AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
373 
an Idea that some one would take out stumps by elec¬ 
tricity, and we looked upon Horton as the “coming 
man.” There was this difference though: our electricity 
was to do H with a slap and a bang and be done with it, 
but Horton’s is only to show 
effects “after five or six 
weeks.” Horton had his elec¬ 
tricity tamed we thought—but 
at all events we invested Sit- 
in some of Wn, V.’s Slow 
lightning — Slow I we should 
say so 1 Wo sent our money— 
that went quick enough —it 
tractor. always does 1 — but the way 
fn which Horton’s stump extracting lightning didn’t 
come-in return, was slowness intensified. We didn t 
count the days, but it took between two and three weeks 
to get ten miles or so. At last we received the stuff— 
“A BOX OF POWDER.” 
Just think of powdered lightning ? Then the directions 
that come with it are so plain. In fact they are illus¬ 
trated by a cut—doubly a wood- cut'. That our readers 
may see just how the stuff is to be used. Here it is: 
DIRECTIONS. 
“Take any common wire, make a loop in the end, 
wind around the head of a ten penny nail—then drive in 
a root thus holding the wire tight— see cut above— do the 
same with another nail in the top of the stump, twist 
Wire from the other nail and drive it clear in to the 
head. Then take a good pinch of the compound and 
place on head of nail in the top of the stump. This will 
commence to act as soon as it is moistened. After five 
or six weeks if the bark does not show a decay, apply 
another pinch in the same place—always drive the nail 
in the top where there is a depression or rough place and 
as near the center as possible—ihe rough portion will 
hold the compound and prevent its loss—by following 
the above strictly, will do the work perfect..” 
If after five or six weeks the electricity don’t work, 
“ apply another pinch.” * * “ By following the above 
strictly will do the work perfect ”—which we suppose 
means “perfectly.” The work most likely to be “per¬ 
fectly ” done is to 
FOOL WHOEVER TRIES IT OUT OF HIS MONET AND HIS 
TIME. • 
This is no improvement on the Arkansas method. 
We once, in Texas, heard a Missourian and an Arkansan 
badgering one another upon the peculiarities of the peo- % 
pie of their respective States. Said the Missourian^ 
“Your people in Pike County, Ark., are too lazy to cut 
firewood. You lay an iron wedge up in the crotch of a 
tree and sit down and wait for the lightning to come and 
strike it.” But what is this wonderful Powder.? We 
are not quite through with it yet, and will tell of the 
marvellous stuff at another time.... We have on various 
occasions shown the various' tricks resorted to for 
PROCURING NAMES AND ADDRESSES. 
There is one that the Postal authorities should look 
after. The proprietor, of a quack medicine proposes to 
Postmasters to send a Boston weekly paper for three 
months “ to all Postmasters who furnish a list of persons 
receiving mail at their offices.”, A sheet ruled and with 
printed heading is furnished for the Postmaster to sign 
and fill out. Some Postmasters, instead of filling the 
sheet, send it to us. They would do better to" send it to 
the General Post Office. We are surprised that the 
“ Manager” of the paper, usually regarded as a respectable 
one, should be a party to this attempt to flood the coun¬ 
try with quack medicine pamphlets. .. .We some months 
ago showed up 
.“ THE DICTIONARY HUMBUG.” 
Parties in different, parts of this country and Canada, 
offering to send for a fraction of a dollar (price variable), 
a Dictionary claimed to be worth §6.00 or so. We have 
shown that the Dictionary sent, by some of tliese adver¬ 
tisers, at least, is really not worth half the price asked for 
it. One advertiser of Dictionaries does not like our ex¬ 
posure, apparently, as he puts al the bottom of his adver¬ 
tisement, the following : “ ]£s§!t This book contains more 
than four times as many words and ten times as many en¬ 
gravings as a book published by the Orange Judd Co., 
for which they charge $1.50.” Well, we shouldn’t won¬ 
der; but our readers have the old-fashioned notion that 
the value of a book does not consist in the number of 
words, but the way in which they are put together! . 
THEY HAVE THEM AT ST. STEPHEN, 
New Brunswick, Canada—those Royal Gift Soires—and 
monthly, too. There is a wonderful family likeness in all 
the forms of the Lottery that break out in the Dominion, 
to the old schemes of Topeka and the rest. Can the same 
motive power be there? The “ Special Distributions,” 
where every “ stool-pigeon ” will be sure to win a prize to 
coo over, look much like it. Our Iowa friend need not 
regret that he tore up the tickets, we have lots more_ 
Here is just altogether quite 
THE STRANGEST THING ABOUT LOTTERIES 
that has happened to us. An advertising agent in Europe, 
wishes to know if we “are willing to enclose circulars, 
similar to the one adjoined, in your issue, one to each of 
your subscribers.” The circular is no less than the 
“ GREAT MONEY LOTTERY OF HAMBURG ! ” 
which we shall take special pleasure in warning people 
to let severely alone_We have, on more than one occa¬ 
sion, remarked on the “periodicity” of Humbugs, 
that is, their tendency, like comets, to return at longer or 
shorter intervals. For example, there was the 
WHITE WIRE CLOTHES-LINE, 
which, some 10 or 12 years ago, was frequently presented 
in these columns—not as being of necessity a fraud in 
itself—but was made the subject of various sharp prac¬ 
tices and small swindling games. It was like meeting— 
not an old friend—but an old enemy, to come across re¬ 
cently, in the “Montgomery News,” Hillsboro, Ill., an 
account of a clothes-liirc swindler. It is the old story over 
again. A complicated bargain, of wire given away, more 
ivire at 10 c. afoot, more at 5 - c., and still more at 2% c. a 
foot, and when the “agent” had the farmer so confused 
by his glibhess, with feet and prices, and that he was not 
to pay for the wire until sold, he, the farmer, Mr. Fath, 
gave an order. In a few days, the agent having in the 
meantime gone to take other orders, came back to Mr. 
Fath, and wished his note for $110.00. Mr. Fath couldn't 
see it; agent began to be abusive and threaten, whereup¬ 
on, Fath, Jr.,goes for revolver,and agent “ gets.” Another 
farmer, Mr. Hillman, was called upon and told that Mr. 
Fath had given note for $110.00, and that he must do the 
same; Hillman refused, agent threatened su t, Hillman 
would have to go to Chicago to defend himself, would 
lose his property and all that; Hillman had no Junior at 
hand with revolver, so he yields, and at last ac¬ 
counts, was going about warning the banks not to buy 
his note_We have in this month's budget, two notes as 
unlike as can be.' One from Western New York, says. 
“ Many farmers in this vicinity are signing notes and bills, 
and eventually coming to grief, but this example does not 
seem to effect others. Will you not kindly write an arti¬ 
cle on this subject for the next American Agriculturist." 
Goodness ! what can we do more than we have already 
done? The other writer; this one from New Jersey, 
says: “ Why do you keep liarping upon farmers signing 
notes. If some men-think they can make a dollar, they 
will sign anything; yon can’t prevent them. The 
best way is, to let them suffer the consequences, and in¬ 
stead of,pitying them, I say 1 it serves them right.’ ” We 
say : Farmers be careful always what you sign, and 
for a stranger , po not upon any pretext_ whatever , sign 
any thing — not even to give your own address, unless it 
may be in the presence of witnesses. 
JCaimit.—“ J. C. P. M.,” Baltimore, Md. This is the 
name given to the mineral which is abundantly mined in 
Stassfurt and other places in Germany as a source of pot¬ 
ash for use as a fertilizer. It is a compound of Sulphates 
of Magnesia and Potash, - with Chloride Magnesium, and 
some water. This is one of the most available of Ihe 
known sources of potash ; but only the best grades, i. e., 
those with the highest per cent of potash are profitable. 
Poisoned by Toadstools.— Two children in 
Linden, N. J., have just died from the effects of eating 
toadstools, and the rest of the family is suffering from 
1 he same cause. There is only one way to avoid such 
calamities—never eat mushrooms unless it is positively 
known that they are of a harmless sort, and as only a very 
few persons can distinguish the poisonous from the 
edible, it is the safest for all others to not eat them at 
all. No general rule can bo given that will serve as a 
guide in selecting the harmless sorts. The only way is to 
know the good ones just as one can tell an acquain¬ 
tance from a stranger without being able to tell why. 
Idiene for B-and.—A few days ago, we were in Sus¬ 
sex Co., N. J., and while waiting for a train, we found a 
farmer loading lime from a car. He pays 9 cents per 
bushel, and about one cent for freight, so that it costs him 
10 cents per bushel at the depot. He puts on 50 bushels 
per acre, at a cost of $5, besides the drawing from the 
depot and spreading upon the land. The lime is brought 
on long, flat cars, which hold 300 bushels, and come di¬ 
rect from the kilns, about 30 miles away. On any land 
where there is an abundance of undecomposed vegetable 
matter, lime is of special value to liberate the plant food. 
Lime acts as a stimulant in facilitating decomposition, 
but on lan 1 poor in organic matter it is of little value, 
and is not worth the cost. Lime of itself will, in time, 
make the best land poor unless it is constantly supplied 
with organic matter, as for example barn-yard manure. 
Tli© Pairs.—As we go to press, the Premium Lists 
of fairs are still coming in; and every mail brings us 
letters of invitation and complimentary tickets to these 
exhibitions from all parts of the country. So long as 
physical laws remain the same—one of which is, that a 
body can not be in two places at the same time—it. seems 
imperative that we decline the majority of the invita¬ 
tions. We are sorry that it is not possible to attend many 
of these useful exhibitions of our prosperity, as we 
always feel well paid in old friendships renewed, new 
acquaintances made, and information gained. To all who 
have sent ns letters, tickets, premium lists, and other in¬ 
formation concerning their fairs, we tender our hearty 
thanks and hope that in every case the exhibition may be 
a perfect success. It would appear that more fairs are 
held this month than usual. In last month’s Fair List, a 
large number of October Fairs are given, and a List of 
other October Fairs will be found on page 401. 
Itlastlng Stumps. —Inquiries are frequently made 
by those with land to clear of stumps for some method 
quicker than the old one of slow digging, and pulling 
with a team of horses or oxen. We refer such to the 
January number of 1877 of the American Agriculturist , 
where a full description of the clearing of stumps and 
stones by blasting is given, with illustrations, showing 
tlie method of using the Giant Powder cartridges. This 
material is advertised by the Atlantic Giant Powder Co., 
59 Park Place, N. Y., wiio furnish full directions for its use. 
ApSiides on Peacli Leaves.- 11 A. II.,” Haver¬ 
hill, Mass. The curl of the peach leaves sent by you is 
caused by Plant Lice, or Aphides , an abundance of which 
may be found on the inside of the leaves. The “larger 
millers” which were seen hovering around these leaves 
“ lighting, and apparently feeding some larvae within .the 
curl of the peacli leaf,” were mollis, not feeding, bwi feed¬ 
ing upon the lice, or rather the sweet liquid which exudes 
from their bodies. Ants are frequently found in abund¬ 
ance upon leaves infested with Aphides, and for the same 
purpose. It is quite wonderful what care ants sometimes 
bestow upon the lice, protecting and providing for 
them much as we do for a cow, horse, or other animal 
which is a source of strength or of food to us. 
Spreading Manure.— There can hero waste in 
spreading manure at this season as fast as it is made. 
There is more danger of waste by keeping it in the 
yard, exposed to the air and to the washing by frequent 
rains. From the time that the manure is dropped until 
it is spread upon the land, it is subject to waste by grad¬ 
ual decomposition. When spread upon land, it loses 
nothing by decomposition, for the soil absorbs every 
portion that is liberated by this process, and is washed 
into the soil by rains. It is, therefore, advisable to 
spread manure, if it is needed, upon meadows and 
plowed ground as it is made, both at this time and dur¬ 
ing the winter, without fear of loss from evaporation. 
It has been the, practice of good farmers for some years 
back to keep the manure on the surface, or as near to it 
as possible, and top-dressing is now substituted success¬ 
fully for plowing in in many parts of the country. 
“Morses Gnawing Mangers.”—Mr. II. D. 
Stratton, East Hampton, Suffolk Co., L. I., writes as fol¬ 
lows . “ I have read in the June number of your American 
Agriculturist what ‘Subscriber’ says about ‘Horses 
Gnawing Mangers.’ I have for Ihe past fifty years found 
that horses kept up in stables where they could not get 
at the ground were apt to do so, and I have given them a 
a turf of good earth or clay soil, from 1 to 2 inches thick, 
and when given to them often I have had no trouble with 
their gnawing mangers, and I think if properly used, 
there would be less ‘crib bite’ of which to complain.” 
Freezing ami Thawing.-“ It is not so much 
tlie jumping as the striking which hurts.” So with a 
tender plant, it is not so much the freezing as the thaw¬ 
ing that injures. When a plant freezes, the water of the 
sap separates from the thick material, often running out 
into the spaces between the cells. If the thawing is 
slow, the water will return into the ceils and the plant 
will often sustain little or no injury, while if the thaw¬ 
ing is rapid the return and readjustment is not brought 
about and the part or whole plant dies. If a plant is 
frozen it should be “ thawed out ” slowly and with great 
care by keeping it a little above the freezing point. This 
is an important fact, and may save many valuable plants 
Club-IKoot in Cabbages.—M. Woronin, an em 
incut microscopic botanist, lias been giving considerable 
attention to the rather common destructive and myste¬ 
rious trouble among cabbages, known as Club-root , 
Stump-foot., Clubfoot, elc. He finds that Ihe abnormal 
growth is caused by a minute fungus, to which lie lias 
given tlie name of Plasmodiophora brassicce, Thin sec¬ 
tions of the diseased portions reveal the fungus with its 
spores under the higher powers of the microscope. As 
the spores are exceedingly numerous, the soil may be¬ 
come infested with them, and communicate tlie trouble 
to plants upon the same soil the next year. A diseased 
crop should not be followed by cabbages again. Only 
healthy plants should be set. An application of lime to 
the soil lias proyeti of benefit; and from the nature of 
the trouble tlie use of sulphur would he likely to be useful. 
