98 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[Marc h 
of it, applied every year; three parts seasonable 
and thorough cultivation, with no weed allowed to 
go to seed ; two parts good onion 6eed ; one part 
good sandy loam ; and to this must be added cheap 
freight to a good market. With these conditions, 
any smart, thrifty farmer can raise onions, and make 
money. In the neighborhood of Jake Frink and 
Seth Twiggs some of the conditions are wanting. 
Connecticut. 
Some New Rural Books. 
Insects of the Farm and Garden (In 
Preparation). —By Mrs. Mary Treat. There is 
no popular work upon the Insect Enemies of the 
cultivator suited to the present time. Harris’ work, 
though charming in its popular style, is local, and 
does not treat of the numerous insects that have 
appeared of late years. While it will retain its 
place among the standard works, it does not meet 
the every-day needs of the farmer and gardener. 
Packard’s “Guide to the Study of Insects” is of 
great value to those who are more interested in the 
study of insects and their scientific classification 
than in their destruction. Prof. C. Y. Riley’s 
writings, admirable and practical as they are, are 
scattered through too many volumes to be available 
for general use. In view of the need of a compact 
treatise which shall enable any cultivator to iden¬ 
tify the ordinary injurious iusects and apply the 
best means for their destruction, the Publishers 
have invited Mrs. Mary Treat to undertake the 
work. Those who remember Mrs. Treat’s articles 
in Hearth and Home , and later in Harper's Monthly 
and other periodicals, need not be told of the pleas¬ 
ing manner in which she presents scientific facts. 
But she is more than a popular writer; as an original 
investigator she has added much to our knowledge 
of both plauts and insects, and those who are famil¬ 
iar with Darwin’s works are aware that he gives her 
credit for important observations and discoveries. 
It is but proper to add that Mrs. Treat undertakes 
the work with the encouragement of Prof. Riley, 
who has in the most generous manner offered her 
the use of valuable materials. Orange Judd Com¬ 
pany, Publishers. 
Sweet Potato Culture.— By James Fitz, Kes¬ 
wick, Va. Nearly all the special crops—by which we 
mean those not usually included in the farm rota¬ 
tion, have had their culture described in separate 
treatises, save the Sweet Potato. This lack is now 
supplied by Mr. Fitz, who, residing in a locality 
where this crop is one of importance, is able to give 
the methods followed by those who have attained 
the best results. While the Sweet Potato is grown 
to the greatest perfection in certain tide-water lo¬ 
calities in Virginia, it may be made a profitable crop 
much farther north. Within the recollection of 
many the cultivation of the Sweet Potato was not 
thought possible in the States north of Virginia, 
but with the introduction of early varieties and im¬ 
proved methods of treatment, its culture has grad¬ 
ually extended northw r ard, until in all but the north- 
ermost localities, the Sweet Potato, instead of being 
an occasional luxury, is now a common food. 
There are but comparatively few localities in 
which the farmer can not readily raise a full supply 
for family use, and the work under notice will do 
much to promote this result, as it gives every step, 
from producing the sprouts or “ sets,” to the har¬ 
vesting and storing the crop, with such varieties as 
are necessary in different localities, the whole form¬ 
ing a practical guide to the culture of this valuable 
esculent. Orange Judd Company, Publishers. 
Feacli Culture. —By the Hon. J. Alexander 
Fulton, New Edition Revised, Enlarged, and in part 
Rewritten. The various works on fruit culture treat 
of the peach as they do of other fruits in a general 
way; but until the appearance of Judge Fulton’s 
book, in 1870, there was nothing that gave the op¬ 
erations of Peach Culture as a business. Living in 
the center of the greatest peach-growing district in 
the world, he was enabled to give every detail and 
to furnish a complete guide to those who would 
embark in the peach culture. During the 12 years 
that have passed since i*s appearance, while there 
have been but few improvements in the general op¬ 
erations of the nursery and orchard, there have been 
many new varieties introduced. During this time 
there has been a marked improvement in the early 
varieties of the peach, and the introduction of these 
and the discarding of others, have made it necessary 
to rewrite this portion of the work. In its present 
revised form the volume is, as it was originally, the 
only practical guide to Peach Culture as followed on 
the Delaware Peninsula, and of course essential to 
those who would undertake the cultivation of this 
fruit in any other part of the couutry. Orange 
Judd Company, Publishers. 
'I'lic Chemistry of the Farm. —By R. 
Warington,F.C.S. This little work presents the rela¬ 
tions of Chemistry to Agriculture in as popular a 
manner as the subject will allow. Its author is a 
co-worker with Lawes and Gilbert, at Rothamsted, 
Eng., where, as all who are readers of agricultural 
journals are aware, the most important investiga¬ 
tions are constantly in progress. These are carried 
on by skilled experimenters, by the aid of abundant 
means, upon a scale sufficiently large to make the 
results of practical value to the farmer. While the 
author only occasionally refers to Rothamsted, and 
nowhere claims to speak for it, those who know of 
his position there, are warranted in regarding this 
work as in accordance with the results reached and 
the views held at that center of scientific activity. 
To the large number who have neither the time nor 
the inclination to take up the study of Chemistry, 
and yet would have a general idea of the relations 
of that science to the operations of the farm, this 
work will be welcome. While its style is clear and 
concise, it is far from being technical or dry 7 , and 
the work cannot fail to be useful to every intelligent 
reader who is interested in the scientific aspects of 
agriculture. Orange Judd Company, Publishers. 
The Care of the Lamps. 
If a list could be presented of the deaths and 
frightful burnings that have occurred since the in¬ 
troduction of kerosene, it would be appalling. 
Good Kerosene, that is, of the legal standard of 
quality, and that sent out by the best makers is far 
in advance of the legal requirements, properly used, 
need be no more dangerous than the old-fashioned 
sperm oil, or tallow dips. But it is vastly more so— 
Why ? If we observe the accounts of these so-called 
“ accidents,” as they 7 are given in the daily papers, 
it will be found that they are due to one of two 
principal causes : (1) Using kerosene to light a fire ; 
and (2) to filling a lamp while lighted. Only the 
most ignorant can be so stupid as to pour kerosene 
upon a fire, and as such persons do not read, it 
would be a waste of time to caution them against 
it. Filling a lamp while it is lighted is something 
that ought never to be done. It can be avoided by 
always filling the lamps in the morning. This task 
should belong to some one member of the house¬ 
hold, who should have a fixed and regular time for 
doing it; nothing ought ordinarily to interfere with 
or cause its postponement. It should be made a 
duty, to be discharged with all the regularity and 
punctuality of the daily meals. If good kerosene, 
of either of the best manufacturers be used, there 
is little danger of accident. Glass lamps ought 
never to be carried about, for the very reason that 
they are glass. This would hold, no matter what 
material they contain; even if it be sperm or lard 
oil, the breaking of a lamp is a disaster to be 
avoided. There is a chance that the one carrying 
it may slip or trip, or some other accident cause it 
to be dropped. With good kerosene, even the break¬ 
ing the lamp and spilling its contents should cause 
no disaster in the way of burning ; but all kerosene 
is not good, and the risk should never be taken. 
In “trimming” the lamps, only the small portion 
that is charred need be removed from the wick, 
and that is readily done by scraping with a knife 
kept for the purpose. If any substance collects 
upon the wick tube, that should be scraped off, 
leaving the brass or metal perfectly clean. After 
carefully scraping, wipe off the upper part of the 
wick tube, (and the wick), with a piece of very soft 
paper, to remove any small particles left in scrap¬ 
ing. A wick may become unfit for use long before 
it is burned up. Many quarts of oil are carried 
through a wick, and in time the pores of the fabric 
become so filled with little particles of dust and 
other impurities that the oil contains, that its 
ability to take up the oil as fast as it is burned be¬ 
comes greatly diminished, and when this occurs, a 
new wick is needed. If a lamp is filled quite full 
in a cold room, and then is brought into a warm 
one, the heat will cause the oil to expand and over¬ 
flow, and lead to the suspicion that the lamp leaks. 
This should be avoided by not filling completely; 
knowing that this may occur sufficient space should 
be left to allow for the expansion. 
Our budget of humbug documents 
§H is unusually large this month, show- 
— ij ing that swindlers are ready to take ad- 
| vantage of the general activity looked 
for in spring business. We have 
fewer than usual of schemes especi¬ 
ally intended to entrap farmers, an indication 
that farmers have grown more cautious and that 
swindlers find them less profitable customers. But 
the frauds upon the community in general are of 
interest to all citizens, including farmers. One of 
the most barefaced of recent swindles was 
The “Ozone” Humbug, 
and its rise and complete collapse form an instruc-- 
tive chapter in the history of humbugs. Last 
month, p. 50, under “ What is Ozone,” we endeav¬ 
ored to show our readers, by inference, that the 
article so widely advertised could not be Ozone. 
Just as the page with our Humbug article went to 
press, we managed to buy a $2 package of the stuff 
sold by the Cincinnati chaps as “ Ozone.” On 
making a rough chemical examination, we found 
that the stuff, as we had expected from the direc¬ 
tions for its use, was merely Flowers of Sulphur 
mixed with some black powder. A little later we 
received a report made by our friend, R. B. Warder, 
Cincinnati, O., to the Mechanics’ Institute, giving 
a detailed accout of his microscopic examination 
and chemical analysis of the stuff, in which he 
showed that this “ Ozone” was only 
Sulphur aud Lampblack, 
with some volatile oil to give it an odor. As the 
package, about a pound, cost the maker nearly 
five cents, and sold for $2, Mr. Warder is right in 
his conclusion that “ Sulphur becomes extremely 
expensive when purchased under the name of 
Ozone.” But “ Ozone” failed, and the advertising 
firm that sent its deceptive announcements broad¬ 
cast over the country, has failed also. This con¬ 
cern issues a pathetic circular, showing that the 
“ course which has been adopted” by the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist and some other newspapers caused 
their ruin. As this “ course” was merely to show 
up one of the worst swindles of the age, we think 
these advertising agents will find little sympathy. 
The Michigan Man too Late. 
“Ozone” as applied to a parcel of brimstone is, to 
say the least, a misnomer, but here comes one who 
loudly proclaims the preservative qualities of 
“Ozocerite, (By some called Ozone,)” 
in much the same language and makes for it sim¬ 
ilar claims that the Cincinnati chaps did for their 
Ozone. What a jumble of fraud it all is! Here 
we have the name “ Ozone,” which belongs to a 
form of oxygen, given to colored brimstone, while 
another, thinking to improve on it, says “ Ozocerite, 
sometimes called Ozone”—Sometimes, by whom ? 
Does not the chap know that Ozocerite, (or Ozokerite), 
is a name belonging to a fossil wax found in South¬ 
ern Europe, which has been in use for years in 
making candles, and has no more to do with ozone 
than ozone has to do with brimstone ? The short 
career of the Cincinnati “ Ozone” should warn the 
advertising agents to take no risks on “ Ozocerite.” 
An Exquisite “Wash Rag,” 
The ladies in the suburbs of Newark, N. J.,liave 
