
(fixed for the purpose in a press similar to a cider 
press,) till the two edges of the cloth will meet. 
The curb (being constructed for the purpose,) is 
then taken apart, the screw holding the hops to 
their place; the edges of the cloth are lapped 
together, and secured completely round the bale. 
After it is sewed, the screw is taken up, the bale 
taken out, the ends cased, and it is finished. 
Expense of Growing Hops.—As the cost of 
growing hops varies with almost every individual 
who raises them, owing to different mangement, 
and good or bad cutivation, it may be difficult to 
answer with a degree of satisfaction, what it costs 
to cultivate an acre of hops annually, or to pro¬ 
duce one thousand pounds of the article. But it 
may be assumed as a Tact, that to grow them suc¬ 
cessfully is expensive business, and it is a commo¬ 
dity requiring, perhaps, more outlay than any 
other produced by the farmer. The expense of 
starting a good hop-yard, (by which is meant 
procuring poles, building kiln, preparing ground, 
and other necessary fixtures,) will of course vary 
in different localities, as poles, building materials, 
&c., can be obtained. Here, poles are becoming 
scarce, and good ones dear; cedar now selling at 
nine to ten dollars per hundred. I think it may be 
safely stated that the cost per acre would not be 
far from $ 150 to $200 dollars. The annual culti-' 
vation, also, is both laborious and expensive; and 
to him who wishes to profit by their cultivation, I 
would say, you cannot well bestow too much la¬ 
bor or pains upon them. Anything else will pay 
as well for starved culture as hops. They will 
not pay for it. 
Hop-yards have been rented for cultivation 
within the knowledge of the writer, at an annual 
cost of $6| to $7 per hundred pounds of hops, de¬ 
livered in bales ready for market. The lessor 
furnishing manure for the yard, and fuel for dry¬ 
ing, &c. The lessee doing all labor. But this, 
I think, could not now be done, as the price of 
labor is much higher now than it was then. 
From accounts carefully kept, of labor and 
money expended in cultivating my own yard, (to 
say nothing of the use of land, interest on cost of 
poles, annual loss by wear, &c., of the same, and 
board of hands,) I cannot put the account with a 
fair yield, at a less sum than eight cents per 
pound. 
Average Yield. —As before observed, the 
yield of hops is generally in proportion to labor 
bestowed in cultivation and manure applied, soil, 
and other things being about equal, and it takes 
the wide range of 400 to 2,000 pounds per acre. 
There are a few acres of hops that produce even 
more than one ton per acre, with extra cultiva¬ 
tion; but far more that do not yield 1,000 lbs. 
And the general average, I have no doubt, would 
fall below this last amount. A good average yield 
would be about a pound to the pole. 
General Remarks —The hop crop is of all 
others the most uncertain and fluctuating, both as 
to production and price, with which the' farmer 
has to deal. Nothing certain, either with regard 
to the crop, or the price it will bring, can be cal¬ 
culated upon. It is a crop liable to injury or de¬ 
struction from several causes, and do they ope¬ 
rate either separately or combinedly, will prove 
about equally fatal. The grub gnawing at the 
root, the fly preying upon the vine, or rust, blight, 
mildew, or hail, here, each and all in their turn, 
have spoiled the most flourishing yards. 
The price also occupies a wide range, and often 
fluctuates rapidly, so that it is always difficult to 
know just when to dispose of a crop. And if we 
resort to contracts for a term of years, ive are 
only safe so long as hops are as high in market as 
the contract price. For so soon as they fall a lit¬ 
tle below, contractors will fail, or by some trick¬ 
ery or other, try to get released, or get some in¬ 
terested friend to swear our hops are only third or 
fourth in quality. 
I have thus given the process of growing this 
important crop, from the time of setting the roots 
in the ground, till the hops are delivered in bales 
ready for market. A few minor points have been 
passed over, fearing I might occupy more of the 
valuable space of your paper than would be ac¬ 
ceptable to yourself or your readers. 
What has been written is simply a plain state¬ 
ment of (acts derived from experience, and in an¬ 
swer to your request for the same, without in the 
slightest degree wishing to influence any, to or 
from engaging in this enterprise. An Otsego 
Hop Grower. 
