"The stripping and stacking of the poles succeed to the operation of picking. The shoot or bind being stripped off, such poles as are not decayed, are set up together in a conical pile of three or four hundred, the centre of which is formed by three stout poles bound together a few feet from their tops, and their lower ends spread out.

"The produce of no crop is so liable to variation as that of the Hop; in good seasons an acre will produce 20 cwt., but from 10 to 12 cwt. is considered a tolerable average crop. The quality of Hops is estimated by the abundance or scarcity of an unctuous clammy powder which adheres to them, and by their bright yellow colour. The expenses of forming a Hop plantation are considerable; but once in bearing, it will continue so for ten or fifteen years before it requires to be renewed. The Hop is peculiarly liable to diseases; when young it is devoured by fleas of different kinds; at a more advanced stage, it is attacked by the green fly, red spider, and ottermoth, the larvæ of which prey even upon their roots. The honey-dew often materially injures the Hop crop; and the mould, the fire-blast, and other blights, injure it at different times toward the latter period of the growth of the plant."

It appears from an article in the 'Genesee Farmer,' that the culture of Hops is becoming an important branch of husbandry in the State of New-York. A correspondent observes, that “as fine samples have been grown in Orange and Madison counties as in any part of the world. The Hop is considered somewhat precarious; but when the season is good, the profit is very great. The average product may be stated at 700 lbs., though it has reached 1,600 lbs. to the acre; and in the latter case the expenses amounted to sixty dollars. The ordinary, or average price, may be stated at eighteen cents per pound. The profits on an ordinary crop, according to these assumed data, would be about seventy dollars to the acre. It often falls materially short of this, however, from the want of knowledge and care in gathering and drying the crop.

"The quantity of Hops taken to Albany and the neighDouring towns on the Hudson, this year (1834), has been estimated at 2,300 bales, or 50,000 lbs., which, had not many of them been prematurely gathered, or badly cured, would have yielded to the growers ninety or a hundred thousand dollars. But of the 2,300 bales there was not more than 200 bales, we are informed, that ought to have received the denomination of first sorts. Many of them were picked too early, before the matter that imparts to them their value was sufficiently developed; and others were scorched or smoked in curing. This carelessness has seriously affected the character of our Hops abroad, and they are no longer purchased by the Philadelphia brewers. They would soon form an important article of export, if their character was raised by care in their culture and drying, and a rigid inspection."

The young shoots of both wild and cultivated Hops are considered by some as very wholesome, and are frequently gathered in the spring, boiled, and eaten as Asparagus. The stalks and leaves will dye wool yellow. From the stalk a strong cloth is made in Sweden, the mode of preparing which is described by Linnæus in his Flora Suecica. A decoction of the roots is said to be as good a sudorific as Sarsaparilla ; and the smell of the flowers is soporific. A pillow filled with Hop flowers will induce sleep, unattended with the bad effects of soporifics, which require to be taken internally.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER, AS INFLU

ENCED BY CHANGES OF THE MOON.

LEST the reader should judge, from my introducing this subject, that I am an advocate for moon-planting, in any other sense than in ascribing the various changes of the weather to the influence of that great luminary, I would here offer a few observations in reference to the practice and prejudices of many persons in choosing the first quarter of the moon for planting such vegetables as yield their produce above the surface, as Cabbage, &c., and the last quarter or wane of the moon for such as grow and yield their produce chiefly in the earth, and below the surface, as Potatoes, &c.

I would first observe, that if the moon has any direct influence over vegetable productions, it must operate in many cases quite the reverse to what these theorists generally expect; for instance, if the earth and weather should happen to be dry in the first week after planting certain species of seed, such would fail to germinate, for want of its most essential nutriment, moisture; and in consequence of such seed lying dormant in the earth, until after another change of the moon, if that luminary influences the seed at all, in such case it must be contrary to the objects of the honest planter.

As I deem this argument alone sufficient to shake the foundation of moon-planting, in the sense I have described, I shall at once submit to the reader's attention the following observations and table, from the pen of the justly celebrated Dr. Adam Clarke. Some exceptions, however, may be taken to his rules, with regard to the wind, which does not operate in all places alike. For example, in rainy seasons with us, the wind is generally east, northeast, or southeast, and cold weather is attended by a northwest wind. In England, where these calculations were made, it is in some respects different:

"From my earliest childhood I was bred up on a little farm, which I was taught to care for and cultivate ever since I was able to spring the rattle, use the whip, manage the

sickle, or handle the spade; and as I found that much of our success depended on a proper knowledge and management of the weather, I was led to study it ever since I was eight years of age. I believe meteorology is a natural science, and one of the first that is studied; and that every child in the country makes, untaught, some progress in it; at least, so it was with me. I had actually learned, by silent observation, to form good conjectures concerning the coming weather, and on this head, to teach wisdom to those who were imperfect, especially among those who had not been obliged, like me, to watch earnestly, that what was so necessary to the family support should not be spoiled by the weather before it was housed.

Many a time, even in tender youth, I have watched the heavens with anxiety, examined the different appearances of the morning and evening sun, the phases of the moon, the scintillation of the stars, the course and colour of the clouds, the flight of the crow and swallow, the gambols of the colt, the fluttering of the ducks, and the loud screams of the seamew, not forgetting the hue and croaking of the frogs. From the little knowledge I had derived from close observation, I often ventured to direct our agricultural operations in reference to the coming days, and was seldom much mistaken in my reckoning.

"About twenty years ago, a table purporting to be the work of the late Dr. Herschel, was variously published, professing to perform prognostics of the weather, by the times of change, full, and quarters of the moon. I have carefully consulted this table for years, and was amazed at his general accuracy: for though long, as you have seen, engaged in the study of the weather, I never thought that any rules could be devised, liable to so few exceptions. I have made a little alteration in the arrangements, illustrated it with further observations, and have sent it to you that you may insert it, as it has hitherto been confined generally to a few almanacs."

A TABLE

For telling the Weather through all the Lunations of each Year, for ever.

THIS table and the accompanying remarks are the result of many years' actual observation; the whole being constructed on a due consideration of the attraction of the sun and moon, in their several positions respecting the earth, and will, by simple inspection, show the observer what kind of weather will most probably follow the entrance of the moon into any of its that so near the truth as to be seldom or never found to fail.