1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
171 
silver Butter Cooler with Revolving Dish "—a leaden 
mass with hardly a six-pence worlh of silver covered 
over the article. (See page 147 of April Agriculturist.) 
Here is another case, just like scores we have looked 
after : *' Charles K. Park <^ Co.V Watch and Jeioelry. 81 
Nassau Street, Xew VorA-V' sends out very plausible cir- 
culars and tickets for sundry articles, watclies, etc. 
Sundry subscribers send us the required sum ($1.72) to 
get the prizes drawn, and v.e go often there. Result: 
There is nobody at SI Nassau st. who will acknowledge 
the name Chas. K. Park & Co., and no sign of any such 
party in tiie whole building. This is the case with at 
ieast three-fourths of the letters, complaints, circulars, 
etc., sent to us. — We repeal that : It is not safe to 
SEND MOXEY TO ANY PARTY ADVERTISING BY CIRCULARS 
AND OFFERING TICKETS OF ANY KIND, NO MATTER HOW 
SPLENDID THE OFFERS MAY PRETEND TO BE. SoniC of 
the swindlers are noticed in other items in this paper ; we 
have not room for further particulars. — We will only ask 
our readers to continue to talk about this subject among 
their neighbors, and show Ihera what is published in this 
and especially in the previous two numbers. If the 
people can be generally enlightened, the swindling tribe 
will be compelled to stop their nefarious operations for 
want of patronage.— The immense amount of business 
they have been doing the past few months is almost 
beyond credence. Millions of circulars have been sent 
out, and among the multitude reached, enough simple 
hearted, trusting persons have been found to pay all ex- 
penses and give large profits. On an average not one 
dollar's worth has been returned for each hundred dollars 
forwarded to them ! ! We speak understandingly. 
**IIoiT did they get my !;\aiiie?** — 
This question is frequently asked, by the hundreds who 
send us samples of circulars, "confidential letters," 
etc., they have received from swindling concerns in this 
city and elsewhere. Some w rite that their names are re- 
corded no where else in this city but on our books, and 
must have been obtained therefrom. This is a mistake ; 
we allow no one except those writing the mail wrappers 
to have access to our letters and books for any purpose 
whatever ; and we may add, that any circulars or other 
documents ever found put into the Agriculturist, are put 
there after the papers liave gone into the mails, usually 
at the place of delivery. — The fact is. there is a class of 
men engaged in gathering names from all over the 
country- (We have before us an offer to furnish us a list 
of the names and P. O. addresses of "25.000 practical, 
responsible farmers in different parts of the country, at 
$2 per 1000.") Duplicate lists of these names are sold to 
all who will buy them, and thus the humbug operators 
secure all the names they desire. One operator printed 
1,200.000 swindling circulars of the same kind, indicating 
that his collection of names must be a pretty large one. 
One swindler often runs several schemes, sending 
his different circulars, at different times to the same 
person ; but coming from another locality and address, 
and for a different object, the deception is not noticed. 
We recently heard of a case where two swindlers agreed 
to trade lists of some twenty thousand names, and then 
quarreled about the terms. Pity they don't all fall out 
and have a " Kilkenny Cat '' war. 
The ]>ead at Audersonville.— The N. 
Y. Tribune Association has done a special favor to the 
friends and relatives of the Thirteen thousand soldiers 
who perished in the terrible prisons at AndersonviUe, 
Geo,, by issuing in neat but cheap form (25 c.) a record 
of the names of alt who died and were buried there. Of 
these, 12,36" died in 1SC4, and 653 in 1865. The names are 
arranged alphabetically in States, for convenient re- 
ference—the regiment, company, rank, and also the im- 
mediate cause of death being given with each name. 
What are Seeds ?-Official Oecision. 
— A gentleman of this city wished to send some Hickory 
nuts to a friend at the West, and attempted to mail them 
at the N. Y. City Post-office. They were refused on the 
ground that they were not seeds, and an appeal was made 
to the P. O. Department at Washington, which sustained 
the lemarkable decision of the N.Y. Postmaster. We quote 
from the reply of the Department: " The case as sub- 
mitted by you, in whicii you claim that ' Hickory Nuts' 
should be classed as seeds under the 20th Sec. of the Act 
of IS63. has been carefully considered, and tlie Depart- 
ment is of the opinion that such cannot lawfully be clas- 
sed under the sec. and act referred to : that said act in- 
cludes such seeds as are distributed by the Agricultural 
Bureau of the Interior Department, and none other." — 
This strikes us as a most extraordinary decision, and it 
will interest our friends at the West, who are making 
ever>- endeavor to clothe their treeless prairies with 
forests and wind-breaks, to know that the seeds nf the 
most use to them are not seeds at all in the eye of the 
law. Nuts are shut out of the mail because thev are not 
distributed by the Agriculiural Bureau ! Who ever knew 
the Agricultural Bureau to send so useful a thing as tree 
seeds?— But as this is the standard by which the law is to 
be interpreted, why don't the national seed shop send out 
a catalogue, and let us know what are seeds and what 
are not. Antiquated peas, well known squashes, and 
all such things may be sent ad libitum. A friend of ours 
down in New Jersey gets a good share of cliicken feed 
from the Agricultural Bureau, and all through the mail, 
but tree seeds to be sent West, are refused I 
Knox^s yoo-Stra-^vherry. — '* Novice." 
We have not seen this plant in fruit, but the testimony of 
good judges is altogetlier in its favor. Aside from that, 
we place great reliance upon llie judgment of Mr. 
Knox himself, whose business is to grow fruit as well 
as plants, and he only grows the varieties which pay. 
Ba^s in I*eas. — C. Comnt, Barnstable Co., 
Mass. The bug in the pea comes from an egg laid in the 
pea when it is young. The egg hatches out a grub, 
which finally changes to a beetle. Scalding the peas, be- 
fore planting, will kill beetles. 
Flax and Hop <3roi;f-ing-.— By far the 
best practical treatises on these subjects are those issued 
in cheap, condensed form, containing everything connect- 
ed with their culture, curing, etc., with many illustra- 
tive engravings. Flax culture will be sent by mail, 
post-paid, for 50 cents, and Hop Culture for 40 cents. 
** Eye Sharpeners." — There are sundry 
articles advertised under this and similar names, and sev- 
eral write to ask our opinion of them. Our opinion is, 
that the less people tinker their own eyes and watches 
the better it will be for both delicate instruments. If 
one has a valuable watch he is quite careful to place it in 
the hands of a skillful workman, and we advise them to 
pursue the same course with their eyes, 
A Crreat TVaste— Save the Bristles. 
—Tons of bristles, for which many thousands of dollars 
would be gladly paid by brush manufacturers, are an- 
nually wasted throughout the United States. Here is a 
chance for farmer's boys to "do good and make money." 
Whenever a hog is slaughtered, pick out the bristles, lie 
them in a bunch, the but-ends all one way, and sell them 
to the country store-keeper, who will find a ready market 
for them in this city. See advertisement for them, t 
"Free Martins*' are twin heifers with 
with bull males. There are numerous instances of 
their breeding, but as a rule they are barren. 
The "Reno Oil and liand Com- 
pany.'*— "Accidents will sometimes happen in the 
best regulated families," says Dr. Lore, Editor of the 
Northern Christian Advocate, in speaking of our admis- 
sion of the above company's advertisement last month. — 
Well, it was a little singular, to say the least, that after 
rejecting many thousands of dollars from petroleum ad- 
vertisements, the veiy first company we did admit, failed 
before the paper was fully printed. Happily, however, 
no one lost a dollar by that advertisement. Every dime 
invested by outsiders was carefully refunded by the 
projectors of the enterprise who went into it in good 
faith, and with the best prospects. We greatly regret 
that causes entirely outside of the merits of the enter- 
prise itself, led to a suspension of operations, for had it 
gone on, we are confident that all of us who had a share 
in it, would have reaped a rich harvest. The truth seems 
to be, that neighboring enterprises, jealous of the large 
plans and excellent prospects of the Reno Company, 
combined to produce an unexpected run upon the bank- 
ing house of Messrs. Culver. Penn <fe Co., who were most 
largely interested in the Reno Company, which, with the 
sudden fall in the value of oil, and of properly connected 
with it, led to the suspension of the new enterprise. The 
funds of the Company were kept separate, however, and 
as slated above, every investor received back all he had 
paid in. This confirms what we stated last month with 
regard to the good cliaracter and honesty of the men we 
had to deal with, which was the basis of our confidence. 
Plants learned.— We have several times re- 
quested those who send plants to be named, to take a 
little care with the specimens. Often several specimens 
are put into an envelope without any paper between 
them, and reach us a mass of fragments, which it would 
puzEle the most ardent " reconstructionist " to put to- 
gether. Hereafter we shall throw all such specimens 
aside, as we cannot waste lime in trying to make them 
out. ..F. P. Le Fevre. Union Co., Pa. Malvaviscus 
arboreus, sometimes called Ackania, a very fine green- 
house shrub Mrs. J. B. Davis, Ashtabula Co., O. The 
purple flower is Spiked Wiltnw Herb, [Epilobium an- 
gnstif ol iuin),\\\e oi\\eY ioo much broken M. E. Wake- 
man, some species uf Eupatormm, but the Inwer leaves 
are needed todetermine which one L. P. B., Weston, 
Vt. Potentdla fruticosa, or Shrubby Cinquefoil, yellow: 
Gentiana qmnquejlora, the Five-flowered Gentian, blue, 
and the other probably Spiranthes cernuua L. T. 
Prill, Decatur Co., Ind. The white flower is Chelone 
glabra,o\- Turtle-head, the red one Monarda didyma. Bee 
Balm, and the other is Hibiscus rnilitans W. S. 
Draper, Osaee Co.. Kansas. Two species of (Enothera. 
or Evening Primrose. OS. spcciosa, Uxe small one, and 
CE. Missouriensis, the large one. 
Transactions or the Illinois State 
Hortlcaltaral Society, 1865. — Proceedings of 
the 10th Annual Meeting.— This neat volume of 66 pages 
gives the discussions of the wide-awake horticulturists 
of Illinois, and is useful as embodying their present 
views of fruits and kindred mailers. The western hor- 
ticulturists are a genial people, and when they get to- 
gether, many sound and some sharp things are said, all 
of which are faithfully recorded in this volume. Price, 
by mail, 50 cents. We have ordered some for our readers- 
Field Culture of Strawberries.— 
The following plan is practised in Burlington Co.. N. J., 
as given in the Report of the West Jersey Fruit Grow- 
ers* Association : *' The old plan of planting and culti- 
vating is still the only one which meets with approval 
here. It is that of setting in rows five feet apart, and 
from ten to eiglileen inches in the row, according to the 
vigor of the variety, and training into beds from three and 
a half to four feet wide, and covering in liie early part of 
winter with fine stable manure. After picking they are 
sometimes cleaned and allowed to fruit a second season, 
though it is becoming common to pick them but a single 
year, it being considered less expensive to raise a new 
than to clean an old bed, and that the former \vill yield 
a larger crop ; though the Lady Finger is reported in 
Beverly to pick far better at its fourth fruiting, if well 
cared for, than in any previous year." 
liinie ^Vash fbr Ont-Door Use.— 
" Chamberlain," of County, Pa., writes : " I want a 
lime wash for fences, buildings, etc., of a Jieutral color. 
We are enveloped in black cinder here, and whitewash 
makes loo glaring a contrast, severe on the eyes in sum- 
mer."— A good whitewash is made by diffusing through 
the milky lime a lime-soap, which is insoluble in water. 
To make it. slake the lime, and while at the hottest add a 
small quantity of talloW', or other grease, and sUr thor- 
oughly. Half a pound to the peck of lime Is enough. 
To such a wash any coramon coloring matter might be 
added— as ochre, burnt umber, lampblack, Prussian blue 
or a mixture to suit the taste. 
In-]>oor White-i^ash.— To lime for a 
pailful of white-wash add, while slaking, '; pint common 
linseed oil and a handful of fine salt. Good for out-doors 
also. Another in-door wash is : 2 lbs French white, 1 oz. 
best white glue. Soak the glue in cold water, and dis- 
solve it, heating the water carefully, to rather thin gluey 
consistency; add this to the whiting, stirred up in hot 
water, and thin for use with hot water also. 
The Best Carrot for Stock. -^ J. B. 
Hallet. We prefer the Long Orange. Plow deep. Sow 
in rows 30 inches apart; thin to 8 inches apart ; cul- 
tivate w'ith horse hoes or cultivators, and keep free from 
weeds. You do not give yo\ir State. If you are located 
at the East, it would probably be best to put the rows 20 
inches apart, for you will be likely to give more hand 
culture. The soil must be in prime order. 
The Early Horn Carrot.— The Long 
Orange Carrot is out of place in the garden ; it should 
give place to the Early Horn, which is also known as the 
Dutch Horn and Early Dutch. It is of the best quality 
for the table, is early, and from its shape is readily pulled. 
Plants to €Jro^r in the Shade.— All 
the broad-leaved evergreens will do in the shade of trees, 
provided the roots of the trees do not exhaust thS soil. 
Kalmias, Rhododendrons. Daphne, Tree Box. Ivy, Vin- 
cas, elf. Sweet Violet, Hepaticas, some of the Campa- 
nulas. Dicentra, Bloodroot, and several of the herbaceous 
Spir^as and Saxifrages will do well. 
Caterpillars l^ests. — W. Batty, Dela- 
ware Co.. Pa. The nests sent are those of the Basket 
or Drop worm, figured in Nov. 1864. The eggs mention- 
ed and illustrated in the January ^^Ticu^/unX belong 
to an entirely different and usually more abundant insect, 
the Tent Caterpillar. Cutting the nests off ard burning 
them, is sound in theory, and efficient in practice. 
