1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
453 
and certain germination of the seed, and the vigorous 
and rapid growth of the plant.”—All sorts of claims, 
“more vigorous and rapid growth,” etc, etc., are made, 
but the claim that struck us mostreads: “Itis applied di¬ 
rectly te tlie seed, and not scattered broadcast, as many 
fertilizers are.” It is said that Liebig once predicted 
the time when the manure for a whole field could be 
carried in the vest pocket, but here we don’t manure the 
field at all. We go to headquarters, and 
MANURE THE SEED. 
just as the boy Franklin proposed that his father say 
Grace over the whole barrel of pork. Then, so very “ vi¬ 
tative ” is the stuff, that we learn that it will not only 
protect the seed, but “ the shoot, against wire-worms, 
and grubs.” So powerful the stuff that we wonder any 
box could hold it. We, with proper care, laid the box 
aside for further examination, and, impossible as it may 
seem, it was actually forgotten. But this compound was 
so “vitative” that it turned up in North Carolina, and 
our friend, Prof. A. R. LeDoux, the State Chemist, made 
it show its "purely chemical” “character” in the 
“ twinkling of a gally-pot.” This “ Vitative Compound,” 
according to Prof. LeDoux, contains 
NOT ONE FERTILIZING INGREDIENT, 
but is a miserable mixture of Sugar of Lead and White 
Vitriol!—Acetate of Lead and Sulphate of Zinc!—and 
the wonderful Wa-gammon, who is said to have patented 
it, didn’t know enough about chemical compounds to be 
aware that these two salts would decompose one another, 
so that, practically, tlie seed would be wetted with a lit¬ 
tle Acetate of Zinc! The stnff cost about 4 cents, and 
sold for a dollar, which might be called a “ living profit.” 
THE NORTH CAROLINA EXPERIMENT STATION 
has done a very good tiling in exposing this humbug, 
and we thank it for the analysis of the “ Vitative Com¬ 
pound.”_But the science of humbng, like other sci¬ 
ence, knows no country—it belongs to the world. The 
fanners over tlie border in Canada are not neglected. We 
have a handbill which sets forth 
ANOTHER SPECIAL HUMBUG FOR FARMERS. 
Geo. A. Kay—he has patented, and he will sell to farm¬ 
ers for $5 the inestimable right to make their own ma¬ 
nure—not only that, but they can make it in “ fifteen new 
and most economical ways known.” For his money tlie 
farmer gets tables (not vege-tables, we fear,) by which 
he can " at once tell to a pound of each element which he 
has cropped from his soil, and will know to a pound 
what elements to add back,” which is something won¬ 
derful. A correspondent writes that the whole affair 
consists in adding Lime and Potash to a compost heap. 
The funny thing about it is that the chap claims that 
NO ONE CAN USE POTASH WITHOUT HIS PERMIT, 
and our friend asks us if he would run any risk in using 
Potash without paying for the right to do so. Perhaps this 
Kay has control of wood-ashes also! We are quite sure 
there is no patent thatcan prevent the use of anything you 
please on your land. At most, this Kay only claims to 
have patented his “ inscriptions,” whatever they may be. 
_We have a brand new humbug—not precisely a “ new 
species,” as a naturalist would say, but a “well-marked 
variety.” We will call it 
THE BOARDING-HOUSE DODGE, 
a variety of the “ Hotel Dodge,” but more pleasing than 
that, as people don't make themselves unpleasant by dy¬ 
ing, but merely go away. Thus writes F. B. Wickizer, 
of Great Bend Village, Susquehanna Co., Pa., unto Mr. 
B., of a town in Indiana: 
“ I have not heard from you since you left in April. I 
found your address on a paper in your tilings. If you 
want the watches and jewelry you left with me I can send 
them by mail if you will send me the $1.50 you owe me 
for board, and 25 cents for postage or, I will send them by 
express if you send me the $1.50 only. I could have sold 
4 of your watches for twenty Dollars each to a fellow who 
went away last week. [Go West, young man ! go West!!] 
Please send the money for the things as soon as possible 
or I shall be oblige to sell some of thorn for pay. 
Very Truly F. B. Wickizer 
P. S. We have 23 boarders here, some are city people.” 
That last touch shows “ a grace beyond tlie reach of 
art.” “We have 23 boarders ’’—you don’t say so! Yet 
even this didn’t cover tlie hook. Wickizer must feel 
very much disgusted to learn that he fished in the wrong 
place, and as his correspondent happened to be a boy 
who “ has never been out of his native State,” he may say 
that “the minnows stole his bait.” Boy that he is, he 
reads Lhe American, Agriculturist, and with proper indig¬ 
nation, he denounces Wickizer’s statement 
“ AS SIMPLY A FALSEHOOD,” 
and " sends it to us (you) as a humbug.” He truly says: 
"If I owed him $1 .50, and he had the jewelry of mine, 
what would he care where I were ? He wouldn’t take 
the time and expense to hunt me up.”_Oh! Master 
Charlie, if older heads but had your wisdom—the wisdom 
to look beyond the bait, and see the hook—the hardest 
kind of common sense to see things as they are, there 
would be no need for us to warn people against hum¬ 
bugs. Our friend Charlie is in luck. Besides the oppor¬ 
tunity of getting all those watches and jewelry by pay¬ 
ing liis old board bill, he has a chance of getting rich. 
“THE ROYAL POPULAR MONTHLY GIFT SOIREES” 
sends him a batch of tickets, 10 of them, which he has 
only to sell, and remit $5, and they will send him one 
ticket in a drawing “ in which every ticket will win a 
Prize.” Mr. “ Soirees,” it is one comfort to know that 
your jig will soon be up. No more Post-office for you_ 
In medical matters, there has been nothing new for a 
long, long time. Tlie most frequent in this line are the 
“Formula,” or “Free Recipe” chaps. These quacks 
pretend to have either been missionaries themselves, or 
to have had their recipes, for either 
CONSUMPTION OR NERVOUS DEBILITY 
“placed in their hands by a missionary,” and thus get 
their advertisements in the columns of the religious pa¬ 
pers. We must make for the 100th (more or less) time, a 
general answer to the inquiries that we can not answer 
separately, that all but one of these “ Free Recipes ” that 
we have examined, call for articles which have no 
existence. The names are a mere jargon, and have no 
more real meaning than “Hydrofoetidygumbo.” Tlie 
circulars state that the drugs are very rare, or do not 
keep well, and that the advertiser has a stock of the gen¬ 
uine to sell at cost—the cost being $3 to $5. It is all a 
miserable humbugging dodge, and all the worse because 
played under the cover of the missionary cause. 
Harvard and Arboriculture. 
There is a general impression that our older Universi¬ 
ties are somewhat behind the age, and do not meet the 
requirements of tlie present time. Harvard is certainly 
not open to this charge, for besides other indications of 
a progressive spirit in its management, it lias recently 
established a Professorship of Arboriculture, which is, if 
we mistake not, the first in any academic institution in 
the country. The fund left by the late James Arnold, of 
New Bedford, Mass., having been transferred by its 
Trustees to Harvard, “The James Arnold Professorship 
of Arboriculture in HarvardUniversity” has been founded, 
and its chair has been filled by choosing Mr. Charles S. 
.Sargent to the Professorship. We do not see how a dif¬ 
ferent selection could have been made, as another so 
well qualified for the position, by natural tastes, or by 
acquired knowledge, could hardly be found. Prof. Sar¬ 
gent has heretofore been connected with Harvard as 
Director of the Arboretum and of the Botanic Garden. 
While the new arrangement leaves him in full control of 
the Arboretum, it is to be regretted that it deprives tlie 
Garden of his services. In the few years that he has held 
the directorship of the Garden, the improvemqnt there lias 
been strongly marked, and whatever may be its future, 
the work already done by him in bringing the Garden 
into shape must have a permanent value. While the 
work thus far done at the Arboretum of Harvard has been 
preparatory, yet as a center of arboriculture, it has al¬ 
ready had a marked effect upon tree planting and tree 
culture in Massachusetts. But such influences are not 
bounded by State lines, whatever is done in one State be¬ 
ing useful in every other: hence the founding and de¬ 
velopment of this Arboretum is by no means a matter of 
merely local interest, but its experiences and teachings 
are of great value to tree-planters throughout tlie coun¬ 
try. But few, other than those who know of tlie interior 
workings of such an establishment as this Arboretum, 
are aware of its far-reaching influence, or of the vast cor¬ 
respondence required of its Director, to answer letters 
from abroad as well as from inquirers at home. With 
such a center as this, and under tlie competent control of 
Professor Sargent, Harvard is exerting an educational 
influence which will be felt far beyond its academic halls, 
and this will, in time, prove that, in providing a fund 
for the promotion of Arboriculture, James Arnold, the 
New Bedford merchant, “bnilded better than he knew.” 
A Dictionary—Useful and Cheap.— People 
who have no other books, want a Dictionary, and the fact 
of this general want, has induced certain rogues to use the 
Dictionary as a swindling medium. From tlie nature of 
the case, a Dictionary can not be reduced below a cer¬ 
tain size, and have it retain its usefulness. One of the 
best of the smaller works of this kind, is the “ American 
Popular Dictionary,” which, fora dollar, gives, besides 
the Dictionary proper, a large number of treatises and 
tables most useful for reference to every individual. 
The Beating of Eggs is a simple matter, for 
one can do it with a fork, or with a bundle of small twigs. 
Small as tlie operation seems to be, the amount of inven¬ 
tive talent that has been expended upon still further sim- 
plifiying it, is really astonishing. A few years ago we 
had the curiosity to look up and bring together the vari¬ 
ous egg-beaters, and the result was an accumulation of 
machines that was surprising. In egg-beating, as in 
other such matters, there are certain essentials, and these 
we found to be combined very completely in the “ Dover 
(Boston, Mass.,) Egg-Beater”—a beater hard to beat. 
Preserving Celery in Winter.— “J. L. L.” 
and others. Though wegive each yearin the “Notes about 
Work” brief seasonable directions for putting away 
Celery for the winter, it would appear that many do not 
look there, but finding no special article on tlie subject, 
write to us concerning it. It would be well in all such 
cases to consult the “ Notes,” r.ot only of the current 
month, but for one or two earlier numbers. As to Celery 
—nothing is easier than to keep it for the winter.—Heat 
and hard freezing are to be avoided, either will cause de¬ 
cay. Dig a trench in a place where water will drain oft', 
a foot wide, and deep enougti to take in the whole length 
of the celery. When there is danger of freezing weather 
—moderate frosts do not hurt it—take up the celery and 
set it up in the trench, putting in the plants as close as 
they will stand, with no earth between, and put on a 
light covering of straw or leaves. As the cold increases,’ 
add more covering, and when winter has fairly set in, 
increase the covering to about a foot; and put over boards 
lengthwise, to shed rain. Celery thus stored may be got 
at when wanted, and if water does not get into the 
trenches will keep well until the spring months. If one 
has a cool cellar, celery may be kept in that. Take any 
old boards and knock together long narrow boxes 9 
inches or so wide, and of a bight a little less than that 
of the plants, and as long as may be convenient; place 
these boxes in the cellar, and put an incii or two of 
soil in the bottom of each; set the celery in them 
the same as in the trenches, and if to stand side by 
side do not put them nearer than 9 inches. The object is 
to avoid a solid mass of celery, which will heat and decay. 
If the cellar has an earth bottom, the boxes may be re¬ 
placed by board trenches, the boards held up by stakes 
driven in the cellar bottom, and a passage-way between 
them. Keep as cool as possible without freezing. 
A Wonderful Eiquid.— Two ounces of a clear, 
colorless liquid in a bottle, for which we paid 10 cents. 
Had we needed a pound, it could have been bought for 
30 cents. Forty years ago, we saw the same liquid sold 
for $3 an ounce 1 But that is not the most wonderfnl 
thing about it. A stick of Sulphur, solid, brittle, and 
light yellow, as every one knows roll Brimstone to be. A 
stick of Charcoal, solid, brittle, and black—and as unlike 
Sulphur as can well be. By proper treatment, this Sul¬ 
phur and Charcoal were brought together, united, and 
made to form this clear, bright liquid I Can there be any¬ 
thing more wonderfnl than this f Tlie Sulphur lias lost 
its yellow, the Charcoal its black, the solid form of both 
has disappeared, and here we have a liquid, and so vola- 
atile that it appears to not like being a liquid, but is 
ready to pass off into vapor at a slight provocation. 
What greater marvel than this ? What of the wonders of 
chemistry can be more striking? None, save it be the 
water, the salt, the wood, the—well, the everything 
aronnd us. But to the liquid, which is known as Bist/l-. 
pkide of Carbon. If Charcoal, which is Carbon, is burned 
in the air, the oxygen of the air unites with the Carbon, 
to form Carbonic Acid, ordinarily an invisible gas, but 
which can be, though with great difficulty, condensed in¬ 
to a liquid and a solid. If, instead of burning Carbon 
(Charcoal) in the air, we burn it in the vapor of Sulphur, 
—a tiling readily done—the Sulphur and Carbon unite, 
but in this case, the product in passing through a proper 
cooling tube, will appear as a liquid, the liquid in ques¬ 
tion, the Bisulphide of Carbon —and a very peculiar liquid 
it is. If one tries to mix it with water, he will find that 
the two separate as readily as oil and water, and the Bi¬ 
sulphide, being nearly one-fourth heavier, goes to the 
bottom ; but with Alcohol and Ether itmixes readily. It 
is very volatile, evaporating readily at ordinary tempera¬ 
ture, and it. would be very difficult to keep, but for the 
fact that it does not mix with water, and that a layer of 
water on its surface prevents it from evaporating. Its 
odor is exceedingly disagreeable. When heated, it boils 
at about 115°. It burns readily, with a bluish flame, and 
with the odor of Sulphurous Acid, with which all who 
have lighted Sulphur matches are familiar. The remark¬ 
able reduction in price already mentioned, would indicate 
that there has been an increased demand, and Us manu¬ 
facture on a large scale. At the period of high price re¬ 
ferred to, it was known only as a chemical curiosity. 
Now it is made by the ton. This increased demand is 
due to its remarkable solvent properties. The Bisulphide 
is the best solvent for India-rubber and Gutta-percha, 
and it is largely used in the manufactures of these ar¬ 
ticles. It dissolves Sulphur, Phosphorous, various Res¬ 
ins, etc., and is used in various processes in the arts. 
One use is in tlie extraction of various oils ; the Bi¬ 
sulphide readily dissolves both volatile and fixed oils, 
and in many cases affords the most ready method of ex¬ 
tracting these from leaves, nuts, etc., tlie Bisulphide be¬ 
ing evaporated. Our story of a stick of Charcoal and a roll 
of Sulphur is already too long, but enough has been said 
to show that they may produce a truly wonderful liquid. 
