1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
S4z5 
Please tell your Friends 
THAT FOR OXLY 75 (EXTS 
They can secure the AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
for Six Mouths, 
We invito all parties not acquainted with our valuable 
paper to try it for sis mouths, from July to December. 
Subscriptions will be received for that time at seventy- 
five cents each. Almost daily we hear the remark that 
some item in the American Agriculturist is worth far 
more than a year's subscription ($1.50..) Please under- 
stand, we will send it for sis months beginning July 
'73, for 75c. Of course this does not include the beauti- 
ful chromo " Mischief Brewing,'' which is offered to all 
yearly subscribers free when taken at 245 Broadway, 
twenty-five cents extra when sent prepaid. Try it six 
months or a year. 
Sift 
containing a great variety of Items, including many 
goof.l Hints and Suggestion* which ive throw intosmalhr 
type and condensed form, for want of space elsewhere. 
Remitting Money: — Cheelcs on 
New York City Banks or Bankers are best 
for large sums ; make payable to the order of Orange 
Jiuld «.V 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 ; put in 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 : OviAmericctn Ar/riculturht, o cents 
a quarter, in advance ; on Hearth ami Home, 5 cents per 
quarter. Double rates if not paid in advance at the 
office where the papers are received. For subscribers in 
British America, the postage must be sent to this office 
for prepayment here. Also 20 ceuts for delivery of 
Hearth and Home in New York City. 
Bound. Copies oi" Volume Thirty- 
one arc now ready. Price. $■?, 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 75 cents per vol. (50 cents extra, if return- 
ed by maii. I Missing numbers supplied at 12 ceuts each. 
duos can at anytime be increased by remitting 
for each addition the price paid by the original members ; 
or a small club may be increased to a larger one; thus: 
a person having sent 10 subscribers aud $12, may after- 
ward send 10 more subscribers with only $3 : making a 
club of 20 at $1 each : and so of the other club rates. 
I>elives*y or i 1 lii'omos«~We have de- 
livered, at this date, all the Chromos to our subscribers, 
who have either called for them in person, or who have 
forwarded payment of postage or transportation if to be 
sent by mail or express. On one of our advertising pages 
will be found extracts from a few of the great number of 
letters that have come to us expressing the delight. of 
the recipients of these beautiful pictures. We would re- 
mind those of our subscribers (either to Hearth and Home 
or American, Agriculturist) who have not yet sent for their 
Chromos, that if they will remit to us the small amount 
necessary to pay for packing and transportation, as ad- 
vertised on second page of cover, the pictures will b» 
promptly forwarded. 
" For Information." — Notwithstanding 
several requests, letters still come to as inclosing 25 
cents or fifty cents l *for information." We have often 
asked that only return postage be sent, and those who 
include more lose 22 cents or 47 cents, as the case may 
be, as we wish it to be distinctly understood that letters 
are written as a matter of courtesy, and not for a few 
cents. We feel much inclined not to auewer such letters 
at all. Please understand that we do not retail infor- 
mation by the 25 or 50 cents' worth, or at any other price. 
Mrs, or Miss ?— If ladies would sign their 
names as Mrs. or Miss So-and-So, it would often be of 
use to those who receive their letters. It is often the 
case that a lady's handwriting is not what is called femi- 
nine ; and there being nothing in the letter to indicate 
the sex of the writer, it sometimes leads to annoying 
blunders. We once addressed a letter to " Mr. So-and-So, 
Dear Sir," and the reply came back, " I am neither a Mr. 
nor a Dear Sir, but an old woman of 60." 
Xlie Prairie Farmer is not only a wide- 
awake cotemporary, but a courteous. When it sees an 
article in the Agriculturist that it thinks may be of use 
to its readers, it copies and gives full credit. Of course, 
this is only common honesty, but bo many oue-horse 
papers take our articles and accredit them to " Ex- 
change" or even '"Ex.," when they do not appropriate 
them without even this poor intimation that they are 
borrowed, that it is worth while to refer them to the ex- 
ample of the '"Prairie Farmer." 
Ayrshires and Jerseys in Texas.— 
" W. P. G.," Limestone Co., Texas. There is no reason 
why either Ayrshire or Jersey cattle should not thrive in 
Texas as well as elsewhere, unless it be that they do not 
get proper treatment. The disease by which you Bay 
they are affected is not murrain. In the first place, there 
is no such complaint, the word meaning the same as the 
word plague, and referring to a state of things in which 
cattle take sick and die throughout a wide district, under 
similar circumstances. Murrain, as you use the word, is 
simply impaction of the mauyplus, or third stomach, 
with a quantity of hard, dry, indigestible matter, which 
causes severe inflammation of the bowels and kidneys, 
resulting in discharges of blood before death, and some- 
times ending in fever and general disorganization. It is 
most probably caused by either feeding in summer on 
dry. innutritions, and indigestible fodder, weeds, or 
coarse stems of grass, with want of water ; or by feeding 
too luxuriously iu the spring on young, succulent herb- 
age, after undergoing a course of partial starvation 
throughout the winter months. If this adverse treatment 
is remedied, aud the cattle cared for judiciously, there 
will he no difficulty. These sorts of cattle are not suited 
to picking a living on the prairies at all seasons and in 
all weathers, as are the natives. 
Sell-opening Gate. — " A. W." We never 
yet saw one that we would have if it were put up with- 
out cost. But what is the need of closing entrance-£ates 
if there are proper cattle laws? Our own entrance-gate 
is not closed from the beginning to the end of the year, 
except now and then to keep in our own animals. 
Apple-seed from Pomace. — "A. L. 
R.," Hanover Co., Va. The seed should be separated 
before the pomace ferments. The pomace is soaked to 
facilitate breaking up by beating it, and it is then washed 
in tubs, the heavier seed sinking, while the fragments of 
pomace are poured off with the water. Where a large 
quantity is to be washed, it is done in a long box placed 
near a stream, from which a continuous flow of water 
can be had, and is done something after the manner of 
gold washing. 
China Berries.— "Inquirer." The tree 
•' Pride of China" is, botanically, Melia Azedarach. We 
have had no experience in ''utilizing" the berries. A 
decoction of them is said to kill insects on plants, aud a 
writer in a southern paper, quoted by Dr. Porcher, stated 
that he fed his horses and cows with the berries, mixed 
with a small portion of corn. We should advise great 
caution in this matter, as all parts of the plant are medi- 
cinally active. Can any of our southern readers advise 
"Inquirer" what to do with his China berries ? 
Maine Pomolos;ieal Society was 
chartered last winter, and is now organized. Z. A. Gil- 
bert, of Turner, is President; A. L. Simpson, of Bangor, 
Corresponding Secretary ; and George B. Sawyer, of Wis- 
casset. Recording Secretary. So the good work goes on. 
Hydrangea panicnlata grandi- 
flora in Wisconsin.— F. A.Woodward writes from 
Eau Claire : " I notice that you say, '■Hydrangea panicu* 
lata grandifiora is, taken all in all, the finest shrub we 
have.' You might add to this that it is perfectly hardy 
here, having withstood a temperature of 4*) degrees below 
zero uninjured. Perfectly hardy means something more 
here than at the East. In a collection of some fifty 
varieties of shrubs the number that have survived the 
winter is exceedingly few." 
Horse with Sore Shoulder. — "H. 
D.," Madison Co., Iowa. A horse with a sore shoulder 
should hot work by any means. The lump existing is 
the result of bruises from the collar, which is doubtless 
too large. It will break in time and discharge matter. It 
should then he washed with soap and water and a weak 
I solution of copperas, and will soon heal. It would be 
folly to start for Colorado or on any other journey with 
one of the horses in that condition, or until it is entirely 
healed. With a well-fitting collar, nothing is needed but 
to wash the horse's shoulders when the collar is taken 
off with cold water and soap, and scrape the collar free 
from all dirt, and keep it smooth and hard. Pads are 
worse than useless, as they make theski» sweat and gall. 
Salt-water is equally worse than useless, as the salt 
keeps the skin moist and makes it tender. Cold water 
is the very best thing to use. 
Right and Wrong.— "W. J.," Red City, 
Mich. It is not within our province to settle questions 
of conscience for our readers. If you think it wrong to 
make money by pandering to whims by breeding Jerseys 
for color, to grow hops for brewers, or rye for distillers, 
or apples for cider-makers, pray do not do it. These are 
questions which each one must decide for himself. 
Apple of Sodom.— "A. W.," Cecil Co., 
Md. This is, in some localities, called " Ilorse Nettle," 
and is Solanum Carolinense, a near relative of the potato, 
and the worst weed the cultivator has to contend with, 
the Canada Thistle not excepted. We know of a nursery 
which the proprietor had to abandon on account of it. 
There is no ■'remedy* 1 for this, nor for any other weed 
of its tenacious character, except persistent work. Do 
not let a plant go to seed, and cut the shoots oft' as soon 
as they appear above the surface. A friend of ours in 
Delaware, by taking it as soon as it appeared, cleared 
his grounds of it. If it gets full possession, the question 
then will be. Is the land worth what it will cost to clear 
it ? Our Maryland nurseryman thought not, and left his 
place in possession of the weed. 
SUI\l>nY HIIMBIGS.- Whatever eke 
may be expanded by heat, the list of humbugs is not. It 
must not be inferred that humbugging in its various 
forms is any less active than formerly; but our corre- 
spondents are too busy with their farm labors to send us 
the usual amount of information, circulars, etc. 
LOTTERIES. 
We have already given our view of lotteries, whether 
called by their proper names, or disguised under those of 
Gift Concerts, Distributions, or what not. No matter how 
plausible the object, or how great the charity for which 
fhiagtf are hold, the principle is uot changed. Some one 
makes money at the expense of the community, and 
gives but a small portion of the proceeds to the charitable 
object under the cover of the name of which the money 
was obtained. We showed not long ago that it tock ten 
dollars of the people's money to get one into the Ken- 
tucky Library. This Kentucky lottery will piv.'Vbly be 
kept going as long as there can be found any foolish 
enough to purchase tickets. Its " Third Grand Gift Con- 
cert" has been postponed for ninety days Omaha 
appears to be especially afflicted with lotteries. Just 
now it is an Orphan Asylum. The circular setting forth 
the claims of this is funny reading. 
CHEAP SEWING-MACHINES. 
In answer to those who have sent us circulars of various 
cheap sewing-machines, we can only say that we have 
not yet seen a Five-Dollar Sewing-Machine that was 
worth buying. One of these circulars quotes the Scien- 
tific American as indorsing its machine. Upon inquiry 
of the editor of that journal, we find that he knows 
nothing of the machine in question. There has been si> 
much humbuggery connected with these cheap machines, 
that we advise great caution in investing in them. 
MEDICAL HUMBUGS. 
The collection of these presents but little novelty, but 
the circulars are of interest as showing the recent method 
of introducing medicines all over the country. The makers 
of these nostrums send out small parcels to persons for 
sale at a good profit. The one who receives the medi- 
cines deposits a dojaras evidence of good faith, which 
he is generally willing to do if he can get medicines 
worth several dollars— when he sells them. Now, a dol- 
lar will not only pay the manufacturer for the stuff sent 
but gives him a profit, even if he gets no further returns ; 
but the one who receives the medicines, having them on 
hand, will make an effort to sell them, and by the aid of 
persuasive circulars he is very likely to get rid of them 
and want more. Some of the 
CANCER QUACKS 
have another dodge. They send circulars to poet-masters, 
clergymen, etc., setting forth their ability to cure cancer, 
stating that they charge $1,000 to $5,000, more or less, 
according to the ability of the patient, and offer to the 
clergyman or post-ma6ter, if he will put the cancer 
quack in commnnication with persons afflicted with can- 
cer, to give him 25 per cent of all the fees received. 
RIVAL HOU6ES 
spring up among these nostrum dealers. The "N. T. 
College of Health 1 ' inform us, in setting forth the claims 
of their " Bye Cups," that Ball Is dead, and that othere 
