1878.1 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
to medium, aud 5)£C ta>6hiC. for fair to choice, a few ex- 
tiasgoiugat 6&c, Lambs take lUc rauge uf Gc. @ 7}&e. 
Swine.— Arrivals are quite free, but with a good 
foreign and domestic provision trade cutters are using 
them up rapidly. Still, live hogs have declined fully jpje. 
during the month. Western dressed begin to arrive. 
Quotations of live hogs, 4-;jC. @ i ? 3 c: city-dressed West- 
ern, 514c @ 6c. for heavy to medium, and 6)40. la) B'sc. 
for light ; Western dressed, 5V- @ 5yc. ; State and 
Jersey, 5,'ic. @ I'.iQ. 
4j$rg>£ 
?^s3«i§§ 
t3& 
containing a great variety of lfet/is, including many 
good Hints and Suggestions n-hich we throw intosmalur 
type and condensed form, for want of .--pace elsewhere. 
Remitting- Money : — Checks 011 
New York City Bunks or Bunkers arc best 
for large snin^ ; make payable to the order of Orange 
T11 dd & Co. Post-Office Money Orders, 
for $50 or less, are cheap and safe also. When these are not 
obtainable, register letters, affixing stamps for post- 
age and registry ; pnt i:i the money and seal the letter in 
the presence of the postmaster, and take his receipt for it. 
Money sent in the above three methods is safe against loss. 
Postage : On American AgrkuUnrUst^ 3 cents 
a quarter, in advance ; on Hearth and Home, 5 cents par 
quarter. Double rates if not paid in advance at the 
office where the papers are received. For subscribers in 
British America, the postage most be sent to this office 
for prepayment here. 
iSuimd Copies of Volume Thirty- 
one arc now ready. Price, $2, at our office ; or $2.50 
each, if sent by mail. Any of the last sixteen volumes 
(16 to 31) will also be forwarded at same price. Sets of 
numbers sent to our office will be neatly bound in our 
regular style, at 73 cents per vol. (50 cents extra, if return- 
ed by mail.) Missing numbers supplied at 13 cpnts each. 
Clubs can at any time be increased by remitting 
for each addition tln> price i>a;d by the original members ; 
or a small club may be increased to a larger one ; thus : 
a person having sent 10 subscribers and $12, may after- 
ward send 10 more subscribers with only $S ; making a 
club of 29 at $1 each : and so of the other club rates. 
ALL for a DIME. — All our readers 
who do not now have Hearth and Home, ought to get the 
one number for January 4th, 1S73. Besides its regular 
pages, fine pictures, etc., it contains a large Supplement 
with Mr. Eggleston's new Story, "The Mystery of Metro- 
polisvillc." Get this number without fail, from the 
newsman, or a copy will be sent from this office, post- 
paid, for ten cents. 
Subscribe for Both Papers. — The 
subscription price for the A?nerican Agriculturist and 
for Hearth and Home, when both papers are taken to- 
gether, is only $4, and $4.75 pays for both papers, and 
for both the Chromos, mounted and prepaid, 
Delivery of Chromos. — Our subscribers 
will please remember that the Chromos are delivered in 
the order in which the money for mounting andfurwardiit'j 
has been received. It is of course for the publishers* in- 
terest to deliver Ihem as fast as possible, and all will 
agree that the rule mentioned is just and fair. 
The Outlook. — The long-time friends ©f 
the American, Agriculturist will be glad to learn that at 
this time of writing— the middle of December— the sub- 
scriptions arc coming in at an almost unprecedented 
rate, and that the prospects for an immense circulation 
were never equal to those of the present time. Wc may 
be allowed to say editorially to our friends, both old and 
new, that they share in the success that attends our 
journal, as the more the publishers receive, the more 
they expend in making the paper valuable to its readers. 
The publishers limit our expenditures by only one con- 
dition—that we shall expend all the money needed to 
improve the paper. It does the editorial heart good to 
see the cheery faces of the publishers as the mail-bag is 
emptied several times a day. Our readers have cer- 
tainly given them '■ a Happy New Year," and we accept 
the obligation to make a return -which sh-ll each month 
show that the greeting is not forgotten, The Editors. 
Worthy of Everybody's 
Attention. 
The fine Premiums offered on page 00 are well 
worth looking into. Over 14,000 Persons 
in ali parts of this country, iu British America, in 
Australia, iu the Sandwich Islands, in South Africa, 
and elsewhere, have each obtained oue or more of 
these Valuable articles, with little trouble, by simply 
colleetiugalist of subscribers. This has been done 
by many Children, by many men iu all pursuits 
and professions, and by a large number of Ladies. 
.See "A Good Paying Business,' 1 on page 40. 
Page 3*«J gives information of interest to 
every subscriber, whether old or new. 
. OIsI siiitl >cw. — Not the excellent journal 
of that name, but our old and new Readers— just a word 
with you at the beginning of the year.— First. When you 
write, always give your correct post-office address and your 
proper name. If you ask a question or send a communi- 
cation, sign it what you please, but always give your 
name besides. No one is expected to notice anonymous 
letters. — Seconal. If a letter is not answered, do not attri- 
bute it to neglect. Sometimes questions are asked which 
no one can answer. Sometimes one will put down twenty 
or more questions on as many different subjects, and it 
would be cheaper for us to send him some books than to 
take the time to answer all his questions. One letter 
should never contain more than two or three queries, and 
if these relate to widely different subjects, such as grape- 
growing and sick pigs, they will stand a much better 
chance of attention if written upon different slips of 
paper than if crowded into one sheet. — Third. It is our 
pleaeure to give any information that we may possess, 
and it annoys us to have any one send any sum -whatever, 
save the return postage, as we do not sell our advice, save 
through the paper.— Fourth. While, as a matter of cour- 
tesy, we aim to answer all sensible queries, desiring as 
we do to cultivate pleasant relations between readers and 
editors, we do not in any sense feel obliged to answer. 
Some inconsiderate persons, finding a question is not 
answered at once, feel offended. If they knew that such 
work was a " labor of love, 11 and done in evenings and 
at other times out of office hours, they would be less 
exacting. We do the best we can, but letters come by 
thousands— and editors are mortal. — Fifth and last. Vn- 
lcss a letter reaches us on or before the tenth of January, 
it has little chance of being noticed in the issue for 
February, and so on. 
The German Agriculturist is mainly 
a reproduction of the English edition, with a special 
department edited by the lion. F. Munch. We request 
our readers to mention the German edition to then- 
German friends. Many persons who employ German 
laborers, gardeners, etc., subscribe for it in order to sup- 
ply their help with useful reading matter. 
Kemiugtoii &, Sons, manufacturers of 
the "Remington" Breech-loading Hunting, Sporting, 
and Target Rifles and Shot-Guns, have received the fol- 
lowing from Ellis, Kansas: "I have one of your guns, 
and I killed, on September 22d. forty-nine (40) buffaloes 
in one ' stand, 1 which no other man ever did on the 
Plains. Yours truly. H. M. West." Messrs. R. & Sons 
have other letters of similar purport. 
Our Chromo gives great satisfaction to 
every one who sees it. It is secured very easily. See 
page 32. 
Vic3i*S Catalogue. — Mr. James Vlck, of 
Rochester, N. Y., seems to be engaged in an attempt to 
outdo himself. Each year his Seed Catalogue is more 
resplendent than on any former year, and now, on the 
principle that one can not have too much of a good thing, 
he proposes to issue it quarterly. 
TCissoui-i State Horticultural So- 
ciety meets at Jefferson City on the 7th inst., and will 
continue for four days. 
House Plan, — Some one seuds us a plan 
of house and garden on "Elizabeth St., 11 but gives 
neither name nor place, both of which are wanted. 
Seed-Corn. -"E, E. W." asks, when and 
how should seed-corn be secured, and should the grains 
from the whole ear be planted for seed.— Itis best to go 
through the field in advance of the cutters, and select 
those stalks bearing two perfect ears, and keep those ears 
for seed. The cars should be hung in bunches, made by 
tying or plaiting the husks together, in a perfectly dry, 
airy place, until wanted for planting in spring, when 
they should be shelled by hand, and only the perfect 
grains from the middle of the ear be used. Use as seed 
only the perfectly-formed grains, as those at the tops and 
butts of the ears arc not well formed nor of good size. 
BluntN Strainer-— This attachment to 
pumps, which was noticed in November last, received a 
special award at the late Fair of the American Institute. 
Ohio Dairymen's Association will 
hold its ninth annual meeting at the American Hotel in 
Cleveland, on the 93d and 23d inst. The genial Col. 
S. D. Harris is Secretary. 
Grass Bouquets. — Messrs. Peter Hender- 
son & Co. send us a fine bouquet of native grasses and 
sedges made by Mies Cowan, of North Carolina. There 
are a large number of grass bouquets imported, but the 
work of Miss C. can compete with the foreign. 
Beans and Sunflowers. — Dr. George 
Roberts, Santee Agency, Neb., writes: "In the August 
paper * G. W. W.' wants to know if it will do to plant 
beans and sunflowers together. I had a beautiful patch 
of sunflowers and Lima beans. The beans were hanging 
full of pods and filling out, but the grasshoppere, a tor- 
ment of this country, came August 4th, and ate every- 
thing above ground but melons and tomatoes. The stalks 
of sunflowers and corn stand as so many bean-poles. 
Plant the seeds of sunflowers (one in a hill) three to four 
feet apart as soon as the ground is ready in the spring; 
they then get a good start for the beans, which are to be 
planted at the proper time in warm weather." 
SUNDRY MUMBtGS.- The most un- 
pleasant part of our editorial work, from month to 
month, is that which falls under this heading ; yet we 
shall cheerfully continue it, as we have for more than a 
dozen years past, because of the constant assurances 
coming from all directions that this is one of the most 
useful smaller departments of the American Agricultur- 
ist. The fact that our index to swindling concerns con- 
tains 71 new names, added since our last issue, is abund- 
ant evidence that the sharpers are actively at work. As 
they do not run the risks incident to their business with- 
out large gams, it is evident that there are plenty of 
uu~"ry people who bite at the numerous baits these 
operators so industriously scatter broadcast. The mails 
are literally loaded down with the millions of circulars 
sent out. If a copy of this Journal could be put into 
the hands of every family in the country, the humbug 
business would become eo unprofitable that it would 
quickly die out. The scores of bushels of humbug cir- 
culars sent to ns by our readers indicate that they arc- 
put well ou their guard. To the tens of thousands of 
our new readers this year we here offer a few general 
remarks : As a rule, every doctor who advertises him- 
self, his medicines, or his practice, in circulars or news- 
papers, is a quack, utterly unworthy of the least confi- 
dence whatever. This includes those offering to cure 
consumption, cancers, catarrh, eyes, ears, private dis- 
eases, etc., etc. Trust no Medical Institutes, Howard 
Associations, and the like, advertising medicines, medi- 
cal advice, cures, Books on Marriage, Marriage Guides, 
Private Diseases, Errors of Youth, etc., etc. No reputa- 
ble physician, of any school of medicine, advertises 
medicines or advice.— Buy no watches or jewelry of any 
person whom you do not know personally or by good 
repute. Nine tenths of all the advertisers of watches 
through circulars, etc., arc unreliable. Never buy a 
watch or jewelry from axt person whom you can not 
easily reach if the article prove bad. Put no confidence 
in any imitation watches, whether of Oroide or other 
metals. They are not worth their cost, no matter how 
low the- price at which they are offered. No article, 
whether watches, jewelry, or other, made mainly of 
gold, silver, or precious stones, ever goes begging cus- 
tomers at half-pricss. Such articles have a standard 
value, as much as gold and silver coin have, and they al- 
ways command a good price from ready buyers among 
dealers themselves One of the most dangerous of 
this month's humbug* is a neat little pamphlet, sent out 
in letter envelopes, telling a tale of love, etc, about the 
inventor of a g-i Parisian watch, which is offered, together 
with a chain "as good as a genuine gold chain worth 
islOO," 1 all for $0. The story is told in a way to 
enlist the curiosity, sympathy, and then the confidence 
of the readers. It is on a par with Mother Noble 
and Aunt Lee's patent-medicine tales The helps 
to eyesight, advertised under \-arious pretentious 
names, arc usually no better than the common specta- 
cles one can bay of any neighboring dealer at 25c. 
