334 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
/OUB MEW TERMS are arranged to just 
I cover the cost of supplying the paper. (Premiums, etc., 
- are paid from other resources.) The advance is very little, 
the price still being only $1 a year in clubs of 20 or more, 
which it will be easy to raise at almost any Post Office. 
For ten subscribers the price is $12, or $1 20 each. For 
four subscribers, $5, or $1 25 each. For single subscri- 
bers, $1 50 per year. Every subscriber can easily secure 
three others to join him. Terms of the German 
Edition, $2 a year; five copies, $7; seven copies, 
$10 ; and ten or more copies, $1 50 each. The German 
edition is more expensive than the English, and contains 
extra reading matter. N. B — These terms apply only 
for this month. We hope to continue them through the 
year ; but any censiderable advance in paper would ren- 
der another increase in the subscription rates necessary. 
'iS YOUR TIME HP ?— This is to 
^remind our readers that the present paper closes the 
Volume, and that with it, a considerable number of 
subscriptions now expire. Supposing that each subscib- 
er remembers his own time of expiration, we save the 
expense (now unusually heavy) of sending out individual 
notices. A large number have previously paid beyond 
this time, or have recently renewed their subscriptions for 
the next volume. We invite all who have not done so, to 
send in their renewals at once. It would be a very 
great convenience to us, to receive all names the first of 
December, so as to get them regularly entered in the 
State mail books, and the wrappers written up, before be- 
ginning to mail the next number. Will each reader who 
is not already entered for next volume, please oblige us 
by forwarding his renewal as early as maybe? The 
best lime will be when reading this notice, and while the 
subject is in mind.— The New Terms, referred to 
above, are put at the lowest possible figures, to meet 
actual cost, and they will not bear hard upon any one. 
We scarcely need hold out any special promises or in- 
ducements for the future. If the paper has been a good 
one in the past, we know it will be still better. The corps 
of Editors cannot be surpassed— earnest, active, intelli- 
gent, practical men-enthusiastic in their calling— studi- 
ous to acquire the best knowledge from every source, 
that they may dispense it to others. Devoting their whole 
time and energies to the work, and zealous to do all they 
can for their readers, they cannot fail to bring into these 
columns a fund of pleasing and useful information, that 
will be of great value to every reader. No special 
change in the plan of the paper is intended, but the daily 
increasing experience of the publisher and his associates 
will suggest constant valuable Improvements. O. J. 
/One Hundred Thousand !— The 
'Goal Readied !-For several years past we have 
aimed at a circulation of a round 100,000 copies 
monthly. While going rapidly toward it, the rebellion 
broke out and cut off many subscribers in the Southern 
and Middle States. Since then, though in the midst of war, 
the circulation has gone steadily upward, and we now 
print fully One Hundred Thousand copies for actual cir- 
culation. [Four hundred reams of 500 sheets each (not 480) 
are required for printing this number . When put up for 
mailing, one month's numbers measure in the mail bags 
just about one thousand bushels, and the bags make up 
sixteen great cart-loads !] As the paper is read by several 
| members in most households, and as very many loan 
j their numbers to the families of neighbors, or exchange 
' with them for other journals, we suppose we may count 
i our readers at nearly a million. So far as figures are con- 
cerned, our ambition is satisfied. We have set no higher 
figure, and shall aim at no other specific number. There 
are other millions who would doubtless be profited by- 
reading the Agriculturist, and we hope it will in time find 
them. It now goes regularly to nearly all the Post 
Offices in the United States and Territories, and to a 
large number in British America, as well as to Soutli 
America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and to the Islands of the 
Ocean. We invite all present readers to do what they 
can to increase its sphere of usefulness in their several 
localities. Our future ambition will chiefly be to con- 
tinue to increase the intrinsic value of the pages. No 
labor, no care, no expense will be spared, to make the 
paper worthy of a place in every household, and to gather 
and condense into ils pages the greatest possible amount 
of reliable and useful information. Engravings that 
please the eye, and communicate information far more 
effectually than can be done in words, will continue to be 
a prominent feature. — We return our warmest thanks to 
the multitude of friends who have aided in bringing the 
circulation up to its present condition. They have 
doubtless been impelled by a desire to disseminate sound 
and useful information, and, we have often felt, by per- 
sonal regard for the editors. We trust that the former 
motive, at least, will lead them to continue their efforts to 
place the paper in every family. We will try to make it 
eminently useful wherever it shall find an entrance. 
A goods Timber Splice.— It is worth 
while to know how to make a neat and firm splice with- 
out nails, iron bands, or any other such things. The one 
here figured comes easily apart, on driving out the rec- 
tangular bar or pin in the centre. The locking ends are 
alike in shape, which is distinctly indicated in the en- 
graving by the light and dotted lines of the upper piece. 
Tlie Michigan Agricultural Col- 
lege.— The catalogue for 1864, just received, shows that 
this institution is in a prosperous condition, and is in- 
creasing its facilities for instruction in the various de- 
partments of its educational course. We are gratified to 
notice the appointment of A. N. Prentiss as Professor of 
Botany and Horticulture, and that of Oscar Clute to the 
chair of Mathematics. These gentlemen are both gradu- 
ates of the college, and the institution is fortunate in be- 
ing able to retain them. Address Prof. T. C. Abbot, 
at; Lansing, Michigan, for further information desired. 
Hens IVests. — Butter and lard tubs make 
first-rate nest boxes, not liable to be troubled with ver- 
min. The plan of Mr. Mabbets', alluded to on page 335, 
is here figured. The box is 6 J feet long, 1 foot high, 1% 
feet deep. The top lifts o/F. The front is sufficiently 
open to allow free ingress or egress. The partitions be- 
tween the nests fit in grooves, and may be drawn out, and 
the whole easily cleaned and whitewhashed. There are 
alighting bars in front, and the whole is on legs. It may 
be made two or three stories high when desirable. 
Singing in Sunday Schools and famil- 
ies has been promoted by the introduction of Bradbury's 
Golden Series, as much or more than by any other work. 
We are pleased to notice that he has issued a new num- 
ber, "The Golden Censer," which is fully up to the 
standard of the previous issues, and this is high praise. 
Greeley's "American Conflict."— The 
first volume of the most remarkable history ever written 
contemporaneously with the events it records, has been 
given to the public by Horace Greeley, through the pub- 
lishing house of 0. D. Case & Co., of Hartford, Conn. 
Even the author's bitterest opponents unite with his 
friends in admiring the conscientious accuracy of his 
statements, and the fairness with which he presents the 
political questions bearing upon the rebellion, that in their 
day were objects of the most acrimonious discussion. 
The work is of very great interest and value, well illus- 
trated, and brings the history of the rebellion from 1776 
down to 1862. It is sold only by subscription at $4J£ and 
$5. A second volume is to follow at the end of the war. 
Sundry Humbugs- Here are three hat- 
fulls of swindling schemes, sent in from all parts of the 
country, which we have not room to show up in detail 
this month. Fletcher Bros., Box 5,549 ; Fletcher & Co., 
Box 3,763,: Thomas Boult &. Co., Box 5,713 ; and Egerton 
Bros., Box 4,196, N. Y. Post Office, are the same, or work 
together, using the same circulars except the address. 
They are all very anxious to give somebody in every 
town a prize of ever so many thousands of dollars, to se- 
cure their future aid in swindling others. But whom will 
they get as customers, when they make the same " pri- 
vate " offer to every man in a town whose name they can 
gel j Arrandale & Co., offer watches, &c, " worth $50 
to $150 each," and down to $4, nothing less, for $1 each 
to greenhorns who don't see through this plausible pre- 
tended offer. H. R. Brunswick's letters, dated nowhero, 
post-marked at Troy, N. Y., ask thousands of people to 
send him, (part to Medina, N. Y., and part to Bergen, N. 
J.,) $10 each to pay for ticket 1,649 in the "Cos. Art. 
Union Ass.," at London, New York, which has already 
drawn $200. To get the same prize for each lie offers to 
lie the ticket through. Others offer to tell lies at a 
cheaper rate— some as low as $2. Solon Edwards, Jr., 
Hubbardsville, N. Y., asks $10 to $20 for a similar swin- 
dle. We thought real gold was plenty on the Pacific 
coast, but Anson Marsh <fe Co., of Ophir., Nevada, and 
Harris & Co., of San Francisco, Cal., offer the bogus ar- 
ticle in immense quantities for a very little of the genu, 
ine yellow dust to all foolish people who do not see 
through their bogus schemes. Enough now. See p. 339. 
Annual Register of Rural Affair*. 
—John J. Thomas has given us another of these neat and 
useful annuals. Besides containing an almanac, it has 
over 200 pages filled with excellent matter relating to 
farming, horticulture and rural affairs generally. Sent 
by mail for 30 cents. The present one for 1865 is the 11th 
of the series, the whole forming a valuable compendium. 
Keeping Brompton Stocks.— W. E. 
D. keeps Brompton stocks through the winter by placing 
the plants, which have been well grown through the 
summer, in boxes in autumn and setting them in an attic 
before a south window, where they will not freeze before 
January 1st, and will remain frozen until spring. Some 
plants have been kept in this way for several years, and 
they increase in beauty wtth each successive year. 
Further Contributions to the Agricul- 
turist Sanitary Fund will be acknowledged next month, 
Substitute for Grafting "Wax.— W. 
K. D. finds that rosin melted with alcohol in sufficient 
proportions to form a thick paste, and then applied with 
a brush, answers very well for all grafting operations. 
Keeping Bees in Cellars in Winter. 
«' P. V. N. M., " of Saratoga Co., N. Y., asks : " Is a large 
house cellar, containing vegetables, etc., suitable for 
wintering bees in the movable comb hive ?" Also, " would 
it be a safe place for those in the common box hive ? " 
Unless you have a large number of stocks, we would not 
advise to house them ; in fact, we have little faith in hous- 
ing bees at all. See Mr. Quinby's directions on page 330. 
Killed them w i I li Kindness. — A gen- 
tleman in Orange County writes us an amusing account 
of the manner in which he killed his •' Agriculturist Straw- 
berry plants " by " extreme care and pains-taking." His 
plants came in good condition and he prepared his 
ground with all sorts of good things. Then he carefully 
made a mound with sifted chip dust, to which he ad- 
ded a few handfuls of ashes, and set the plants thereon. 
Earth was drawn around, and some strong manure put 
over that. But they died, while those of a neighbor, "just 
stuck in the ground," lived and did well. He concludes 
" that care and pains-taking are humbugs, and that 
helter-skelter, slash-dash, hit or miss, are the golden rules 
of life." Our friend has our sympathies, and lest he can 
not console himself with the thought that he has estab- 
lished the fact that strawberries don't do well in "dust 
and ashes," he shall have an extra plant next spring. 
Window Sashes for Hot-beds.— It is 
often convenient and econ- 
omical to use old window 
sash on hot-beds, but there is 
always the annoyance of wa- 
ter standing on them. " Old 
Subscriber," of Somerville, 
Mass., lias a very simple way 
of obviating this difficulty. 
He cuts a piece out from the 
putty side of each horizon- 
tal cross-bar, and also maked 
grooves or spouts in the 
frame of the sash, cutting in 
eacli case down to the level 
of the glass. The figure shows 
where these water chan- 
nels are made . The sides of ordinary window sash are 
usually wider than is needed for strength, and shade the 
bed more than is desirable. The long sides are planed 
down as much as they can be without weakening them. 
"As Usual" Post Office.— Where is 
it? In what State? Plenty of subscribers ask us to send 
their paper " as usual." We can't find the place, 
A Free Copy of this December number will 
be sent to each new subscriber for 18(15, received during 
the first of the month, or before the edition is exhausted. 
