23<5 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
have faith enough iu this humbug to ask us to receive the 
prizes and forward them, for which trouble they will pay 
us a commission. The "Spanish policy," advertised at 
many places, is a pure swindle We have always sup- 
posed that the good people of St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., 
were too intelligent to harbor a "gift enterprise" like 
that announced by "O.J. Stickles, Manager." Canton, 
N. T. If he does all and just as he promises, the scheme 
is not a whit more nor less than a lottery, and will be let 
alone severely by all respectable people. We have a lot 
of tickets, sent us by generous subssribers, which, accord- 
ing to the promises made, ought to draw lots of farms, 
sewing machines, casters, center-tables, etc., etc. We 
haven't room to store so many things, Mr. Stickles 1 
100,000 people are invited to invest $10 each in a " Grand 
Gift Concert," at Louisville, Ky. If so many wrong- 
headed people can be found, 16 are to have prizes of 
$1,000 and upward ; 243 of $200 to $900 ; 446 of $100, and 
99,27 9 contributors are to get nothing at ail, except the 
assurance that if any thing is left "after paying the ex- 
penses of the enterprise, and making the distribution of 
the gifts," u the balance will be appropriated to the es- 
tablishment of a Free Library in Louisville." Had not 
these 99,279 persons, in which class the reader will most 
likely be found, better keep their money, and let the 721, 
among whom the reader will most likely not be found, 
put up the $1,000,000 required to give them a ch-ance to 
draw $550,000? This affair— a pure lottery— is au out- 
crop of the San Francisco enterprise, managed by the 
same party, who, of course, finds it to pay kirn E. F. 
Rogers, 131 Nassau St., alias II. J. Worth, 4 Broadway, 
quondam 3i Park Row, is sending letters all over the 
country, offering to each person addressed, a ticket in 
the Royal Havana Lottery, which draws every Saturday, 
that will surely draw $1,000 for each $1 said persons in- 
vest — which letters show the said so-oalled Rogers, alias 
Worth, to be a swindler, intending to pocket all money 
received, or a fool to sell thousands of people the certain- 
ty of getting $1,000 for $1, instead of taking these chances 
himself, or a liar in pretending to know what tickets will 
surely draw prizes. Our generons friend Young, editor of 
the Saratoga Sentinel, claims to be too poor to raise the 
dollar or two, and kindly offers to go halves with us in 
the prize offered, if we will advance the said dollar or 
two, and receive the $1,000 or $2,000. Thanks, friend 
Y., but we are too poor also, to spare $3, evcu, for such 
an investment. Can't yon divide the cost with us, and 
send along a 50c. stamp? Please bring it down, and 
when we get the prize we'll go out on a bender and order 
one ice-cream and two spoons, regardless ef expense 
A Michigan swindler, with more names and hailing 
places than we can print, sends out circulars and adver- 
tisements with great promises of wages, profits, etc., to 
those who will send him from $1 to $10, for rights, reci- 
pes, etc., including "Safety Oil," etc. He, of course, 
pockets the money, and if any victim takes the trouble tw 
follow him, he has changed his name and place. We 
have frequently exposed him, his htiaibng oil, etc 
W. D. Miller & Co., Philadelphia, pretends to offer 100,000 
gold watches, etc., worth $100 each and less, for $1.25 
each, which is all bosh. He will give you nothing for 
$1.25 which does not pay him a round profit at that price. 
If there were not many foolish pcopto, he couJd not pay 
his printer We are in continual receipt of the cir- 
culars and flaming sheets of perambulating Doctors, of 
immense pretemsions, who advertise a place of business 
at some central point, usually at the West, and announce 
visits at specified places on particular days. Some of 
them give hundreds of names as references, and reports 
of scores of cases of remarkable cures. These are too 
numerous to describe in detail. We say positively, that 
one and all of these Doctors are outrageous quacks. The 
names given are usually fictitious ; those of well-known 
persons are nsed without permission, and the few cer- 
tificates that are genuine, when any are, are from weak, 
nervous people who have been cured of some imaginary 
disease by their faith in the pretentious claims of the 
quacks. Any man advertising to cure " Cancers," ie a 
swindler. See our remarks on this subject last month, 
p. 240. We are asked our opinion of California Wine Bit- 
ters, Vinegar Iridin, and ahundred other nostrums. Ans. : 
If you have a mean, sheep-killing do?, which you arc too 
tender-hearted to get rid of by cutting his tail off close 
ibehiud his ears, make believe he is sick, and dose him 
with any one of these advertised medicines. Caution ; 
Keep the bottles, boxes, or packages in a safe place where 
no human being can, by any possible mistake, swallow 
any of the stuff. N. B. — This includes each and every 
advertised medicine, lotion, bitters, soothing sirup, nerve 
antidote, electrical sure-cure, etc., etc., etc., etc., etc., 
etc., etc., etc., etc.— no matter how finely put np in glass 
or gilt parcels. You have our opinion, founded on much 
study and observation, and we have looked into medical 
science as much as half the doctors, and all the quacks 
in tho country There is no photographic apparatus 
for $i, or for $5, that will take pictures worth a penny. 
West Virginians, and many other people elsewhere, will 
do well to heed this and save their money. The name of 
the sellers of such things is legion The "Arabian Se- 
cret " seller, recently exposed in these columns, has gone 
over to New Jersey, and taken a new name and P. O . ... 
The "New York Cash Prize Company " is still catching 
greenhorns, but will not take in many editors, unless 
cash goes with orders for advertisements " direct," and 
then only those who sell space to all paying comers. 
Here comes another "Academy of Music," in 
Charleston, 15. C, to be given some one of the 
8 50,000 people, who arc asked to contribute $5 
each to the "South Carolina Land aud Emigration Asso- 
ciation." One person in seventy is ofl'ered a prize of 
from ten dollars to an Academy of Music. Every good 
singer, who wants such a building, and knows he will 
draw it, better walk up and put down five dollars. Of 
course, fl -17,596 other persons, who don't want any 
prize, and can't get auy, will help him buy the building 
by giving $5 each If not satisfied with the above, 
and you know haw to keep a hotel, there is a " Caroline 
County Land Association," in Wilmington, Del., offering 
you the Leprerre Hotel in Denton, Md., lx WOyih n $25,- 
000, that only asks you to give $2, to have one chance in 
fifty thousand to draw said hotel Or, for $2, Omaha, 
Neb., offers you one chance in nineteen thousand, to get a 
cash prize of $20,000, all for the benefit of a public li- 
brary! Or, for the same money, you can have one 
chance in fifty thousand, at a Fruit Farm, in Iowa City, 
" valued at $30,000." Or, for $3, you can have one 
chance in two hundred and thirty-four thousand at the 
Pattison Market, Elmira, N. Y., valued at $100.0001 
Or, for $5, you can have one chance iu a ?niUk>n, 
more or less, to become the proprietor of the "New 
Memphis Theater." Or, for $5, you can have a 
similar chance in a " Monument to the Confederate Dead 
of Georgia," in nine hundred acres of land in Lincoln 
County, Ga., and in a prize of $10,000 V. S. greenbacks. 
Query : Will the deceased, or their friends, like this com- 
mingling of Federate and Confederate affairs ? If you don't 
like any of the above " Splendid Chances," our Humbug 
Drawer can supply any quantity of others, in any one of 
which you will be a trifle more likely to draw a prize 
than you will be to be buried in the moon, with a green- 
cheese monument a mile high. But chance is a great 
thing; so hand over the money. The operators will be 
profited, i-f y-o-u a-r-e n-o-t A late swindle, becom- 
ing quite common, is that of writing to a distant man 
(or woman), and telling him (or her) that some relative 
or person of the same name has recently died, leaving 
considerable property, and that the operator has strong 
reason to believe that the person addressed is entitled 
to quite a slice of the estate, and that $5, or $10, or $20 
will pay the said operator, who claims to be an "Attorney 
at Law," for looking up the matter. Several thousands of 
such letters are being scattered over the country. They 
catch a good many dollars. These swindlers arc located 
all over the country, and only address persons living at a 
instance. This is a shrewd dodge, and many quite sen- 
sible people are caught by it. 
Scolymus.— "T. B. II., » Hillsboro, N. C, 
sowed some Scolymns this spring, and it is now running 
t« seed. He asks if the root will be good after the seed 
has formed.- — With us it does not flower the first sea- 
son. We should think that, like parsnip and carrot, the 
root wsmld be worthless after it had prodnced seed. 
Still, as in its native country the Scolymus is perennial, 
it may, after seeding, form a supply of new roots. This 
is a matter in which we have had no experience, and we 
hope T. B. H. will tell us what the result is in his case. 
4 ii 1 1 1 ii- Cions.— " A. J. W.," Port Gibson, 
Miss. One great object in cutting cums in early winter, 
is to be able to graft at any convenient season. If the 
cions be dormant, we can extend the season of grafting 
over several weeks, but if we delay cutting them until 
the time for grafting arrives, the business mnst be hur- 
ried np. If vegetation has started in the cion, the check 
it receives iu removal from the tree is likely to prove 
fatal to it. Cions may be cut at any time during the period 
in which the plant is perfectly at rest. The growth of 
the previous season should be taken. The question 
"How dry should the cions be?" we suppose refers to 
the keeping of them. The object should be to preserve 
the natural moisture ; they must not be allowed to shrivel, 
nor should they be wet and water-soaked. 
HnruVflilUing Cow.-Y. C. Smith, Car- 
bondale, Pa., asks bow a hard-milking cow can be made 
to milk easy. If the difficulty is natural to the cow and 
there is no stricture in the orifice of the teat resulting 
from disease, we do not think there is any remedy. We 
should feed the cow for the butcher. If the trouble has 
been caused by garget or inflammation of the udder that 
has resulted in stricture, or partial closing of the milk 
passagc.it maybe removed by cutting. The operation, 
however, is a delicate one, and we would rather not per- 
forin it unless the cow is a valuable one. 
Four iaml>N nt a ISirtli. —William 
Woodzell, of Bath Co., Va., writes that he has two sheep 
that had four lambs each this spring. The year before 
they had three each. Seven of this spring's lambs are 
still alive aud doing well. We have known frequent in- 
stances of common long-wooled sheep having four lambs 
at a birth. But it is not a habit that it is desirable to 
perpetuate km breeding ewes. We like good, strong 
ewes to have twins, but not triplets or quartets. 
Relative Nutritive Value of Skim- 
med Milk and Corn-Meal.— " A. S. S." We 
can not answer this question any more than we can tell 
(as many pretend to do), how much bread is as nutritions 
as a pound of beef. One thing we do kuow, skimmed 
milk aud corn-meal together are better for hogs than 
either alone. If you can get 10 cents per gallon for the 
skimmed milk on tlie fann^ it will pay better to sell it 
than to feed it to hogs. 
A Neglected Orchard. — " Lowery," 
Jasper Co., Tenn., has an orchard of some twelve acres, 
which, having been used" as a camping ground by both 
armies during the war, and neglected since, is in a bad 
condition. He rightly concludes that the orchard needs 
both manuring and pruning, and asks advice. Pruning 
may be done at almost auy time, except in early spring, 
when vegetation is vigorous, and in winter, when the 
limbs are frozen. The wounds should be covered with 
melted grafting wax. The amount of pruning will de- 
pend upon the condition of each individual tree. Re- 
move limbs that cross and crowd each other, and leave 
the top open to light and air. Manure may be applied in 
autumn and winter : good, well-rotted stable manure is 
best. Lime and ashes applied before the manure, and 
forked in around the trees, will be found useful. If the 
ground has run up to briers and coarse weeds, a flock of 
sheep will do good service in reducing them, and their 
droppings will help fertilize the soil. The sheep should 
not be kept in the orchard during winter, as in the ab- 
sence of green food they may gnaw the bark of the trees. 
Fleas* — " H. E. C." says his " whole neighbor- 
hood" (but doesn't mention where) is infested with 
fleas. Pennyroyal and Tansy have been recommended. 
We should try Persian Insect Powder. Will any one 
help H. E. C. ? 
Strawberry Questions. — A subscriber 
(Athens, Tenn.) asks: 1. What strawberries are known to 
succeed best on redclay, in theSouth ? 2. In strawberry 
culture, fruit is the main object. It is well understood that 
different substances, taken as food, go to form the bones, 
flesh, and muscles of animal bodies. Is this true of 
plants? Do certain kinds of food produce vines and 
leaves, while other kinds produce fruit? 3. What kinds 
of manure are found, from experience, best calculated to 
produce fruit? 4. Is it well authenticated that potash, at 
the rate of a pound to a barrel of water, applied twice a 
week, will cause plants to throw out large quantities of 
runners and produce a luxuriant growth of vines ? And 
that ammonia — sulphate or carbonate — at the same rate, 
and applied in the same way, will produce large quanti- 
ties of fruit, but cause the fruit to ripen late? 5. Can 
these substances be purchased at such a price as that 
their use on a small scale will be profitable? 6. The 
new plants of some varieties seem disinclined to take 
root. What treatment will be likely to help the matter 1 
Ansiver. — 1. The Wilson succeeds almost every- 
where. Upon a clay soil we should try Jucunda and 
Triomphe dc Gand and Napoleon in. 2. Practically, the 
parallel between plants and animals does not hold. You 
can not have fruit without an abundance of healthy foli- 
age. 3. Well-rotted stable manure, especially that from 
cattle, is beet. 4. Potash is excellent for the strawberry. 
A vigorous plant will produce an abundance of runners. 
Ammoniacal manures are also useful. 5. Potash is most 
readily obtained in the form of ashes, and Peruvian 
guano is the cheapest form of ammonia. 6. Probably 
the surface is too dry. Put on a mulch. If our friend 
will use plenty of good manure, he need not trouble 
himself aboat fertilizing, for fruit especially. 
Tomato Wine.—' 1 J- C. B.," Rulpsvillc, Pa. 
We do not know how te make " a good wine M out of to- 
matoes, and do not believe that it can be done. Wc 
have seen a miserable, sweet, alcoholic liquid made from 
tomatoes, and we thought it an insult to a respectable) 
vegetable to put it to such a use. 
Scab in Sheep.— H. S. Burris, Clinton, 
Mo. When this disease affects a flock, the closest atten- 
tion is required, or it will spread ; flies will " blow " the 
affected parts, maggots will breed, and the sheep perish 
