1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
439 
that autumn, the prize was awarded to Doct. C. 
W. Graut, for tlie lona. As but few kiiuls were 
offered in competition, on account of the short 
notice, Doct. Graut rehnqiiished hU claim to the 
prize and the matter was again thrown open. 
A new committee was appointed, which met in 
the fall of 18G5, hut adjourned for a year with- 
out making any award. In September last, an- 
other exhibition was held, at which there was 
another competition for the prize, and on Octo- 
ber 27th, we liud in an obscure corner of the 
Tribune an announcement of the award. The 
committee, after stating the grounds of their de- 
termination, give the prize to the Concord. Let 
us hope that we liave seen the last attempt at 
selecting one variety, of any kind of fniit, as the 
best for everybody, everywhere. It was well in- 
tended, but has produced more dissatisfaction 
than can be offset by any good that will result. 
fMl IHKDIUiEEKDLBo 
^J^" Tor otUer Household Items, see " Basket" pages.) 
To HorsEKEEPERS. — The high aiipreciation of 
lliis deparftnent of the paper, expressed by so many 
of our fair readers, loads us to lay out plaus for in- 
creasing its value materially during the course of 
the next volume. The SlOO prize ollered last 
month (p. 390), aud other expenditures, the procur- 
ing of additional editorial aid hi this department, 
aud the devotion of more time to it, are among 
our plans for the future. We solicit abuuduut 
eommunications, and any number of questions 
about practical topics. We desire something be- 
youd more recipes, though, when good, a limited 
number of these are valuable. There are a mul- 
titude of iiiterestiug topics — those which occupy so 
much of tlic housekceiJcr's thoughts, aud are the 
Bourcc of so mauy anxieties — that may be appro- 
priately talked over in these columns, sueli as cloth- 
ing, furniture, variety of food, care and health of 
childreu, etiquette, arraugemeut of the table, 
economical variety of food, etc., etc. If every 
housekeeper who, in visiting, or in her own ex- 
perience, gets a new idea about the best mode of 
doing this or that, would note it dowu in simple 
plain words aud send it to us, the probability is 
that the idea would be new and valuable to ten 
thousand others. — We are apt to thiuk that what 
we now know well, is understood by everybody 
else. But multitudes of others are now just where 
we all were iu knowledge only a few years ago. 
Home-Binding of Papers, Pamphlets, etc. 
In response to an inquiry ia June, we have numerous 
plans for home-binding of copies and volumes of the 
Asriculturist,(vom which we select the following — ap- 
plicable to all kinds of smaller papers, pamphlets, etc. ; 
{A) — By N. H. Colemau, Lamotte, Iowa: First. 
— Open two consecutive numbers, as January and 
February, in the middle, and place them back to 
back, that is, outside 
against outside (llg. 1). 
Run a needle with a 
strong thread in at n, 
up ou the other side 
to !>, bring it through 
to you, put in again at 
a, bring it through at 
c, and up to a, and tie 
the two ends iu a fast 
knot. Close the pa- 
pers, and bring them 
round to their proper 
position, one upon the 
other. They may then 
be cut and read as dc- 
When the numbers of a volume 
are all thus stitched iu pairs, lay them together iu 
ordur (as iu fig. 3), and with a straight awl punch t> 
sired.- 
Fig. 1. 
-StCOHfh— 
Fig. a 
holes as near the edge as you can and be sure to catch 
inside the running thread previously sewed in. 
Put the needle in at the upper «, briuging it back 
at b, iu at a, back at c, and tie at n, as above. Re- 
peat the same .at the 
lower three letters. 
This is all quickly 
done, and will leave 
the whole a strong 
book, with a back en- 
tirely elastic. The 
thread lirsl sewed into 
thepairs will be caught 
by the through threads, 
and hold the whole 
flrmly. Let the tbrcrwl 
be strong and doubled. 
— It is better still, to 
put strips of paste-hoard along the edges and sew 
through them in the final binding. Or full sized 
paste-board covers may be fastened ou iu the same 
way. A leather back may be added, and colored 
or fancy paper be pasted upon the paste-board, and 
over its edges. [Single numbers may be sewed as 
described for two, though this leaves the thread 
exposed at the backs. We print this year's index 
and title page separately, so that they can be readily 
placed iu front of the volume in binding. — Ed.] 
(B)— By Mrs. C. H. M. Newell, Wilbraham, Mass.: 
Cut two pieces of stifl' card or box-board, a little 
larger than the paper to be bound. Cover the 
edges and the outside with any fancy colored 
paper ; make four holes about J.| inch from one 
edge of each, and fasten info each hole firmly a 
common eye- 
let. Take four 
short pieces of 
red tape, tie a 
knot in the end 
of each, aud put 
the other ends 
through the , 
front cover. As 
each new paper 
comes to hand, 
makes holes in 
it, then lake off the back cover, put the paper 
in and the strings through, and tie them in two 
pairs. The knots will hold the other ends. This 
method has served my purpose very well. [By 
having the horizontal threads described iu .-t, the 
l-iapers can be punched much nearer the backs so 
that they will open more freely, and the whole will 
be stronger. Then, this cover, B, will be neat and 
convenient for adding successive numbers. — Ed.] 
(C)— By .1. Fleming, Craigleth, C. W. : Provide 
two pieces of strong tape, }4 to % inch wide aud 
about .3>.i' inches long; draw it through paste, strip- 
ping the surfiee clean, and dry in the form of fig. 
3. Place the papers evenly together, press them 
well awhile, .and then place them on the tapes as in 
fig. -L Mark down each side of the tapes as a guide ; 
then sew the papers upon the tapes, letting the 
strong sewiug thread pass aloug on the inside of 
each paper and over tlie outside of the tape just as 
books are sewn on to cords, which may easily be 
seen by dampening and taking apart an old book. 
Round the back a little, and coat with thick glue. 
For covers, out two pieces of stout paste or card- 
board, }^ inch 
larger on all 
sides than the 
trimmed pa- 
pers. Glue the 
proj ec t i n g 
tapes to the 
inside of the 
covers in book 
form, and glue ~ "~-~=-^5^ 
over each tape ^ig- ^ 
end a bit of canvass to hold it firmly to the cover. 
Glue a piece of coarse canvas over the back of the 
book. Wlien all is dry, the whole may l)e covered 
with paper, cloth, or leather, accurding to fancy. 
(D) — By E. H., Geneva, Ohio : I cut two pieces 
of pasteboard large enough to cover the paper, and 
Fig. 5. 
pass twine through them thus (fig. 5), leaving am- 
ple space between for a volume. The numbers as 
received are stitehed in in book-binder's style. 
[The thread is run along the iuside of each paper, 
but put through the back aud around each cross 
string at the 
back, as above 
described. Ed.] 
—At the end 
of the year the 
ends of the 
cord are drawn 
down and tied 
firmly, making 
a strong vol- 
ume. Tuis Is 
not very ele- 
gant, but it is 
substautial and cheap, [and is far better than to liavc 
the numbers scattered around in loose leaves. — Eu.] 
(£")— By Amos L. Gritfith, Jasper, Tenn. : Make 
a cover of two pieces of paste-board or bonnet 
board, and apiece ofcalf or sheep skin long enough 
and wide enough to cover the back and lap about 
?.i inch upon each side cover. Stitch it on firmly, 
as in fig. 6, using strong, well waxed thread. If 
desired, hide 
the stitches by '^ ■StS.-^s-- 
l)asting on a 
piece of cloth 
or paper [which 
may extend 
over the whole 
cover. — Ed.] 
Put iu the pa- 
pers, and run a 
strong waxed 
twine or slioe- 
maker's "wax-end" through the whole, four times. 
I have used this method on books aud papers for 
1.5 or 30 years, and the first one made, though in 
constant use, is as good as new. The binding did 
not cost ten cents. [In all these methods, the 
papers should first bo sewn with a strong thread 
running along the inside, and through and through 
the back. The cross threads thruuq:h the back will 
come iuside of this to hold the papers fast. — Ed.] 
{F) — We keep on hand at the office regular Agri- 
adtm-ist covers for binding, or "jackets," as the 
book-binders call them, which have gilt backs and 
are all I'eady for any book-binder to insert the vol- 
umes, at a cost of 35 to 50 cents. These can bo 
used during the year as portfolios to hold the pa- 
pers, and then be bound up at the eud of the year. 
We have them for 186(5 and 1867, and for each of the 
past nine years. They are furnished for any year 
desired at 50 cents each, (60 cents if sent by mail.) 
Fig. 6. 
Don't Buy the Bitters. 
Before us is a Religious Journal having a " Bit- 
ters " advertised flamingly in a whole eolumu, and 
the editor endorses and commends it, because the 
manuflveturer asserts that it contains no alcohol. 
Yet, from a bottle of that same " Bitters " bought 
of one of its agents, we readily extracted 14 per cent. 
of pure alcohol, without a close analysis. Com- 
mon whiskey, by a similar incomplete analysis, 
yielded only 29 per ceut. of pure alcohol. A bottle 
of material sold under the name of " Temijerauce 
Bitters," yielded 11 per cent, of alcohol, by the 
same treatment. A few years ago we gathered bot- 
tles of every kind of bitters we could find adver- 
tised and sold, aud they evei'y one yielded alcohol, 
the lowest 9 per cent., aud the highest 24i< per 
ceut. The truth is, .all these various " Bitters " so 
extensively advertised (to the amount of more than 
a million dollars a year !) are cheap whiskey or gin, 
diluted with water and adulterated with a little 
bitter extract, some of them having a small quanti- 
ty of Rhubarb and other drugs added. The bitter 
principle exti-acted from Gentian root, Peruvian 
bark, etc., is sometimes useful in cases of weak di- 
gestion, or a debilitated state of the system, if 
properly taken under medical advice, and only used 
temporarily. But the general use of these adver- 
