1875.1 
AMERICAN AQRICULTURIST. 
169 
Two Months More 
FOR PREMIUMS. 
May ftud June are good montlis in which to fill up chib 
li.'^t^of ^ubi^cnbers already bci:;un, or to make up ne^v 
clubs, aud secure a Preiuluin. Tht- List will 
jiot be wilUdrawu uutil July 1st. There will be found upon 
this Premium List for the year 1S75. a large number 
of most useful and valuable articles, all of which are 
new and of the best manufacture, and any of which 
cau be obtaiued without vioneij aud with but a Wi- 
\\e weU directed effoH. Among; these avo : Beautiful 
Silver-plated Articles - Flue Table-Cut- 
lery— tiold Pcii*t «itli Silver Cases— Chil- 
dreu^s Carriaii;e*, Swiiias, etc. - ^Valclie.s — 
Pianos — Iflelodeoits — PocKet-KiiiTes — 
Guus— Cultivators— Sewing:, Knitting;, aud 
W^asliiug OTaeliiues— BooIcSjCtc, etc.— Send 
for our Illustrated Premimn List. and see how easy you cau 
obtain one or move of these good aud desirable articles. 
co/ttmninff a great varkiy of Items, inc'ndvifjf 7nany 
good Hints ami Svrigesdon.s v:hk'h ire throw mfo smaller 
type and concfensed form, for -want of room elseuihere. 
IKeniittiBig- Money: — CUeclc^ <*^\ 
New Yorlt City Banks or Bankers are best 
for lar2;o sums ; m;ikc jtayable to the order of Orange 
Judd ^owipauy. Post-Office ITIone)' Orders 
for$50or les^, are cheap and safe also. When those are not 
obtainable, reg'ister letters, affixing stamps for post- 
age aud registry ; put in the money and seal the letter in 
the presence of the postmaster, and take his receijyt for it. 
Money sent in the above three methods issafe against loss. 
a^^ 1%.B.— Tlie I\e-%v Postage t.avr. 
—On account of the new postal law, wliicU requires 
pre-payinetit of postage by tlie i>ubli^«li- 
ers, after January 1st, 1875, each subscriber 
most remit, iu addition to the regular rates, ten cents 
for prepayment of postage by tlie Publish- 
ers, at New York, for the year 1875. Every 
subscriber, whether coming singly, or in clubs at club 
rates, will be particular to send to this office postage as 
above, iclth his subscription. Subscribers in Britisli Am- 
erica will continue to send postage as licvctofore, for 
prc-payment here. 
Bouiid Copies oF VoleiiiLe Xliii-ty<- 
three arc now ready. Price, $-2, at otu- office ; or $'i.50 
each, if sent by mail. Any of the last eighteen volumes 
(16 to 33) will also be forwarded at same price. Sets of 
numbers sent to our office will be neatly bound in our 
regular style, at 75 cents pervol. (50 cents extra, if return- 
ed by mail.) Missing numbers supplied at 12 cents cacli. 
Our IVestern Oflice. — Our friends in 
the West are reminded that we have an office at Lake- 
side BnUdiag, Chicago, 111., in charge of Mr. W. IL 
Busbey. Subscriptions to American AgHculturist arc 
taken thei'e, and sample copies of the paper and cliromo 
are delivered, and orders received for advertising on the 
same terms as in New York. All our books are on sale 
at the Western <^ffice. Please call and examine, buy, 
pubscribe, and advertise. 
I^aUcy's Villag^e audi Country 
Houses.— This new and elegant work contains 56 de- 
signs in 8-t plates, giving plans, elevations, perspective 
views and details of a great variety of buildings ; from 
the simple laborer's cottage with two rooms on a floor, 
to the large sea-side or other villa. There is not only a 
wide range in the size of the buildings, hut a great vari- 
ety of styles, and one must be very fastidious not to find 
Eomething here to please him. We are glad to see on 
paper what we would like to see more of iu reality ; 
houses in the construction of which the rough stones of 
the fields are largely used. Some churches and school- 
houses are given, and add to the utility of the work. 
Publiehed by the Orange Judd Company. Price $6. 
'Frust>vortliy, — There is no doubt that, 
taken as a whole, no more trustworthy collection of busi- 
ness announcements was ever found together, than tliose 
that fill up the advertising pages of the American Agri- 
culturist. One of the oldest and largest advertising 
Agents, who has to do with all the newspapers of this 
country, recently remarked : "No other journal, religious 
or secular, has for a long scries of years been so per- 
sistently strict in shutting out objectionable, or even 
questionable advertisements, as the American Agricul- 
turist. We hardly dare promise to insert any advertise- 
ment in that paper, no matter how good it is, until wc 
have had it examined by the editors, to see if it don't 
have something objectionable in it. It's no use trying to 
get any medical advertisement in for love or money.*"— 
The publishers and editors arc proud of such a statement 
from such a source, as it indicates the possession of a 
reput^itiou tlicy desire to be worthy of. Though they may 
once iu a thousand times be themselves deceived in par- 
ties, they earnestly tiy not to be. They mean to protect 
;//€/r readers, in the business as well as in the reading 
columns. They also wish their readers to let advertisers 
know that they have a right to expect good treatment, 
and to secure this, it is enough to simjjly say, when 
writing to advertisers, in ordering, or sending for circu- 
lars, etc., that you read their advertisement in this journal. 
HS^Ia - B»rice<l Sticfes.— Some time in 
Marcli Mr. Roczel, the well-known plant-collector, eon- 
signed 53 plants of a rare cycad, Zamia Jloezdii, from 
Buenaventura, to Young & Elliott, Seedsmen of New 
York. To an ordinary observer they looked like pieces 
of rotten wood, but when Mr. Elliott offered them at auc- 
tion, a spirited competition showed that they were '•'■ dia- 
monds in the rough," for tlie smallest *' chips" brought 
50 cts., while larger " logs " of 13 inches in length brought 
$30.01) each. Mr. George Such, of South Amboy, N. J., 
was successful in monopolizing the rare lot, except one 
specimen. The aggregate value of the 53 plants was 
$405. They w^erebouglit mainly for exporting to Europe, 
where plants similar to these have commanded at retail 
two liundred guineas each. 
Xlie Bos-«r4lias itliEI, — Numerous inqtii- 
ries as to wliere this mill may be Imd, will find an auswer 
iu our advertising coiumiis. 
Xlie Colorado IBoi-tii<>iiltnr£«t. — A 
quarterly of 16 pages, published at Greeley, Cub, and 
edited by J. F. Foster, at the low price of 50e. a year. 
If auythingin respect to the rapid progress of " the west" 
could astonish us, it would be to receive a horticaltural 
paper from a place like Greeley, which but a few years 
ago was unbroken prairie. Only the first number has 
come to our notice, but in this the editor shows good 
sense. Most new papers of this kind, make the great 
mistake of publishing articles on wonderful things 
abroad, orthosediseussingmatters, interesting enough in 
a scientific point of view, but of no possible use to their 
readers. The Cororado editor wisely gives prominence 
to local matters, and shows that he intends to make his 
paper what its title indicates, the CoUrrado ITorticulturist; 
he wisely sees that to tell his readers, as he does in this 
number, that certain cabbages do not succeed in Colora- 
do, is of more value to his readers than an account of 
the Crystal Palace at Sydenham. 
Hulless Oats.— "H. S." There ha.s been 
in cultivation since very early times an oat known as 
skinless and naked, and in some parts of England as 
"peelcorn," aud we suppose, from the name only, as wo 
have not seen it, that the " Ilulless oat " is the same thing. 
It is regarded as a distinct species {Avena Jiuda) from the 
common oat, {A.satlva), from which it diflers in having 3 
or 4 flowers (and grains) iu the spikelet, wliile that has 
but 2. In the common oat the palets of the flower en- 
close aud closely surround the grain when ripe, forming 
the hull ; in the other the grain is not thus surrounded, 
but free. In some parts of Europe, especially in Ireland, 
this oat is much cultivated for making oat-meal. It was 
tried in this country many years ago, and is ofiered every 
now and then as something new and wonderful. So far 
as we are aware it has always degenerated ; had it been 
of any practical value, it would have kept its place among 
the generally cultivated grains. You ask if this oat is 
a " humbug." So far as there being such an oat, no ; but 
the claims made for it arc such as wc are quite confident 
experience will not sustain, aud as to paying a dollar a 
pound for a grain that Is so common abroad aa this is— 
if people do it, it will not be by our advice. 
9Io^Tiu;*--:VIac1iinc MniTes.— The ef- 
fect of a dull knife is to increase the labor of cutting 
grass *25 per cent. With a dull knife half of the force of 
one of the horses ef a team is totally lost. In a day'e 
work this loss equals the cutting of two acres of gi-ass. 
In fact two acres more of grass a day may be cut in a day 
with sharp knives than without. Five minutes work 
twice a day with a good hand-sharpener will keep the 
knives in good condition. The - rhomboidal harvester 
sharpener " made by Youse & Co., of Bryan, Ohio, fits 
the knives of a mower exactly, and sharpens them per- 
fectly. It is held in the hand just as a " rifle " or whet- 
stone for sharpening a scythe, and may be used while the 
team is resting. 
Moss aud House Plauts.— Mrs. G. R. 
Percy. If the soil is in proper condition, no harm will 
be likely to come from covering the surface with mosa 
from the woods. The soil of house plants often becomes 
what the gardeners call sour, from being too compact, 
and the drainage imperfect or lacking altogether. 
I^. Y. City Snbnr1>an Homes— Cost 
of Reaching Xliem.— The number of people re- 
siding in the country or neighboring villages, who go to 
New York City daily to engage in business for them- 
selves, or others, is very large. There are at least a dozen 
Railroads that furnish good and rapid facilities and com- 
mutation tickets. In comparing the rates on these rail- 
roads, we find the average cost of travel, allowing the 
commuter to go each way 300 times a year, to average 
about as follow.^ for each mile traveled. Those residing 
10 miles from the city pay 1 cent per mile. Those living 
30 miles distant, pay GV.i niiUs per mile. At 30 miles 
miles distant, 5V3 ?«2^ P"?!* mile. At 40 miles distant, 
4V4 JtiiUSy and at 50 miles distant, 4^/3 mUh per mile. 
Boole ou tUe Horse. — '* A. C," Ne\r 
Haven, !Mo. Dadd's Reformed Horse Doctor, will be 
found a very useful book for any one who kctps a horee ; 
it treats ou the management of a horse, its anatomy, its 
diseases, aud the treatment and medicines proper for 
them. The price is $2.50. 
" Xlioi-ouglibred, " au4l ** Full 
Blood."— ''J. F. L." There ought to be no distinc- 
tion between these terms, they mean the same thing. 
Either means the progeny of animals ou both sides, that 
arc accepted as thoroughbred, and are entered in the 
various herd books. Animals may be entered iu the 
English Short-horn Herd Book, that have four crosses, 
that is, that are descended directly and consecutively for 
four generations, from herd book or thoroughbred bulls, 
but in this country such stock would be considered only 
as high grades, or having fifteen-sixteenths of full blood. 
They are not in reality full blood, and how many crosses 
constitutes a full blood, has not yet been settled here. 
Hiuts a1»oiat "^Voi'lc. — Scores of enquiries 
as to matters about tlie farm, orchard, and garden, are an- 
swered in the hints about work, given in the Agriculturist 
every month. These "hints" are veiy carefully studied, 
and are intended to include all the important work to be 
done in the month. In the present month will be found 
information about rolling ground, barley, oatc, fodder- 
crops, and many other matters in relation to which we 
have many letters now before us, and to \vhich we can 
not give separate replies. 
How ^o <jJi-o^v Flax.— *' J. B. B.," Maple- 
ton, Kansas. Flax is a good crop for rich bottom lands. 
When grown for seed, one bushel per acre is enough, as 
it then branches aud yields more grain. It should be 
sown as soon as danger fi'om frost is over, and may he 
harvesteil with the reaper when the seed-bolls begin to 
turn brown. It may be threshed in the ordinary machine, 
and cleaned in a sieve made purposely for it. There is 
no more labor about it when grown iu this way, than 
with a crop of oats. It leaves the ground in good con- 
dition for fall wheat. 
Apple Fouiace Tor Manure.— "E.W. 
S." Ajjple pomace is not worth anything as manure 
until it is thoroughly rotted. It is then worth about as 
much as ordinary swamp muck. 
HaUe Home Heautirul.— Read the ad- 
vertisement on third cover page of this number, "Beau- 
tiful Pictures, and How can I get one of them? " 
Ffieet or Foocl upou Mill*.— "J. 8. 
C." If one would think but for a moment, tlieie would 
be no need to ask if a cow well fed will produce more 
butter than one poorly fed. The butter comes from tho 
food and nothing else, aud the better the food, the richei 
the milk. Read the articles ou "Science Applied to 
Farming," in the Agriculturist for the present and the 
past fbur mouths, for valuable hints on such matters. 
Floor tor Basement ot* a Itarn. — 
" S. L. R." A cemeut floor for a barn basement, is pre- 
ferrable to a plank floor. It is cleaner and harbors no 
vermin. A paved floor is described in the Agriculturist 
of November, 1373, which we have found to be the best 
for this purpose, as it is clean and permanently durable- 
