206 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[June, 
scene, but those works which propose to teach impossi- 
bilities. If the American Book Co., Manchester, N. II., 
and the Central Book Co., Garrettsville, O., are not en- 
gaged in a business which should induce the authorities 
in those towns to shut them up as nuisances, then they 
should not send out the circulars they do. Strictly 
speaking, it is just as much a fraud to get money by in- 
ducing a person to think that the books offered are bad 
ones, as in any other way. The circulars of both these 
concerns are vile in the extreme In the same cate- 
gory we place the Central Book Co., Ashland, Mass., with 
its offer of a book to teach the making of " love pow- 
ders" and all such nonsense And equally rascally is 
the circular of Willis & Co., of Williamsburgh, N. Y. 
What fools these Willis & Co. arc. They propose to sell 
a book with all sorts of secrets— upon one of which 
"many men have retired with a large fortune. " These 
chaps say, with equal disregard of grammar and truth: 
"My arrangements with the post-office are such as that if 
you address correctly it is impossible money to be lost." 
The very contents of their circular show that they are by 
law shut out from the use of the post-office altogether. 
There is a so-called publishing concern in Spring- 
field, Mass., about which an amount of unpleasant evi- 
dence is accumulating. 
THE HOTEL DODGE 
has at lost turned up again. We had supposed that had 
gone oft* with old "Bands of life," but here it is as 
bright and blooming as ever. Perhaps some of our 
newer readers do not know this stale old trick. This 
time it is " Resp'y " E. Callinwater, who keeps a hotel, 
which it is the Arcade, in New York, of course, and on 
the "'European plan." An unfortunate citizen, A. E. 
Clements, stopped at said hotel, but in two days he up 
and died, probably on the "European plan." No won- 
der he died, for he must have eaten and drank fearfully, 
as his bill for two days at this Arcadian place amounted 
to $11.7."). Fortunately the defunct left a trunk, which 
Callinwater opened, and found "a fine gold watch, two 
silver-mounted revolvers, gold ring, clothing," etc. But 
more than these -he found a paper addressed to another 
Clements away down in Georgia. Happy thought for 
Callinwater I He writes to the Georgia Clements, tell- 
ing him that the trunk is valuable, and he is the proper 
person to have it, which he can do by forwarding toCal. 
the amount of $11.75, due by the defunct Clem. The 
Georgia Clem, doesn't bite worth a cent, but writes us 
to sell the pistols and pay Cal., and send on the " rest of 
the estate." He desires to express his grief for the loss 
of his relative, but particularly wants that trunk. We 
should just like to know what Cal. did with the body of 
the deceased Clem. Did he dispose of that " on the 
European plan ? " It appears that here is a case for the 
coroner to look after, as people who leave gold watches 
and such things around don't generally get buried for 
nothing in New York. It may be that the new crema- 
tion society baa got hold of his body and incinerated it 
as an experiment, and the unfortunate is now only a 
small handful of ashes. 
What is the C. O. D. Supply Co ? 
After the inglorious ending of the Union Furnishing 
Store at Chicago we should think that this "C. O. D." 
business would rest awhile, but it has started anew, and 
the circulars and plans are so like the old that it looks 
" much of a muchness." To the lady in S, C, and other 
inquirers, we give the advice not to meddle with any 
machinery you know nothing about. Such persons as 
Stewart and Lord & Taylor do not need any machinery 
of order slips and tickets and such "gumgoolcry " to do 
their immense business. If these " C. O. D." chaps are 
doing a straightforward business, why don't they do it 
in a straightforward way? The boy knew the hole the 
woodchuck went in at, but couldn't tell which one he'd 
come out at. And so we fear it will be with money that 
goes in to any of these dubious enterprise?. 
MEDICAL HUMBUGS . 
present few new features. One person writes to ask our 
opinion of " Uncle Ben Joe's Bell Tongue Syrup." We 
disposed of u Old Uncle " months ago. The strangest 
part is that any one should ask our opinion about any 
quack medicine whatever. All the-c things that are 
advertised are useless or worse, and the chaps who ad- 
vertise them arc quacks or worse. . . So with eye-cups 
and ear-drums. It is of no use to ask us if the adver- 
tisers of these are reliable men. We neither know nor 
care. If any one wishes to tinker with his own eyes or 
ears, about the internal structure of which he knows 
nothing, he will not do it with any aid of ours. 
Seed Po«atocs.- u S. T.," Marion, Ind. 
We bare raised the largest crop of potatoes when we rut 
the seed to single eyes and planted two sets to a hill, 
hills (for Early Rose) thirty inches apart. The plan, 
however, will not answer so well for all kinds. The 
Feachblow cut in the same way has yielded with as very 
much less than with two sets of three eyes each in a hill. 
We have frequently planted sets cut from very small po- 
tatoes without finding any difference between the yield 
and that from sets from large potatoes. But when the 
small potatoes have been planted whole and not. cut as 
the others were, the yield has not been so good. Never- 
theless we would always prefer to plant seed from fair- 
sized, well-formed, perfect potatoes. Liquid manure 
may usefully be applied while the crop is young. 
Homesteads. — " Wallie." A soldier may 
take a homestead of 100 acres within the limits of a rail- 
road grant, or ten miles upon each side of the road, but 
any other citizen may only take eighty acres within it. 
He may, however, take 160 acres outside of the grant, 
while a soldier can take no more anywhere. The 
fees for homestcading arc $14. Any person may pre-empt 
or purchase not more than 100 acres anywhere, but within 
a railroad grant the price is $2.50 per acre or double 
what it is outside of it. 
Spelt.— "J. A. M.," New Ulm, Minn. Spelt 
( Triticum spelt a) is not wheat, although it belongs to the 
same botanical genus. It is an inferior grain weighing 
only thirty-six to forty pounds to the bushel, and because 
it thrives upon soil where wheat will not it is grown in 
some of those European countries where the agriculture 
is somewhat backward. The reason it is not grown here 
is because there is no demand for it in the grain markets, 
and if a crop were raised it is doubtful whether or not it 
could be disposed of. Rye would be a more profitable 
crop upon soils where wheat would not succeed. But 
instead of looking for crops suitable for poor land, it 
would be wiser to improve the soil and raise the best 
crops possible. There arc spring and fall varieties of 
spelt as there are of wheat or rye. 
Poland China Hogs.— "J. D.," Mid 
dletown, Del. The Poland China ho^s arc a large breed 
best suited to the Western states or in places where rapid 
growth and large size upon abundant food is desired. 
On reference to the advertising columns the names of 
breeders from whom they can be procured will be found. 
Sycamore Timber. — " Subscriber," W T est 
Va. The wood of the sycamore tree {Platanus occiden- 
talis) is better fitted for furniture or other purposes in 
which it is used in-doors and is not exposed to the weather 
than for out-door use. By exposure to the weather it 
twists and warps very much. It is not a durable timber 
when exposed to damp, as when buried in the ground fur 
drains. The cucumber tree (Magnolia accuminata) would 
furnish much more durable timber for drains, and the 
chestnut or chestnut oak and white oak would be far bet- 
ter for fence posts, boards, or palings. 
Kxcelsiov I,aw n Mower. — " Subscri- 
ber," Woodbury, N. J. A lawn can not be kept smooth 
and neat without the use of a good lawn mower with 
roller attached. The machine referred to is an excellent 
one, and has the gearing all inclosed so that it can not 
clog with the cut grass. It is made by the Cbadborn & 
Coldwell Manufacturing Company, Newburgh, N. Y. 
The CJardener's Monthly still remains 
a puzzle to us ; its course is quite beyond our compre- 
hension. In its March number it made a statement in 
regard to the Agriculturist that was so wrong that we felt 
called upon to set it right, and supposed we had done so 
in a pleasant manner in our paper for April. To this 
article the Gardener's Monthly for May makes the follow- 
ing rejoinder, which is as far out of the way as its original 
statement, and while we have no disposition to continue 
a discussion which our cotcraporary is disposed to treat 
as if it were a quarrel, it is only just to ourselves that 
we deny those things of which it wrongly, and we arc 
quite sure mistakenly, accuses us. The following is the 
Monthly's article : 
Bousiingaiillia Laehaumii.— The American Agriculturist 
devotes a column and a half of small type to abuse of 
the Gardener's Monthly. (') for pointing out the fact that 
what the Agriculturist, Company, in a recent issue of a 
" list of wood-cats for sale," calls Boussingauttia Laehau- 
mii is nothing but Taliimm patens. ( a ) It acknowledges 
that, wc are right, in the correction ; but says that Donald 
G.Mitchell made the mistake first In the Hearth and 
Home. (3) It elegantly says that Mr. Mitchell can settle 
this with the "G. M.. which may mean either Grand 
Mo'^ul or Gardener's Monthly," which ever the reader 
pleaseth. ( 4 ) It is not clear to us why a mistake which 
■ Originated in the Hearth and Home " rl should be 
continued in a catalogue of Orange Judd & Co. years 
after Donald G. Mitchell's time ; and only that, we depre- 
cate the use of abusive language in the discussion of 
such innocent questions ( fl ) as these, we might, slightly 
altering our cotemporaries expression, say that "Mr. 
Mitchell can settle this with the A. A., which may mean 
Arrant Ass or American Agriculturist." 1 ( 7 ) 
To this wc reply: 1. We are quite surprised that the 
Monthly should look upon our article as "abuse." Wc 
too well appreciate the good work that journal has done 
and is doing, and have too high a personal regard for its 
editor to treat it to anything like abuse. We totally dis- 
claim iii the article referred to any other feeling than that 
of the greatest kindness and good-nature. It placed us 
upon record as having said something which we did not 
say, trusting to an impression rather than positive knowl- 
edge. We acquitted it of all wrong intent, and wc refuse 
to be considered as abusive 2. There Is not, to our 
knowledge, any such organization as the " Agriculturist 
Company." The Orange Judd Company did issue a .ist 
of wood-cuts for sale, and the name Bmissingaultia 
Laehaumii does not occur in it. This is a simple differ- 
ence as to a fact, and we trust that this statement may 
not be regarded as " abuse." 3. We are at loss to sec 
how our language could be construed to read thus. We 
did not say it 4. This is put in quotation marks as 
our language. We did not say so. It is an error of quo- 
tation. As the gravamen of our article seems to be in 
what was intended to be a playful use of the initials, 
which wc supposed the editor would laugh at. we un- 
qualifiedly retract the expression " Great Mogul," and, it 
it will better satisfy it, will say that it is in no sense 
either "Mogul" or "Great " 5. Here is another quo- 
tation, but no such words occur in ourarticle. It is safer 
not to quote from memory G. We agree that it is an 
innocent question, yet it is a question of fact. We were 
positively charged with giving to a plant a name which 
we did not give. We denied that we used the name edi- 
torially. Now it is charged that it is used in a business 
advertisement. Having examined this catalogue, and 
not finding it, wc arc obliged to deny its existence there. 
If it is abusive to deny it we are sorry. We charge our 
friend with no ill intent, only a singular misapprehen- 
sion ; and wc in our first article, as distinctly as language 
will allow, acquitted him of " willful misrepresentation." 
7. u This reminds us" of an occurrence in the Rhode 
Island legislature many years ago, when T. W. Dorr 
Cafterwards known as "Governor" Dorr) first entered 
public life. In a discussion with blunt Mr. H., a farmer 
representative old enough to be his father. Dorr exhaust- 
ed all his rhetorical resources in an elaborate invective 
against old Mr. H. When II. arose to reply the assem- 
bly, knowing his power when aroused, were in expecta- 
tion of seeing Dorr completely demolished ; the old man, 
however, pointing his long, skinny finger at Dorr, said, 
"Mr. Speaker, 'taint pooty, 'taint pooty," and took his 
seat. As our friend J. B. would say, "the bearings of 
this observation lays in the application on it." 
The Planet Drill. — Among the many 
machines for sowing seeds and distributing fertilizers, 
the "Planet," made* Dy S. L. Allen & Co.. Philadelphia, 
is quite different in principle from any other wc have 
seen. Up to the present time of writing the weather 
has been too unfavorable for a thorough trial of the 
machine, but we have used it with some of the seeds 
most difficult to sow with a machine, and find it to 
work excellently, and have no doubt that it will im- 
prove upon acquaintance. One of its merits is its great 
simplicity, 
ITmlergronml Poultry - Houses.— 
" H. M. S.," Northfield. Upon page 216 of the present 
number will be found an engraving and description of a 
poultry-house partly underground, which we know an- 
swered its purpose very successfully. But the soil was a 
very dry gravel, and we should doubt if a similar bonse 
in a damp clay soil would answer nt all. Fowls can not 
live in damp places, and a dry situation is necessary 
for them, especially if they are to live in a cellar. 
Young: *V Elliott. — This well-known firm 
of seedsmen and florists arc removing from their old 
place in John street to a fine large store No. 12 Cort- 
landt street, the same in which their plant auctions have 
heretofore been held. It is rather late to mention the 
fact, but we would say that the auctions held each 
spring and fall by this house are an important feature in 
the plant trade of New York. They receive consign- 
ments from florists and nurserymen and plant collectors 
from far and near, and their auction room is an impor- 
tant exchange for dealers, and not without its attraction 
for mere sight-secrs; indeed, their place is often as inter 
cstingas a horticultural exhibition. 
Farm Scales.— "J, \V. B.," Chester Co., 
Pa. The farmer who never weighs or measures must 
certain]; lose considerably in the course of a year. The 
small cost of a platform scale suitable tor farm use would 
soon be saved, and the economy would appear in many 
ways. The Fairbanks platform scales have a good rep- 
utation for accuracy and durability, and they can be pro- 
cured in almost every considerable village in the country. 
Production of"I*otatoes.— "G.W. A.," 
Milton, Pa. According to the census of 1S70 there were 
raised in the United States in that year 148,887,478 bush- 
els of potatoes and 31,709,SS4 bushels of sweet potatoes. 
