AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
4,7 
than they pretend to ask in their circulars. Tlnre is not 
a watch in this whole city to be bought under its real value, 
wholeBaleor retail, and on standard articles like good 
watches, there is not a wide difference between the 
wholesale and retail price— nothing more than a fair busi- 
ness profit. All of the stories of the "circular" and 
"ticket" men are the merest falsehoods — Take one ex- 
ample of these watch and jewelry swindlers : Geo. How- 
ard & Co., up Broadway, send out an ingenious circular 
calculated to deceive the unwary. A careful examina- 
tion of this document shows that they offer tickets at $1 
each, or 2(3 tickets for $20. In another place they offer 
watches valued at $12 to $250; and in a third place they 
eay "more than one-half of our tickets draw Gold or 
Silver Watches." Is anybody so green as to be deceived 
by this concern? Yet they claim to be selling "G,000 
tickets a week, 1 ' aud if they did not find many dupes, 
they would not continue to send circulars and pay post- 
age. We are trying to enlighten the class among which 
these and other swindlers find their victims. We hope 
the circulation of the Agriculturist, bo rapidly extending, 
will soon leave no unenlightened families for the humbug 
fraternity to operate among Look out for " patent 
rights" sold for notes '"not to be paid until the article 
proves satisfactory." In such cases, the gurantec is 
Beparated and the notes sold in a collectable condition. 
An immense "Lottery" with the sympathy-for-Lin- 
coln dodge attached, is started at Columbus, O.,— with 
50 cent tickets, as taking as the " Royal Havana Lottery," 
with the "wheel" lot and all, only here it is called a 
"Distribution," and is said to be "managed" by the 
"Lincoln Dioramic Association." The Managers of the 
Express Company do not approve of the active efforts in 
promoting this enterprise, by their Agent, at Columbus, 
O., and they assure us that it shall be stopped at once 
Young men, beware of circulars about sporting and 
obscene books. Those who send these violate the law 
once in so doing, and they intend to do it again by steal- 
ing the money you send them We arc greatly pleased 
to find other journals waking up to the importance of 
giving information about the various swindling schemes 
that are flooding the country. We have labored hard at 
this for many years past, at large expense of time, pa- 
tience, and money, and with the annoyance of lawsuits 
commenced as a bin tT. but as often withdrawn or defeat- 
ed. We have frequently labored almost alone in this field, 
as many journals have apparently feared to disturb the 
profits of their advertising columns. But since General 
Van Wyck compelled attention to the subject by bringing 
it forward in Congress, many other papers have taken it 
up. Even a recent number of the N. Y. Herald slashed 
away in its editorial columns at the very schemes we have 
bo long been showing up. The Herald would have 
been consistent for once, if in the same paper there had 
not appeared a flaming advertisement of the Gettysburg 
Gift Enterprise. The N. Y. Tribune recently published 
a long exposure of swindles, going over the same ground 
we have traveled for many years past. This would have 
come with more force, if that paper had excluded the ad- 
vertisement of one of the Gift swindlers that, occupied 
its columns only eight or ten days before. But we hail 
the appearance of the antidote; and while so very many 
journals take the ground of " no responsibility for adver- 
tisements," the reader must look to the editorial columns 
for the truth. We can not see how publishers of other- 
wise respectable newspapers can constantly advertise 
humbugs, and the disgusting— nay, the crime-producing— 
medical advertisements that pollute their pages. Take 
the N. Y. Daily Times as an example. The Herald don't 
profess to do any better, and any one who places it in his 
family, knows what to expect. — We have no desire to 
criticise or find fault with others; but the mixing up of 
these pernicious advertisements with news and other 
desirable information is to be greatly deplored ; it tends 
to destroy the morals of the young and the weak-minded, 
and by so much is a positive injury to society at large. 
Cotton Culture. — By Joseph B. Lyman, 
late of Louisiana ; with an additional chapter on Cotton 
Seed and Its Uses, by J. R. Sypher. New York : Orange 
Judd & Co.— This work which was announced in Decem- 
ber, is now ready. It forms a neat hand-book of 190 
pages, and gives all the details of cotton culture, from 
selecting and stocking the farm, to baling and marketing 
the crop. Illustrations arc given of implements, presses, 
buildings, and of the insects that are injurious to the cot- 
ton plant.— Price, by mail, $1.50. 
A Cover for the Agriculturist.— 
C. H. Brown, East Bridgewater, Mass., makes a cover for 
his numbers in the following manner: ""Take a thin 
piece of straw board, doable it together, and cut it about 
one quarter of an inch larger, each way. than the Agri- 
culturist, and make a notch at the top and bottom where 
it is bent. Cover it with some neal paper, and take a 
common boot lacing, and tlo around it from top to bot- 
tom, parsing it through the notches, and the cover is 
ready to receive the Agriculturist. A number, (after it is 
cut,) may be slipped under the string, and taken out again 
when the next one is received. In this way the papers 
are kept clean, neat, and straight, and are in good condi- 
tion for binding at the end of the year. 
Journalistic Changes. — The Farmer's 
Advertiser, St. Louis, is now published as a weekly, and 
has taken the name of Journal of Agriculture ; it re- 
mains under the excellent editorial supervision of Doctor 
L. D. Morse. Column's Rural World is now also a week- 
ly, and Col. Column has C. W. Murtfeldt as joint editor. 
The Southern Cultivator has changed hands several times 
since the death of Mr. White, and is now edited and pub- 
lished by Wm. aud W. L. Jones. The two Richmond 
agricultural papers have united, and the resulting journal, 
taking the name of both, is the Farmer and Planter. 
The Tribune's "Religious Items," 
—It is not exactly within our province to reflect upon the 
religion or politics of any person or paper, but as a 
neighborly act we must just hint to the Tribune that the 
following is just the oddest "religious item" we have 
met with: "Mr. Beecher's farm, up the river, yielded 
crops valued at $3,700 last year." 
Tainted Barrels. — Mrs. A. R. Austen, 
111., says they can be cleaned. u Dissolve a tablespoon ful 
of strong potash in two gallons of rain-water, over the 
fire. Heat the water to near the boiling point. Rinse 
around so as to reach every part of the barrel, and stand 
to cool with the cover on. Then give a good scrubbing 
and pour out. Rinse with scalding rain-water and stand 
to cool as before. Raise the cover occasionally to see if 
the barrel is sweet, which can be told by the smell of the 
steam. Rinse thoroughly in cold water. If not cleansed 
by one operation, repeat the process." 
An Amateur's Queries.— (1.) "Do you 
not think it injurious to use fertilizers that contain 
potash on tender plants? "—(2.) "Do you approve of 
whitewashing fruit trees?"— (3.) "Do you approve of 
plugging trees with sulphur or other ingredients to 
drive off insects? If so, which is the best article?" 
(I.)— The question is too indefinite. All of the common 
fertilizers contain potash in some form. (2 ) — Soft soap 
will answer all the purposes of whitewash and has none 
of its disadvantages, among which is its unsightliness. 
(3.)— We have many times disclaimed any approval of 
this, but have published one or two reported cases with 
the object of bringing out facts. 
The Farm and Fireside, published in 
Woonsocket, R. L, and in Philadelphia, has been discon- 
tinued at the close of its first year. We are sorry to miss 
this sprightly young journal from our exchange list. 
Barberry tor Hedges.— Dr. M. A. C. 
and others. We never had occasion to grow the barberry 
but once, and then the seeds were mixed with earth, 
and frozen and thawed several times before sowing. 
They came up in the greatest abundance. If the seed be 
fresh, we believe this preparation unnecessary. Sow as 
early as possible, in a mellow seed bed ; do not cover over 
half an inch. Plants two years old are best for a hedge. 
Bireh Baric I*ots.— Last spring, Mr. S. 
F. Alvord, S. Hadley, Mass., sent us samples of birch 
bark pots, which he finds excellent for starting tomatoes, 
etc., in the house. They were made of the flexible bark 
of the Canoe-Birch, (Betula papyraeea.) Where this tree 
is common, which'is only in northern localities, the bark 
may be used for the above, and other domestic purposes. 
The Walter Grape. — In December last 
we published an account of the Meeting of the Lake 
Shore Grape Growers' Association, furnished by Mr. Geo. 
W. Campbell. In this report Mr. C. said: "The Walter 
was not on exhibition ; its originator being perhaps bet- 
ter satisfied with publishing pictures, exaggerating it 
four times larger than any specimens yet exhibited. 11 
Messrs. Ferris & Caywood think that this statement is 
calculated to do them an injury, and we give place to 
their reasons for not exhibiting the Walter, and their de- 
nial of the charge of exaggeration. They say: 
"The Walter, as exhibited at Cleveland a year ago last 
fall, averaged five-eighths of an inch in diameter as 
measured. Increase this 'four limes, 1 and it will be 
two and a half inches. Tour readers can now see on 
which side the exaggeration is by referring to the cut, 
which was the size of the fruit year before last : and yet 
Mr. Campbell says we have given to the country "pictures 
four times larger than any of the fruit, ever exhibited. 1 
He will be as anxious that we shall not exhibit the grape 
at Lake Shore, hereafter, as he was this fall that we 
should, as he will be compelled to look tbese facts in the 
face. The Walter has each year, since it first bore, in- 
creased iu size, and last season averaged eleven-six- 
teenths of an inch in diameter. These facts are known 
to the many hundreds who have visited the vine from 
different sections of the country. We have as yet but 
one bearing vine which has borne thirty-two clusters each 
of the past two years, and as our business was of such a 
nature as to require our personal attention constantly, we 
concluded to exhibit the small crop but once and tele- 
graphed to the President of the Hamniondsport Fair to 
this effect; but the next day A. J. Caywood, of the firm, 
was taken ill, and as many were arriving daily from a 
distance to see the fruit, we concluded not to send it. 
"We cannot imagine what consideration caused Mr. 
C. to endeavor to make your readers believe that we were 
deceiving the country by exaggerating the size of a new 
fruit. He was one of the Committee who awarded the 
first premium to the Walter, at Cleveland, and exhibited 
as much enthusiasm over it as any one person we saw, 
and we find on our book his name for twelve vines. We 
feel constrained to name a few of the many who have visit- 
ed the vine this last season, and declared in our presence 
that it was fully as large as Catawba, which averages con- 
siderably larger than the berries represented iu our cut: 
J. A. Requa, Esq., Amenia, N., Y., (owner of the Salem ;) 
Rev. Asa Bullard, 13 Cornhill, Boston, Mass. ; Robert 
B. Parsons, Esq., Flushing, N. Y. ; C. L. Hoag, Esq., 
Lockport, N. Y. ; Rev. E. P. Roe, Highland Falls, N. Y, ; 
and the grape growers in this vicinity. 
White Grapes* — "J. D. P." has planted sev- 
eral white varieties, but his fruit all came of another 
color, and he wishes to know which is the whitest "■ in this 
climate. " As there is no date to his note, we are puzzled 
to know where the place is that makes white grapes, "al- 
ways of another color." It may be that careless nursery- 
men have as much to do with it as the climate. Or it 
may be that our correspondent is not aware that white, as 
applied to grapes, includes green, yellowish, pale amber, 
and anything but white. Probably the hardiest and most 
reliable of the white varieties is the Martha. Very sweet, 
and in quality much like the Concord. If J. D. P. has 
a long season, the Maxatawney would suit him; it is 
an excellent variety under favorable circumstances. The 
best of white grapes is Allen's Hybrid, hut it is loo liable 
to mildew for general cultivation. 
Elm Wood, its Uses.— "H. A. M.," Har- 
risburg, Pa. We presume our correspondent inquires 
for the use of the White Elm, {Ulmus Americana), which 
is by far the most common. The chief objection to it 
for fuel is its exceeding toughness, but it is used ex- 
tensively for this purpose upon the farm, though not often 
carried to market. It will answer for boards, planks and 
joists, in positions where it will not be exposed to the 
weather. It is chiefly used for making the hubs of car- 
riage and wagon wheels, and there is generally a market 
for it at the manufactories of these. The young trees 
are prized for streets and avenues. The wood of the 
Winged Elm has a much finer grain and is more valuable. 
A String of Qiiei-ies.— " J. M. E.," Ml. 
Vernon. 1. The best kind of feed box for horses— la made 
of iron, and is to be found at the large agricultural and 
hardware stores in the cities. There are several patterns. 
2. Corn Stalks cut and steamed make good feed for horses. 
If the animals are worked, they should have oats or meal 
in addition. 3. Bone dust can be procured at the large 
agricultural stores in our cities at from 40 to 50 dollars 
per ton. 4. Sorghum will grow on any good corn land. 
5. Scrap cake can be procured at the tallow-chandler's. 
Verbenas from Seed. — Lizzie Scar- 
borough, 111., writes that, being unsuccessful in keeping 
Verbenas over winter, she has tried raising plants from 
seed. The seeds should be sown as early as possible, 
and all the better if it could be done under glass, as it is 
desirable to get the plants in flower early. If seed of a 
good stock be obtained, most of the flowers will be pass- 
able, and there is a chance of getting some very fine ones. 
There is a great interest attending raising plants that ara 
liable to vary from seed. To be sure, we have to pet a 
great many that turn out to be worthless, but one success 
makes us forget many failures. 
Patent Office Reports.— J. F. Browne. 
Write t<> the Representative in Congress from your dis- 
trict, and he will cither supply yon or tell you how to ob- 
tain one. They arc mostly distributed by Congressmen. 
A Bit of Potato Experience.— J. H. 
Page, Wapella Co., writes: " Seeing your article in last 
year's Agriculturist, in reference to growing potatoes 
under straw, I concluded to try my luck, which was not 
so favorable as ' Hooaier , 3. , I planted three varieties, 
via., the Spotted and Blue Ncshannocks, and Cuzco, fa 
