jSCSj 



F A R M K II S ' REGIS 1' K R 



47 



linn of the 'Domestic [^Incyclnptediu,' printed in 

 1S21, we fiml il slnteil, tliat tiiis kiMcloC^rain does 

 not yield so nuicli Hour or meal as any of tlie 

 other l<inils oi'wheat, and that "the Hour is searce- 

 Iv superior to tliat obtained from the finest barley." 

 Haviiiij said tiuis much, which we li^lt bound to 

 sav in the line ofduty, as to the character and in- 

 troduction ot'this jirain into our country — it remains 

 only lor us to add, thnf the seed mav be procured 

 of our tViend JMr. Thorburn, at Jioe dollars a 

 bushel. 



REMARKS ON AGRTCl LTl R.\ L IIOBHIriS AND 

 HUMBUGS. 



We had designed, lon^ ago, to siil)init, more at 

 length than heretofore, r^-Muarks on a class of subjects 

 which may be compi'ised under the general designa- 

 tion of "agricultural hobbies and humbugs;" to which 

 might be added, "a-4Ticultural frauds," if it vvi;re not 

 improper and offensive to place in juxta-position the 

 designing deceivers, and the deceived; that is, some of 

 the most knavish of the agricultural profession, with 

 many of the most disinterested, honorable, and public- 

 spirited. But so it is — by the united operations of the 

 cheats and their dupes, (who, being deceived them- 

 selves, innocently aid in deceiving others,) there is a 

 perpetual succession, in the agricultural and other pa- 

 pers, of agricultural humbugs and deceptions, by which 

 a few make large profits, and many find disappointment 

 and loss. We have heretofore, though concisely, and 

 as incidental to particular subjects, expressed opinions 

 designed to oppose the progress of this evil; and similar 

 views were more generally expressed by our friend, 

 James M. Garnett, esq. in his last 'Address,' published 

 in this work. Still, there remains an ample field of 

 humbug to treat of, and to expose. 



There are various modes of practice, in this branch 

 of business; but the most usual is the following: Some 

 new variety of corn, wheat, or other crop, is announced, 

 and recommended as being superior in production and 

 value, to any thing known before. This statement 

 may be partially true, or altogether mistaken — and in 

 either case, the publication may have been made with 

 honest and praiseworthy intentions. On the other 

 hand, the first motive of the publication, as well as the 

 final effect, may have been to make dupes, and to get 

 hold of their money. According to these, or other cir- 

 cumstances, the early publication either contains, or is 

 afterwards followed by, a notification that Mr. Such-a- 

 cne offers to sell seed or plants of this rare and valuable 

 variety, at a price three or four times, or it may be ten 

 times, as high as is usual, or as woidd be a sufficient 

 remuneration for the raising. The enthusiastic and 

 credulous, among thp readers of these highly-wrought 

 panegyrics, are put all agog to obtain seeds which-, as 

 represented, alone will add 30 per cent, to their crops. 

 The regular seedsmen hasten to give their orders, that 

 they may profit by the new demand, just as milliners 

 would for bonnets of the latest fashion, and knowing 

 well that the fashion will be as likely to be transient in 

 the one case as the other. The editors and publishers 

 of agricultural journals, who are not themselves seeds- 

 men, find that articles on these wonderful new pro- 

 ducts are interesting to many of their readers, and very 



convenient to fill their columns; and therefore, they 

 help on its way every successive humbug, and the 

 more wonderful the account, the more sure it is of be- 

 ing Svdected for republication. But if the publisher is 

 himself engaged, directly or indirectly, in the selling of 

 seeds, &.c. (which is a usual, because a very conve- 

 nient and profitable combination of trades,) then he 

 can best profit by his readers' appetite for novelties and 

 wonders; for he can not only start and direct the pufis, 

 but such recommendations are, beyond comparison, 

 the most eliiective of advcrtis(>ments, because not sus- 

 pected to be such, nor to be otherwise than the honest 

 and disinterested opinions of the writers. We, who 

 have no such connexion with seedsmen or others, and 

 have iio such private interest to forward — and who 

 have treated with distrust, scorn and contempt, all ef- 

 forts to buy of us editorial piitis — yet even we can 

 scarcely avoid giving some help to the progress of this 

 wid,ely-spread puffing system; for so many articles in 

 agricultural and other publications partake of this char- 

 acter, wdthout its being apparent, that it is impossible 

 to know all such, and thereby to exclude them fiom 

 our pages, or to mark them with deserved reprobation, 

 when published. We have always been very scrupu- 

 lous and cautious on this head; and certainly have never 

 aided, knowingly, any such plan of deception. Still, 

 in selecting for republication the current ai tides of the 

 day, from other journals, such as notices of particular 

 heavy products, new and valuable seeds, plants, live-- 

 stock, and farming implements, we may have been, 

 iinconsciousiy, helping to extend the circulation and 

 effect of a salesman's disguised puff. If we were to 

 discard our scruples, and, instead of neglecting or oppos- 

 ing, were fully to sustain the puffing system, our publi- 

 cation would have many more articles of temporary in- 

 terest to readers, and in more ways than one, would 

 be productive of much more profit to the publisher. 



But this is not all that we suffer from the great and 

 ever-changing demand created and maintained for new 

 seeds, &c. Our remote readers, believing (and very 

 correctly) that we are always pleased to serve them 

 individually, as well as to forward the improvement of 

 agriculture in every department, frequently write to 

 request our aid in procui ing for them seed of spring 

 wheat, twin corn, Baden corn, &,c. or others of the 

 highly-praised varieties which are successively elbow- 

 ing each other out of notice. We have done our best 

 in such cases, and sometimes at as much gratuitous 

 trouble and expense, as the article in question was 

 worth; even when we had little hope of being success- 

 ful in the safe transmission; for owing to the difficulties 

 which any one who is not practically engaged in, or 

 acquainted with, commercial business, finds in trans- 

 milting articles through circuitous routes, and various 

 conveyances, and by sundry agents, it is probable that 

 not one such venture, in three, reaches its destination 

 safely, after all the trouble and care taken. The regu- 

 lar seedsmen and traders can do better in this respect ; 

 and they can not only send any new hobby to any des- 

 tination, (for price enough,) but moreover, they will 

 generally have a better one ready for sale, before the 

 first will have reached its distant buyer. 



Since the first commencement of agricultural jour- 



