1873.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
■^?^^^g^f-C-« 
containing a great variety of Items, including many 
good Hin'ts and Suggestions which we throw into smaller 
type and condensed form, for want of spate elsewhere. 
Remitting 1 Money : — Checks on 
New York City Banks or Bankers arc best 
for large sums ; make payable to the order of Orange 
Judd A Co. Post-Offlce Money Orders, 
for $50 or less, are cheap and safe also. When these are riot 
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 : On American Agriculturist, 3 cente 
a quarter, in advance ; on Hearth and Home, 5 cents per 
quarter. Double rates if not paid in advance at the 
office where the papers arc received. For subscribers in 
British America, the postage must be sent to this office 
for prepayment here. Also 20 cents for delivery of 
Hearth and Home in New York City. 
Bound Copies of Volume Thirty- 
one are 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 75 cents per vol. (50 cents extra, if return- 
ed by mail.) Missing numbers supplied at 12 cents each. 
CI ul>* can at any time 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 and $12, may after- 
ward send 10 more subscribers with only $S ; making a 
club of 20 at $1 each ; and so of the other club rates. 
Plants by Mail.— Sometimes, though not 
often, our friends in ignorance of the law include their 
letters with specimens sent for mail. Whenever written 
matter is sent with specimens, letter postage is due upon 
the whole. Those who send notes or letters under cover 
of plants or printed matter are liable to a heavy fine 
should a post-office clerk chance tn discover them. 
Fairs, Fairs. — Our list of fairs wili be 
published in September. We will thank officers of Agri- 
cultural Societies and Fair Associations of all kinds to 
send their programmes at once. Those that reach us later 
than August 12th have but little chance of getting in. 
Writing; for the Agriculturist. — 
Those who wish to write for the paper, and inform us 
that if we will " send them a list of subjects " they will 
provide ns articles, are informed that we have no need of 
their services. We have each month enough matter io 
make up two or more papers, and we can not bother with 
persons who need to have subjects suggested to them. 
To those who send us concise and practical articles, that 
we consider worth publishing at all, we pay current rates, 
provided we use the material. We have no occasion to 
go to novices for " filling." The plea often made that the 
writer is needy, while it touches our sympathies, has no 
effect whatever upon our decision upon his or her article. 
Whatever we give in the way of charity is not given to 
paying for poor articles merely because the writer wants 
money. Those who send articles must expect them to be 
Judged upon their merits, and all preface as to the past 
history of the writer is so much labor thrown away. 
An Excursion. — A part) 1 — of gentlemen, 
some of them connected in various ways with the agri- 
cultural and horticultural press, and others who go for 
the fun of it, have started on an excursion for the far 
west. They will visit Texas, the Indian Territory, Utah, 
Colorado, etc., and will be gone about five weeks. The 
Agriculturist has a representative with the party, and 
should anything noteworthy happen our readers shall be 
advised of it. The youths who make up the party are 
under the protection of the venerable Mr. Williams of the 
Horticulturist, who will probably give them a great deal 
of ride for their money. 
Grass for an Orchard.— *'H. K. W.," 
Whitfield Co., Ga. The best grass for an orchard is 
Orchard Grass (Dactylis glomerala). Probably red clover 
would be found a more suitable plant to seed diwn with, 
and by feeding it down with hogs the soil would be fertil- 
ized, and the fallen wormy fruit consumed. 
Varieties of Wheat.- "C. K. S." Gree- 
ley, Colorado. It is impossible to recognize a sample of 
wheat byname merely from the seed. Change of locality 
and climate is sufficient in a very short time to alter the 
character of the grain, and even the stem and chaff, so. 
that it can no longer be identified. This so frequently 
and conspicuously occurs that it has given rise to state- 
ments that wheats imported from a distance have become 
mixed with the native varieties. This has occurred iu 
our own experience so prominently that it became a 
matter of study and investigation to discover why a 
white wheat should in a few years become almost ex- 
actly like the old Lancaster red, when natural mixing of 
varieties is an improbability. Since then we have seen 
wheats which have become much lighter in color by 
change from a heavy eastern to a lighter dry western soil. 
Gypsum Mills. — "J. A. W. f " Hutchinsou, 
Kansas. The season for preparing gypsum for fertilizing 
purposes is the early spring or late winter. We have 
prepared an engraving of a mill for stamping and grind- 
ing gypsum, which at present we have not room for. 
We shall endeavor to elucidate this matter iu Beason. 
Cactus in Sittiugr-Roonis. — Mrs. "J. 
M. S." The term Cactus is a very comprehensive one. 
Some.like the Crabs-claw Cactuses (Epiphyllunis) are win- 
ter bloomers. The majority of them, need rest during the 
winter, and to be kept in a warm room with only just 
enough water to keep them from shrivelling. In spring 
they will start a new growth and push out flower-buds. 
Thrashing Machines.—" H. F. W.," 
Flintstone, Md. The two-horse tread-powers and thrash- 
ing machines of Wheeler, Mclick &, Co., are very suitable 
for a farmer with 100 to 200 acres, or for a job thrasher. 
They may be loaded upon a common wagon, and un- 
loaded in a very short time, and are to our mind easier 
upon the horses than the lever power. With a similar 
machine we have thrashed 150 bushels of wheat, or 250 
of oats in a day with four hands. A fanner who keeps 
but one pair of horses and owns one of these machines 
is independent of outside help, which is a great point, and 
on the whole we would recommend them in the above- 
mentioned cases in preference to the larger machines. 
Apple Corer and Slicer. — Very per- 
fect machines for paring apples have long been in use. 
We now have in the "Climax Apple-corer and Sheer " 
another valuable invention. By means of this an apple 
has its core removed and is neatly sliced " as quick as a 
wink." This lngemvon in-rcntion i* i> y n n Cru. ui,\U, 
55 Chambers st., N. Y., to whom we refer for particulars, 
A Curious Variation in a Peach. — 
In September last (p. 342) we gave a note from W. C. Mas- 
ters, Barren Creek Springs, Md., describing a peach-tree, 
one branch of which produced much earlier fruit than the 
rest of the tree. We this year received (July 9th,) speci- 
mens from this tree, that from the early branch being 
quite ripe and of good quality while fruit from the other 
portions of the tree was not half the size and perfectly 
green. It will be worth while for Mr. M. to propagate 
from this precocious branch. 
Oyster Shells for Manure. — "S. D. 
S." Burn the oyster shells rather than grind them. 
Eating the After-Birth.— " H. Z.," 
Frederic Co., Md. There is no occasion to allow a cow 
to consume the after-birth. Itmay be that nature impels 
her to thus dispose of it for a good reason. We cannot 
say as to that, but being repulsive we have never per- 
mitted it, and no harm ever resulted. The cow previ- 
ously to calving should be removed to a stall distant 
from the other cows, where she is undisturbed, and there 
fastened by a strap and head-stall, or a chain cattle tie. 
This gives her ample room to lick the calf, which instinc- 
tively comes and keeps close to her. 
Rose Cutting:®. — Mrs. l 'J. M. S.," St. 
Charles, Mich. Cuttings of perpetual roses should be 
made of the present season's growth after it has some- 
what matured. When new leaf buds have been formed at 
the base of the leaves is the proper time to take cuttings. 
We do not understand your question about aquariums. 
A Horse Record.— H. Desilver*fe Co., Phila- 
delphia, Pa., publish a record and receipt-book for those 
having stallions at service. We have the testimony of 
one of our noted breeders that these books are well ar- 
ranged and useful. They are certainly important to those 
who care for accuracy in pedigree. 
Reducing: Bones.- <l H. — . W.," Craw- 
ford Co., Pa. Where the acid (and the bones) can be 
procured cheaply, it might be worth while for a person 
who is used to handling such a dangerous material as 
the acid to attempt to make his own Buperphosphate. 
But generally it will be found costly, troublesome, and 
dangerous to the person and his clothing, so that on the 
whole it would be more profitable to burn the bones and 
reduce them to powder, and spread the powder upon 
grass land at the rate of 250 pounds per acre. 
SUXDR17 niMBlGS.-Wc read about 
suicides, murders, railroad accidents, and the like un- 
pleasant things being " epidemic " at particular seasons. 
It appears to us that particular humbugs are epidemic in 
the same Beuse. One montL " ,,r budget shows that 
dealers in " queer " are prevalent, men there is a general 
attack of lottery, and so on. This month the health re- 
port is uncommonly good ; there are sporadic cases here 
and there, but no form of humbug shows a tendency to 
become epidemic. We have this time more cases of 
USELESS RECIPES 
than of anything else. We have, in former years, shown 
up the utter folly and worthlessness of the recipes that 
are sold, and the business has been quite dead for a long 
time ; but of late it seems to have revived There is 
a concern in Marion, Ohio, that offers the most tempt- 
ing inducements for agents to sell "Family .Rights' 1 to 
make "Poor Man's Golden Butter, 1 ' "Excelsior Honey,'' 
"Genuine American Spavin Cure," etc. For $1 these 
chaps sell aright to make a "compound warranted to 
cure any and ever}' kind of spavin that horses are sub- 
jected to, and do it effectually/' Here is a wonderful 
secret which, if it only would cure spavin, would be 
Cheap at a hundred thousand, going for a paltry single 
dollar. Let these Marion folks go to any large stable in 
New York and cure five or ten cases of " any and every 
kind of spavin,' 1 and their fortune will be made. They 
will not have to be screeching through then- circulars for 
agents to sell their "discovery" in the form of indi- 
vidual rights " Golden Honey,*' which may or may 
not be the same as the " Excelsior Honey," can be made 
by A. Coulter & Co.'s recipe, which is to be had for $1. 
As C. & Co. do not put their address upon their business 
documents, our customers w*ill not know where to send 
their dollars ; so we will publish the " Family Eight ; " 
SoftWater 6 pounds. 
White or Brown Sugar, Moist — 20 
Pure Bees' Honey 3 " 
Cream Tartar 80 grains. 
Essence of Roses 24 drops. 
*#* Mix the above in a brass kettle ; boil over a char- 
coal fire for five minutes ; take it off ; add the whites of 
two well-beaten eggs ; when almost cold add two pounds 
more of bees 1 honoy- "A pint at thn. dp.mctinn of slip- 
pery elm Dart or the consistency of cream will improve 
the honey if it be added while cooling.'' The syrup 
made by this process is harmless enough, but it is not 
honey. Not harmless, however, is the 
FRENCH BURNING OIL, 
for which these same A. Coulter & Co. sell "Family 
Rights," which are, indeed, family wrongs, for everyone 
who uses this Burning Oil does so at the constant risk 
of the safety of the family and the house. The recipe 
to make a similarly pernicious thing was sold a few 
years ago as the " Sunlight Oil." and in that, as well as 
in this, the chief ingredient is that most dangerous of 
fluids, benzine. In both cases several useless articles are 
directed to be added to the benzine, in order to convey 
the impression that it is in some way changed ; but all 
this hugger-muggery leaves the benzine just as danger- 
ous as it was before. Here is the " Process of Making 
the French Burning Oil,— Not Transferable. — 
40 gallons Benzine, Specific Gravity 40 Degrees. 3 lbs. 
Whiting. 3 oz. Sweet Spirits Nitre. 3 oz. Spirits Am- 
monia. " £ oz. Camphor Gum. 4 oz. fine Salt. Draw off 
from the barrel 6 gallons, pour in a tub first add whiting 
and salt, dissolve the Champhor in a bottle, well shaken, 
add to the six gallons in the tub, stir the whole for five 
minutes, after settled dip off carefully into the barrel." 
— This precious recipe docs not tell what is to be done 
with the Sweet Spirits Nitre and the Spirits of Ammonia* 
They might as well be thrown out of the window for 
all the effect they would have on a barrel of benzine. 
This recipe differs from that for the Sunlight Oil in one 
important particular— that contained raw potatoes, and 
this does not. Now, all this mixing and muddling with 
the benzine is sheer nonsense, and it remains the same 
inflammable, dangerous liquid as ever ; and one who 
knowingly uses it for illumination is on the direct road 
to suicide or murder, or both. Yet the scoundrels who 
sell this recipe have the effrontery to state : " The above 
is known as the French Burning Oil, and excells all 
others as a safe, cheap, and lasting Oil it can not be 
equalled." These chaps were, at last accounts, operating 
somewhere in Michigan. They could be indicted for 
getting money under false pretenses, and we advise any 
community where they may offer this wicked recipe to 
make the place too hot to hold them. 
thorlet's cattle food 
Has been before the public for several years, and has 
sold largely in England. A concern in Portland, Me., 
George Stinson & Co., " Art Publishers," issue a circu- 
lar the object of which is to induce agentB to undertake 
the sale of an engraving called " The Mother of Our 
