86 
AMERICAN AaRICTJLTURIST. 
[March; 
symbols for business purposes. Here arc some of the 
new and old names assumed by these swindlers: Amos 
Wainwright, 170 Broadway, Trenton, N. J., and N. T. 
City; Dennis Dunn, alias G. C. Peck, 1G South Fifth 
Avenue, N. Y. City; John Ilood, Jr., Wilmington, Del., 
and at corner Broadway and 90th street, N. Y. ; Rowley & 
Son, 170 Broadway; Albert Todd, 70 Nassau street, N. Y. 
The jewelry prize scheme of Pardee & Co., at P»ing- 
hamton. N. Y., has, we believe, been shut up by legal 
process ; if not, it should be at once Rcnbcn Graham. 
P. O. Box 153, Williamsburgh, N. Y., sends out circulars 
advertising obsceDe prints, pictures, etc., under the thin- 
ly disguised plea that they are exposures of tricks, etc. 
Parents and guardians should be careful that their chil- 
dren and wards do not receive these circulars by mail ; 
and the postmaster at Williamsburg will of ceurse stop all 
letters coming to such a demon, whose proper address is in 
the lower regions. Such operators usually pocket the mon- 
ey sent them, sending nothing in return ; or if they do re- 
spond with their poisonous trash, it is done from some 
out-of-the-way point. Furthermore, their patrons are not 
likely to come forward as witnesses and expose their own 
shame : this is the reason why such swindlers so general- 
ly escape the State Prison. . . Operators in Maine. 
Every month we have more or less complaints against 
the operations of two parties at two points in Maine, 
which indicate a good deal of sharp dealing, if not posi- 
tive swindling. We will be obliged to our readers if 
they will send ns positive, definite accounts of what they 
ftnow of these operators in books, papers, sewing ma- 
chines, recipes, agencies, and a host of implements, 
medicines, gim-cracks, etc. We only desire to get at the 
facts, in reliable, responsible form. 
A Capital Story is the " IToosier School- 
Master " — or Life in the "West. It is now published in a 
fine bound volume, and is bo highly prized that the 
printers can scarcely keep pace with the demand for it. 
Price, prepaid, by mail, $1.25. 
WUicli is tlie Rest Stock: ?— "F. E. 
D.," Wayne Co., Pa., asks, Which is the best stock, for 
size, beauty, beef, and butter?— For size, beauty, and 
beef, the Shorthorn is pre-eminent, next the Hereford. 
Sometimes these breeds are good at the pail. For butter 
and beauty only, the Jersey or Guernsey (the name Al- 
dcrney is dropped now, but it includes both these) are 
best. There is no one stock that can be said to be best in 
all points, under all circumstances. The Ayrshires are 
beautiful, make good beef, and are good milkers, but are 
of moderate size. Devons are good beef and workers, only. 
Kidney-Worms in Elogrs.— " I. L. L." 
can probably euro his hogs affected by the kid:iey-worm, 
which causes paralysis in the hind part-, by giving half 
a teaspoonful o*f copperas daily in the feed, for a few 
days. Salt, ashes, charcoal, and sulphur, given occasion- 
ally in the feed, is a complete preventive. 
rfliaU-TCaising.— " W. J. McC.," KeidCitj, 
Mich. There is no difficulty about it. First catch the 
minks. Make a tight-boarded yard, with water-tanks, 
hiding places of rock-work and dark retreats, with sepa- 
rate apartments, where the breeding minks can make 
their nests and be shut up when necessary. Feed on 
livers and fresh fish. Keep clean with dry earth. Abun- 
dance of fresh water is required. Clo«e observation is 
necessary to understand their wants, which must beat- 
tended to. We can not Bay if it has ever been made 
profitable, but doubt it. 
A Good FoTvl-IIouse deeded.- The 
following explains itself. " D.*ar Agric\iUurhi ; I have 
been a reader of your paper for years and enjoy it much, 
but there is one thing I regret, it does not stir my hus- 
band to farming up to the times. I have been coaxing 
him for years to build a hennery. I like raising fowls ; 
my children tleli^hb in helping take care of them. Wc 
have over two hundred light Brahmas, besides dark ones, 
and other breeds, and my greatest grievance is that they 
will freeze their feet roosting in the trees this winter. 
Now, if you will print something to induce my husband 
to build a house for them, I will continue to subscribe to 
your excellent paper so long as I am an inhabitant of this 
planet." We give the above in full, because sensible 
that it is better than any argument that wc can make. If 
repeated home admonitions have failed, and this in type 
does not take effect upon the lady's husband, then we 
give him up as incorrigible. 
How to Feed a SleiTer Coming- in. 
— " F. M." proposes to feed a heifer soon to come i:i a* 
follows: Hay three times a day, with C quarts of potatoes 
and yellow turnips, daily, until three weeks of calving; 
then change the roots to two quarts-of oata per day, until 
the time is up. when he wiH give her two quarts of meal 
with four quarts of carrots. This will be good and judi- 
cious treatment. If she is a large milker, the quantity 
of meal may be donbled. 
Navicular disease. — " Subscriber " asks 
for the treatment of navicular disease of longstanding. 
It will most likely be found past cure. The horse maybe 
G is -1 of the acute pain by dividing the nerve, an operation 
easily performed by a real veterinary surgeon. 
Cure tor Crzl>l>iiig;. — J. Teackle, Balti- 
more, sends a cure for cribbing, which is a basket of wire 
fixed on the nose by straps over the horse's head. This 
comes below the nose, so that the horse can not get hold 
of the crib, and the practice is prevented. We should 
like to see a drawing of this nose-basket. 
Seeding a Marsh.- "E. M.," Hillsdale, 
wants to seed a marsh to grass; has got the ground har- 
rowed, but too late to sow in the fall. — Sow early in 
spring. The mixtnrc of timothy and red-top, half and 
half, is proper for this pnrposc. In time the red-top will 
crowd out the timothy, unless the ground is dry. 
Manure from Straw and Grain.— 
U E, M.," H., asks which is of most value, the manure 
from cattle fed on hay, or that from those fed on straw 
andgrain. Either will be poor enough, unless consider- 
able grain is fed, when that from grain and straw will be 
the best. 
Eararlie in Horses. — " W. E. G." asks, 
" Do horses suffer from earache, and what is the cure ? " 
Doubtless. Make a sack to fit the upper part of the head, 
mid apply a warm fomentation to the base of the ear. 
I>e;>tli of an Artesian Well. — " C. 
K. P.," Schuyler, Neb., asks how to tell the depth neces- 
sary to bore for water in an artesian well. If the geolog- 
ical character of the country is sufficiently well marked, 
a geologist mijld make an estimate which might turn out 
nearly correct. But there are very few localities where 
even a guess could be hazarded. In your position (Platte 
valley) it would be safest for your neighbors to join yon in 
the expense of testing the depth of an underground 
stream, as they would be equally benefited with you. 
Salt in the CJardcn.— '' J. II., 1 ' Mayfield. 
Your waste salt may be used to advantage upon the 
asparagus-bed, at the rate of five bushels to the acre, ap- 
plied before the plants start. Onions, when four or five 
inches high, are benefited by the application of about 
three bushels to the acre. It is useful, according to 
some, as a dressing in the cabbage field. There is 
but little positive knowledTe as to the fertilizing value 
of salt, but several good cultivators agree as to its utility 
in the cases above named. 
TlielSijsrlat Sort.— "K. M. T." writes that 
" reading the Agriculturist induced me to buy a farm 
about two years ago, and the more trouble I have the 
more I seem to like it."' That man don't loaf at the gro- 
cery and complain of hard limes and bad luck. 
Cnrculio, JLadyoUugs, 3$»vers. — 
"A. J.." Smyrna, Tenn. "The Curcnlio " is a dark 
gray or blackish snout-beetle that deposits its eggs in 
plums and other fruit. There are hundreds of species of 
Curcnlio, but the one called by fruit-growers " the curcu- 
lio,'' is the chap that makes such havoc with plums. All 
red and black lady-bugs arc your friends. They are 
around your apple-trees in search of plant-lice. Apple 
and peach borers arc insects ; the sap-sucker, although it 
bores, is not a "borer" in the accepted term. 
!\o"W tor tnose I*eRcli-15u«ts. — This 
is the time when we look out for dead peach-buds. 
We don't know how peaches grow, but we arc quite 
sure that the buds are all killed every year — at least by 
those who bull or bear (wc don't exactly know which) 
the peach market. Peach-buds were badly killed lost 
spring, but in September loads of peaches were thrown 
away, to save the baskets. This spring every bud is as 
dead as a door-nail, yet wc shall probably get our Dela- 
warcs at a dollar a basket, or less. 
I\orlhern S*acilie ISailvray. — By 
the opening of the European markets to the Northern 
Pacifi ; Railway loan, a new interest has b^en awakened 
i.i the Northern road that is now pushing out rapidly 
towards the Pacific. The mutual interests, commercial 
and political, existing between the East and Wesl of 
our great country render it imperative that there 
be abundant, speedy, and uninterrupted railway com- 
munication. There will soon be business for several 
railways. She Northern and Southern routes arc 
even more feasible than the central one; while, of 
the former two. the Northern one will have the 
advantage of passing through a rich agricultural region, 
in nearly its whole course, that will furnish an immense 
local travel and traffic, instead of running through broad, 
arid plains. There is a popular error in regard to high 
latitude and cold climate of the country traversed by the 
Northern route. A glance at the map will show that in 
nearly all its course it runs on a latitude corresponding 
with the north of France, Austria, and Southern Russia 
in Europe. Minnesota is one of the finest wheat sec- 
tions, and similarly fertile regions of country arc found 
stretching away westward towards the Pacific. All the 
inhabitants of Sweden, Norway, and much more of 
Europe, would find a warmer climate, more generous 
soil, and abundant room between Minnesota and the 
Pacific coast. The wonderful natural scenery along the 
Yellowstone Piver, now coming into notice, will ere long 
attract immense throngs of visitors from all parts of the 
country and from the Old World, and these sight-seers 
will pass over this road. So much for the future of the 
Northern Pacific Railroad. In answer to numerous in- 
quiries from our readers, we will add that wc do not see 
how the Bonds of this road can fail to be a safe invest- 
ment, with the large business the road must ere long en- 
joy, and with the fifty-seven million acres of land graute-d 
by Congress as an additional security. Other inquiries 
are answered in the advertisement of Messrs Jay Cooke 
& Co., on last cover page. 
The Xroplty Tomato.-W. R. Woodurd, 
of Chicago, to whom we sent, last spring, a packet of 
Trophy Tomato seeds as a premium, writes: "I was 
rather surprised to read the account of the competition 
oji the Trophy Tomato in your last. I anticipated much 
larger things than are there recorded. A packet of seed, 
which I received in April, as a premium, and planted in 
a box in the kitchen window, produced plauts that in 
Augnst gave me better results than any you there men- 
tion, and that, too, without receiving anything like pro- 
per care. A dozen plants, which I took the last of April, 
when three inches high, to Mercer County, gave, under 
the very good care they reci-ivcd, the largest and best 
tomatoes I ever heard of, the largest weighing 3tj ounces, 
and those weighing 2S, 30, 34, being numerous. Without 
care it has done better than any sort I ever tried, while it 
seems to me to yield better returns for extra care than 
any other, and I have for years made it a rule to try every 
new tomato that I heard of." 
To Preserve Trees from Ral»l>its. 
— "R. W. M.." Kent, Ohio, preserves his fruit trees from 
rabbits and sheep by washing them with a mixture of fresh 
cow-dung and water. This is always available, while 
blood is not. This will do for rabbits, but sheep or 
goats should never be permitted in an orchard. 
<j»ray Squirrels and Maple-Trees. 
— " E. C. B." wrote from Embarrass, Wis., last March, 
'■ Why do gray squirrels gnaw the bark from the branches 
of the sugar-maple ? An army of them have lived in a 
sugar-bush belongingto my brother, the past winter, and 
on many of the trees the whole of the upper branches 
arc completely denuded of their bark. Some small 
saplings are stripped from root to topmost twig. As late 
as two weeks ago he shot one in the act of gnawiugoff 
fresh bark. Did you ever hear of a like circumstance? 
There is even now a plenty of acorns near by. but they 
seemed to prefer the bark.''— We never heard of this trick 
of the squirrels. They probably do it for a change of diet. 
Cranberry l/ullure.— l S. K. K." asks 
if it will pay to make a cranberry meadow, where the 
preparation will cost $280 per acre, and where he can flow 
the land— but not at will— and where frost is liable to 
aflect the vines.— We fear the experiment is a risky one. 
The time for extreme high prices for cranberries is past, 
and for the future calculations must be based on an aver- 
age of five or six dollars a barrel, or even less. 
Cultisigs ofQrapesand Currants. 
—J. F. Ilerrick, Ky. Autumn is much the best time for 
making these cuttings ; with currants particularly, nearly 
a year is gained. They can be made now with a fair show 
of success. As soo% as possible, when the plants arc 
not frozen, make cuttings of the wood of last year's 
growth. Cut the currant wood into pieces of six inches 
and the grape into lengths of two or three buds each, as 
most convenient. Tic the grape-cuttings in bundles, 
tops ail one way, and bury in the cellar, or iu a place out- 
dour-; where water does not stand. If possible to work 
the ground, set the currants at once ; if not, bury them and 
set at the earliest day. Set in a trench, leaving one bud 
above surface, and crowd the earth well against their 
lower ends. Put the cuttings four to six inches apart, 
keep free of weeds through the summer, mulch when dry 
weather comes, and iu fall set where they arc to grow. 
Put out the grapes wlicn (he soil is warm and mellow, iu 
