8 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[January, 
suffices), there must be awful suffering. It is said that it 
now rains in Egypt regularly, owing to the forest trees 
planted by a former governor. Now, there is no country 
in the world where trees grow faster than in these 
prairies of Kansas aud Nebraska; and he will be honor- 
ably immortalized who puts in operation some plan by 
which the object may be accomplished; and I implore 
you to use your iufluence towards it. The people of the 
West, owing to their position, are wholly occupied with 
the things of to-day, grossly material, and not one man 
in a hundred thousand ever thinks of these mutters. 
Imagine a repetition of the experience of 1859, with three 
millions of people in Kansas and Nebraska: the whole 
world would stand aghast." 
Fun Alieacl— The Patching Exhi- 
bition.— We are as impatient as any one else can be, 
at the necessary postponement of the Patching and Darn- 
ing Exhibition, noted elsewhere, for in addition to the 
great amount of good to come, and that already done to 
the contributors themselves, we anticipate no little 
amusement, when on January 9th and 10th we commence 
to open and prepare the numberless articles of all sorts, 
sizes, aud fabrics, that have already come to hand. Won- 
der if any two will be alike — coming as they do from 
hundreds of families, in all parts of the country ? For a 
week past the various express messengers have several 
times a day come in with both arms piled high up with 
parcels, and with a broad grin upon their countenances, 
as if conscious of doing a good deed. Won't it. be a 
pleasant as well as amusing sight to go around to the 
Five Points Missions, the Howard Mission, the Children's 
Aid Society, etc., about the middle of January and after, 
and see the regiments of poor clothed in the contents of 
these hundreds of parcels? All the parcels are still 
packed as they came, and will remain so until after Jau. 
7th ; but a few dozen letters from the contributors, that 
have come by mail, have given us a foretaste of what 
these packages will reveal on the day of exhibition. A 
fine show is already assured, out our grand building, 
with its 25x114 feet, first or office floor, and the twenty 
new rooms on the five floors above, now being all newly 
fitted up, but not yet occupied — all splendidly lighted 
by newly devised skylights, will permit ample room for 
a supply of clothing for several regiments of the poor. 
So we invite unlimited further contributions of articles 
for competition, and for distribution, up to January 7th, 
when the opening and arrauging will begin. 
WBsere the Advertisement was 
Seen.— Dealers are always pleased to know where the 
advertisement wa.s published, which brought them a cus- 
tomer. It is also a gratification to us to have our wide- 
awake readers name the American Agriculturist^ when 
ordering from those advertising in it, or writing to them 
for circulars or otherwise. There is also this advantage, 
viz. : that as our advertisers know our strict rules, and 
their danger of exclusion, if not of being shown, if 
they do not act on the square, they will be all the more 
careful and will take special pains to give satisfaction, if 
possible, to those whom they know to have come lo 
them through this paper. 
Kansas Crops— Correction.— In our 
November Number a correspondent in Ottawa County 
gave a discouraging view of the prospects of the crops, 
especially of corn, in that State. From a great number 
of reports in reply, it is evident that " F. P." formed Ins 
opinion from too limited an area — colored, perhaps, by 
his own individual experience. All of these letters from 
different counties speak in the highest terms of the condi- 
tion and prospects of the various crops, especially of corn, 
and of the present prosperity and high hopes of farmers. 
A Funeral a Day — Dangerous 
Light.— It was stated at a Coroner's inquest, Dec. loth, 
that 99% per cent of the petroleum oils used in this city 
are dangerous — in other words, that only ono gnllon in 
every two hundred, is safe I This is" a startling announce- 
ment, but it was based on a careful scientific examina- 
tion of a very large number of samples gathered at ran- 
dom from the various dealers. And this city is no worse 
off than the rest of the country. From an observation 
of a large number of newspapers (of which about 4,000 
are regularly received at this office) we estimate that 
there is an average of at least one death a day resulting 
from the use of poor petroleum oil or "kerosene. 11 
There is no need of this. Good, properly rectified oils 
do not explode, or even take fire at ordinary tempera- 
tures. A few manufacturers remove the cheap napthas, 
and sell only the heavier, non-explosive oils. Of course 
this requires the charging of higher prices, and the mass 
of people will continue to purchase those mixtures which 
cost a few cents less per gallon, and just here lies the 
■whole difficulty. People tvffl buy lo'w-pricc'd gunpowder, 
whiskey, and petroleum, unless the strong arm of Gov- 
ernment is interposed and the sale of dangerous articles 
is prohibited by severe penalties. The ignorant masses 
arc not proper judges, and competent inspectors should 
be appointed as much for petroleum oil, as for steam- 
engines. We commend this subject to the earnest at- 
tention of the various legislatures usually %ssembling 
this month. A word more. These low-priced oils are 
not really cheap. The better oils give about as much 
more light as their price is higher. 
How much Salt in Butter. — George 
Livermore, Broome Co.— The amount of salt in butter 
varies from none at all to 2 ounces to the pound. Such 
is the difference in tastes. That which we prefer for our 
own table, and which is most agreeable to our friends, has 
one ouuee to the pound, worked in at the close of the 
first working. Of course a small portion of the salt is 
worked out— more or less according to the amount of 
buttermilk left in the butter, which varies with the way 
in which the butter comes— soft or hard, granular or 
waxy, at the second and final working. 
I^io Paasnpliin Steeds for Cows.— 
"Mrs. N. L. C." The medical action of pumpkin seeds 
is perhaps not thoroughly understood. They are re- 
garded as almost a specific cure for tape-worm in man. 
The worm is killed and passes away. They certainly 
have a strong diuretic action upon man and animals. 
This alune would account for the decrease of milk. If 
the blood is used up in the kidneys, the lactral glands 
will be left with a short snpply. 
Mechanical Engineering* in YaEe 
Collea;e.-We have received the Inaugural Address of 
Professor "Wm. P. Trowbridge, on taking the chair of 
Mechanical Engineering in the Yale Scientific School. 
Mr. Trowbridge is a graduate of West Point, and served 
with distinction upon the U. S. Coast Survey, and has 
more recently been connected with the Novelty Iron 
Works in New York'. The address is upon Mechanical or 
Dynamical Engineering in its relations to civilization. 
It is issued by the Governing Board of the Scientific 
School. 
" Pheasants asml Poultry," is the 
attractive title of a book sent us with the compliments 
of II, C. Dear, of England. An article by "Path-Finder, 1 ' 
a writer in the London Field, cut up into very brief chap- 
ters and printed in coarse type, makes a dozen small 
pages, to which is added hardly any end of notices, recom- 
mendations of Dear's food for poultry, cattle food, etc. 
The price of the book is 2s. (Jtf. sterling, about 75 cents— 
which strikes us as rather dear for an advertising docu- 
ment. "We do not and never have believed in the free use 
of any of these stimulating articles of diet ; excellent as 
medicine they may be, but not as "food." 
How to Heart Off" Feadlers.— The 
peddler nuisance is becoming almost unendurable. Ven- 
ders of all manner of notions crowd the cars, steam and 
ferry boats, and over-run stores and offices, to the great 
annoyance of everybody. The Internal Revenue law 
stipulates that ej. - ery one of these pedestrian peddlers 
shall take out a ten dollar license ; a failure to do so 
makes them amenable to a fine of not less than ten or 
more than five hundred dollars, in addition to paying the 
back tax. Any Internal Revenue oflicer has a right, to 
ask any such peddler to show the receipt for payment of 
the tax. In case the latter refuses, the oflicer may seize 
his wares and convey him to the assessor of the district, 
who, in turn, may direct a forfeiture and sale. To rid 
yourself therefore of these illegal peddlers, who, like bad 
pennies, arc always returning, one has but to complain or 
threaten to complain to the nearest Internal Revenue of- 
ficer. A few threats of this character, especially if car- 
ried out, would serve to make the whole of them scarce. 
Present to the Yale Scientific 
Scliool.— The Managing Board of this School acknow- 
ledge in a recent publication the receipt from the Novelty 
Iron Works of New York of a collection of drawings 
numbering several thousands, " exhibiting entire and 
in detail multiform mechanical structures." 
Xhe Report of the Commissioner 
of Agriculture has been for some weeks upon our 
table, but wc have not had time to give it that close scru- 
tiny which its table of contents calls for. Wc see, how- 
ever, several subjects which arc of great importance and 
interest at this time, and appear to be well treated 
and valuable contributions to our knowledge. Besides 
the reports of the Statistician, Entomologist, Chemist, 
and Superintendent of Gardens ; we have a long and val- 
uable report by Prof. Poey, on Agricultural Meteorology, 
which is endorsed in a note by Prof. Henry, "as an elab- 
orate exposition of the latest facts and speculations on 
the subject." The " Report of the Editor *' includes not 
less than 30 distinct articles, all appearing as if they 
were original, that is, first given to the public in thia 
form. Every clue to the source whence the information 
was collected by the editor, with a single exception or 
two that we notice, is carefully excluded. The infor- 
mation is not original, for some of it has appeared in 
slightly different form in other publications, if not in 
precisely the same language, to our certain knowledge. 
The mere statement that "Mr. So and So reports," 
means, if it means anything, that he reports to the Agri- 
cultural Department, instead of which the editor has 
probably found the statement in some agricultural paper 
and appropriated it. This would be in character for the 
editor of one of our agricultural or stock papers, which 
is run in the interest of some stock farm, or seed estab- 
lishment, but beneath the dignity of a national publica- 
tion of the character of the Agricultural Report. Editors 
are too apt to forget that persons interested in the most 
valuable information always want to trace it to its source, 
and that statistics, tables of results, and scientific state- 
ments, lose their value if their source is not clearly stated. 
3>airyman*s Convention- — The 6th 
Yearly Convention of Dairymen under the auspices of 
the Am. Dairymen's Assoc'n is called to meet at Utica, 
N. T., January 10th to loth. Donald G. Mitchell, Prof. 
Caldwell of Cornell. Joseph Harris who ''Walks and 
Talks/' are announced to make set speeches ; besides a 
number of other gentlemen and dairy farmers have agreed 
to be present and speak on certain important topics. The 
Secretary, Mr. G. B. Weeks, of Syracuse, or the Presi- 
dent, Hon. Horatio Seymour, will give further information. 
Professor Agassiz Wants Car- 
casses of all sorts of pore-bred domestic animals and 
poultry. He proposes to preserve the skeletons, and. if 
practicable, the skinsf not stuffed), in the Museum of Com- 
parative Zoology, at Cambridge, Mass. Professor Henry 
A. Ward, of Rochester, N. Y., is co-operating with Prof. 
Agassiz in this exceedingly important work, aud receives 
'the specimens, which are to be prepared under his direc- 
tion. The accompanying letter from Prof. A, to Prof. W. 
explains the whole matter. Gentlemen who lose by acci- 
dent, or are obliged to kill valuable animals or fowls of 
ttre pure breeds only, and who wish to co-operate ill this 
work, will ship them boxed or otherwise expeditiously to 
Prof. Ward. Prof. Agassiz's letter, somewhat abbreviat- 
ed, is as follows : 
Cambridge, Dec. 13, 1870. 
Dear Sir. — I propose to put up in the Museum of Com- 
parative Zoology a perfect skeleton of a male, a female, 
a half-grown and a young of each breed, of all the differ- 
ent kinds of domesticated cattle raised not only in this 
country but in every part of the world, as a monument 
to the progress of civilization in that direction. 1 shall, 
at the outset, limit myself to the pure breeds Now 
that you understand my plan, and arc ready with your 
skilled workmen to undertake the preparation of the 
skeletons, I can hope to proceed with its execution as 
rapidly as the misfortune of accidental or natural death 
may deprive the stock-grower of any of his pure stock. 
I suppose I am not mistaken in assuming that the man 
who has lost a valuable animal would prefer to sec it put 
up handsomely in a museum, with a label commemora- 
ting the pedigree and history of the same, than to bury 
it and allow it to be entirely- lost. I would therefore 
make an appeal to the farmers of the country to send to 
you the specimens of puro blooded breeds, known to be 
such, which they may lose, and to forward them to you 
by^railroad, giving you at the same time, by letter, the 
necessary information concerning the history of the spec- 
imens that I may record the whole in our catalogues. It 
would be desirable, where convenient, to have them for- 
warded with the skin, * * * but to lessen the chances 
of decomposition, the intestines should be removed. 
Beginning at home I would first call for specimens of all 
the breeds of cows, horses, sheep, swine, dogs, goats, 
rabbits, guinea pigs, etc., fowls, turkeys, ducks, geese aud 
fancy birds. As fast as the skeletons can be mounted they 
will be put up in a special room in the Museum at Cam- 
bridge, to remain accessible to every body at all times, 
all the year round, so that this collection may shortly 
afford the best means of studying the anatomy of our do- 
mesticated animals as far as their skeletons are concerned. 
* * * Yours very truly, L. Agassiz. 
Prof. H. A. Ward, Rochester, N. Y. 
Feeding: Turnips In Kansas.— 
"E. D. L." When Turnips are worth but a few cents a 
bushel, it seems a waste of time to spend time to cut 
them up, but it is important. There is danger of them 
choking the cattle or horses. Wc need a cheap root- 
cutter that will work fast. Chopping with a spade Is 
slow work. 
