Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1872-05-09
Wedding Out Poultry.

Wedding Out Poultry.
Now is the time for breeders of fancy
poultry, if they have not done 50 al
ready, to go through their tlocks and
tweed out" imperfect birds, and those
that are undesirable for breeding stock,
fatten them, and send them to market
or the table. If possible the pens
should be thoroughly cleared of Ill de-
formed, imperfect, mongrels, and old
fowls, male and female; for nothing is
gained to the breeder or lover of the
birds by keeping over lot of monde
scripts. -,
Care must be taken to select from the
pens the best and earliest pullets-as
regards health, size, action and plu-
mage. Do not on any account keep
over badly marked birds; have those
TINT you do keep over come az near to
perfection as possible in bnild and plu
mage to the strain you desire TO breed
to. Do not breed in-and-in, but select
from a pen (other than yonr OWN the
most vigorous two-year old cock, of
different strain, that can be found, and
place him with the pullets selected for
breeding purposes. BY so doing you
will not only he able to introduce q new
strain of blood in your flock, but va
riety that will in almost I'LL cases pro-
duce a healthier breed than YOU would
secure by keeping over your old stock.
Ne,0 York.
Cultivating "mu Raising Hops.
A rich, deep soil, rather inolining to
moisture, is, on the whole, the best
adapted for the cultivation of hops
but it is observable that any soil (stiff
clay only excepted) will suit the grow
ing of hops when properly prepared
and in many parts ofGreat Britain they
use the bog-land, which is fit for little
else. The ground on which hops are
to be planted should be made rich with
that kind of manure best suited to the
soil, and rendered fine and mellow by
being plowed deep and narrowed sew
eral times. The hills should be at the
distance of six or eight feet apart each
way, according to the richness of the
ground. On lands that are rich the
vines will run the most !; hills must
therefore be further apart.
At the first opening of spring, when
the frosts are over and vegetation be-
gins. sets or small pieces of the roots
OF hops must be obtained from hops
that are esteemed the best. Cut off
from the main stalk or root, six inches
in length, branches or suckers most
healthy, and of the last years growth,
If possible to be procured ; if not, they
should be wrapped in cloth, kept in a
moist place, excluded from the ar. A
hole should then be made, large and
deep, aud filed with rich, mellow earth.
The sprouts should be set in this earth
with the bud upwards, and the ground
pressed close about them. If the buds
have begun to open, the uppermost
must be left just out of the gound !:
otherwise, cover it with the earth an
inch. Two or three sets to a pole is
sufficient and three poles to a hill will
he found most productive. Place
one OF the poles toward
the north, the other two at
equal distances, about two feet apart.
The sets are to be placed in the same
manner as the poles, that they may the
easier climb. The length If the poles
may be from fourteen to eighteen feet,
according as the soil is rich or poor.
The poles should be placed so as to in
cline toward each other, meet at their
tops and there be tied. This is con
trary to the European method, but will
be found best i'll America. In this way
they will strengthen and support each
other, and form so great defense
against the violent gusts of wind to
which our climate is frequently subject
in the months of July and August, as to
prevent their being blown down. They
will, likewise, form three sided pyr.
amid, which will have the greatest pos
sible advantage from the sun.
1t is suggested by experience that
hops which grow near the ground are
the best. Too long poles, therefore,
arc not good, and care should he taken
that the vines do not run beyond the
poles; twisting off their tops will pre-
vent it. The best kinds Of wood for
poles are alder, ash, berc!I, elm, chest
mt and cedar. Their durabilit y is d.
rcctly the reverse Of the order in which
they stand; charming III burning the
end put into the ground will preserve
them. Hops should not be pOlc,l till
the spring of the second year, and then
not till they have been dressed. All
that Is necessary for the first year is to
keep the hops free from weeds, and the
ground light and mellow by hoeing and
blowing often if the yard he large
enough to admit of it.-Americun
B/cnc,s' Gazette.