1879 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
291 
the societies holding them ; in the second place from the 
advertisements in the various papers. We would repeat 
our request to the secretaries and other officers of fairs of 
all kinds, to send the dates and place as soon as possible. 
Jf no printed circulars are issued, send a postal-card. 
Be sure and give State, County, Town, and dates. 
Name tlie State.— One of the curiosities of fair 
show-bills is the frequent omission of the State. When 
we get a “ broadsider,” brilliant in red, green and black 
ink, of the Washington, Jefferson, or Adams County 
Fair, and find the name of the State omitted, we are puz¬ 
zled, and a reference to the Gazetteer does not help the 
mat ter,as there are any number of counties of these names. 
Houghton Farm—Doct. DI. Miles.— It has 
been announced by some Western journals that Doct. 
Miles is engaged to conduct the experimental operations 
at Houghton Farm. This is a matterin which the readers 
of the American Agriculturist have an interest, and though 
it. was not intended t® allude to it in these columns until 
plans were matured and operations were well under way, 
yet as others have already given it publicity, we may, 
with propriety, say that the announcement referred to is 
true. It was stated last year that it was the intention of 
its proprietor to devote a share of Houghton Farm to 
agricultural experiments; owing to the difficulty of find¬ 
ing a proper person to take charge, the matter has for 
some time been in abeyance. In the engagement of 
Doct. Miles the most important point in the enterprise 
has been fixed. Through a long term as Professor of 
Agriculture at the Michigan Ag’l College, through his 
lectures in various parts of the country, as well as through 
his reports, his contributions to the agricultural press, 
and his valuable treatise on “Stock Breeding,” he is as 
favorably as he is widely known. Doct. M. is one of the 
few who join a thoroughly practical knowledge of agri¬ 
culture to high scientific acquirements, and we regard it 
as eminently fortunate, not only for Houghton Farm, but 
for the interests of agriculture in general, that his ser¬ 
vices have been secured. It would be premature to say 
any!liing at this time of the work proposed. The more 
important topic would be, the work that has been done, 
and of this the readers of the American Agriculturist 
will be informed in due time. All we need say now is, 
the work has been begun and is progressing under the 
most favorable conditions. Results will follow in time. 
A Sample of Many. —The usefulness of the 
American Agriculturist is often attested in some such 
pleasant manner as the following. We might fill the pa¬ 
per with similar acknowledgements. “W.,” of Mass., 
writes: “ Though I am not a practical farmer, I am at all 
times interested in matters pertaining to agricultural 
pursuits ; therefore I am a subscriber to, and a constant 
realerof, the American Agriculturist. I have received 
through its columns a good deal of practical information, 
some of which has been of advantage to me in my trade 
as a carpenter; lienee, when I hear of a really good thing, 
I feel under some obligations to make it known to others, 
if I may through the columns of this valuable paper.” 
Peaches in Florida.— A correspondent at Waldo. 
Fla., noticing an item on the early shipment of peaches 
from Georgia, writes that they had fine ripe peaches on 
the Santa Fe Lake on May 14th., and that peaches have 
ripened there for several years in May. He says that a 
fine-flavored, good market peach is being largely planted 
in his vicinity, which should place the fruit in the New 
York market by June 1st, and at reasonable rates, if 
proper transportation facilities are afforded. He sent by 
mail, on June 25th, samples of a peach from Kennard's 
Fruit farm, near the Santa Fe Canal, which he says allows 
several pickings, from May 15th, and 20th, to June 30th, 
according to the season. The specimens reached us on 
July 1st. We take them to be the Honey peach, or a 
seedling of that variety, which reproduces itself very 
closely. They came in excellent order, and if not, as we 
suspect, the “ Honey,” their intense sweetness gives 
them a claim to be compared to honey. 
A New Cherry.—“D. S.,” Lancaster, Pa., sends 
specimens of a seedling cherry, w'hich seems to 
possess excellent qualities. He states that it bears enor¬ 
mously. and continues for four weeks. As received by 
us. it is of about the size and appearance of “ Coe's Trans¬ 
parent,” with a very long and slender stem. It is of very 
rich quality, being acid enough for cooking, but not too 
much so for eating. It will no doubt prove a fine mar¬ 
ket fruit, as the specimens on the third day from the tree, 
showed no signs of decay. We are glad to see a renewed 
interest in the cherry, which has for several years, al¬ 
most been a lost fruit, at least in the older States. 
The Duty on Quinine.— The removal of the 
fluty upon quinine has for some time been advocated. 
The great use made of it in malarious localities, where it 
is almost one of the necessaries of life, has induced some 
of the advocates of free Quinine to call the import tax 
upon it “ Blood Money,” and some of the papers have 
been very eloquent over the matter. At the recent extra 
session of Congress, Quinine was placed upon the list of 
articles admitted duty free, whereat the papers rejoiced 
that the fever-stricken sufferers would no longer pay 
tribute to a few wealthy manufacturers. The result was 
very different from that which the advocates of “ free 
Quinine” looked for. The largest manufacturing house 
in this country, so soon as Quinine was put upon the free 
list, gave notice that they should discontinue its manu¬ 
facture, whereupon the holders of the supply in this 
country at once advanced the price $'.50 per ounce. The 
advocates of free Quinine, in their opposition to “wealthy 
manufacturers,” overlooked the. speculators, and the im¬ 
mediate result of their efforts is to increase the cost of 
the drug by almost one-third. If the duty was “ Blood 
Money,” what is this advance? Political economy can 
hardly be called one of the exact sciences. 
Sundry Humbugs. 
When we advise our read- 
ijj the common sense and equi- 
ty of the case. W e are of ton 
pB applied to for advice in mat- 
i Bjjl ters involving questions of 
this we can not give, as 
ake no pretence to legal 
ledge. It often hap- 
that an opinion given 
diDg to “common sense 
ance with law. This is so 
much the worse for the law, 
and still worse for the unfor¬ 
tunate persons who appeal 
to it, expecting to get jus¬ 
tice. We have frequently 
ventions and machines, who in one manner or another 
procure from those farmers and other persons who 
undertake to act as agents for the sale of their articles 
NOTES WHICH ARE FRAUDULENT. 
The victim, thinking he has signed a mere receipt or 
order for goods, is astonished to find that he has in a 
short time a note to pay. The chaps who took the note, 
signed as an order, sell it to a bank, or to some monied 
neighbor. If the victim refuses to pay the note, he is 
sued by the holder. It has frequently happened that 
the Courts have decided against the farmer, the law being 
in favor of the innocent holder of the note. Another 
fraud has been extensively practised in Iowa. The 
swindlers, sell some patent, or article, for a low price, 
take the buyer’s note for $10, add another cypher, and 
sell the note for $100. When brought into the lower 
courts, these cases were decided in favor of the holders 
of the notes, as evidence of fraud could not be produced. 
One John Clark, of Marion Co., Iowa (Put his name 
in small capitals, Mr. Printer, as he deserves the honor), 
was not disposed to accept such a decision. He had 
given a note for $10; he did not cancel all blank spaces, 
nor fill up the blank designating where the note was pay¬ 
able, as he was told that an agent would be along to col¬ 
lect it when due. When the note came to maturity, it 
was found to be “raised ” to $110—and made payable at 
a bank at Knoxville, Iowa. He was sued by the bank, 
and the Court decided, as the maker of the note did not 
fill the blank, the holder had the right to insert the place 
of payment, and that the raising of the note from $10 to 
$110 was a “breach of trust” (!) made possible by the 
negligence of the maker of the note. 
SUCH A MONSTROUS DECISION, 
Mr. John Clark could not abide by, and determined to see 
if all Courts were on the side of rascals, as against honest 
farmers, he carried the case to the Supreme Court of 
Iowa. Here there happened to be common-sense on the 
bench, and at once it was decided that, as the blanks on 
the note were partly filled, any tampering with or altera¬ 
tion of such note was 
FORGERY—AND NOTHING LESS— 
and that the innocent maker of the note should not suf¬ 
fer because the holder had bought a note that was forged. 
This decision, which we, who know little or nothing 
about law, can not see how it could be otherwise, will 
make the bankers and other buyers of notes careful as 
to the article they purchase. The Western papers speak 
of this decision as one of the most important made for 
years. How much trouble, how much litigation, how much 
loss would be avoided were our oft-repeated warning; 
, “ FARMERS, BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU SIGN,” 
regarded by every farmer in the country! In view of the 
fact that there are a large number of frauds organized 
with great ingenuity for the express purpose of preying 
upon farmers, and that the success of these, almost 
without exception, depends upon getting, upon one pre¬ 
tence or another, the signature of the farmer, we are 
warranted in advising every farmer (and indeed other 
readers) as an inflexible, invariable rule, to 
PUT YOUR NAME TO NOTHING WHATEVER, 
no matter whether it be called order, or receipt, or even 
your correct address. So sure as you write your name in 
any book, or on any scrap of paper in the hands of a 
stranger, you have taken a step which may lead to no end 
of trouble and great loss. Don't write your name. If 
the transaction can’t be completed without that, let the 
transaction go. Give your written name to no stranger 
under any pretence whatever... .Complaints now come 
from Kansas concerning a 
“UNITED STATES HOME AND DOWER ASSOCIATION.” 
Last month mention was made of a similar Association 
in Pennsylvania. The circulars before us give no locality 
for this “United States Association,” but it has agents 
in various parts of Kansas. This fact of no location, 
joined to that of a special appeal to clergymen, besides 
complaints from persons who have advanced money for 
loans, and after waiting six months have received none, 
make ns think that this U. S. concern should be regarded 
with caution. One Postmaster in Kansas complains of 
being $45 out of pocket, and that there are a dozen others 
in the same State in a similar condition... .We hear of 
THE LIGHTNING RODDERS 
in ail directions ; it reminds us of the old negro song; 
“ Some come in June, some in July, 
But August brings de Blue-tailed-FIy,” 
but the species of the genus Humbug, known as the 
Lightning (rod) Bug, knows not months. It comes with 
the early showers of April and buzzes about—stinging 
when it gets a chance, until frost comes. We can add 
nothing to our advice to let these’Rodders and their Rods 
alone. If lightning rods are needed, there are makers, of 
skill and reputation, who can supply them. A corres¬ 
pondent in Wayne Co., Ind., writes that the Rodders have 
been in his town and “ swindled several people out of 
more money than would supply them with the American 
Agi'iculturist during their whole life time”—which we 
do not doubt_It seems very odd to receive, after all we 
have said about lotteries, inquiries if some particular 
lottery is not safe. We can make but just one reply to 
such letters: Provided that lotteries are honestly con¬ 
ducted—which they seldom are, the chances are so much 
against the ticket holder that he is foolish to take the 
risk. We have just come across a new lottery scheme— 
to be sure, it is called a 
“GRAND MAMMOTH CONCERT,” 
and is alleged to be “In aid of the Nevada Building As¬ 
sociation and Public Charities of Nevada.” Virginia 
City has the misfortune to be the headquarters of the 
concern, the programme of which reads so like the 
Topeka and other earlier schemes that we should not be 
surprised to find the renowned Pattee at the bottom of 
this. The sending out of schemes has begun, and they 
will no doubt be everywhere. We can save many the 
trouble of writing to ask about this by giving them our 
advice in advance, which is to let all Lotteries, Gift-con¬ 
certs, Distributions, or whatever the thing may be called, 
severely and entirely alone_Besides swindles especial¬ 
ly for farmers, there are 
SWINDLES FOR FARMERS’ WIVES. 
We learn from Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., that a couple of 
smooth-tongued chaps have been about, representing that 
they are makers of mattresses, for which they require old 
feathers: they propose to take away old feather beds and 
return them filled with new feathers, a sample of which 
they show. As strange as it may seem, some farmers’ 
wives trusted these fellows with their beds, and are wait¬ 
ing yet—months after the appointed day for their new 
feathers. Tf “ a bird in the hand is worth two in the 
bush,” so is an old feather bed in hand worth two new 
ones that never come_Something new in the way of 
FRUIT HUMBUGS 
comes to us from Perry Co . Pa., where some chaps are 
taking orders for Apple-trees, grafted on the White Thorn, 
at 50c. each. Freedom from all kinds of insects, and 
early bearing, are the advantages claimed. Another 
novelty is a Grape which grows in a “ tree-form” with a 
one-seeded fruit. Let both stay on the other side of the 
Canada border, where they are claimed to have originat¬ 
ed... .Ten or fifteen years ago our Humbug column gave 
each month several new schemes for 
“SHOVING THE QUEER,” 
the “ professional” term for getting off counterfeit money. 
This business now and then makes a faint effort at re¬ 
vival, the majority of the circulars offering counterfeit 
money in plain language. These are schemes to entrap 
and swindle green-horns, for the chaps do not have any 
counterfeit money. The latest circular of this kind is a 
curious affair. It offers “ Cigars of Green Tobacco,” and 
has all the talk about making these “ Cigars ” that others 
apply to counterfeits. Then follow arrangements for 
