ernating till the heap is as high as 
convenient to throw the manure, but in any 
case have a layer of manure on top. This pile 
should be made and kept as wet as possible 
without draining. It' one pile is not Sufficient 
to use all the bone-dust, make as many as will 
be enough, if you have manure enough. In 
two months fork the whole carefully over, 
and at this time mix in the muriate, of potash 
at the rate of from MOO to (500 pounds to the 
t on of bones, more or less as the use to which 
the compost is to be put calls for more or less 
potash. Care should be taken to get it evenly 
distributed. If a little fresh manure was put 
into the bottom of the new pile to be made, it 
would help to start the second fermentation 
and be a goo> I thing. In another mouth fork 
the pile over the second time, and at all times 
keep the pile quite wet and by spring you will 
have a very valuable compost heap fiue enough 
to be spread very evenly. We can't tell what 
would be the analysis, but we know it would 
tell on any crop to which it might he applied, 
and it would pay better than if the same money 
were invested in most commercial fertilizers. 
GROWING HOPS, SOIL, CULTURE, ETC. 
W. K. J.. Greenville, Ohio ,—How can I 
start a hop field ? When should the vines be 
planted ! How propagated and Cultivated? 
How much do they cost, per 1,000, and how 
much are the pickers paid per day? 
Ass .—Any land adapted to growing corn 
will be suitable for hops. The soil should be 
good and well prepared, just before the time 
of setting, which should be done as soon as 
the ground will admit of being well tilled. 
The roots, or hop setts, as they are called, are 
sprouts thrown out from the crown, and are 
full of Cyes, and may be cut in pieces two or 
three inches in length. There should always 
be two or three eyes on each piece. The setts 
are sold by Ui£ bushel and are worth generally 
about $1 per bushel. This year they will he 
much higher owing to the necessity of reset¬ 
ting many yards, cause 1 by the loss last year. 
Two or three roots should he put into each hill. 
They should be planted by hand in hills six 
feet square or seven feet by eight. In rich land 
the wider space is preferable, as the vines will 
fully occupy the ground, and if placed closer 
together they could not be cultivated with a 
horse. The land may lie marked out to indi¬ 
cate the places for setting the roots, and after¬ 
wards a lull of potatoes or corn—the first being 
preferable—may be planted bet ween each hill 
of hops in the same row; and another row- 
half way between the hop rows. If these are 
made equal spaces apart, all of the rows will 
be in hue so that a cultivator may be worked 
between them and the land be kept clean. By 
this plan a good crop may be had in the hop 
ground the-first year, and the land be kept 
clear of weeds—grass and weeds will spoil a 
hop crop, and on this account freedom from 
foniuess is imperative. Before cold weather 
two or three torkfuls of manure must be 
thrown directly on the top of the crowns of 
the hop plants to protect them through the 
winter, ami to give them a start in the spring. 
The second year the poles should be set, one 
or more in a hill, or wire should be stretched 
across the field along the rows on high posts 
with wires hanging down to which to attach 
the vines. The poling must be done early so 
that the vines can be trained onto them, or to 
the wires as soon as they start. Every few 
days the yard should be gone over to fasten 
all stray vines to the poles or wires. As soon 
as the ground is tit, a cultivator should be 
started aud kept going enough so that the 
land will bo mellow all of the season and free 
from grass or weeds. In the spring, after 
freezing weather is over, the manure on the 
crowns or hills may be raked off and put 
around the hills. Each autumn t here should 
be the same manuring: each spring the same 
care should be observed with poles and string¬ 
ing the vines, and the same careful culture 
should be. given. When ail this is done a yard 
will last a half dozen years or more and do 
well. There Is not much difference in the 
cost aud labor between the pole and wire 
systems. The latter is patented. Poles can be 
had at various prices a ••cording to quality, 
cedar being the best as well us the dearest in 
first cost. They mostly come from Canada. 
Hops, when well set aud cultivated, will often 
produce as good a crop the second year after 
planting as afterwards. As soon as the hops 
are ripe they should be picked and the poles 
stacked. Pickers are paid by the box ful 
usually, and not bv the day’s work. The 
price varies in localities and according to the 
scarcity of help. A smart picker expects to 
make 82 to $8 a day. 
U1KK&.SJ6 OK THE LIVER IN A MARE. 
(«. L.. East Setauket, A’. 1’.—My elderly 
mare appears in good condition aud is spright¬ 
ly; except an occasional stumble or “letting 
down” behind, she travels well for two or 
throe miles. She "seldom goes up a hill without 
stopping; she whisks her tail and stamps with 
her^left [hind foot, or lifts it clean off the 
grouud, or leans over so as to favor it. Then 
she starts as fast as she can walk, and, maybe, 
stops inside of a rod. If not allowed to stop, 
she will litnp for some distance after getting 
on level ground. She sweats profusely in the 
hind-quarters. She has been affected in this 
way for three or four months, and from the 
first she has not been put to hard work; but 
she is getting worse. After going two or three 
miles she now- stops every few rods; what 
should be done for her? 
A ns. —The symptoms indicate disease of the 
liver, which may be due to too heavy feeding 
aud want of sufficient daily exercise, or to 
some unknown cause. Clive six drams of 
Barbadoes aloes and follow this by injections 
of two or three quarts of milk-warm water 
every three or four hours until the horse is 
purged. Twice daily give one-half dram of 
colehicum, two drams of niter and one-half 
ounce of powdered gentian. Do not over-feed; 
the diet should be laxative, and the bowels 
should be kept loose, preferably by feeding 
roots, mashes or grouud linseed, or by- dram 
doses of aloes if necessery. Allow free access 
to soft and good drinking water. Moderate 
daily exercise is very essential; and thorough 
grooming will be found very beneficial. 
PUNCTURE OK RUMEN IN HOVEN: OTHER 
TREATMENT. 
E. W, <S'., Barnesville, Ohio .—I had a cow 
suffering from bloat or hoven, and no one 
hereabouts knew where to use the knife to let 
out the gas, aud directions in books were not 
explicit enough. Should the opening be where 
the paunch adheres to the flesh. 
ANSWERED BY K. L. KILBORNK. 
The puncture should be made on the left side 
(the rumen or paunch lies mostly on the left 
side) aud at a point equally distant from the 
last rib, the lateral processs of the backbone, 
and the point of the hip. It is not necessary 
that the puncture be exactly at this point, but 
approximately, say within a radius of three 
inches on the most promineut part of the 
swelling. A six or eight-inch trocar and ean- 
ula is the proper instrument for this purpose, 
the trocar to be withdrawn after the puncture, 
aud the eauula left in position until the for¬ 
mation of the gas ceases. These instruments 
are not expensive,and it would be well if every 
cattle owner had one. In the absence of the 
trocar and canula a pocket knife or indeed 
any sharp-pointed instrument at least two or 
three inches in length.may be used,and should 
be held in the opening until a long quill or 
other small tube can be introduced to keep the 
openings made in the skin and panueh in ex¬ 
act opposition to prevent the gas escaping into 
the abdomiual cavity. This is the only part 
of the operation requiring special care. In 
makiug the puncture the instrument should 
be boldly plunged into the paunch at right 
angles to the surface of the skin. The whole 
operation is very simple, can be performed by 
auyone, and with ordinary care is rarely at¬ 
tended with any evil results. Either before 
or after the puncture is made it is well to give 
as a drench in a quart of cold water or gruel, 
tlu*ee or four drams of ammonia or two or three 
ounces of sulphite of soda, or oue-half' ounce 
cooking soda with a wineglass full of alcohol, 
or ether, or spirits of camphor, two ounces of 
oil of turpeutine dilute l in oil or milk, a half 
pint of alcohol or a pint, of whisky or brandy, 
three drams pepper, two ounces of ginger, or 
20 drops oil of peppermint may be given with 
advantage, diluted so as to be non-irritating. 
To increase tlie effect combine any two of the 
above that are dissimilar. After relief has 
been obtained it is usually desirable to give a 
purgative to carry off the fermenting food aud 
unload the bowels. For this purpose one to 
two pounds Glauber salts, according to the size 
and strength of the patieut, with two or three 
ounces of ginger may be given. Allow free 
access to pure water and restrict the diet for 
several days. 
LOOSE BOWELS IN A HEIFER. 
.4. r. Van E., Geneva, N. V .—My two- 
year-old Jersey heifer’s bowels have for two 
months been loose enough to make her excre¬ 
ment thin enough to keep her tail and legs 
foul. Condition powders effected only a slight 
temporary relief at times. Just now her drop¬ 
pings are slightly tinged with blood, and con¬ 
tain a shiny, sticky stuff like phlegm, with a 
slight admixture of yellowish white matter. 
Her hair is rather rough; but barriug the 
above trouble, she has always been in good 
condition. What should be done for her? 
Ans. —Give one pint of Linseed oil and oue- 
half pint of castor oil with two ounces of oil 
of turpeutiue.imd follow, six hours later, with 
another two-ounce dose of the oil of turpen¬ 
tine diluted in a half pint of linseed oil or a 
quart of milk. Repeat the turpentine on al¬ 
ternate evenings for ton days. Also give, 
night, and morning, two drams of sulphate of 
iron and one ounce each of powdered gentian 
aud ginger, and omit on alternate weeks. 
The diet should be restricted but nourishing. 
The oils should mildly physic the cow in 12 to 
18 hours, and their effect should not continue 
beyond that length of time. In case it does, ! 
give warm injections of one or two quarts of 
thin boiled starch every three hours until the 
diarrhoea ceases; but as soon as checked dis¬ 
continue the injections. If after 24 hours no 
effect has been produced by the oils,repeat the 
dose. 
PLUMS FOR DRYING. 
A. L. It, Horseshoe Bend , Idaho .—Which 
are the best drying plums? 
Ans.—W e infer that the garden plums of 
Europe and America (Prunus doraestica), will 
succeed in the climate of Idaho. If so, German 
Pmue, and doubtless the Italian, also, will be 
satisfactory for this purpose. If desired for 
family use, high quality becomes more im¬ 
portant. In such case a selection from the finer 
freestone varieties may be preferred. Among 
these we name Bleecker’s Gage, Deuniston’s 
Superb, General Hand, Green Gage, Ravay's 
Green Gage, Jefferson, Lawrence, Prince 
Engelbert, Purple Favorite, Red Magnum 
J Bonum, Washington, and others. If, per¬ 
chance, the Idaho climate should prove un¬ 
adapted to this class of plums, there is no alter¬ 
native hut to accept the C’hieasaw or Ameri¬ 
can classes, comparatively low as they are in 
quality. We are not able to state which of 
these are freestone varieties, save in the case 
of the Weaver. There are now a good mauy 
of these before the public, many of them yet 
untested; but these may be considered as 
make-shifts for use where other and better 
sorts fail. Trials of many of these, in the lat¬ 
itude of Idaho, to a great extent indicate a 
decided lack of productiveness; although 
abundantly hardy. 
E. V., Little Rock , Ark .—Kaffir Corn seed 
can be got of several of the firms advertising 
in the Rural. 
(Continued on page 58.) 
Pi.s'rfllaneoutf grilmti.o’ing. 
To our friends wlio have not already received it, we are ready to mail 
our NEW CATALOGUE of 
HIGH CLASS SEEDS 
FOR 1887. 
J.M. Thorburna Co.jo JohnS: NewYork. 
URPEE’S 
for the most complete iif 
Catalogue pablished. to W ■ 
FARM ANNUAL FOR 1887 
Will be sent FREE TO ALL who write for it. It is a 
Handsome Hook of 128 Pages, with hundreds of 
illustrations, three Colored Plates, and tells all about 
THE BEST GARDEN. FARM and FLOWER 
Dill DO Dl AUTO Thoroughbred STOCK and 
DULDOt I LAN I O* Fancy POULTRY. It de 
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ralur, which cannot be obtained elsewhere. Send address on Postal 
ATLEE BURPEE & CO. PHILADELPHIA, PA. 
SIT SEEDS 
O 
ROSES 
PUNTS 
FRlHT°*ORNAMENTALTREES. GRAPE VINES 
OR ANYTHING IN THE NURSERY LINE, without first writing 
r foroui valuable FREE Catalogue, the I 21 LARCE GREENHOUSES 
BEST we ever issued, containing the Rarest New and I 33d YEAR. 700 ACRES. 
Choicest old. TH E STORRS & HARRISON CO. PAINESVILLE, OHIO. 
NOVELTIES^SPECIALTIES IN SEEDS 
UMCflN D CTfHfCC CARDEN AND FARM MANUAL for 1887 will be mailed Free 
_ nHoUH at oIURl.0 to all who write for It. Valuable and Interesting. Handsomely 
Illustrated with over 2,000 varieties BEST CARDEN, FARM AND FLOWE R 
■ JOHN 
I illustr; 
| Fancy 
illustrated witn over g.uuo varieties oca i v/Hat/u,’,, . „... /->■’~ * z. . 7 . 
Fancy Poultry, Ac. Address JOHNSON A STOKES. Seed Crowers. Philadelphia, Pa. 
What Mr. Beyer says 
s. ’.hanks for the -p lend id seeds rvcuivt d from your firm, 
ii would he a rather lengthy list if I should name all, but 
will suv that amongst 33 first, and 3 second premiums 
awarded toe at our fairs in Northern Indiana and 
premiums were for vege- 
from your seeds. What firm can beat 
’* August Brush, So. Bend, Itid. 
Seed of this quality T am ik>w ready to sell to every one 
who tills a farm or plants a rardeu, sending them FRFfc my 
egi'table and Flower Seed (’atulogue. fi r 13ST. Old customers 
need not w rite for it. I catalogue this season the native wild 
potato. JAS. J. II. (iREIiOUl , Seed Grower, Marblehead, Mass. 
CATALOGUE—-18H7 —Con¬ 
tains a descriptive list of every¬ 
thing thatls desirable ami worth having in the way of 
i 'vgetablc and Floral Seeds. Numerous valuable Novel- 
ties'aud l. Oe Introductions In Flmcers anil Vegetables. 
seleel Field Seeds and Seed Ft it ■does. Spring Bulbs, • 
Small fruits, fYuil aud Simile Trees. See . It eon 
tains two Colored Plates and is profusely illustrated. It 
will be mailed rnEK to last years customers without 
application, aud to all others who send us their name 
and address with ,’f cents in postage stamps. At 1 who 
use Garden, Flotrer and Farm Seed* should send for il. 
W i»t. C. BKC K E If T, SkHOism \n. Allegheny. Pa. 
Mention Uits paper when you write. 
JAPAN FLORA. 
The Rarest JAPANESE PLANTS, Imported from 
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Camellias, Rhododendrons. Daphnes, Magnolias. 
Ferns, Palms, and Orchids. 
Newest Chrysanthemums. Tree Pieouins. 
and Iris. 
Persimmon, Plum. Orange, Quince, and Mammoth 
Chestnut ami Walnut Trees. 
Send for Now- Catalogue Free. 
11. II. BERGEN A- CO.. CKSTAIIUSHEP 1373,1 
V. O BOX 1501. s.\N FRANCISCO, CAL. 
B ECKERT’S 
T HE A MERIC a ,V card EX is an Illus¬ 
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Dey St.,JN. Y. #2 a year ; with R. N.-Y, $8. 
SMITH’S fflnstratel M Catalogue. 
1018 MARKET »T.. 
FREE to alt applicants deslrtuc 
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llOCSK at lowest prtoea. A TRIAL 
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Seedsman, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 
i 
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3 TO 12 PLANTS 
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Our N c\t(l uitle.SS pp..descnbee nearly JOOII nest 
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