AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
9 
iS'ft.j 
The liquids do not explode, but the vapor from them, 
mixed with air, does—they are all dangerous—and espe¬ 
cially so is one called the “Celebrated Centennial Illumi¬ 
nating Oil,” which claims to cost only eight cents per 
gallon. The light petroleum oils, called gasoline, naph¬ 
tha. benzine, etc., are the only cheap inflammable liquids 
that can be had at a low price. Whoever knowingly in¬ 
troduces either of these into his house for illuminating 
purposes is guilty of 
AN ATTEMPT AT MANSLAUGHTER. 
This Centennial Oil, hailing from Marshall, Mich., is a 
special fraud, as it publishes a certificate as to the excel¬ 
lence of its' murderous stuff, from a Professor in the 
“New York University of Chemistry.” As there is no 
such “ University ” in New York, our opinion of Sher¬ 
man & Co., who publish the certificate, need not be ex¬ 
pressed_One of our friends writes in great indigna¬ 
tion, that from a certain variety shop in Rockland, Mass., 
circulars should be 
SENT TO HIS LITTLE BOYS. 
We have examined this circular, and do not wonder 
that our friend is indignant that such stuff should be 
placed in the hands of his children. While we do not 
find anything.actually obscene, and indictable under the 
law, we do find much that is undesirable, repugnant to 
good taste, and even coarse and vulgar. The first page 
contains illustrations of “Pun, Flirtation, and Acquain¬ 
tance Cards ’’—all coarse and of exceedingly low tone- 
such cards as no well-bred youth could by any possibility 
use. The next page offers books, among them, one en¬ 
titled, “ Love-Making Secrets,” offering to teach impossi¬ 
bilities. The next page, among other books, offers a 
“Fortune Teller and Dream Book,” which in “promis¬ 
ing” certain rules for foretelling what is going to hap¬ 
pen,” is simply a fraud. The offer of “Marked Playing 
Cards,” sueh as “gamblers use to cheat with,” of 
“French Transparent Playing Cards,” of “Fac-similies 
of U. S. Greenbacks,” of a book that tells “ How to Make 
$10 a Day Without Capital,” or one entitled “ Widows’ 
Traps and Maidens’ Tricks,” with a most vulgar and ' 
slangy description, is certainly not such stuff as any par¬ 
ent would willingly have his children read. So long as 
this Rockland concern, and many others like it, keep 
within the law, the only thing that parents can do is to 
so have the confidence of their children, that they will 
keep nothing of this kind from their parents’ knowledge, 
and to always know what their children receive through 
the mails....The only scheme especially designed to 
entrap farmers, that occurs in this month’s budget, is 
PROP. A. D. PRITZ’S FERTILIZER. 
This Fritz is of Hlinois, and he proposes to sell for $10, 
the art of making his “ Land Fertilizer,” and he binds 
those who buy the secret not to divulge it, or in case 
they do reveal the secret, to pay him, Fritz, $500. We 
are totally and all the time opposed to all secrets in 
agriculture, but a secret may exist and may be sold, and 
yet be useful. Fritz publishes three closely printed 
letter pages and gives very little information. His style 
is not of the clearest. He says: “As the fertility of 
the soil in the older States lose their virgin freshness 
much sooner than our Western Prairies, it becomes more 
necessary to strictly attend to its fertilization.” We are 
not disposed to argue the point, but simply say, “ jess 
so, it do.” Fritz claims that “I can so fertilize any 
land of any kind of soil at a nominal cost of 25 cents per 
acre, independent of the labor of applying it,” * * * 
“ that it will produce a heavier crop than the same land 
would from its first or second year of cultivation.” It is 
a very wonderful fertilizer, that of Fritz. “ Rain or 
drouth does not materially affect it. It absorbs moisture 
from the dryest soil.” We wonder if it wouldn’t be a 
good thing to put into a well in a dry time and the 
water failed ? But when he says that after its applica¬ 
tion : “ No insect will disturb the Stalk or Blossom, and 
the Kernel will plumply Fill,”—we conclude that his 
manure will be bad for the honey interests of the 
country, as we want the bees to “disturb” the “blos¬ 
som’’-and for this and for various other reasons we 
do not advise farmers to invest in Fritz’s secret. 
MEDICAL MATTERS 
are unusually quiet. It is true that the blooming face of 
Lucupia greets us. and we are invited to read the old old 
stories of Doctor Bludgood and how he discovered his Life 
Syrup, and that most touching account with pictures to 
match, wherein White gives us “The Stealthy Approach 
of Disease, illustrated, showing how it’s deadly grasp is 
fastened on our vitals.” But these are antiquated. The 
only medical novelty that comes to us is a very well 
lithographed letter from one Thomas Holloway, London, 
England, which ho is proprietor of 
HOLLOWAY’S PILLS AND OINTMENT. 
Thomas sends us his picture, and we should say that 
he employs a hair dresser who is an artist in his line. 
He also sends % us pictures of Chinese and Turks, Indians 
and Africans, and we are informed that these enlightened 
people take his pills inwardly and his ointment outwardly 
Thomas informs us that he expended in 1877, £40,000 in 
advertising his medicines “in every available manner 
throughout the Globe ”—and yet Thomas is not happy. 
There is a “fly” even in Holloway’s “ointment.” 
Thomas wishes to invite oui attention to a gross fraud— 
Mr. Somebody is using his name in making and selling 
“spurious Holloway’s pills and ointment.” 
Thomas Holloway says: “ Should you condescend to 
notice this subject in your paper you would confer a 
lasting obligation upon me.” Thomas we condescend. 
We advise our readers that there are “ spurious Hollo¬ 
way’s Pills and Ointment ” offered for sale. We can’t 
foresee what disasters may result from taking in or 
rubbing on anything that may be spurious—but we ad¬ 
vise our friends to beware. The only way we can suggest 
that will enable them to avoid the spurious, is to thor¬ 
oughly abstain, now and always, from taking or using 
EVERY PILL OR OINTMENT 
that may be called Holloway’s, or in fact, every other 
secret pill, ointment, or other remedy, whatever its name. 
A Horse-Power for Barns. 
A home-made horse-power that will occupy but 
little space, is represented in the engraving. The 
upright shaft extends from the ground or lower 
floor up through the second floor, to a girth set to 
receive it. On top of the shaft is a bevelled cog¬ 
wheel, which is geared to a smaller one on a hori¬ 
zontal shaft, carrying a large pulley, as indicated. 
The horse is attached to a long arm affixed to the 
shaft in the room below. By this arrangement all 
the space on the upper floor may be utilized for 
machinery, which is very desirable if one is crowd¬ 
ed for room ; the horse is out of the way and can 
work in quiet,and the whole is compact and conven¬ 
ient, and furnishes a high power with little friction. 
Talks on Farm Crops—Ho. 23. 
By the Author of “ Walks and Talks on the Farm," 
“ Harris on the Pig," etc. 
A large farmer in Michigan writes that he has 20 
acres of clover which it will not pay to mow. He 
wants to put it in wheat next fall, and asks “ how 
would it do to drill in com for fodder previously. 
Can it be cut with a reaper and cured in time to 
sowwheat?”—I wrote him, “no.” Corn-fodder can 
be cut with a reaper, better and far cheaper than 
by hand. But it can not be cured and removed from 
the land in time for wheat. Some time ago I made 
afew stacks of corn-fodder to see how it would keep, 
and we are now feeding it. I can not recommend 
the plan. We never had a drier and hotter or bet¬ 
ter time to cure corn-fodder than the past fall. The 
fodder was cut with a reaper and made into sheaves 
like wheat, and stuck up in small stooks to cure. 
Nicer fodder I never saw. It was as dry as we can 
ever hope to get it. Two or three acres of it was 
on low land, and we drew off the fodder and put it 
in six or seven stacks. It was in prime order. But 
it heated more or less in the stacks. The cows eat 
it with avidity, preferring it to hay, but the sheep 
do not like it as well as hay, while the corn-fodder 
that is now standing in large stooks in the field is 
highly relished by the sheep, i conclude, there¬ 
fore, that the only way to preserve corn-fodder is 
to make it into large well-shaped stooks in the field 
where it grew, and draw it in as wanted during the 
winter. Or rather, draw in enough at a time dur¬ 
ing favorable weather to last a week or ten days. 
“ Why don’t you recommend your correspondent 
in Michigan,” asked the Doctor, “to sow oats and 
peas. You had a great crop on just such land.”— 
I have written him to that effect If his land is 
rich enough, and is well drained, sc that he can sow 
early, the probabilities are that he will get a great 
crop. The oats and peas can be cut with a reaper, 
and after thrashing a good fanning mill will take 
out nearly all the oats. If well cured, the pea and 
oat straw is nearly as good as hay, and sheep do 
wonderfully well on it—especially if the crop is cut 
rather green and is not thrashed very clean. 
Mr. Henry Clayton, of York, Pa., writes: “I 
have read your ‘ Talks on Manures ’ with care and 
profit. But some of your conclusions do not 
seem to agree with my observations.—A field was 
planted with corn on sod, two years ago. Last 
summer it was bare-fallowed—plowed three times 
and covered with bam-yard manure. The last of 
September it was sown with wheat. Previous to 
the seeding, a considerable pile of brush, the trim¬ 
mings of an orchard, was burnt on about a square 
rod. This rod of land, where the brush-pile stood, 
has now (Nov. 23d) standing on it, wheat enough 
to hide a rabbit. It has four times as many 
blades and twice as strong as on any other rod. 
The field will produce in a good season, 35 
bushels of wheat per acre. Phosphates and potash 
salts have been applied to land precisely similar, 
without any visible effect. Now, you say on page 
215 of your book, that ‘ Lawes’ and Gilbert’s ex¬ 
periments seem to prove that if you have a piece 
of land prepared for wheat, which will produce, 
without manure, say 15 bushels of wheat per acre, 
there is no way of making that land produce 30 
bushels, without directly or indirectly furnishing 
the soil with a liberal supply of available nitrogen.’ 
Was there any nitrogen in the ashes of the brush? 
If not, what made the great growth of wheat ? ” 
“ Good,” said the Deacon, “ he has you on the hip. 
There is not a particle of nitrogen in the ashes, 
and I have myself repeatedly seen similar effects.” 
“And so we all have,” replied I, “but the fact 
does not disprove the truth of my proposition. The 
ashes do not contain nitrogen, but the soil does, 
and the manure which Mr. Clayton applied, con¬ 
tained nitrogen. But the nitrogen in the soil and 
the nitrogen in the manure is largely in an unavaila- 
Wcjcondition. Summer-fallowing and cultivation of 
any kind, by exposing the organic matter in the 
soil to the decomposing action of the atmosphere, 
renders a portion of this nitrogen available. Lime 
does the same thing ; and ashes, when applied 
largely, also favor the decomposition of the organic 
matter of the soil, and of the manure, and renders 
the nitrogen available. And it was in reference to 
this and similar effects, that I said there was no 
way of raising the yield of wheat from 15 bushels 
up to 30 bushels per acre, that does not directly or 
indirectly furnish the soil with a liberal supply of 
available nitrogen. This is certainly true, as a 
general agricultural fact. The exceptions to it are 
rare, and it is not necessary to discuss them. I 
was anxious to make this matter clear.” 
We can get nitrogen in barn-yard manure far 
cheaper than in artificial or commercial manures. 
But as I have said, the nitrogen in common farm¬ 
yard manure is largely in an undecomposed condi¬ 
tion. This is especially true of poor manure made 
from straw, or stalks, or hay. Manure from grain, 
oil-cake, etc., is not only richer in nitrogen, but the 
nitrogen is more available. There are two things 
which farmers must aim at. First, we must make 
richer manure by feeding richer food. Second, we 
must try to make the nitrogen in our manure as 
available as possible. As a rule we do not get half 
the benefit from our manure that its chemical com¬ 
position would lead us to expect—often not a 
quarter of the benefit. The nitrogen is there, but 
the plants cannot get hold of it. It lies dormant in 
the soil. And one way to remedy this trouble is to 
ferment the manure thoroughly before applying it 
to the land. Now is the time to attend to this 
matter. We commence to pile our manure to-day. 
