18GS.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
87 
the best of these lottery and gift schemes, if we can apply 
the term best to things wholly bad.... Oar letters this 
month contain circulars of thirteen different Lottery and 
Gift enterprises, of eleven different watch and jewelry 
ticket schemes, all swindles, and of twelve miscellaneous 
humbugs, such as honey recipes, oil manufactures, wash- 
ing compounds, sewing machines vile publications and 
instruments, etc.— in all, just three dozen swindling 
schemes, the operators of each of which arc paying large 
sums for postage and circulars, for which they are reim- 
bursed by the simple-minded, trusting people — Beach, 
S'ephens&C'o. is a new name in the great-promise-notbiug- 
rcturncd-swindling-army, but is a revamp of an old con- 
cern . . Swan, of Manchester, X. II., is one of the most 
"cheeky" swindlers we have lately met. though he has 
several near relatives in this city Manning's un-mutual 
joint stock affair at Milford is, like all of its class, nothing 
but a humbug.... A. P. Bnssey, formerly of X. Y. east, 
aud now in central N. Y., is so greedy of money that he 
will even murder if paid a small consideration, aud has 
the impudence to argue in favor of lessening the human 
race. Pity he aud a dozen of his class had only one 
neck, and the hangman a rope around that neck. We 
would, for once at least, vote for capital punishment for 
murderers, despite the interposition of Mr. Greeley 
Since die above was written, the Pennsylvania Legis- 
lature has repealed the act by which it has hitherto been 
indirectly upholding the Gettysburg Asylum Scheme. 
Tlic Jerusalem Artichoke. — Mrs. 
A. N., of Rome, Ga., writes: - I would say a word in 
favor of the Jerusalem Artichoke. I dou"t know how it 
would compare with the food of northern cattle; but 
here, where the great obstacle in keeping a cow is the 
difficulty of procuring food, I am convinced it would be a 
most profitable crop. We ouly have ground enough to 
supply our own table, but I alwaye take care to let an 
artichoke grow in every spare corner, and treat my cow 
to a bucketful as often as possible. Our soil is not what 
you would call rich— rather the reverse, but I can always 
THE JEIU'SALEM ARTICHOKE. 
take a peck bucket full, sometimes more, from a single 
plant. They need to stand singly, and two or three feet 
apart ;.a cow will eat them raw with avidity, aud if they 
are boiled, mashed, and a little bran, or meal and salt, 
added, she will scarcely stop for breath till all is gone, 
and will increase her milk at least a third. As there are 
few days here that a spade cannot be put into the ground, 
they need only be taken up as wanted. Another advan- 
tage is, they are up with the first breath of spring and you 
can cut an armful of tender tops for the cow before she 
can fiud much other green food, and which she will cat 
with a relish worth witnessing ; even the old leaves they 
eat in preference to almost anything else in the garden. 
All the cultivation needed is to keep them from getting 
too thick ; they grow so fast few weeds can contend with 
them. I think if you could induce every one, at least in 
the South, that owns a lot of ground and a cow, to plant a 
goud lot of them, they would be very much obliged to you." 
Make tHe Most of Your Land. — 
Gardening for Profit, by Peter Henderson, is not solely 
devoted to market gardening, but it tells how to treat a 
garden of any size in a manner to get the most from the 
space. No book of the kind has given such general satis- 
faction. Price $1.50 by mail. 
A, ;\ew Publishing House, that of 
H' --is. J. B. Ford& Co., 149 Grand St., has been recently 
organized in this city. Mr. Ford has been formally years 
connected with the trade— the past eleven years as inan- 
agerof the Subscription Department of the Appletons, 
Including the Cyclopedia, etc. One of the first works to 
be issued by the lew firm will be a Life of Christ, by 
Rev. Henry Ward Beecher. 
Knox's Fruit Farm, — The catalogue of 
Mr. Knox grows each year more portly, aud is full of good 
things. The sending of plants by mail has long been 
one of the feature- of this establishment We are glad 
to see that he gives due prominence to that much ncg- 
lected fruit, the currant. That he is eloquent on the 
Jucunda, we need not say, and he makes liberal offers to 
send It with the Agriculturist aud other papers. 
The Word " Muck."-" Will you oblige 
a reader by explaining what you mean by the word 
* muck V " — Webster defines muck as " Dung in a moist 
elate, — A mass of decaying vegetable matter," etc. 
Worcester says : " A substance, as dung or straw, that is 
moist or in a fermenting state, — Manure." Swamp muck 
is a substance familiar to most of our readers. To this 
substance Webster's second definition is substantially 
appropriate. "Muck" is applied in the common usage 
of farmers and gardeners of this country to the decom- 
posing vegetable matter of swamps, including substances 
of different kinds as peat, rotten leaves, and even the 
deposits in old mill-ponds, if chiefly vegetable. 
Chicken. Feed. — "P. T.," Connecticut. 
We know of nothing better for young chickens and 
turkeys than hard boiled eggs chopped fine, and fed with 
cracked corn aud wheat. The first few weeks is the 
most critical time with them, and they need animal food 
in gome form, especially in the early spring, before 
grubs aud insects arc plenty. We have fed raw liver, 
chopped line, with advantage, A change of food is desir- 
able. Wheat or barley steeped in milk, toasted bread 
crumbs, aud hominy, are excellent. They should be fed 
as often as five times a day, until they arc a month old, 
and should have access to clean water at all times. 
Do You Want to Kuow ? — We are 
obliged to lump answers to a large number of correspond- 
ents iuthis manner. Do you want to know where to get 
Seeds and Implements ? Consult the advertisements ; the 
large dealers usually keep all kinds of seeds aud imple- 
ments. Do you wish to know all about Hops, Flax, Onions 
or Tobacco? Get our treatises on these subjects. Do 
you wish a handy Poultry Book? Get Saunders Domestic 
Poultry. For condensed directions for Drainage see our 
Agricultural Annual for 1SH7, and for the best account of 
Cheese Factories, that for 1868. If you wish to know 
about new plants, fruits, and vegetables, see the Horticul- 
tural Annual. Both these Annuals are full of good things. 
Vitality of Seeds.— S. A. Greeu asks as 
to the length of time garden seeds will retain their vital- 
ity. We can only answer in a general way, as the du- 
ration of the germinative power depends very much on 
the care with which they have been kept. The following is 
Peter Henderson's arrangement. Onions, Parsnips, and 
Leeks, should be of the previous season's growth. Good 
for two years. Beans. Peas, Carrots, Egg Plant, Okra. 
Salsify. Sweet Herbs; for three years. Asparagus, En- 
dive, Lettuce, Parsley, Spinach and Radish. Those 
safe for four years. Cabbage, Cauliflower, Celery, and 
Turnip ; from Jive to ten years, Beets, Cucumber, Mel- 
ons, Pumpkins, Squash and Tomato. 
Pea-nut Culture. — Several Inquirers. The 
Pea-nut needs a light mellow and rather fertile soil. 
Some throw up ridges as for sweet potatoes, but they are 
quite as often grown in flat culture. The rows or ridges 
are laid off three or four feet apart, (the plant spreads a 
good deal), and the seeds, with the husk removed, are 
planted two in a place at distances of a foot in the row. 
When the plants are up. thin to one in a place, aud sup- 
ply missing ones by transplanting. The after culture 
consists in keeping the weeds down and the grouud 
mellow. Do not plant until the ground is warm. 
Cranberry Culture.— We answer many 
inquiries together. 1, We have no evidence that the 
cultivation of cranberries on upland has been successful 
on a large scale, though small garden plots have done 
well. 2, A peat bog or meadow, that can be drained and 
can be flooded at will, is the most suitable place for a 
plantation. The bog is drained by deep ditches and an 
embankment is made to keep the water out, with flood- 
gates for letting it on wdieu necessary. The land is clear- 
ed of brush and tussocks, levelled, and covered with 4 to 
G inches of sand, free from loam or clay. In some lo- 
calities the grouud is naturally sandy aud this is not 
required. When the land can be plowed aud harrowed 
it is so treated. Some prefer to prepare the land thorough- 
ly one season and plant the next ; the object being to get 
rid of all the native weeds and grass as thoroughly as 
possible. 3, Planting is done in the spring, the plains 
being set from 18 inches to three feet apart. 4, Plants 
may be had of dealers wdio advertise them, or they may 
lie taken from wild beds if theyare known to be pro- 
ductive. 5, Cultivation is needed through the summer 
until the plauts cover the ground aud choke out tin- 
weeds. 6, Fuller's Small Fruit Culturist has a chapter 
on the Cranberry, and there is a special treatise on the 
subject by Eastwood. 
Root-grafted Trees.— R. Reeves. This 
is a subject upon which good pomologists differ. This 
plan of propagation has been openly condemned by at 
least one horticultural society, while, on the other hand, 
6o good an observer as Warder says : " The theoretical 
objections to root grafts have yielded to sound philosophy, 
based on, and supported by, practical observation." For 
ourselves, we should be satisfied with a thrifty, well -rip- 
ened tree, with a well-grown root, no matter how it was 
produced. Many poor root-grafted trees are sent out ; 
this is not the fault of the method, but of the propagator. 
The cause of the death of young trees is still obscure. 
Sprinkling; Jet for Hose Pipe.— 
Where water is thrown from thccominon perforated rose 
jet a difficulty is often lound from the filling up of the 
holes with specks from the water. This is obviated by 
the contrivance figured. The affair is made of tin or 
sheet brass. It consists of a tube, slightly conical, 3 or 1 
inches long, to slip over the nozzle ; to this is soldered, at 
a slight angle, a triaiiL'ular piece, one corner being made 
to embrace the tithe at the end. The two sides are bent 
up to prevent the stream of water from spreading too 
much. The slight angle at which it is placed causes the 
stream to strike it near the nozzle, and spread out in a 
fan shape, while the edge or lip over which the water is 
spread is also turned up a little to more effectually 
open the sheet of water. It is easily made by auy tinner, 
and for most uses is superior to the rose jet. 
$:iOO Wheat Prizes.— Interest iug? 
to flfheat tirowers in tile United States and 
Canada : At the suggestion of wheat growers iu 
Western New York, who desired to have special atten- 
tion called to this subject at the Annual Meeting of the 
N. Y. State Agricultural Society, Feb. lath, Mr. Judd, of 
the American Agriculturist, brought the matter before 
the Executive Committee, and placed $300 at their dis- 
posal for prizes. The Committee accepted the offer with 
a vote of thanks, aud they will announce the prizes for 
the next Annual Fair, probably in the form below, with 
perhaps slight variations that maybe suggested while 
making out the official premium list. We call attention 
to the subject now, and give the preliminaries, that farm- 
ers may have an eye to the prizes in preparing for their 
Spring Wheat Crops, and also in looking after their Win- 
ter Wheat now in the ground. The prizes themselves are 
large, but aside from these, the credit of carrying oft" the 
Premium at the hands of the Empire State Society, the. 
largest one iu the country, will be worth competing for. 
Tlic " Orange .1 mid Wheat Prizes." 
Open to the United States and Canada. 
Best Two Barrels of White Winter Wheat $100. 
Best Two Barrels of Ked Winter Wheat MOO. 
Best Two Barrels of Spring Wheat S100. 
To be exhibited at the nest Annual Fair of the New 
York State Agricultural Society (18GS) under the rules and 
regulations of the Society. The Committee of Award to 
include at least one experienced, practical miller. 
Bach sample to be accompanied by 100 stalks from the 
same field, with heads aud roots complete, aud also by 
a reliable written statement, properly verified, aud con- 
firmed by two credible witnesses, giving the name of 
the variety and source of the seed ; the size of the field, 
the character of the soil and the crops and manures on 
the same for four years past ; the depth aud mode of pre- 
paring the grouud, aud the time and mode of sowing and 
harvesting; the precise method of selecting and cleaning 
the samples ; and any other particulars that may suggest 
themselves to the exhibitors. The written statements 
to be taken into account in making the award. The 
written statements, aud the three samples receiving the 
prizes t» be the property of the Society. All other 
samples to be sold at auction during the fair, for the 
benefit of the exhibitors, when desired. 
The Flower Garden. — Those who wish 
a guide to the operations in the flower garden will find 
Brock's New Book of Flowers the best of the works ou 
this subject Its directions are plain and practical, being 
the result of long experience in the cultivation of flowers. 
Price by mail $1.75. 
Sod Fence Query.— "I. B. S.," of While 
Hall, Mo., wishes to know from the readers of the Agn- 
Culturist how long a prairie sod fence will last in Missouri, 
and the best way to make one. We shall be glad to learn 
the experience of our Western readers who have used 
such fence, accompanied by profiles of the fences aud 
ditches, with the most lasting slopes for both. 
Crape Vine Literature. — Fuller's 
Grape Culturist, Mohr's Grape Vine, My Vineyard at 
Lakeview, Husmann's Grapes and Wine, are all excellent 
works at moderate prices— eee hook list on page 84. 
Strong's and Mead's work* are more expensive. They all 
differ in some particulars, but cither Is a safe general guide. 
