162 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[May, 
I\*ew York Live Stools ITIm-lcets. — 
wkek ending. Beeves. Cows. Calves. Sheep. Swine. Tot'l. 
March 22d 5,187 79 072 21,162 12,336 39,736 
do. 29th 5,981 106 1,033 22,159 15,289 44,568 
April 5th 4,708 80 7a VXS1Q 14,484 39,513 
do. mil 7,482 74 1,312 22,756 18,361 49,995 
Total in 4 TTVfi**.... 23,S.-i8 339 4,038 85,597 60,470 173,812 
Ao.forprev. 4 Weeks 20,935 376 2,824 87,935 43,726 155,246 
Beeves. Cows. Calves. Sheep. Swine. 
Average per Wert 5.839 84 1,009 21,399 15,117 
do. do. last Month.. 5,246 94 706 21,984 10,181 
do. do. prev's Month. 5,545 84 535 21,844 8 059 
Average per Tr>eX\18GS 5,733 105 1,588 27.182 13,809 
do. do. do. 1867. 5,544 64 1,320 22,154 20,605 
do. do. do. 1S66. 5,748 94 1,200 20,000 13,000 
do. do. do. 1865. 5,255 118 1,500 16,091 11,023 
do. do. do. 1S64. 5,1131 115 1,511 15,315 12,676 
Tota. in 1368 298,138 5,166 82.5711,413,479 978,061 
Total in 1867 293,832 3,369 69,911 1,174,151 1,102,643 
Total in 1866. 298,880 4,885 62,420 1,010,000 672,000 
Total in 1865 270,271 6,161 77,991 836,733 573,100 
Total ill 1864 267,609 7,603 75,621 782,462 660,277 
The weekly arrivals of beef cattle have been rather 
light for the increased demand after Lent, and the market 
has been brisk. There was a wide range in quality, and 
none really first class were for sale. The average quality 
was only what would be called medium. This estimate 
docs not include some few droves of really poor eteers 
of the u ecallawag " order. The very best "tops" of 
good droves brought 17 l <£c. per pound, net weight, while 
the majority of good steers sold for 17c. The weather 
has been unsettled, and rainy market days are always bad 
for owners. Those who were fortunate enough to be on 
paved yards got along pretty well, but those off the stones 
complained of mud and bad sales. Buyers laavo been 
more plenty for the two weeks ending April 12th, aud 
competition quite lively. This state of things always 
makes stock men feel in good spirits, whether their 
cattle are really fat or not. The cattle were most of them 
sold on market days, and but little "peddling" was doue. 
The following list gives the range of prices, average 
prices, and figures at which the largest lots were sold: 
Mar.22d ranjred 12 @17Uc. Av. IS^c. Largest sales 15 @1GM 
do. 29rh do. 12 @17'<,c. do. 15Hc. do. do. I4)£@16M 
Apr. 5th do. 13V£@17Mc. do. 16c. do. do. 15 @16* 
do. 12th do. 11 @17 c. do. 15>£c. do. do. 14'-i<3ii6^' 
While 17!4c. was the highest price paid this month for 
good beef, and the figures given vary but little from thoso 
for last month, still we think it safe to place the market 
at least y 2 c. higher for the same quality of cattle. Medium 
eteers that last month sold for 15tfj}15V£c., this month 
brought 16c, and in some cases 16 l 4c. per pound, net 
weight. . . ITIildi Cows.— The demand for cows has not 
been great and the market has been a dull one. There 
has been a little increase in numbers, and sellers had to 
drop a few dollars per head for common cows. The 
highest prices paid this spring for milch cows were for 
two Ayrshircs, which brought $100. Very good cows 
sell for $80. Prices range from $60@$90, with poor milk- 
ers and old ones at $50, or even less Veal Calves 
are not plenty enough to make a brisk trade, and there is 
hut little change in prices. Live calves sell readily if 
they are good and not too young. Butchers do not like 
to buy " hob " calves, for fear of having them confiscated 
after they are hung up in the stalls. "-Bobs' 1 therefore 
sell slow at low prices by the head. Good live calves 
sell for 12c.@13c. ; medium, 10c.@llc. " Hog-dressed," 
fat and fresh, sell all the way from 12c.@18c. per pound, 
according to quality Slieep.— There are a great many 
shorn sheep now coming into market, and they sell for 
l>4c.@.2c. per pound lower than those unshorn. The ar- 
rivals have been light and the market rather lively. Shorn 
sheep, if fat, sell readily. Prices range from 5!4c@7c. 
perpoundfor shorn, 7c. @9!4 for unshorn, according to 
quality Swine.— The live hog market has been more 
active for the last month. Western dressed are less 
abundant, and not in so great demand. Prices have kept 
firm all the month and the market steady. Good hogs sell 
quickly for 10J-£c;@llc. ; for a few very fat aud extra good 
llj&c. was paid. Dressed hogs keep firm, at 187^c.@14c. 
1,500,000 rj£ 9>;i<h-fl-> I— A canvasser for a 
premium, in a Western State, just tells us that he found 
103 families who regularly read the American Agricultur- 
ist^ although his club numbered but 24 copies. By ex- 
changing papers, and borrowing, these 21 copies reached 
all of the 103 families, which averaged 4 l 4 readers in each. 
(In one case 20 persons read the same copy regularly). 
If the above were the case generally, there would be 
between three and four million readers of this journal. But 
cutting down the estimate more than half, we still have 
a million and a half of Readers— quite enough to stimu- 
late the Editors to constant exertions and care. 
E3iai(H So Advertisers. — A business man 
at first objected to our terms, but readily offered to fur- 
nish a neatly printed card to put in every paper if we 
would slip them in for 25 cents per 1,000. He thought if 
one in a large number of these cards reached a customer, it 
would pay. A little calculation showed him that it would 
cost over $000 to provide the cards alone, while our charges 
were only $30 to print the same card in the paper, where 
it would be seen several times over, both by the sub- 
scribers and their friends, and not be in danger of drop- 
ping out A nurseryman kept a large force of men, and 
sold about $25,000 worth of stock annually, which just 
about paid expenses. He then spent $5,000 in advertis- 
ing, and thus ran up his sales to about $G5,000, while the 
increased cost of the nursery was only $15,000 per an- 
num. Many business men keep up large establishments 
that pay very lightly. With no increased expense for 
rent, etc., they might quadruple- their trade by making 
their business known.... One man scattered his adver- 
tisements in little items here and there, and found it paid 
moderately well. As an experiment, ho put in a large, 
striking advertisement, that cost him over $1,000. It 
was of such size and display that it attracted general 
attention ; ho was run down with customers, and made 
a small fortune in a brief time. 
containing a great variety of Items, including many 
good Bints and Suggestions which we throw into smaller 
type and condensed form, for want of space elsewhere. 
Postage. — To our published terms for the 
American Agriculturist , postage must in nil cases be add- 
ed when ordered to go out of the United States. For 
Canada, send twelve cents besides the subscription money 
with each subscriber. Everywhere in the United States, 
three cents, each quarter, or twelve cents, yearly, must be 
prepaid at the Post-office where the paper is received. 
Blow to Remit :— Checks on UTew- 
York Banks or Bankers are best for large sums ; 
made payable to the order of Orange Judd «fc Co. 
Posl-Office Money Orders may toe obtain- 
ed at nearly every county seat, in all the cities, and in 
many of the large towns. We consider them perfectly 
safe, and the best means of remitting fifty dullara or less, 
as thousands have been sent to us without any loss. 
Registered letters, under tlic new 
system, which went into effect Oct. 1. 1S0S, are a very 
safe means of sending small sums of money where P. O. 
Money Orders cannot be easily obtained. Observe, tho 
Registry fee, as well as postage, must be paid in stamps at 
the office where the letter is mailed, or it will be liable 
to be sent to the Dead Letter Office. Buy and affix the 
stamps both for postage and registry, put in the money, and 
seal the letter in the presence of the postmaster, and take his 
receipt for it. Letters thus sent to us are at our risk. 
Koiiiul Copies of Volume XXVII 
(1S68) are now ready. Price, $2, at our office, or $2.50 
each, if sent by mail. Any of the previous eleven vol- 
umes (16 to 26) will be forwarded at the same price. Sets 
of numbers sent to our office will be neatly bound in our 
regular style for 75 cents per volume, (50 cents extra if re- 
turned by mail.) Missing numbers Buppliedat 12c. each. 
How to Study Insects.— The Guide to 
the Study of Insects, by Dr. A. S. Packard, Jr., supplies 
what has long been needed— a work which will enable 
one to study the structure and transformations of insects, 
and learn the principles upon which they are classified. 
The work is published in parts, at 50 cents each, and is 
very abundantly illustrated. It is sent by mail from the 
office of the American Agriculturist on receipt of price. 
A Ifioolc for Young Farmers. — 
"Thomas' Farm Implements and Machin- 
ery." — The basis of this admirable work was an essay 
published in 1850, in the Transactions of the N. T. State 
Agricultural Society, which was enlarged, and in 1S54 
published by the Harpers. It has been, and remains, the 
only work in which tho principles of Natural Philoso- 
phy, namely, the mechanical powers, and the powers of 
water, wind, and heat, are systematically discussed as 
applied to the operations of the farm. There has been 
unlimited discussion of the principles and facts of Agri- 
cultural Chemistry and the general philosophy of farm- 
ing, while the principles of mechanics, etc., most im- 
portant for every farmer to know, have had little 
attention. This work has now been most carefully re- 
vised by the author. It is much enlarged, and a great 
part has been re-written, while the illustrations, before 
abundant, now number two hundred and eighty-seven. A 
large number of new implements are described, with 
the heavier farm machinery, and the use of steam, both 
in cooking and as power on the farm, is clearly dis- 
cussed. The whole work is of a thoroughly practical 
character, aud the application of the principles taught to 
the farmer's daily work makes its instructions of very 
great value. There is not an agricultural writer that 
conld be named more respected than John J. Thomas, 
or one whose judgment and freedom from personal 
bias in discussing new implements could be more im- 
plicitly relied upon. It contains 292 pages, 12mo. 
Published by Orange Judd & Co. Price, $1.50. 
Moistening Chopped Hay for 
Horses.— This practice is becoming more and more 
general. It is undoubtedly very beneficial. For horses 
that have any tendency to heaves, it is indispensable. 
The advantage, however, is not due merely to the fact 
that cutting the hay and moistening it with water '' lays 
the dust": it does more than this; it softens tho hay 
and meal, and renders it more easily digested. This, iu 
fact, is the main point. And this suggests the question 
whether we can not carry the system farther. Steaming 
would be best, but at this hurried season it is out of tho 
question on most farms. But cannot some way of soak- 
ing the hay be adopted that will involve little labor, and 
which will make the hay more digestible, without wash- 
ing out the soluble nutritious matter, or inducing fer- 
mentation? If nothing more was done than to mix the 
food for the next meal, say at morning for noon, at 
noon for night, and at night for next morning, the hay 
and meal would be Boftened materially, and would ap- 
proximate nearer to fresh grass. We soak our dried 
apples before cooking them ; why notour dried grass? 
Parsons on tltc Rose. — By Samuel B. 
Parsons, Flushing, X. T. New York: Orange Judd 
& Company. The Roso is the only (lower that can 
he said to have a history. It is popular now and 
was so centuries ngo. In his work upon the Rose, 
Mr. Parsons has gathered up the curious legends 
concerning the flower, and gives us an idea of 
the esteem in which it was held in former times. A 
simple garden classification has been adopted aud the 
leading varieties under each class enumerated and briefly 
described. The chapters on multiplication, cultivation, 
and training, are very full, and the work is altogether the 
most complete of any before the public. In preparing 
this edition a large amount of new matter has been added 
and the whole has been thoroughly revised. Illustrated. 
$1.50 by mail. 
A Poultry dumber.- The very general 
interest manifested in all parts of the country in regard 
to poultry warrants us in devoting a large share of spaco 
in this issue to the subject. The Great Exhibition de* 
scribed elsewhere has furnished one of the weekly papers 
an opportunity to bring out an English Engraviug,which it 
offers as portraits of the fowls at the Ehow. Another 
gives us caricatures of a Wood Duck and hen, etc. As 
we have already published full length engravings of the 
leading breeds, we here give the heads of several of 
those now attracting attention. They arc drawn with 
great care from life, and will be found to present tho 
peculiar markings which distinguish these breeds more 
distinctly than any illustrations have heretofore done. 
But few are aware of the difficulties attending the por- 
traiture of these restless birds, and the artists as well as 
engravers are to ho congratulated upon their success. 
Sundry BJoinawns*-— Thc various swin- 
dling concerns, under the guise of "Mutual Benefit As- 
sociations," of this and other cities, seem to have nearly 
died out, or taken other disguises. An entirely new Insur- 
ance scheme, now before us, may be one of the old 
"mutual" concerns. This association purports to be 
connected with a weekly journal of this city, and is un- 
der the management of one J. S. Rigney. The associa- 
tion proposes to engage agents everywhere, and pay 
them by giving one-half they collect of persons who be- 
come members of the " Mutual Society." The member- 
ship fee for an adult man is $2.00; for a man and his wife, 
$3.00. Besides this "liberal offer" to agents, they throw 
in a few lottery tickets, these tickets to draw valuable 
prizes in jewelry, and "upon presentation, accompanied 
with $2.20 to pay expenses," etc. The old story. The 
plau is too old to catch many, and we warn all against 
them. Remember, every dollar sent to such and similar 
concerns is lost money. ..If any person or persons in 
Brooklyn are doing business under the name of "West- 
cott's Express," and have not found out that they arc the 
medium of a great, deal of wicked and unlawful traffic, it 
is time theydid. Williavnsburgh has some bad men. and 
one particularly wicked one by the name of Turner. Mr. 
Turner seems to have every thing, including his letters, 
sent to care of Westcott's Express. Now we suggest to 
Messrs. Express Co. to pay particular attention to this 
Mr. T's orders, and for the good of their own name, 
order Mr. T. to find some other medium of communica- 
tion, or quit swindling people with pretended " Gift 
Lotteries," and selling poisons and wicked publications. 
....Kelley, the well-known "Kcllcy Lottery " man, who, 
some time last fall, was locked up by the Buffalo authori- 
ties, is at his old tricks again. This time we are in- 
formed it is "most positively the la^t notice." K is the 
