1875.] 
AMKRIGAN AG-RICULTURIST. 
211 
N. Y., aucl lie holds that volume as the priceless gem of 
his extensive library. Is not Pareou *■ So-and-So " mor- 
tal? is he not too guileless to see the biui? He sends 
the $'2, which can he poorly spared— but it will be such a 
Burprise and pleasure to his wife to see one of his ser- 
mons in print— printed in I^'ew York, too. He says 
nothing to the wife, but sends the §i to Art & Co. He 
awaits the airival of the book by mail— and at last ac- 
counts was etill waiting. 
THE MINING FEVER 
is now prevailiuo; in eastern ^lassachiisetts, and the re- 
ported success 01 some mines has caused great excite- 
ment throughout Essex and adjoining counties. Already 
very suspicious-looking persons arc prowling around 
farms, and proposing to pay large prices for the property 
on a provisional purchase, the farmer signing a bond to 
eell at the end of two years if valuable metals are found 
on the place. All the advice we can give is to be careful 
how you sign anything affecting your property. No 
doubt these bonds, perhaps in an obsciu-e manner, con- 
vey the right of exploration, and the unfortunate signer 
may find excavations made in his best fields, or even in 
his front yard in the " exploration"' for silver and gold. 
Be cautious Complaints are now and then made of 
BOGUS CANVASSERS, 
■who come around and get subscriptions for papers which 
have no existence. It would occur to most persons to 
ask to see a copy of the paper to which their subscrip- 
tions are solicited. The people of Wilkesbarre, Pa., 
have been victimizod by paying money for a paper said 
to be published in New York, which, and its alleged pub- 
lishers, 13 not to be found. 
TELEGRAPH INSTITUTES. 
We have received so many complaints of these couceras 
that there must be something rotten in those at some west- 
eriipoints. A correspondent at Harper's Ferry, Iowa. com- 
plains of being swindled himself by one of thG:?c in Wis- 
consin, and states that many voudlj men. including crip- 
ples, who go there, get "beaten out of" their hard- 
earned money, and asks us to wara people ajiainst such 
Institutes. That there are '^Telegraphic Institutes" 
and '• Commercial Colleges "' which promise much more 
than they can perform, seems very probable, but unless 
our friend can give us something more definite, we can- 
not warn people against the particular '■Institute'" of 
which he complains. 
LOTTERIES 
for the present seem chiefly confined to Texas. It is to 
be regretted that this magnificent state, with such won- 
derful capabilities, and which witliin a fe-.v years has 
made such cheering progress, should harbor these enter- 
prises. There arc several of them in full blast, one of 
which ^' The Texas Mutual Benefit Association" has a 
truly ingenious plan for getting rid of its tickets. It 
sends a person five tickets with a circular statin2; that the 
price is $3, but if the one who receives them does not 
■wish to go $2 on the chances, he is advised to sell four 
of the tickets at 50 cents each, and keep the other for his 
trouble, and this one ticket ma>/ draw the capital prize 
of $25.000— and then again it may not, no knowing what 
may happen. The Tcxaus talk about Yankee 'cuteness, 
but this beats anything we have known a Yankee to do. 
The name of the "secretary"' is Choate Somorby, 
which printed in fac-similie. looks at first sight most un- 
fortunately like "Cheat Somebody," as one of our corre- 
Bpondents suggests. The business of selling 
COUNTERFEIT MONET, 
or rather of pretending to do so, (for as we have before 
explained there is no counterfeit money in the transac- 
tion, all the machinery being for getting a hold on some 
•unfortunate victim), seems to have revived a little as 
spring opens. It would be amusing to us, who have cir- 
culars of these chaps by the bushel, to see the surprise 
of those to whom such a matter is entirely new, did we 
not Boe that their indignation at being made the recipi- 
ent of a proposition to engage in dealing in ''queer'' 
was perfectly honest. One gentleman in South Carolina 
is careful to send the envelope the circular came in, so 
that we may " ferret out the scoundrel if possible." 
" Ferret out"— why bless your honest soul, we havcfou 
the table several other copies of the self-same circular, 
printed on the very same paper, with the same type, 
each of which has a difiVrent name attached to it. and 
were we to go among our "archives " we could no doubt 
produce the identical thin^ with from 25 lo 50 different 
names. ..We thank Henry Woodward for offering a 
little variety in this line. Most of these fellows offer a 
printed circular, and poorly printed too, or else a litho- 
graphed one. but Henry's circular is written, and neatly 
too to be in keeping with its stylo. Henry is not one of 
these vulgar fellows that talk about "counterfeit money," 
oh no, he has only "goods,'' and they are of the '■ finest 
quality" which is a great improvement over the old 
style of circular. . . .These so-called 
rURCHASING AGENCIES 
are anuisance. We say " so-called," because there are in 
New York, and perhaps other cities, respectable persons 
doing a legitimate business as purcha.^ing agents, but 
we refer lo those chaps in obscure towns whose cata- 
logues and circulars give no names. They offer traps 
and trinkets of vai ions kinds, but often their real end and 
object is to introduce improper and foolish books 
John M. Haven, of Midi., though only 16, is too old a 
bird to be caught witli such chaff as that sent out by the 
"Fnion Purchasing Agency." Master H. has no need 
of a book that teaches " How to make a girl fall in love 
with you."' or '"how to bet and always win." In the 
medical line there is unusual dullness ; the old things 
seem to be very quiet and new ones are rare. 
THE DODGES FOR SECURING AGENTS 
for the sale of quack medicines all over the country, are 
ingenious and amusing. These fellows know that they 
can by mail reach all the postmasters in the country, 
without knowing their names. We have before us a 
circular to postmasters, persuading them to find an agent. 
The medicine man wants a "local preacher," a man 
"too feeble to labor" or an "invalid" to act as his 
agent, and to pay tlie postmaster for securing such, he 
will send him " one dollar's worth of the medicines, or I 
will send you one gross of pens "—take the pens, by all 
means. Others are more liberal ; one chap offers the 
person who procures an agent 20 per cent on all the 
money that agent may send in during his first year, and 
to the agent who will buy half a gross of the stuff, he 
sends a coat pattern.— Moral. The stuff itself must cost 
preciouslittle to start with— to allow all these discounts. 
The expense is, in any case, a matter of bottles and labels, 
as the filling, as we have shown in the former articles, 
can be made very cheaply The ''Toll-gate" adver- 
tisement still appears in papers which go into respecta- 
ble families. Those who send for it get a card about the 
size of an ordinary envelope, with a very poor puzzle 
picture on one side, and on the other the advertisement 
of a " Doctor " who will for 10c. send his book on private 
diseases. Well, this book— which is embellished by a 
portrait of the author is just a wonder. We thought we 
had seen the high pressure style of " medical " literature 
before, but this "takes the ragofi'" of any quackery 
that we have seen. Being about matters tiiat w'C do not 
care to print here, we cannot show it up as it deserves. 
This book tolls us— about a very simple matter— " no 
doctor under heaven understands this but myself," and 
on through the whole little closely printed pamphlet, 
which is designed to convince any nervous person who 
reads it that something fearful is the matter with him, 
and that his only hope is to send to this Bufi'alo quack 
who treats patients by the month. Abbey— how can 
you— after publishing this book, run down your brother 
quacks of the "Bible House," "Howard Association." 
"Retired Physicians," aud all the rest, as you do on 
p. 23? There is said to be honor among thieves— are 
quack doctors without that attribute? A correspon- 
dent in Morgan Co.. Ohio, offers us some interesting facts 
about that "National Surgical Institute." Wo do not 
need to go beyond its circular to form an opinion of it. 
48 CANCER PLASTERS, 
and all on one poor woman ! A friend in Morrison, HI., 
states that a wonderful cancer quack has been there 
from Princeton, 111., who has as sharp a nose for cancers 
as a pig has for truffles. This fellow took srlv cancers 
out of one unfortunate woman, and finding so many 
more, he concluded he must take her home with him in 
order to finish up the job. He writes to the poor crea- 
ture's husband that he has "got 48 plasters on her,'' but 
that's just nothing, as he has taken out over 80 cancers 
from one woman, and she lived. We are tempted to say 
that it is a pity that the '-Doctor " did. Is there no 
power to stay those fiends who prowl about, and by giv- 
ing some '■ testmediciue " profess to find cancers in any 
one who is weak enough to believe the wretch? An 
Italian friend of ours— by the way one of the most ten- 
der-hearted of men in his acts, but one of the most vio- 
lent in speech, considers hanging too good for some 
Climes, and when he hears of anything particularly atro- 
cious says: "Boil them, boil *em in oil, over a slow 
fire.'' Perhaps this would be unnatural punishment, 
but this cancer quack should have at least 48 plasters put 
upon his body, '• where they v.'ould do the most good.'' 
Patent Fences.— "G. H. S.," Mason Co., 
lil. Tlicre is no necessily to pay a patent ri;^ht for the 
construction of a wire fence witli pickets interwoven. 
There are a sufficient number of fences now in use, and 
not patented, fi'om which to choose. Unfortnuately, 
however, one docs not know to-day if the fence he is 
building may not be patented to-morrow. Patents arc 
granted for anything and everything of the most trifliug 
character, and the patentees frequently impose upon 
public journals aud get their patents described aud 
published as contrivances in common use. Farmers are 
thus victimized by thousands, and a regular business is 
thus carried on. The rem.dyis for the farmers to help 
the agricultural press to procure a change iu the present 
loose system of granting patents. 
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo oooooooooooo 
Adorn 
oo — - -' 00 
i Trifling Cost. 1 
oo ^^^ oo 
^S We have some gs 
O'J 00 
Z Splendid Pictiires ^ 
Printed in 18 Color Shades, 
That are Beautiful, and 
Charming. 
I— "Up for Repairs." 
The sister mcncling her brother's torn clothes, 
wSl be a fine ornament in any house. 
II-" Look Out." 
A maiden at a cascade in the act of dashing wa- 
ter ux5on you,— a neir and greatly improTCd edition 
of this new painting. 
Ill— "Mischief Brewing." 
A country boy with a "Jack o' lantern," which 
ho has made out ot a pumpkin, and he is telling 
his little sister of the sport they will have with it 
by and by, after nightfall. 
IV—" The Strawberry Girl," 
One of the most popular pictures brought out in 
this coimtry or Europe, (size 1-i by 20 inches,) of 
which every homo should have a copy. 
As long as our supply holds out, we offer a choice 
of any one of the above four pictures, to every 
person subscribing for the American Agriculturist, 
who sends, to pay tlie cost of mmcuting, packing, 
aud forwardiny fren by mail, viz : 
For No. I. ...only 25 cents extra, i Formounting, 
For No. II.. ..only 2.5 cents extra. I packing. 
For No. Ill only 25 cents extra. [ and free 
For No. IV only 50 cents extra. J delivery. 
That is, nothing for the pictui-es, and only 25 or 50 
cents extra for cost of mounting, packing, aud pay- 
ing postage or express. Any one of these pictures 
is richly ^^•orth the enst of many subscriptions. 
They are beautifully printed iu Oil Colors, and have 
the appearance, and indeed the value, of Oil Paint- 
ings on canvas. 
J^^Name your choice when sending in your 
subscription. 
2^^° These Pictures are offered to all subscribers 
now coming in. 
I..ivc Stock at tlie Centennial.^ 
Tho Bmvnit of Agriciiltiu-e of the Inteiuational Centen 
nial Eiliibition will exhibit Live Stock within the months 
of Sept. and Oct., 1S7C, as follows : Horses, mules aud 
asses, (as one clasp), from Si-pt. 1st to IStli, Horned 
Cuttle, (of ail varieties), from Sept. aOili to Oct. 6th. 
Sheep, swine and goats, (as one class), from Oct. lOlh to 
25th. Ti'.o Bureau is in daily receipt of applications for 
space, ami it is hiylily important that all who design ex- 
hibitiug, sliould now make applicalion, as tlie prepara- 
tion necessary must be regulated by the actual demands. 
Inqniricc as to regulations for atlniissiou of stock, etc., 
may lie addressed to the Chief of the Biucau of Asricul- 
turc, Philadeliihi.!. 
Basket I^eiiis con- 
tiiiHed OM pag-e 2«I7. 
