50 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
pl’ESRtfAitt, 
away a piano—in fact, a piano with “ ornamented legs.” 
All any person has to do is to send the “ names of 20 per¬ 
sons in their locality who have no instrument, either 
Piano or Organ, and who you think would be liable to 
purchase a piano.”—This Company, on the receipt of 
them names, and "$2.25 to cover boxing, packing,” etc., 
will send a piano with "ornamented legs.” The " Com¬ 
pany” publish the note of Miss Mary E. Kendall, of 
Rome, N. Y., acknowledging the receipt of a piano on 
those easy terms. There are people so foolish as to in¬ 
quire into the matter, and as a consequence there is, ac¬ 
cording to the Rome papers, a wonderful accumulation 
of letters and postal cards at the Rome P. O. These let¬ 
ters are not answered or even taken from the P. O., 
owing to the fact that no such person lives at Rome. 
This Piano offer is good for 30 days, but the document 
does not happen to be dated_Here is a batch of docu¬ 
ments that makes it necessary for us to have a little 
PLAIN TALK WITH A KENTUCKY POSTMASTER. 
As we mention neither name nor place he will see that 
we do it in all kindness, in the hope of saving him, and 
others who are similarly tempted, from falling into the 
hands of sharpers and swindlers The case as it would 
appear from the Postmaster’s letter, stands thus: Henry 
P. Jones, that man who has lost so much cousin, wishes 
the Postmaster to act as agent for the sale of his, Jones’, 
lottery tickets. Jones sends Postmaster a ticket as a 
sample, in fact as a gift Postmaster is in due time in¬ 
formed that his ticket has drawn a “ Gold Watch and 
Chain, valued at $300,” and is also notified by the other 
chap —there is always another who attends to details— 
that: " The percentage due for packing, postage, regis¬ 
tering, and shipping, is $3.00, which must be paid before 
the goods are shipped.”—Why " postage ” and “ regis¬ 
tering” if " the goods are shipped,” or why charge for 
“ shipping" if goods are sent by ‘ postage,” is a problem 
that we will not now try to unravel. But Ky. Postmas¬ 
ter has read in the American Agriculturist about 
JONES AND HIS BEREAVEMENT. 
He probably thinks that a man who has lost a whole 
Directory (U S Directory at that) full of cousins, might 
not be iD a proper state of mind for business, so he, Post¬ 
master. writes us that if we will go and get this “ $300.00 
Gold Watch and Chain,” he will not only remit us the 
$3.00 for “ percentage ’ and things, but will pay us well 
besides. That our course to accomplish this may be clear. 
Postmaster sends us the various letters of Jones and his 
associates, that we may have a knowledge of the whole 
transaction. Our Postmaster seems to be acting in such 
good faith himself, that he fails to see through the ras¬ 
cality of the whole transaction. This case leads us to ask: 
ARE POSTMASTERS INSTRUCTED AS TO THEIR DUTIES ? 
Are they informed as to the laws of the Department? 
Evidently this Postmaster is not aware that there is a law 
forbidding such circulars as he has received from going 
through the mails at all, yet he not only receives these 
circulars in his official capacity, but actually entertains 
a proposition to become an agent for the sale of lottery 
tickets, as he writes us “ I could sell about 50 tickets if 
it was a reliable house.”—Surely if he knew the law, this 
Postmaster could not so openly violate it, and we have 
doubts if Postmasters in small places generally, are 
properly informed as to the postal laws in this and other 
respects We need only say in short, to this and all other 
such propositions, that holding lotteries of whatever 
style and name, to be 
EITHER GIGANTIC OR VERY MEAN FRAUDS, 
we can have nothing whatever to do in aiding or abet¬ 
ting those who invest in them, in any manner whatever. 
We wish to call attention to this particular case as a 
typical illustration of two things—Firstly, 
TnE ESSENTIALLY FRAUDULENT CHARACTER 
of all lotteries, especially those that are called “ Gift 
Distributions,” " Drawings of Jewelry,” or by whatever 
the name the swindle may be called, and secondly, to 
THE SHORT-SIGHTEDNESS OF THOSE WH1 ARE TEMPTED 
by the offers of the managers of these schemes. Take 
our Kentucky Postmaster for an example. We have no 
doubt that in all ordinary affairs he is clear-sighted, a 
man of good judgment, and fairly shrewd in business 
matters He is by no means the only one who is blinded 
by the idea of getting something for nothing, and this 
is one of the very curious features of this whole lottery 
business—that its victims become infatuated, as if they 
had partaken “ of the insane root, that takes the reason 
prisoner.” All coolness of judgment, all ordinary busi¬ 
ness shrewdness, seem to give way before the glittering 
schemes. “ Great prizes are offered. Prizes to be dis¬ 
tributed by chance. My chance is as good as any,” seems 
to be the thought, and all details, all the ways and means 
are lost sight of in the glitter of the temptation. In 
the present case the idea of getting a “ $300 gold watch 
and chain,” has completely blinded the Postmaster to 
THE RASCALITY OF H. P. JONES. 
Jones acknowledges Postmaster’s letter on Dec. 19th, 
and writes him:—"The drawing takes place to-day; 1 
have so arranged that your ticket will draw a prize.” 
Could any one not blinded by the glitter of a prize fail to 
see that he was becoming partner in a fraud? Post¬ 
master learns that he has drawn—Jones having “ so ar¬ 
ranged,” “ a gold watch and chain valued at $300.00,” 
and his whole thought is turned to getting that watch 
and chain, without any consideration as to the ways and 
means by which it was “ so arranged.” Delighted at his 
own success, Postmaster thinks he “ could sell 50 tickets 
if it was a reliable house.” So blinded is he by this 
“ watch and chain,” that though an officer of the Govern¬ 
ment of the United States, he is willing to sell tlGkets to 
his neighbors, “if”—he has not lost all sense of pro¬ 
priety and is yet cautious—“ if it was a reliable house.” 
We have no doubt of the re-lie-abUity. It is just as 
RELIABLE TO CHEAT OTHERS OUT 
of a prize as it was reliable to cheat you into one. Say, 
Mr. Postmaster, don’t you see that this kind of a Lot¬ 
tery is a double-ender, and hits both ways? If Jones, 
who “ so arranged ” that your ticket drew a watch, should 
in his despair at the loss of many thousands of cousins, 
"so arrange” that every ticket of those fifty that you 
think you could sell, should drawytisf nothing —don’t you 
see that you would be a party to a very mean swindle ?— 
We have gone into this case in some detail, as it is typi¬ 
cal of many that come to our notice. We advise our 
Postmaster, and all others, to have nothing to do with 
ANY LOTTERY, GIFT ENTERPRISE, JEWELRY 
DISTRIBUTION, 
or whatever name it may bear, or for whatever purpose 
it may claim to benefit; every one, whether managed by 
Southern Generals, or poor cousinless Jones, has a rotten 
spot in it somewhere. The only difference in them is, in 
the degree of rottenness. As for Jones—this case with 
the Ky. Postmaster is by no means the only one of the 
kind—we have numerous other letters where he an¬ 
nounces that he has “ so arranged ” that a particular tick¬ 
et will draw a particular prize, and somehow it, always 
happens to be “a gold watch and chain valued at $300.00.” 
Jones, you are a great “ arranger’’—but why don’t you 
"arrange” to find your cousin?_Spring approaches, 
AND LET FARMERS BE ON THEIR GUARD 1 
If every farmer in the land could read, and profit by , the 
accounts we have given during the past year only, of the 
various special frauds upon farmers, it would, in the 
aggregate, be a saving of hundreds of thousands of dol¬ 
lars to the farming community. There is a set of swind¬ 
lers whose operations are 
ESPECIALLY DIRECTED TOWARDS FARMERS. 
It is no reflection upon the intelligence of farmers that 
this is so. These rascals know that all kinds of fish are 
not to be caught with one bait; hence they operate upon 
clergymen, doctors, merchants, and farmers, each in a 
different manner. It is safe to predict that there is a new 
set of traps ready this spring to catch farmers. Of late 
years the “agency” dodge has been played successfully, 
and it has already been started thus early in the season. 
These swindles are all after one pattern. A glib-tongued 
chap, No. 1, wishes to establish an “agency” for some 
crinkum. It may he a stump-puller, a machine for grind¬ 
ing the knives of mowing machines, it may be a churn 
power, or a spring bed. Whatever it is, chap No. 1, 
somehow, or in some way, contrives to get the signature 
of the farmer. Here is where the trouble begins. We 
have cautioned and reiterated the caution : 
“ FARMERS BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SIGN,” 
but this does not seem to be enough ; no matter how 
much care is exercised, the smooth-tongued chap, No. 1, 
is usually too much for the farmer. So we say to farmers 
— don't act as agents for anything, but if you will not heed 
this, and the temptation as to profit is too great to resist, 
and you will disregard warnings, we beg of you 
FARMERS, don’t Sign ANYTHING. 
You may be asked to agree to become an agent, you 
may be asked to give your address, so that the sample 
machine, to be sent free, will come all right; you may be 
asked for merely your post-office address. Take our ad¬ 
vice—which is the same as Punch’s advice to young peo¬ 
ple about to marry— 
don’t 1 don’t 11 
Don’t, do not—pray refrain from signing your name to 
anything whatever. Observe this and you are safe. Sign 
your name on any pretence to anything whatever, and. you 
open the way for the visit of chap No. 2. ne is not 
smooth-tongued or persuasive. He has come to collect his 
bill. You have ordered so and so. The goods are at the 
depot, hero is the bill, and he wants the money, as he 
must take next train. Don’t say that you never ordered 
the goods, for there is your signature ! You can’t deny it, 
but you signed it as an agreement to act ns agent, or 
signed it as your address—No. 2, knows nothing about 
this—cares nothing about it, but wants his money. Here 
we again say, don't. D >n’t be bullied into paying it, but 
let him do his worst. Show him the door, and let him 
appeal to the courts if he dares. The game has already 
begun, and hundreds of farmers, to avoid trouble , will 
throw away thousands of dollars the coming season. 
DON’T BE BULLIED 
into paying a dollar on any such claim. At the most, it 
can only go to a jury of your neighbors to decide, but not 
one case in a hundred will ever come to that_One cor¬ 
respondent in writing from Massachusetts, says that some 
of his neighbors think that an agricultural paper can 
teach them nothing, yet one of these very cenceited farm¬ 
ers had to pay $30, which he would have saved, had he 
read our humbug articles, as the very swindle was ex¬ 
posed here... .There has not been a month in a longtime, 
IN WHICH MEDICAL MATTERS 
presented so little of novelty as at present. We look for 
“spring styles” in the way of cures, as regularly as in 
fashions of dress, but it is perhaps too early... .The very 
last letter in our budget, is a seriously funny one. The 
writer—we resist the temptation to give his name and 
address—says: “I know that your valuable paper ex¬ 
poses all of these humbugs. I am not a subscriber at 
present, as I do not feel able to be a subscriber. Will you 
please let me know about the above concern, and greatly 
oblige, etc.” Here is a man who does 
" NOT FEEL ABLE TO BE A SUBSCRIBER.” 
Does he wish to know about fertilizers?—would he 
have our advice about a new seed corn, or wheat, or 
other grain ?—would he learn which plow or harrow is 
the best for his money, that he should ask about the 
“above concern ?’’—not a bit of it. This poor fellow, 
“notable to be a subscriber,” has money to invest, and 
asks about a “ concern ”—and that concern is one of 
THE WALL ST. STOCK GAMBLING CONCERNS 1 
Those chaps that are flooding the country with their per¬ 
nicious circulars, and turning the heads of honest people 
with hope of gain in some other way than from downright 
honest work. What earthly interest can a man, so far 
reduced in poverty that he “ does not feel able to be a 
subscriber” to the American Agriculturist, hare in any 
Wall Street concern ? He has no more to do with such 
things than he has with the price of diamond necklaces, 
or the cost of board at the Grand Hotel at Paris. 
“ Farm Implements and Machinery.”— 
Being called upon to advise a young man, who is to go upon 
a farm next spring to learn farming, as to what books he 
might profitably study during the present winter, one of 
the three ivorks recommended was “ Farm Implements 
and Machinery,” by John J. Thomas. We did not advise 
this work in order that the young man might learn which 
were the newest reapers and mowers, the most recent 
hay-fork, or the most rapid feed-cutter or com-sheller. 
Upon the farm where the young man will go, he will see 
all the best implements and machines, and he will learn 
more about their structure and differences from a few 
days working with them, than many volumes could teach. 
We advised the work that he might learn something of 
more importance than a knowledge of machines ; it was 
that he might learn about machinery. In other words, 
the principles that underlie the making of, and the use of, 
every mechanical appliance of the farm. Every farm im¬ 
plement or machine, from a spade to a mowing-machine, 
is to do something—is to overcome something. Every 
intelligent person should know what is the thing to be 
overcome, and why a particular machine will overcome 
it. Not only is every implement and machine to do some¬ 
thing, but it must do it according to certain invariable 
laws. A multiplication of parts, an accumulation of 
levers, wheels, etc., does not create power. It is only as 
each part is placed to do its work according to establish¬ 
ed principles, that the whole machine becomes effective. 
It is because this work teaches these principles—matters 
which should be taught in every public school, but are 
not, that we placed so high an estimate upon our friend 
Thomas’ work. A careful study of this work is not only 
to be commended to young men just about to begin farm 
life, but to older persons, who will find in it that expla¬ 
nation of natural laws, and the application of these laws, 
which should be familiar to—of all other people in the 
world—the farmer. Whilo we do not underrate its utility 
in describing the most recent of the various farm ma¬ 
chines, we place of still higher value, its teachings of the 
principles upon which all machines operate. The new 
edition, here referred to,has been carefully revised by the 
author, who Inis added many pages of new matter in 
order to bring it up to the present time. Thisnewaud 
enlarged edition, from the press of the Orange Judd Com¬ 
pany, 2-15 Broadway, N. Y., with many new illustrations, 
will shortly be ready. Price $1.50 by mail, post-paid. 
A Bntter Carrier.— “ W. W. B.,” Orange Co., N. 
Y. A butter tub with ice chambers for pound packages, 
was described and illustrated in the American Agricul¬ 
turist for June, 1877. Since then, many of our readers, 
who have used it, have expressed themselves as much 
pleased with it. It will contain 40 one pound prints. 
