1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
213 
supposed tlmt some one having a lot of these on hand 
had artificially perfumed them to make them sell. Tjiis 
notion prevented our seeing that the bean was not a real 
-one, even though the imitation was most “life-like.” We 
suppose that the chaps got hold of a lot of damaged con¬ 
fectionery and perfumed it. At all events, the “sell” 
-was most complete....Those who have taken an interest 
an him will be glad to know that 
JONES HAS (POSSIBLY) POUND HIS COUSIN. 
Newer readers may not know about Jones and his 
search for his cousin—as it was last year that we pub¬ 
lished the pathetic story. In brief, thousands of people 
have received letters from Jones, informing them that he 
had a cousin of the same name as theirs, not heard of 
since the war was over. If the recipient of the letter is 
his cousin, he can help Jones—and just as well if he isn’t. 
.Jones is agent for a lottery, wants cousin to act as agent 
for sale of tickets; sends cousin a ticket “ good in any 
one of the drawings.” If cousin will act as agent, “ I,” 
•says Jones, “will manage it so that you will draw a 
prize.”—Cousin is to show prize and act as stool pigeon 
to induce people to buy tickets, which we may feel very 
sure Jones will not “ so arrange it” that they shall draw 
prizes. Jones has kept this up persistently for months, 
and we doubt not has found persons dishonest enough to 
help him in his schemes. Sometimes Jones writes to 
the wrong customer. One of his letters went to a well 
known citizen of Oneida Co., N. Y., who 
WROTE JONES AS FOLLOWS. 
“ Yours at hand. I enclose a likeness as near as I am 
.able to sketch it. 
When I was a young 
man, me and my 
cousin (by same 
name as yours) look¬ 
ed like twins. I 
wonder if we con¬ 
tinue to look alike ? 
Please accept my 
likeness inexchauge 
for yours. I have a 
brother practising 
dentistry who some 
years ago peeled the 
skin from off my 
wisdom teeth. It 
was a great success. 
Your Probable 
Cousin, M. J. N.” 
We reproduce the 
likeness which 
Jones’ correspondent 
sent him....Humbugs have a wonderful vitality, and 
When we think they are thoroughly dead,will often turn up 
quite bright and lively. If there is one of the lot that we 
supposed to be more thoroughly dead than another, it is 
THE WINE PLANT HUMBUG. 
This flourished about 20 years ago, and its history is a 
sad one, as its victims were mostly farmers of moderate 
means, to whom it brought, if not absolute ruin, disaster 
from which they were long in recovering. Though the 
American Agriculturist opposed it steadily from the start, 
many did not see our warnings. The “ California Wine 
Plant,” as it was generally called, it was shown upon paper, 
would at once enrich any farmer who would invest in it. 
So many plants to the acre would yield so many gallons 
of juice; this, with so much sugar, would make so many 
gallons of wine, which at $3 (the price then named) per 
gallon would, you see, amount to the handsome sum of— 
we have forgotten how much, but.a small fortune peracre. 
The plant, it was said, while it looked like rhubarb, was 
quite different, would make a wine which could not be 
distinguished from Sherry, and all that. Farmers in vari- 
ons parts of the country invested. Such was the infatua¬ 
tion that some mortgaged their farms to get money to buy 
Wine Plants. The chaps engaged in selling it, bought 
rhubarb from the nearest nursery or elsewhere, made it 
into small cuttings of Wine Plant, and sold it at an enor¬ 
mous profit. The rhubarb grew, the wine was made, and 
—that was the end. It is sad now to remember the sam¬ 
ples that came to ns—small bottles and big bottles of the 
stuff, begging ns to sell it for the sender, and the pathetic 
stories that came with the samples. There was no sale 
for the so-called “Wine,” a rummy, vinegarish wash that 
no one would drink and no one would buy, and nothing 
but loss came of it. Now we hear of 
THE WINE PLANT IN VIRGINIA, 
and that some large sales have been made. We beg our 
friends there not only to let it alone themselves, but to 
prevent others from loss by informing them of the utter 
worthlessness of the stuff. Squelsh this miserable fraud 
right now. ....Let those who visit. New York—and we 
have no doubt the caution will apply to other cities— 
beware of 
MOCK FURNITURE AUCTIONS. 
A stranger seeing a flag flying at a stylish-looking house 
5n one of the up-town streets of residences, and learning 
that “the effects of a family breaking up housekeep¬ 
ing, in consequence of their departure for Europe,” are 
on sale may be tempted to enter. Perhaps he has come 
to the city in part to buy furniture, etc., and may think 
that here is a chance for a bargain—so there is, and a 
very bad bargain. There are parties who carry on this 
business regularly. They have the poorest furniture 
made for the purpose, in the showiest and cheapest 
manner, flashy paintings with the names of reputable 
artists attached, and everything else on the same Scale. 
There is a regular set of stool pigeons, men and women, 
to do the bidding, who may be seen at these sales, the 
same persons week after week. The only safety for a 
stranger is to keep out, for these are among the worst 
swindling shops in the city, and are as much deserving 
the attention of the authorities as were the old Bogus 
Watch and Jewelry Auctions. 
ANOTHER TRICK UPON FARMERS 
has lately been played in Pennsylvania. The poultry 
speculator goes from house to house to buy fowls. He 
does business very systematically, and when he pays any 
one money he takes a receipt. Having made a purchase, 
he takes out his receipt book and proceeds to write the 
receipt. He writes rapidly and vigorously, as becomes a 
man of business, but just as he gets to where the signa¬ 
ture is to be added—away goes the point of the pencil— 
“never mind; here is one of those fountain pens,” 
which he takes from his pocket—” Nothing like having 
two strings to your bow, you know—capital invention, 
these pens that carry their own ink.”—He hands the pen 
to the farmer, who signs the receipt. A receipt in pen¬ 
cil with the signature in ink, is easily converted iDto a 
promissory note for $150—or $200—as the farmer finds 
out when he gets a notice from the bank in the next 
town, that his note of a given date, discounted by the 
bank, will be due on such a day. Our repeated warning: 
“farmers, be careful what tou sign,” 
will have to be modified to read “ Farmers, be careful 
what and how you sign”—or, perhaps, better yet—“Be 
careful not to sign anything’’—for strangers. 
MEDICAL MATTERS, 
while they present but little of novelty, show that frauds 
in this line are still practised. A correspondent in Wash¬ 
ington Co., Ind., writes us, and we give the substance of 
his letter as an example of many others that come to us. 
He says in effect: “A neighbor of mine has something 
on the back of his hand, which he thinks is a cancer. A 
Dr. Starkey, of Philadelphia, who was here, says he is a 
cancer doctor, and proposed to cure it for $10. My friend 
paid him $2.50, he left him one little bottle of medicine, 
and promised to send more medicine next week. Noth¬ 
ing has been heard from him since. Do you know if 
there is such a man as Dr. Starkey in Philadelphia ? 
IF TOU KNOW HIM TO BE A HUMBUG 
will you please say so in your paper.”—We do not know 
if there is such a man in Philadelphia. We do know that 
any man claiming to be a “Cancer Doctor” has no 
proper right to the title of M. D., and can have no proper 
standing among regularly educated physicians. We also 
know that a man who will agree to cure a cancer, or any¬ 
thing else for $10—or any other sum, is a man we should 
most carefully avoid. We should not expect to hear 
again from one who asked $10—and took $2.50. The 
chap wanted money, took what he could get, and left. 
Whenever one offers to perforin a cure for a given sum, 
you may be sure that he is a quack and not to be trust¬ 
ed.... And now 
THE FREE RECIPE DODGE 
is being played by one Sherar of Rochester—after the 
manner of the old “Sands of Life ” chap, and Inmann, 
and the rest; he advertises: “ An old physician, retired 
from practice, having had placed in his hands by an East 
India Missionary, the formula, has felt it his duty 
to make it known,” and all the rest of it. “ Actuat¬ 
ed by his motive, and a desire to relieve human suffer¬ 
ing, I will send free of charge to all who desire it, this 
recipe.”—It is the old, old story.—The recipe con¬ 
tains, among well-known drugs, others that are not 
known in the drug trade—names unknown to botanical, 
medical, or any other science. Of course the recipe 
would do no good unless the stuffs were of the right sort; 
druggists did not have the right kind. Shearer has 
made arrangements for their importation, he has the real 
stuff, which he will send for the cash, and this is the cat 
in this meal. It is a very old dodge, but it seems to 
work, and will be a money-making scheme so long as 
there are people foolish enough to believe these “ Retired 
Physician” and “East Indian Missionary” yarns. 
Yellows in Peaoltes. — Peach-growers every¬ 
where, whose trees are affected by the curl or by yellows, 
will confer a favor by sending us specimens of the affect¬ 
ed portions, with such notes upon the occurrence of the 
disease as may be of interest. Specimens in a well-se¬ 
cured parcel, tied so that it may be opened—using no 
paste or gum—will come as third-class matter. The par¬ 
cel should be directed to “ The Editors,” and contain no 
wHting. Remarks and notes may come by letter. 
Pleurisy in a Cow. —“ G. C.,” Seekonk, Mass. 
The symptoms of plouro-pneumonia are a state of fever, 
hot muzzle, dry skin, deep breathing, redness of the eyes, 
deep cough, costiveness, a discharge from the nose, the 
legs are turned out and the nose is held low and extended. 
By placing the ear to the side of the chest, a sort of 
crackling sound, like crumpling a newspaper is heard 
during breathing, in place of the usual natural murmur¬ 
ing sound of the lungs. There are parts of the space 
where no sound is heard, and when these are tapped by 
the gathered fingers, it is found dull and hard. In 
pleurisy there is no deep cough, but a short hacking and 
a peculiar short sharp quick inspiration, with a slow sigh¬ 
ing expiration; the ear held to the chest detects a soft 
rubbing sound; there is no nasal discharge. As the 
symptoms in your case are the latter, the cow is suffering 
from pleurisy and not pleuro-pneumonia. 
Soldiers’ Claims.— “J. K.,” Walla Walla, W. T. 
Soldiers’ claims and U. S. land warrants can be purchased 
at about $1 per acre, from dealers in many of the large 
cities. These warrants were originally issued as bounty 
to soldiers of the Mexican and other of the earlier wars. 
For their services in the last war, soldiers are entitled 
to 160 acres of land, by personal residence only, and no 
warrants are issued; nor is the privilege transferable. 
Steaming Apparatus.— “J. L. E.” Fulton, Mo. 
An effective steam chest for fodder, is illustrated here¬ 
with. It consists of a box made of plank, with joints 
made steam tight with white lead, and drawn up with 
screw bolts. A row of bars is fitted 6 inches above the 
bottom, to hold the fodder up so as to admit the steam 
under it. A door is made at the top, through which the 
fodder is thrown in from an upper floor, and it is taken 
out after having been steamed, through a door below. 
Steam is admitted at the bottom, by means of a pipe 
shown In the engraving. The feed is thoroughly wetted 
before it is steamed. A box 6 feet high and 5 feet square 
inside, will hold 100 heaped bushels, or feed for 50 head 
per day. 
Cornell University. — Invitations to attend 
courses of lectures by Prof. Goldwin Smith and by Prof. 
Hermann von Holst, are acknowledged with thanks, and 
we take the occasion to commend the exquisite neatness 
of invitations and the cards of admission. 
making Fertilizers from Bones.— “J. Q. 
G.,” Salisbury, Mass. When bones are treated with 
wood-ashes, the potash in these acts upon the gelatine, 
this weakens the texture, and allows the bones to be eas¬ 
ily broken up. But in this process the bone phosphate 
is not changed ; it remains in the same insoluble condi¬ 
tion as before. Phosphoric acid can only be liberated in 
the soluble form by acting upon the bones with sulphuric 
acid or oil of vitriol. There are some processes which 
an individual can learn to perform upon a small scale, if 
he will study up the subject. Thus he can learn to tan 
hides and to bleach cloth ; he could fit up a small mill, 
and convert his wheat into flour, and do many other 
things of the kind, but they will not pay. It is much 
cheaper for the individual to devote himself to the things 
that he can do well, and pay others for doing those which 
can only be properly and profitably done on a large 
scale. The fertilizer makers have large establishments, 
with powerful machinery and all needed appliances. 
The ordinary farmer can no more compete with these in 
making fertilizers than he can with a flouring mill in 
grinding his wheat. While we encourage the production 
of everything upon the farm that can be profitably made 
there, and spend much time in show'ine how to save a 
dollar when it can be really saved, we have of late years 
been convinced that it is better and safer for farmers in 
general to not attempt to make superphosphates. Tha 
