4:6 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Feciiuaby, 
those foolish and depraved enough to want and order 
these things, we say first, that almost invariably, your 
money will be coolly pocketed and nothing returned; and 
second, that the articles, if sent, are not as represented, 
and are dangerous to yourself, morally and physically. 
To Parents and Guardians we again say, be Tery careful 
to know what those under your caro receive through the 
mails. Multitudes of reports come to us from parents 
who have found their sons (sometimes daughters, too) 
patronizing the6C vile, seductive swindler?.. ...AWiscon- 
sian writes us that he sent $2 to a Maine concern, on the 
promise of, post-paid, or express paid, a canvasser's out- 
fit of 200 papers, samples of splendid chromos, etc., hut 
after three letters of inquiry can get no response; 
that a neighbor, a lady, wrote for the same and received 
a box with a C. O. D. bill of $4, and express charges of 
$2.25 A Salem, Mass., subscriber writes us regretting 
that so good a paper as the Youth's Companion should 
not be more careful in what it admits to its advertising 
columns, and we join in the regrets — which extend to 
many other good journals. We hope the complainants 
will write directly to the editors of such papers, and let 
them plainly understand what their readers think about 
the matter, and what they intend to do about it if per- 
sisted in. Tlie "Queer" operators still find 
dupes enongh to keep them going. This month we have, 
among others, J. P. Strang, alias J. D. Wolston, 10 South 
Fifth avenue, N. T., who pretends to I. O. O. F.ship— 
and under other names circulates the " Spanish Policy " 
humbug circulars ; Noah Judson & Co., 109 "William St., 
ST. Y., alias F. Drake & Co., 51 Liberty St., N. Y. ; Hud- 
son, "Wood & Co., 44 Liberty st. ; Jno. Hood, Jr., Wil- 
mington, Del., whose letters are forwarded by express to 
103 Broadway, N. Y., where he has his head-quarters, as 
a pretended collecting agent. The same man operates 
under the name of Amos Wainwright, 1T0 Broadway, N. 
Y., and same street and No. in Trenton, N. J., with 
Masonic andl. O. O. F. symbols, his letters being post- 
marked at N.Y. City. 
PROFITABLK.-Moncy can be easily 
made by anyone, old or young, with little time or atten- 
tion required. Hoio It is done will be learned by a careful 
reading of what is said on page 73, 
Those Dob-Sleds.— " II.," IUleyvillc, Pa., 
thinks the Bleds figured in the American Agriculturist of 
December last, would come to "pi" if a stone was 
struck when they had a heavy load on. This may seem 
so, but such sleds are extensively used in the great pine- 
ries in Wisconsin and Michigan, where the logs are much 
larger than the Penusylvauian logs, and ara found to be 
strong and durable. 
Washing Machines arc commonly used 
only for the storage of articles sure to be found in every 
family, which are not good enongh to keep, and still a 
little too good to throw away. They must be put some- 
where, and what place so appropriate as the washing 
machine, which is often just the same kind of property ? 
The Continental washing machine is not ono of this 
kind. We have tried it, and found it to work rapidly, 
easily, and effectually. It is a great labor-saving machine, 
and it would prove a blessing in any house that is not 
already furnished with a good washing machine. 
I>o Water-Rams Waste any Wa- 
ter ?— l " J. C," Kansas, asks if water-rams waste any 
water? Undoubtedly. The water elevated is raised by 
the power gained by the fall of a certain amount of wa- 
ter, depending on the bight to which the water elevated 
is raised, and the fall from the spring. Alarge quantity 
of water is used to raise a comparatively small quantity. 
Small-Fruit ^fotes and Queries. — 
U C. S./'La Porte, Ind. A single question (or two) is 
usually answered at once. A perfect swarm like yours 
must wait. We will try and condense : WilsotCB Black- 
berry. — The fruit is imperfect because the flowers are 
sometimes incomplete. They are not " the poorest we 
ever tasted," but very good. Still valued at the Bast as a 
market berry. Philadelphia Baspberry.—li yours are of 
superior flavor to the Clarke, then you can not have the 
right Clarke, or tastes unaccountably differ. No variety 
in the New York market equals the Hudson River Ant- 
werp. Mulching Grape-Mnes. — We should not advise this 
except upon a very light soil. The roots of a vine need 
to be warm and dry. Middling Strawberries.— Lwivq the 
mulch on nntil after the fruit is gathered; pull up Such 
large weeds as force their way through the lunlch. When 
the crop iB off, remove the straw and cultivate. Rogers's 
Hybrids. — No. 15 is Agawam ; the other numbers men- 
tioned have not been named. 
Forest-Tree Seeds.— "D. A. S.," Belle- 
vue, O., asks about raising chestnut, sugar-maple, 
hickory, and white oak from seeds. Unless he can find 
seeds that have been properly preserved in sand, be can 
do nothing nest spring. Seeds that have become thor- 
oughly dried will not germinate. The first two may 
be sown in drills aud covered with leaf-mold, and trans- 
planted when one or two years old. The hickory and 
oak are best planted where they arc to grow, putting two 
or three seeds together, and when they have started re- 
moving all but one. They do not transplant readily. 
IF. — If you persuade a neighbor to take and 
read a wide-awake, instructive, reliable journal, treating 
specially of his business, you set him to thinking, you 
elevate him and his family. He will experiment, and 
you will have the benefit of his experiments. His family 
will read and be more intelligent neighbors. The tone 
of society will improve ; and your own property even will 
be improved in value. Every additional reader in the 
place will have a like tendency. Scatter annually in any 
neighborhood $50 worth of good periodicals and bcoks, 
on agriculture, horticulture, and domestic economy, and 
it will change the character of the neighborhood, and 
increase the intelligence aud the desirableness of the 
place, and raise its product many hundreds of dollars in 
the aggregate every year. One easy, cheap way of accom- 
plishing this is, for the people to unite, raise a club, and 
each receive this journal, or Hearth and Home, or both, 
and get one of the book premiums as a library for com- 
mon use by all. It only needs some wide-awake, enter- 
prising, public-spirited man or woman — young or old — 
to start the enterprise in each neighborhood. See pre- 
miums 94 to 106, pages 73 aud 74. By a little effort any 
man or boy may secure quite a lot of good books for him- 
self as a premium without money. 
Coal Aslies. — "G. D. C," Philadelphia. 
Coal ashes are worth so much less than wood ashes that 
we can not give their relative values. Coal ashes are use- 
ful on some soils, and the more wood or charcoal is xised 
in kindling the coal the better the ashes. They arc uot 
worth carting far. "We use them on roads and paths, for 
which, in our sandy soil, they answer a good purpose. 
♦'Insects Sent."— "C. S.," Ind. The "in- 
sects" sent in a quill are not properly insects, but 
crustaceans. They are popularly known as Sow-bugs, and 
belong to the genus POrcellio. As they live upon decayed 
wood and other vegetable matter, it is probable that they 
do no injury. 
IVIiStleiOe. — K. II. Dixon, Cancuadaigua, N. Y. 
Mistletoe can not he grown from Blips. The English 
propagate it by means of the seed, raising a sliver of 
hark upon the underside of a branch, and inserting a 
berry beneath it. We have not known the European 
Mistletoe, which is quite different from our native one. 
to be grown in this country. 
"Smilax."— ,( J. F. P.," 9 fc - Paul » Minn. 
The proper name of this plant is Myrsiphyllum. Your 
want of success is doubtless due to your not having heat 
enough. It docs best in a warm greenhouse. Your tem- 
perature, 35" to 55", is cool. 
Steaming* Feed with. Mot Water. — 
"A. C. W.," Washington Co., Md., asks, ,l Will it do to 
steam feed in a tight bos, by pouring hot water on and 
covering until cool, where there is no steaming appara- 
tus?" It will answer to some extent as a substitute for 
proper steaming, and will be found proportionately but 
not equally useful. 
I^ilac Hustles.—'* A. W M " Randolph, Wis. 
It, is the nature of Lilac bushes to spread. Yon may be 
able to keep them within a certain space by digging a 
trench, removing all roots outside of it, aud filling up the 
trench wilh coal ashes. 
Apple Orchard—" O. W.," Newfaue. 
If your orchard has been maun:- A " heavily 11 every year, 
you probably have stimulated a rowth of wood at the 
expense of fruit. Let it rest for a fev. -ears ; then use lime. 
House and C«arden is the title of a 
monthly made up from the weekly columns of the Ohio 
Farmer. Published by Geo. E. Blakelee, Cleveland, O., 
at SO cents per annum. 
Cabbages after Potatoes.— u J. H. G." 
(some-kind-of-town, can't read it), Md.— Cabbages may 
follow potatoes. Use a plenty of manure. 
Hon- to Use Peas most Profit- 
ably.— A '-Subscriber " has two barrels of gray peas 
and wants to use them most profitably. We do not know 
of a better use than to sow them with oats and feed the 
crop to stock, either green or dry. It is an excellent crop 
for soiling, or feeding greeu to horses, cows, or hogs. 
FREE.-The very Best Table Cut- 
lery — Silver-plated Table Articles 
— Gold Pens — Children 9 s Toys — 
Flowerand Garden Seeds— Nursery 
Stock — Serving and Washing Ma- 
chines and "Wringers — 3Ielodeons — 
Pianos — American Watches — Shoot- 
ing Irons— Tool Chests— Drawing- 
Instruments — Barometers — Astral 
Oil — Hay Mowers — Horse-Forks 
and Hoes-Pomps — Family Weigh- 
ing Scales — Cyclopednas— Diction- 
aries — Boohs — 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 na fifty snb- 
scribers a day. Others get one, two, or 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 Fourteen Thousand persons have received these pre- 
miums with great pleasure, and still, not one in ten of 
those who ought to read the American Agrkidlinisl 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 premiume. 
This work can go on all winter. Full particulars will be 
found in the Advertising Columns, pages 73 and 71. 
Rain at Will. — Mr. Edward Powers, a civil 
engineer of Chicago, finds that battles both in this coun- 
try and in Europe have been followed by rain which he 
attributes to the effect of cannonading. He petitions 
Congress to allow him the use of 300 cannon with pow- 
der for the purpose of experimenting. 
Ring.Bone.-'CW. P.," W. Va., has a. 
horse lame of ring-bone in the fore feet, and wants a 
cure. If of late appearance let the horse rest, feed liber- 
ally, and apply a hot bran-and-watcr poultice, with one 
drachm or camphor. Afterwards rub with an ointment 
of iodide of lead, one part to eight parts of lard. Con- 
tinue this for two weeks. An old ring-bone is incurable, 
but rest will relieve the lameness. 
Post-Hole IMgger.— "T, S.," Green- 
wood, Miss., wants the best post-hole digger. "Where 
there are no stones to interfere, the common post-anger 
is the best ; where there are stones, the post-spoon 
and a crowbar to loosen the earth are the best toole. 
Peach-Trees and Canker-Worms. 
— "J. A. H.," Roxborough, Mass.— We do not think a 
"little salt" would injure your peach-trees, nor do we 
think it will do any good; better use aBheBorlime. It is 
doubtful if any application can be made to the eoil to 
destroy canker-worm. 
Breeding from a Young Sow.— 
" II. II. S. II." asks if it is wise to breed from a sow that 
is only five months old. Hardly. Her growth will be 
checked and the pigs will not he worth raising. Better 
wait for pigs until September nest. 
Size of Ox - Voices. — U A Subscriber," 
"Wis., gives the size of timber necessary for an ox-yeke, 
used in the Western pineries, viz., 8 x 12 inches. There, 
where heavy draft is common, a wide yoke is used and 
two-inch bows. 
Tlie Copper-Strip Hay-Cutter.— 
" W. H. P." asks if the copper-strip hay-cutter is the 
best. We have used it, and for a small stock think very 
highly of it. 
I.imc-Spreaders.— " S. &Co.," Bellefonte, 
Pa., asks who makes lime-spreaders, and if a plaster- 
sower, mentioned in the N. Y. Tribune, is able to d® it ♦ 
That plaeter-sower is useless for spreading lime, however 
much the N. Y. Tribune may recommend it. It can only 
sow plaster and finely ground materials In small quanti- 
ties. No plan of spreading lime is better than from a 
sled that will hold 25 bushels, with a long-handled shovel. 
To Prevent Skippers in Hams. 
— "Z. D. R" keeps hams free from skippers by tying 
them closely in a paper sock and hanging in a dry room. 
