1872.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
FREE.-The very Best TaWe Cut- 
lery—Silver-plated Tanle Articles 
— 4; old Pens— 4 Biildr* m's Toys- 
Flower and Gardeu Seeds — Nursery 
Stock — Sevring- and ^Vashing' Ma- 
chines and Wriugeirs — M elodeons — 
Pianos — American Waftches — Shoot- 
ing- Irons— Tool Chests— Ifrrmwing- 
I instruments — Barometers — Astral 
Oil — Hay Mowers — Horse-Forks 
and Hoes-Pujiips — Family Weigh- 
ing Scales— Cyclopedias— IMetSon- 
aries — Books — Grape - Vines — Toy 
Steam - Engines — etc., etc., etc., 
are among the things that we are distributing very largely 
all over the country to our friends who send in clubs of 
Subscribers. Some report as getting as many as fifty sub- 
scribers a day. Others get one, two, three, or more, as 
opportunity serves. Some make this their sole business, 
and sell their premiums received, and thus get large 
wages. There is no humbug or claptrap about this. At 
least Thirteen Thousand persons have received these pre- 
miums with great pleasure, and still, not one in ten of 
those who ought to read the American Agricultural and 
Hearth and Home for their own pleasure and profit., is 
yet supplied with it. So there is abundant room for 
thousands of others to obtain these valuable premiums. 
This work can go on all winter. Full particulars will he 
found in the Advertising Columns, pages 37 and 38. 
The Hoosier School-Master.— This 
intensely interesting story, which has appeared as a 
serial in the columns of Hearth and Home, Is now 
issued in elegant book form, printed on fine paper, with 
twelve full-page engravings on tinted paper, and seven- 
teen other illustrations, and bound in extra cloth. It is 
a truly AMERiniN Ktotiv, flml will lie rcuii-1 with delight 
by all. Price, post-paid, $1.25. 
Cundurango. — We have no doubt that a 
drug bearing this name is brought from South America. 
As to its being a cure for cancer, we must quote the 
Scotch verdict, u Not proven." One of the best medical 
journals in the country does not hesitate to denonnce it 
as a humbng. The thing has been known too short a 
time, to allow a proper opinion to be formed. We shall 
look for our information in regard to its alleged virtues 
to the medical journals, and not to advertisements by in- 
terested parties, in the daily papers. Those who wish to 
pay $100 (one hundred dollars) a pound for this South 
American bitter wood, will illustrate an old proverb 
which we need not quote. 
Peerless Potatoes. — We receive so many 
reports of the yield of the Peerless, that wc can not pub- 
lish all. Geo. Gilliford, Delphi, Ind., bought four pounds 
of B. K. Bliss & Son, and harvested 1414 bushels. 
Pigs of the First Litter.— " J. V." 
aBks "if the first pigs from a bow are as good as those 
from one older?" As a rule, no. But it depends a great 
deal on the breed and age of the young sow. If the sow 
is not allowed to breed until she has attained her full 
growth, her first litter will be as good as her second, and 
probably better than her third or fourth. We have now 
as good pigs from a year-old Essex sow (which mature 
early) as wc ever raised. At the New York State Fair 
wc showed two pens of five pigs each, one pen from a 
three-year-old sow, and one from a sow only a year old, 
and the judges awarded the first prize to the latter and 
the second to the former. And wc think they decided 
justly. This breed of pigs at eight months old arc as 
mature as some of the large breeds would be at sixteen 
months. If the latter were bred at eight months old, wc 
should expect the first litter to be far inferior to the 
second litter. If not bred until 1G or 18 months old, 
the first litter would probably be as good as the second. 
As a rule farmers breed their sows too young, and con- 
sequently the first litters are often weak and inferior. 
**Kest and Largest of any Other 
"Variety."— Fiddalgo Whatcom, W. T.— When a fair 
list offers premiums for designated varieties, and in ad- 
dition offers a prize for " the best and largest of any 
other variety," we understand it to refer to only one 
other sample, the best and largest of its kind. 
Sowing Plaster and Salt on Oats 
and Clover.— " W., 1 ' Covington, Ky., asks if plaster 
or salt sown on oats would not help the clover seeded 
with them. Plaster is of great benefit to young clover, 
as is also salt. It has been a practice with us to sow a 
bushel of each per acre in spring on winter grain or oats, 
when seeded to clover, and we have found It beneficial. 
Bellas History of Shorthorns.— 
Messrs. L. Tucker & Son, Albany, New York, inform us 
that they have received a few copies of this work, which is 
held in esteem by English breeders. They will send it, 
post-paid, on receipt of $2,75. 
School-Cffouses. — By James Johonnot. Ar- 
chitectural designs by S. E. Hewes. Published by J. W. 
Schemerhorn&Co.,NewYork, who append an extended 
catalogue of their school furniture. This handsome work 
seems to be very complete and must prove a great aid to 
all concerned in schools and school-houses. 
Brief History of the United States. 
—A. S. Barnes & Co., New York. The name of the au- 
thor is not given. The work presents an attractive ap- 
pearance, and is illustrated by well-executed engravings 
and neat maps. $1.50. 
I^i ii 11 Grammar for Beginners. — 
By Wm. Henry Waddell, New York. Harper & Brothers. 
The Seymours. — A temperance story, 
published by the National Temperance Society and Pub- 
lication House, New York. 
" The U.S. Banking Association-' 9 
—What is this concern which publishes the " U. S. Credi t 
Record of Business Men " ? The highly respectable Lon- 
don publishing house of Triibner & Co. write us that 
their name is attached to this Record, and they wish it to 
be distinctly understood that they know nothing of the 
concern, and never heard of the " Association " nor its 
"Record" until their attention* was called to the unau- 
thorized use of their name. Is this some bogus thing ? 
Perkins & House's Lamp.- The fa- 
vorable oninion wc expressed of this lamp when it was 
first introduced has been confirmed by long use. Our ad- 
vertising columns set forth its merits, which some of our 
associates say are not overstated. 
The American Entomologist. — A 
note from Mr. C. V. Riley, the editor, informs us that 
the publication of this journal will not be resumed this 
month, as was announced a year ago. Mr. Riley has pur- 
chased the illustrations and all interest in the magazine, 
and hopes to recommence it at no very distant day. 
A Wood. Ten Cents' Worth.— The pub- 
lishers would be very glad to have everybody see a single 
copy of Hearth and Home as it is now. Probably a better 
ten cents' 1 worth was never furnished anywhere, or in any- 
thing, than in the number of Hearth and Home now before 
us. It is full of good things that will please everybody. 
Get it for yourselves, and for the children for the holi- 
days. It can be bought of most newsdealers for S cents 
a copy, or the publishers will send it, postpaid, to any ad- 
dress, for 10 cents. Send a dime and get a single copy to 
look at, to read, mid to enjoy. 
A Mystery. — When some thousands of peo- 
ple every year collect and send on clubs of subscribers 
and receive valuable premiums from this office without 
outlay of money, and when the offer is equally open to all 
others, it is a mystery to us that tens of thousands of 
others do not rush into it and do the same thing. Hu- 
man nature and human wants arc the same everywhere ; 
and it is just as easy for 20,000 or 30,000 other people- 
one or more at every pusi-urnee— to get these good arti- 
cles, as it is for the few thousands who do obtain them. 
Please turn to pages 37 and 38, and see what is offered. 
About "Crabs."— Geo. Pittman, Fulton 
Co., Pa., has discovered that springs which generally dry 
up in summer, may be made to run all the time by turning 
in some crabs. We suppose he means eraw-fish, or fresh- 
water crabs. He says thesc-animals follow up the streams 
beneath the ground and make an outlet for the water. 
Thus even crabs or craw-fish have their uses. 
Cure for Mange. — "Belleville" sends his 
cure for mange, which we think well of, as follows: 
Equal parts of sulphur and cream of tartar, made into a 
ball with syrup or honey, and administer daily for three 
or four days. Wash the parts affected with carbolic soap, 
and anoint with a paste of lard, sulphur, and powdered 
charcoal ground together. 
To Prevent an Iron Kettle from 
Rusting. -Miss Ilattio B., Alleghany, N. Y., is trou- 
bled to find a remedy for the rusting of her cauldron. Wc 
know of no remedy but to apply the practice by which 
housekeepers preserve their stove-pots from rusting, viz., 
to wipe them while still hot, after being used, with a 
greasy cloth. Iron, when heated, will absorb consider- 
able grease, and perseverance in the above will soon 
completely fill the pores of the iron and prevent rust. 
Guessing-.— R^A. Howell, Dutchess Co., N. 
Y., lives among farmers who " guess," and can never tefl 
exactly what they raise nor what they expect to. He 
asks information about large crops of corn. Is 100 bush- 
els to the acre ever raised, axd docs it mean shelled corn, 
or ears ? Guess farmers are as " plenty as blackberries " 
everywhere. When the number of bushels in a crop of 
corn is mentioned, &dle4 com is understood. One hun- 
dred bushels are otftciv-attalned, but only by the best 
farmers. " Guess "■**»»«** raise about 10 bushels to the 
acre. Seventy to eighty bflehels are common in New 
Jersey and parts of Pennsylvania. 
To Weld Irojj^-^'A." is a farmer, and 
wants to do his own iwaadi^^and has diflaculty in getting 
a good weld. There is some little sleight of hand, or 
quickness of ev.e and precision of motion, needed, which 
will come with practice. Wc learned to make a weld by 
practicing with waste pieces at odd intervals until we 
were not afraid of it,.aa<l then succeeded when the ner- 
vousness akin to the "buck fever *' wore off. Iron can be 
welded at a low heat by using borax melted with one 
tenth part of sal ammoniac, cooled on an iron plate, pul- 
verized, and mixed with an equal weight of quick-lime, 
powdered. The powder is sprinkled on the iron when 
red-hot, the iron returned to the fire, and need not be 
brought to the usual heat to get a good weld. 
Precocious ilctfer. — S. H. Mattson, of 
Delaware Co., Pft-,*sayff4W'Mft6 a Jersey heifer which pro- 
duced six and a>b#iWpomH*«©f butter in seven days, when 
but sixteen months okl. Jersey stock is precocious, but 
this is getting to a point which can hardly be beaten. 
Sexes ait "Will.— An u Inquirer," Guernsey 
Co., O., asks if there W ITny known means of producing 
either sex at wifT; and' if it' white color in Jersey cattle 
bred in-and-in for three 'generations is a sign of impure 
blood. To each question we answer No. The writer has 
seen cattle on the Island of Jersey altogether white, but 
they are not common. 
The Lupin.— " G. D. S.," Troy, Ind., asks 
what is the value of this plant for soiling. The white 
Lupin is largely grown in France and Belgium for soiling 
purposes. A light, dry soil is needed for it, and the light 
soils of some parts of Iudiana would be excellently 
adapted to it. The seeds- are very nutritions and the 
plant makes excellent hay. 
The Best PfielMPea for Stock.— 
u S,," Perry Co., InoT.,' 'tofltts toe best field-pea for stock. 
The black-eyed marrow-fat ittakes a heavy crop of stalks, 
ami the gray pea, called iii our markets the "Canada 
pea," is also a hardy «nct iwwfnl pea, and will thrive on 
poorer soil than U»e marrow-fat. It docs not yield so 
heavy a crop, the stalks being shorter. Peas for fodder 
should be cut while the npper part is in blossom. 
Remedy fo» Hoove.— ' W. W. B.," Clark 
Co., Ind., finds a remedy for hoove in the administration 
of alum. This may have bad an accidental effect in some 
isolated case, but can loathe relied on. Powdered char- 
coal, which absorbs large quantities of carbonic acid gas, 
has been given with good results. 
Ashes of Hemlock Bark, etc.— "I. 
G. Q.," Tioga Center, N. Y., has the ashes of 2,500 cords 
of hemlock bark, 300 bushels of leached hen-dung, and 
800 bushels of lime from the vats of a tannery. How shall 
he use them on sandy land, and a meadow ? As the hen 
manure is spent, no barm can occur from mixing the ma- 
terials together and sowing them on the grass or the 
land after plowing and harrowing them in. Do not plow 
them under. Apply stable manure by itself. 
Profitable Farming*.— Darius Eicc & 
Son, of Worcester, Mass., send a statement of the value 
of produce sold from 20 acres of mowing land and five 
acres of market garden. The items are too numerous to 
mention in detail, but the total foots up to $6,829.58. La- 
bor cost $1,046.98, grain purchased and fed to hogs 
(which made the manure used and gave a profit besides) 
$1,314.67, butchers' offal" $100. There is evidently good 
management here. 
