188^.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
175 
Publisher’s Department. 
Insurance Wreckers.— Both branches of the 
Legislature of New York, have appointed Committees 
to investigate the management of Life Insurance Com¬ 
panies. This work of investigation has not begun a 
moment too soon. Unquestionably, there are different 
gangs of men banded together to wreck Life Insurance 
Companies. There are, furthermore, officials connected 
with Life Insurance Companies bordering upon insol¬ 
vency, who pay themselves outrageous salaries, and who 
are systematically endeavoring to freeze out the holders 
of policies, by appealing to their fears. There are a few 
Life Insurance Companies, however, which may be said 
to be absolutely safe from all designing and unscrupu¬ 
lous manipulations ; companies whose large assets place 
them outside of the range of danger. One of those is the 
“Mutual Life,” mentioned last month. Another which 
we warmly commend to the confidence of our readers is 
the “New York Life,” of which Morris Franklin is 
President. The cash assets of the New York Life In¬ 
surance Company on the 1st of January, were $47,228,- 
781.64. The head of every family should make provisions 
against misfortunes which may follow death, and take 
out a policy in a sound Company. 
Adriance ami Adriance Buckeye Mower 
and. Reaper.— We are gratified at learning from a 
circular sent us by Adriance, Platt & Co., manufacturers 
of the Buckeye Mower and Reaper, that they have had a 
year of most unusual prosperity. They write: “The 
season of 1881 was the most favorable for the sale of 
Mowers and Reapers that has been known for several 
years, throughout all the States supplied by us (with the 
exception of Michigan, which suffered from drought), 
and, as heretofore, a large portion of the farmers in¬ 
sisted pn having machines of our build. In our efforts 
to meet this unprecedented demand, we succeeded in 
increasing our product of machines seventy per cent, 
above the large average of our sales for the preceding 
ten years, but still fell far short of filling our orders.” 
Plantation and Other Saw Mills.— Yankee 
inventors and manufacturers are by no means to have 
the monopoly in producing farm machinery. One indi¬ 
cation of this is seea in a saw mill, especially adapted to 
plantation use, made at Salem, N. C. Much of the 
natural wealth of some of the Southern States is in its 
forests, but this is often unavailable on account of the 
difficulty and expense of conveying the timber to a saw¬ 
mill. When Mr. C. A. Hege set himself at the task of 
producing a saw-mill that could be run by moderate 
steam or water-power, and produced one so readily man¬ 
aged and so perfect in all its arrangements as the one 
now manufactured, he made an important contribution 
to the prosperity of the Southern States. Of course 
large mills are required for those who make sawing a 
business, but the same mill, made especially for private 
use by farmers and planters, is of even greater general 
benefit. An examination of the very full illustrations 
of the devices for its almost automatic working, shows 
that much thought has been given to the invention, and 
the great number of testimonials from those who have 
the mill in use, show that there was an extended de¬ 
mand for such a machine. 
The Eclipse Wagon Jack.— A trial of this 
Jack shows it to be a most useful affair. A great 
amount of ingenuity has been expended upon these 
implements, but among the scores of styles in use none 
can be simpler or more effective, while its price is re¬ 
markably low. 
lamp Wick with Metal Tip.— This is a 
simple device, by which a flat wick is terminated by a 
metallic tip. As our own lamps all have circular wicks, 
we have not been able to make a trial of it, but the in¬ 
ventor presents testimony from well-known people to 
the effect that the use of this wick adds greatly to the 
excellence of the light. 
Messrs. Fisk & Hatch, New York, have pub- 
lisheda pamphlet concerning Government Bonds (United 
States and Foreign) for the information of investors, 
with directions for buying and selling securities in the 
New York market. The work likewise contains statis¬ 
tics of the growth and progress of the United States, 
together with a compendium of the Tenth Census, and 
gold and silver statistics. We have watched with not a 
little interest the steady progress of Messrs. Fisk & 
Hatch since they, as young men, began their financial 
career in New York at about the beginning of the war. 
We congratulate them upon the increasing prosperity to 
which they have attained since the temporary drawback 
following the panic of 187.7. 
Sending Small Sums of Money Safely. 
New Arrangement. Interesting Announcement. 
The American Express Company announces that 
it will now receive at any of its 4.000 offices, 
small sums of money, in any amount up to $10, 
and give a receipt for it which will be payable at 
any of its leading offices, including the leading 
cities and towns in Maine, New Hampshire, Ver¬ 
mont, Massachusetts, New York (9 stations in New 
York City), New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, In¬ 
diana, Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Neb. and Dak. 
The safe delivery is guaranteed ; orders are is¬ 
sued and paid at all hours of the day when the 
offices are open. The charge for receiving the 
money, issuing orders, and paying them, is lire 
cesuts on $5, and all less sums, and eig-Iit 
cents on all sums over $5, and not over $10. 
This will be a great convenience to all who re¬ 
side near the offices of this Company, over 4,000, 
and extending over 31,000 miles of railroads. 
Fodder-Corn—Green, Dry, and as Ensi¬ 
lage.— Two important questions are discussed in the 
last bulletin of the New Jersey Experiment Station, viz: 
Is the loss of food by fermentation greater or less in the 
stack than in the silo ? Is ensilage of greater value 
than dry corn-fodder for the production of milk ?—The 
conclusions of the extended experiments are as follows: 
“First. When the green com was dried in stacks, the 
loss of food was less than it was when the corn was 
packed in a silo.—Second. When dried corn-fodder was 
cut and crushed, it was eaten by the cows under experi¬ 
ment quite as readily and with as little waste as ensilage. 
—Third. In three cases the yield of milk was not in¬ 
creased when ensilage was substituted for dried corn, but 
in one case ensilage caused an increase of eighty-seven 
pounds of milk in forty days.—Fourth. In the mixed 
milk for twenty days of herd No 1, ensilage caused no in¬ 
crease in the yield of total solid matter ; while in the 
milk of herd No. 2, for the same period, it caused a gain 
of eight and one-third pounds, or seven per cent.” 
Population of the World — ILatest Esti¬ 
mate.— The eminent statisticians, Behni and Wagner, 
estimate the present population of the world: 
Australia and I .... f)nn 
Polynesia, f" 431 - (l00 
Polar Regions... 82,000 
Total 1,452,233,000 
Of the 95,405,000 in America, there arc credited to the 
United States, 50,000,000; to Brazil, 11,100,000; to Mexi¬ 
co, 9,485,000; to British North America, 3,800,000.—Ice¬ 
land is given 72,000, and Greenland, 10,000. 
Clearing hand by Blasting.— “T. B. C.,” 
Shiloh Hill, HI., will find in the American, Agricuttumt 
for Jan., 1877, an illustrated article explaning the use of 
Dynamite or “ Giant Powder,” for clearing land. This 
article described what we saw on a farm in Bergen Co., 
N. J. Since then we have used the same explosive for 
removing both rocks and stumps, in making a road upon 
our own place. The article used is dangerons, but not 
so much so as gunpowder, as ordinarily used in blasting. 
A person who can not be trusted with a shot-gun or a 
revolver, should have nothing to do with this, or any 
other kind of blasting. Those only who know the 
danger of such things should be trusted with them. 
Under proper safe-guards, this is a most effective method 
of disposing of stumps. Those interested can refer to 
the above number (Vol. XXXVI, No. 1), as the descrip¬ 
tion is too long to repeat here. 
Sunflowers Again.— When we receive a num¬ 
ber of inquiries upon an unusual subject, we can gener¬ 
ally trace the reason to some sensational article. But we 
have not yet learned what has started the large number 
of letters now coming in, and the unusual interest in the 
sunflower—its seeds for feeding, and its stalks for fuel. 
Last month, p. 127, we gave a summary of the matter. As 
later letters refer to feeding the seeds to swine, it would 
appear that they have been recommended for that pur¬ 
pose in some publication. We can only say that we 
know of no such experiments, but judging from the re¬ 
sults of feeding other oily seeds, we should not expect 
an exclusive diet of sunflower seeds, or one composed 
largely of ther^ would make the best kind of pork. 
A Feeding Trough for Fowls.— Mr. “L. S. 
L.," Boone Co., Ill., writes us: I have noticed many 
illustrations of practical articles in the American Agri- 
cultui'ist from time to time, and to reciprocate the favors, 
I send the measurements and method of construction of 
a feeding trough for fowls. I had some trouble in get 
ting Hie best proportions for the parts to send, but 
am satisfied with the following: Length of trough 4 feet; 
end-pieces 12inches wide, 13 inches long at the highest 
point, and 10 inches on the sides. The trough rests on 
cleats nailed upon the lower end of the end-pieces. The 
boards for cover, are 41 feet long, 7 inches wide. One of 
the two cover boards is nailed to the upper slanting 
edges of the end-pieces, and the other is secured by 
strap hinges, as shown in the engraving. This lid makes 
it easy to reach the trough when feeding the fowls. 
Trouble Among Doga.— “ W. B.,” El Dorado, 
Ohio, and others, have recently written to us, that their 
dogs suffer from an intolerable itching, that the hair 
begins to come off, and that the skin is red and scaly 
All these point to some form of Mange, which, like Itch 
in man, and Scab in sheep, is due to a parasitic insect 
which burrows in the skin. In mild forms of Mange the 
use of Sulphur Ointment—as much sulphur as can be 
rubbed into a small quantity of lard—will cure in a few 
applications, with a thorough washing with warm soap 
suds before each. When the disease is very bad itis ad¬ 
vised to use about a fourth of mercurial ointment with 
that of sulphur. 
The Economy oil' a Horse-Blanket.—Our 
correspondent, Timothy Bunker, Esq., writes us: Jake 
Frink's horse has come out this spring, looking rather 
thin and rough. It is putting it mild to say that the hair 
does not all point one way. It is nothing unusual in the 
occupant of Jake’s stable ; in fact, a smooth-skinned 
horse would disappoint all his neighbors. We all know 
that a blanketed horse looks better and sells better, than 
an animal that is neglected, and some suppose the chief 
use of a horse-blanket is to gratify the pride of life, 
rather than to comfort the horse, and to add to his use¬ 
fulness. It pays in dollars and cents to use a blanket. It 
saves feed. The same arguments that make a warm sta¬ 
ble economieal, call for a blanket. It retains the animal 
heat in cold weather, and this is favorable to sound sleep 
and good digestion. When at work in the field, or driven 
on the road, the horse becomes heated, and is as liable to 
take cold in cooling off, as a man in like circumstances. 
It is a great safeguard after a drive, to regulate the cool¬ 
ing process with a blanket. Horse-blankets are now 
manufactured so cheaply, that every farmer can invest 
in them and make money. 
Holding Music Books Open.— A very simple 
but effective and convenient method of holding bound 
music or note books open on the piano or melodeon, is to 
tie or sew together the ends of a small elastic cord of any 
A MUSIC HOLDER. 
size, strength, and length. Put it around the rack and 
over or across the open leaves of the book, moving it 
up or down so as not to interfere with tne notes or 
words. If suitably elastic, it is easily thrown on or off, 
and lifted in turning the leaves. 
Forestry and the Census. — Gen’l Walker, 
Superintendent of Census of 1880, has shown his re¬ 
markable fitness for his position in his selection of the 
heads of special departments. When he put Forestry 
in the hands of Prof. Chas. S."Sargent, Director of the 
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, all familiar 
with such matters felt that it was an appointment emi¬ 
nently “fit to be made.” Though the final report on 
the. Forestry of the Census cannot be completed for 
some time to come, the Bulletins thus far issued in- 
ASia.844, lU7,UUU 
Europe.315,929,000 
Africa.205,679,000 
America_ . 95,405,000 
