288 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
his box to a private place. If he is suspicious, and don't 
take out the box, he gets a lot of letters threatening ex- 
posure, etc.— all of no account. Here is the circular, 
which is sent out by the hundred thousand,aud enough dis- 
honest greenhorns are caught to muko it very profitable : 
"STKICTLY SUR-ROSA, AND THE SECRET NEVEli 
TO BE IMPARTED TO A LIVING BEING. 
'• My Dear Sir : I take the llbertv of semlinc yon a Cir- 
cular that is printed by myself in my own printing office, in 
order that its contents may bi* known only to the few that 
I conclude to take into my confidence. 
" I hope tuat after 1 have placed confidence enough in ynu 
to send a circular of tins kind, relating the nature of my 
business, that you would not be so treacherous as to even 
breathe the contents of this document to a living being; 
should you betray me, £ will find means to be avenged in a 
way perhaps ?/ou would not dream or. If yon do not wish 
to enter into this confidential business with me, all I ask is, 
that you burn tliis cirtiiihirand let the secret die with the 
flame. On the other hand, if vou conclude to enter into this 
speculation, that will in a few weeks make you a wealthy 
man, I would also advise vou to burn the circular and pre- 
serve the secret, as when this circular is destroyed all evi- 
dence airainst vou and me is obliterated. 
"A person in a business of tins character must be true to 
themselves, and as true as steel to the person they are doing 
business with. You should always abstain from the use of 
8ti omr drink, for In ihat there is great danger, as a person 
knows not what he might sav when drunk. You should alto 
keep the secret of the business as still as the grave, not even 
hint at it to your nearest relation or breathe it to your sec- 
ond self. Now, with all the warning I have piven you that 
is most necessary to adhere to without a single exception, I 
will proceed to state facts in reference to the business, 
which, if managed with care and shrewdness, will lead you 
to fortune without any one dreaming from whence your 
wealth came. 
" In the first place, I wish to state that I am an engraver, 
and said to be by those who are competent of judging, the 
most expert one in America. I have been employed by the 
U. S. Government for ten years. I superintended the en- 
graving of all the plates for the United States money. "When 
the Government ceased to issue Greenbacks my services 
were no longer required, and as soon as I found that my 
time was my own I conceived the idea of engraving a few 
plates for myself and for my benefit, as I am well aware 
that a man can never become wealthy working ior a salary. 
I have onlv recently finished the work mat I negan almost 
two years since, thut'is, the engraving of six plates which are 
exact duplicates of the Governments. Mine are the Fifty 
Cents, the One, Two, Five, Ten, and Twenty Dollar plates. 
I have taken the greatest care in engraving these plates, and 
I defy the best experts to detect the counterfeits from the 
genuine. I deposited a fiwdnya since a large amount of my 
money in six different banks in New York ; they all accept- 
ed it without saying a word; my money being a!l new, I 
thought it would not be advisable to deposit any more, for 
fear they might think something wrong. When it is depo- 
sited in banks there should he other money that has been in 
use mixed with it, then there will be no suspicion, and I 
now need only a few true men to assist inc for six months, 
then we will secure a fortune that will epablc us to enjoy 
all the pleasures that money can procure on earth. My 
bills arc printed on exactly the same paper as the United 
States money, so that there is not a possible chance to detect 
the difference only in one way, which is this: the Govern- 
ment bills are numbered from one up, so are mine. If you 
Bhould come across two of the same number, one will cer- 
tainly be counterfeit and the other genuine. If it is con- 
venient for vou to come to New York, I wish you would ; 
then you could see the money, and I would give you a few 
dollars to pass, then you would see that everybody would 
take it exactly the same as if it was genuine. 
" The price "of tny money is ten cents on the dollar; one 
half cash, and the other half as soon as the money is passed. 
State In vour letter, when vou orrler, how manySOcts., 
$1.00. $2.00, $5.00, $10.00, and $20.00 bills you wish, so that I 
will know exactlv how many of each to send. You must 
be sure to seal your letter perfectly tight, and write my 
name very plainly. I will maKe the following discounts 
when large amounts are ordered. For a three hundred 
dollar order the price will be thirty dollars. You must in- 
close ten dollars with the order, and the other twenty dol- 
lars when the money is passed ; and for larger orders at the 
following rates: 
$100 order for $40. Send $12 cash, and $23 when 
monev is passed. 
$500 order for $50. Send $15 cash, and $35 when 
monev is passed. 
$1,000 order for $100. Send $25 cash, and $75 when 
monev is passed. 
$5,000 order for $500. Send $100 cash, and $100 
when money is passed. 
$10,000 order for $1,000. Send $200 cash, and $300 
when money is passed. 
" When a large amount is sent, I pack it in a box and mark 
it in such a manner that no one would suspect it being 
money, and send it by Express. Always state when you 
order how you wish the money sent, and if by Express. 
"I will send you a hundred dollars assorted, on receipt of 
five dollars, so you can see how it passes, then you can order 
a large lot. 
"By all means come at once and sec mi if possible, and 
bring all the money you can possibly raise with 3 T ou, so you 
will be prepared to buy a large stock, for this may be the 
last chance you will ever have to make a fortune at a single 
stroke. After you arrive in the city you can take the Broad- 
way stage and get out at Fourth street ; walk down Fourth 
Btreet, west side, until vou come to No. 22 ; you will see the 
sign ' Book Agency |J3?~ ' over the door of the office. I oc- 
cupy the ground floor, so you will have no trouble in finding 
me. But if you can not possibly come on here now, send me 
10, 20, 50, or 100 dollars in a thick envelope, by mail, or by 
express. Do not send by registered letter under any cir- 
cumstances. All registered letters are supposed to contain 
money, and Post-Office Clerks are apt to open them, take the 
money out, and then seal them up as before, and send them 
through. You 6ee if this were to happen it would expose 
the whole thing. I guarantee to send you back ten times 
the amount I receive, in the best counterfeit money ever 
issued, or if you prefer I will send my money to you C. O. D. 
by express, and you can pay the money due me to the 
exprpss agent when he hands you the package. I sew the 
monev up in the lining of a coat, and pack it in many other 
ways before I ship it, so no one would dream of its being 
money. Now, my dear sir, I have disclosed this golden op- 
portunity to you in faith and hope— faith in your ability and 
fidelity, and hoping that one year hence may find us both 
wealthy and happy, and I here pledge you my word of 
honor That while you are faithful to me I will be true to you. 
My name and address is on the enclosed slip, which you 
will keep, but burn this circular. 
"This is the compact which I sign, and to which vou must 
agree: 1st— We mutually agree not to betray each other, 
and to disclose this matter to no living soul. 2d— I am to 
return to you, secure from observation, ten dollars of the 
best counterfeit money made for every dollar I receive 
from you. 3d— When you come here to see me, I am to 
count you out $10.00 for every dollar you give me, and you 
need not pay me until you have my money in vour hands. 
We must do business under this compact, and let him who 
first violates n suffer the consequences." 
Arsenic for l*igw. — W. W. Chance, Napless- 
Ill., says he has cured his pigs of paralysis of the hind 
parts, or kidney complaint, by giving a quarter of a tea- 
spoonful of arsenic in their feed once a day. Pigs had 
been thus cured which had been affected for two months. 
[There are several other less dangerous remedies than 
arsenic, which are therefore preferable in all such 
cases.— Ed.] 
Canker ol'tlie Frog;. — "X.," Randolph 
Co., 111., has a mare whose feet arc out of order ; the frog 
is swollen, soft, spongy, and tender. "What must he do ? 
— This is probably canker, or it may be a commencement 
of thrush, caused by standing in a wet, foul stable or 
yard, or running in a wet, mucky field, or by an unhealthy 
condition of the blood. The soles should be washed with 
warm water and soap, then with a strong solution of 
blue vitriol (sulphate of copper); if there are any cracks 
in the sole, they should be filled with tow, soaked in the 
solution. If the general health is poor, that should bo 
remedied at once by proper treatment. 
ISoiios. — "N.," New Albany, Ind., asks, if 
bones can be purchased at $8 per ton, whether it would 
be cheaper to burn them to reduce them to powder than to 
buybonc-dustat$35 per ton. If the bone-phosphate alone 
is wanted, it would be cheaper to burn and crush them. 
If the ammonia is wanted as well as the phosphate, bone- 
dust from unsteamed bones would be cheaper at the price, 
as the nitrogen from fresh raw bones is considered by 
Prof. Johnson to be worth $24 per ton of bones. 
Buffalo Crosses. — "Army," Fort Leaven- 
worth, Kansas, advises " P. B. B.' 1 (sec Agriculturist, May, 
1S72) not to use the buffalo bull for crossing purposes. 
Die has lived during- several years in the buffalo country, 
and they say there that a half-bred buffalo calf will have 
the hump common to the buffalo, which will be fatal to 
the cow in her efforts to produce the calf. Domestic bulls 
will not breed with buffalo cows. Near Chicago several 
valuable cows have been lost in the effort to give birth 
to half-bred buffalo calves. "We give "Army's" letter, 
but he seems not aware of the fact that the buffalo bull 
has been crossed with success with the native cow, and 
the heifer calf from this union has bred with a buffalo bull. 
Salt-Calce. — U L. S„" Saratoga Co., N. T., 
asks, what is salt-cake, and what is it worth as a fertilizer ? 
Salt-cake, the refuse of the salt manufactory, contains 
mainly sulphates of soda and magnesia or Epsom and 
Glauber salts and chloride of calcium, which are practi- 
cally of no value hi agriculture, or but very little ; in 
fact, they often do more harm than good. Such matters 
should not be used without a well-understood purpose. 
Artificial Manures. — "A Subscriber," 
Bonsacks, Va., last year collected two tons of horse and 
cattle droppings, which he mixed with nine bushels of 
unslaked lime, same quantity of leached ashes, and four 
hundred pounds of guano. The mixture was pulverized 
and sowed with the drill at the rate of 100 pounds per 
acre on the wheat crop, with what advantage to the crop 
is not known. He thinks that if farmers knew what, in- 
gredients to add to their compost heaps much valuable 
and cheap manure might be made.— This experiment is 
not a satisfactory one, because there is no result, for the 
reason that the effects were not watched and noted. 100 
pounds of such a compost is too small an applicatiou ex- 
cept for comparison. 500 pounds per acre would have 
been better, but the effects of it should be closely ob- 
served as a guide for the future. Besides, the mixing of 
fresh lime with ammoniacal manures is contrary to what 
is considered sound principle, unless plenty of ab- 
sorbent matter, as leaf-mold, swamp-muck, or even 
earth, is added to retain the escaping ammonia. 
Saltpeter. — "W. J.," Fitchbui-g, Mass., 
asks if saltpeter would be of any benefit as a dressing 
for grass land. Nitrate of polash, which is one form of 
saltpeter (nitrate of soda, called soda-saltpeter, being 
another), has been used as a dressing for grass with very 
good results in England, but in dry seasons it is apt to 
u burn" the crop. It should therefore be used with 
caution, and in quantities of not over 100 pounds per 
acre at a time. It encourages the growth of clover and 
the most valuable grasses, and tends to make the soil 
more absorbent and retentive of moisture. Nitrate of 
soda is not so highly thought of as nitrate of potash. 
ToI>rain a Fl;ii Heaver Meadow.— 
"Old Field" has a beaver meadow which he wants to 
drain, but there is not sufficient fall on his land. He 
snggeBte digging a fish-pond. This wonld not reduce the 
level of the water. If permission conld be got, the creek 
might doubtless be lowered a foot or two in much loss 
than a mile; if not, there is no resource but digging 
chancel* to coUect the water, and sow." ag Bed-top. 
SPECIAL PREMIUMS 
STILL OFFERED. 
MULTUM IN l'.UiVO KNIFE, OPEN. — WEIGHT 2 OZ. 
The General Premium List closed July 1st. The 
following Special Premiums are continued until 
further notice : 
The fa ul i ma fan Parro Knife for 8 
subscribers to American Agriculturist at $1.50 a 
year ; or i subscribers to Hearth and Home at $3.00 
8 year ; or 5 subscribers for one year to both the 
above papers at $1.00 a year. (Knife scut post-paid.) 
The Beckwilh $1© Sewing Ma- 
chine for 12 subscribers to American Agriculturist 
at $1.50 a year; or 6 subscribers to Hearth and 
Home at $3.00 a year ; or for 10 subscribers to both 
papers at $4.00 a year. 
IV. B. — T«'o half-year subscribers in all 
the above cases may count for one full year in a 
Premium Club List. 
multum in parvo KNIFE, closed. — 3 inches long. 
i — i»— <-m 
Raising- Water.— " T. N." has his house 
40 fee t above a spring, and 150 feet distant from it. What 
would be the best and cheapest way to bring the water 
to the house ?— If there is a fall of several feet within 
30 or 40 feet of the spring a ram could be used, at a cost 
for pipe and ram altogether of about, fully dollars. If 
there is no fall, a windmill might be used, at a cost of 
about $150, or less if made at home. See Agriculturist 
for May, 1S12. 
What manures ?— " J. M. J." asks what 
manures, artificial or otherwise, would be best for soil 
composed of " silex and silica" oxide of iron, alumina, and 
sulphates and carbonates of lime and magnesia. This 
description is very incomplete, and although it might 
form the basis of a theoretical chemical formula as to the 
necessary manures, we do not consider it of any value 
practically. We never knew a 60il which conld not be 
improved by barn-yard mauure, with a dressing of lime 
every five years, and good plowing ; and in the absence of 
a knowledge of the amount of 6ilica or alumina contained 
in it, we would advise "J. M. J." to pin hie faith on to 
barn-yard mauure as his main reliance. 
