1881.] 
AMEKICA^ AGRICULTURIST. 
233 
swindling hypocrite who was around several years 
ago, audhas recently been heard of again, engaged in 
Selling Illustrated Bibles. 
The chap professed to be very religious, and took 
an active part in meetings, and thus gained the 
confidence of the people and advertised his wares. 
His plan was to sell a costly Bible, and in a few 
days borrow it to show to another person, which 
was the last that the purchaser saw of it, 
as it was sold to another, and the chap was 
known to sell the same Bible several times over. 
_Inquiries about “ Electrical Batteries” still con¬ 
tinue ; as we have given our views of these singly 
and as a whole, a number of times in this column, 
there is nothing new to add. We refer all such in¬ 
quirers to page 187 of last month, where the sub¬ 
ject of electricity is treated on general principles. 
.... “ Can it not be stopped ? 
It is a Disgrace to the Nation,” 
writes a friend in Ohio, in reference to a large cir¬ 
cular made up in the form of a newspaper, and 
called a “ Quarterly,” by one of these “Battery” 
venders. So long as they keep within the letter of 
the law, we think that our friend can not avoid the 
annoyance of having such documents handed to 
‘him at the Post Office. Unless the Department 
undertakes to exclude all “medical” circulars, 
which promise to effect impossible cures, it can not 
consistently reject only those in the interest of one 
form of medical quackery_One of the favorite 
tricks of the makers of nostrums is to attach 
The Name of an Eminent Physician 
to their stuffs, either of an European or of an 
American now dead. We have an example of this 
in some pills, claimed to be by Dr. Ricord. The 
circular properly calls Ricord “the first physician 
in the world,” in some specialties, but when' the 
vender, by claiming to be “ Appointed Sole Agent 
of the United States and Canada,” implies that 
Ricord has any secret preparation, or has “ap¬ 
pointed ” any one his “agent,” he does “the same 
with intent to deceive ”... .Fits are so alarming 
and so distressing to the friends of one who suffers 
from them, that it is not surprising that whatever 
promises relief is caught at. Hence “Fit Doctors ” 
prosper, provided theirpromises are strong enough. 
VVe have a letter before us from a New York fit curer 
to the father of a girl at a distance. This is writ¬ 
ten in reply to one informing him that his medicine 
had been of no use. The fellow writes that her 
not having been helped by his Specific Remedy, 
may be attributed to her possession of “ some con¬ 
stitutional defect.” Of course it could be no fault 
of his stuff—for that’s a “specific.” He would 
“ seriously” suggest taking more of the stuff, fixed 
up to suit her case, and how touchingly he puts 
it: “ Now 1 should greatly like to be the means of 
effecting your girl’s horough cure, having so far 
proceeded with the treatment of her, upon the 
receipt of $6.00 I will agree to forward you,” etc. 
Money—More Money, 
is the cry of these advertising chaps who propose 
to cure diseases by mail, as those who once get into 
their hands find out. Especially unfortunate are 
those foolish young men, who fear to trust the 
family doctor but apply to some stranger at a dis¬ 
tance, who advertises to cure “debility,” and all 
the rest. Many a young clerk has been bled to his 
last dollar, and if he proposes to stop sending 
money, is threatened with “ exposure ” unless he 
continues the treatment. When we advise so 
strongly to let all advertising doctors alone, and to 
take no medicine prescribed by one who never saw 
the patient, it is not solely because such “doctors” 
are ignorant and inefficient, but because some of 
them are downright swindlers and blackmailers. 
Plstn s o<’ ISstrns.— In answer to a number 
•of inquiries for plans of ban s, poultry houses, 
piggeries, etc., let it be said, that the Orange Judd 
Co. has recently published a work, entitled “ Barn 
Plans and Outbuildings,” in which are given a 
number of excellent plans of general farm barns, 
cattle barns and stables, dairy barns, sheep barns, 
poultry houses, piggeries, corn houses, ice houses, 
.spring houses, granaries, smoke houses, bird 
houses, root houses, etc. The book, of 240 pages, 
is fully illustrated with 257 engravings, and is sent 
post-paid from this office for $1.50. Any person 
having one or more of the above mentioned build¬ 
ings to erect will find it useful to consult this work. 
Raising Home Supplies. 
From an extensive acquaintance with our farm¬ 
ing population, we are fully persuaded that they 
are not well supplied with as good variety of whole¬ 
some food, as the average of our village and city 
population. A well spread table does not seem 
to be the aim of many of the tillers of the soil. 
A well fed man, other things being equal, gets 
much more enjoyment out of life, than the one 
who lives mainly on salt junk, potatoes, and sour 
bread. ' There has doubtless been an improvement 
in the style of living in all the older parts of the 
country, but still there are large districts where 
hog and hominy, salt junk, potatoes, baked beans, 
and pork, are the main supplies of the household 
the year round. A much greater variety of food 
is needed, and might be had at minimum cost upon 
our farms. This is had in many cases among our 
more intelligent and thrifty farmers, who read the 
American Agriculturist and follow its teachings. A 
half acre of ground, thoroughly cultivated, will 
produce all the vegetables, a dozen or more varie¬ 
ties, that can be consumed in the family, and leave 
a considerable surplus for the village market. 
Another acre will keep up a constant succession 
of the small and large fruits, through the whole 
year. It is still less difficult to supply all the ani¬ 
mal food that a farmer can consume in his family. 
This is very generally done so far as beef and pork 
are concerned. The list of poultry might be ex¬ 
tended beyond the dung-hill fowl, and embrace 
turkeys, geese, and ducks, so as to bring poultry 
and eggs into the bill of fare, every week in the 
year. A flock of sheep would make lamb or mut¬ 
ton possible in the larder, as often as the appetite 
craved it. A little thought devoted to the raising 
of these home supplies, would make our farming 
population far more contented, happy, and help to 
to do much towards checking that ever increasing 
tide which flows from the country to the city. 
A New Milk Enterprise. 
It is a pleasure for us to chronicle the beginning 
of an enterprise which, whatever may be its out¬ 
come in a pecuniary sense, marks a long stride to¬ 
wards the “good time coming” when city dwel¬ 
lers can enjoy as good milk as do country people. 
The “New York Dairy Company (Limited)” is an 
organization numbering in its Board of Directors 
prominent citizens and business men, as well as 
practical and scientific men. It furnishes milk, 
cream, butter, and all those dairy products which 
are especially perishable and need to be consumed 
fresh, such as butter-milk, cottage cheese, and 
whatever else the public may demand. Its source 
of supply is not from any single farm, but from 
many, and its system of inspection is such that, if 
fairly well carried out, the milk of improperly fed, 
or sickly cows, or that flavored with garlic or other 
rank herbage, could not find its way to the city 
through its instrumentality. The company has a 
store in New York and another in Brooklyn ; a 
Receiving Station at Monroe, N. Y., where the 
milk is received, cooled, bottled, and sealed—the 
surplus set for cream, and this cream is made into 
butter. Other stations will probably be estab¬ 
lished before long. Milk of two qualities is fur¬ 
nished—good fair country milk, showing not less 
than 10 per cent of cream, and Jersey milk, show¬ 
ing 16 to 20 per cent of cream. The company in¬ 
vites the most rigid inspection of its dairies, 
stations, and of everything connected with the 
handling of the milk. This is a matter of great 
interest beyond the Company and the cities men¬ 
tioned ; there is not a city or large town in the 
country, in which milk is served by other than 
the producer, in which such a Company might 
not properly, and, we think, profitably be estab¬ 
lished. This arrangement differs from all others 
of which we have knowledge, in starting at the 
fountain head, the inspection beginning at the cow 
and her food, and this we hold to be the important 
point, to which all other details are accessory. 
The Hoot Crop. —There is much to be 
said in favor of a field being devoted to a crop of 
roots, either Mangels or the larger sorts of the 
Sugar-beet. First it is good for the field. In the 
thorough culture which a root crop demands, the 
soil is much improved, and the good effect is felt on 
the other crops, all through the rotation. Secondly, 
It is an advantage in the distribution of labor. A 
field of roots will furnish employment at times 
when there will be little other pressing work, and 
in this way the farm hands can be hired by the 
season and kept busy all the time. In the third 
place, the crop itself is a very valuable one, and 
even with the present enthusiasm over ensilage, it 
is not surpassed as a fodder crop by any other. 
VVe are not inclined to think less, but on the other 
hand more, of the root crop from the knowledge 
the agriculturists are gaining upon the value of 
palatable food for live stock in winter. There is no 
better green winter food than roots. 
Potatoes miller Straw. —Several years 
ago there was much said about growing potatoes 
under straw, and we published at the time several 
reports from those who had tried the method with 
success. Interest in the subject appears to be re¬ 
newed, to judge from inquiries. The method is 
very simple ; the land is prepared in the usual man¬ 
ner and the rows marked off; the sets are dropped 
along the rows and very slightly, or not at all, 
covered with soil. The whole field, or bed, is then 
covered with 8 or 10 inches thickness of old straw. 
Nothing more is required until digging time unless 
some strong weeds should make their way through 
the straw, and these may be pulled. It is claimed 
that the yield is larger and the potatoes are much 
handsomer than those treated in the usual manner. 
flow — Perhaps the Southern Cow 
Pea can not be depended upon to ripen its seeds 
in the Northern States, but it can be to pro¬ 
duce an immense amount of herbage. From the 
great esteem in which it is held in the South as a 
green manure, we think it deserves the attention 
of the northern farmers. Being an annual it is not 
so valuable as Clover, the roots of which penetrate 
deeply and are bulky, but it may be sown when 
the press of work is over, and being semi-tropical, 
the plant grows with great rapidity in the hottest 
weather. In the only case within our only know¬ 
ledge, the crop was so bulky that it was almost 
impossible to cover it. This difficulty might be 
overcome by first rolling with a heavy roller or by 
some other means. We hope some of our Dela¬ 
ware friends will try a crop of Cow Peas upon some 
of the fields now rendered useless by “ Horse 
Nettle” (Solatium Carolitiense), and well nigh given 
up to it; the foliage of the pea is so dense that we 
think it would smother out even that worst of weeds. 
—The discussion of Oleo¬ 
margarine and Butterine has been of late more 
general than when these products were first intro¬ 
duced. The Legislatures of the several States have 
had the matter before them and find the subject a 
difficult one for legislation. Of course it would 
interfere with “ the liberty of the subject ” to say 
that one shall not work over beef suet with milk, 
or that others must not eat prepared suet or pre¬ 
pared lard upon their bread if they choose to do 
so. There is a disposition to enact laws to pre¬ 
vent these stuffs from being sold as butter, and to 
insist that they shall be distinctly marked to show 
what they are This is easily done by the tub or 
other original package, but when it comes to the 
retailer, it will be difficult to enforce the law so 
far as marking separate pounds and half pounds. 
One suggestion is that every maker shall be 
obliged to color the stuff some other color than 
yellow. If colored blue or pink it could not be 
mistaken for butter—but who would eat it ? 
