522 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[December, 
this patent “Solicitor and Disposer,” a young 
person called on us, claiming to be Mr. Barrett, 
and accompanied by a lawyer, who informed us 
that we had done very wrong in transcribing from 
an official document of a Department of the Gov¬ 
ernment of the United States. And for this and for 
quoting from the “ N. Y. Weekly Sun,” a state¬ 
ment by a Government official in Canada that the 
“ gentleman does not transact any business with 
this office,” we were threatened with prosecutions. 
THIS IAWYEK WAS SWIFT WITH HIS THREATS, 
but has been remarkably slow in carrying them 
out. We hope he enjoyed his interview. It ap¬ 
pears to have been so satisfying that it has not 
■been repeated. 
But Our “ Solicitor and Disposer” 
turns up again. A friend in Stark Co., Ohio, 
brings to our notice a transaction which he thinks 
“for cold blooded design and rascally ingenuity, 
is not often exceeded.” On a postal card (with¬ 
out date, but the P.O. stamp says Sept 22),“ F. Bar¬ 
rett ” wrote to another gentleman : “Is your Pat. 
of Aug. 1882, for sale. Have a buyer. Answer. 
Yours, &c., F. Barrett.” The one thus addressed 
replied, stating that, with an unimportant reserva¬ 
tion, the price for the patent was §20,000. In re¬ 
ply came this time a letter from Barrett saying: 
“ The territory wanted is Canada ; can get $10,000 
for it. Have you a Canadian patent? If so send 
copy. 10 per cent, for selling.” To this letter was 
appended a “ confidential ” slip, stating that the 
price of a Canadian Patent was $40, half of it was 
“ government fee, and $20 my fee : ” and asking as a 
condition precedent, that $10, “ half of the gov¬ 
ernment fee ” be remitted when the papers would 
be sent. The owner of the patent wrote that 
Barrett might take out the Canadian Patent; 
sell it, and from the price obtained deduct all ex¬ 
penses. Barrett’s reply, again on a postal, was 
■“ You must do as I write or I cannot sell. If you 
do not care to take out the patent, I do not. I am 
willing to wait for my fee till sale, but no more.” 
To analyze this, it appears that when Barrett wrote 
about the patent of Aug. 1882, he knew that it was 
a United States, and not a Canadian one. But he 
then “had a buyer.” Afterwards he states that 
the territory is Canada, for which he can get $10,- 
000. He will uot take out the patent and deduct 
the government fee of $20 from the $10,000 he is 
offered, but must have $10 advanced. Barrett must 
want $10 very badly to squirm so much to get it. 
Barrett is Certified lo. 
In the letter of the Ohio man, announcing that 
the territory was Canada, was a certificate that “ I 
have for over ten years been acquainted with F. 
Barrett; ” “that he is thoroughly familiar with all 
branches of the patent business, and that he is 
honest and trustworthy.”—This is signed by 
Fred’k B. Swift, and is acknowledged before Jas. 
W. Matthews (as near as we can make out the signa¬ 
ture), notary public, with a big red seal attached. If 
the person who presented himself to us was Bar¬ 
rett, Mr. Swift’s knowledge of him must have be¬ 
gun in his tender years. It is well to have it certi¬ 
fied to that Barrett is “thoroughly familiar with 
all branches of the Patent Business,” as otherwise 
uo one would suspect him of vast knowledge of 
any kind. Is this a partnership between Swift and 
Barrett, or between Barrett and Swift? Whichever it 
may be, we hope that when they get that $10 from 
our Ohio friend, they will subscribe to the American 
Agriculturist, where, as the legal advertisements 
often say, they “ may learn something to their ad¬ 
vantage.” Barrett has addressed other holders 
of patents in the same county in Ohio with the one 
above referred to, and we would merely suggest 
there is a tedious sameness in his postals and let¬ 
ters. Just for the look of it, it would be well to 
■change the form of the bid for that $10. He evi¬ 
dently knows how to vary his correspondence, else 
the figures $10,000 and his signature would uot 
have been in ink, apparently different from the 
body of the letter. And by the way, how much do 
the “ davys " of Swift, and the “confidential ” at¬ 
tachments cost, that he should scatter them so 
freely. We shall, no doubt, hear more of the ad¬ 
ventures of Barrett, certified to by Swift, in pur¬ 
suit of that $10. 
Recipes for Soap, etc. 
There are parties in several States, selling recipes 
for making soap, illuminating oils, and other things. 
So far as we have seen them, the recipes for oils are 
positively wicked, as they claim to produce a safe 
oil from a terribly dangerous liquid, benzine, to 
which nothing can be added that will make it safe 
to burn. The soap recipes that have come to our 
notice, are mainly to add borax, turpentine, and 
other articles to common soap, or for converting 
soft soap into hard. A subscriber in Armstrong 
Co., Pa., asks if any one can be prosecuted “for 
giving the recipe to a neighbor.”—These fellows, 
in their circulars, threaten boldly. They inform 
those who buy their nonsensical recipes, that if 
they give them to others, they “ will be prosecuted 
to the full extent of the law,” but what law is not 
stated ; we do not profess to be lawyers, but in a 
common sense view of the matter, we should say 
that, unless one has signed an agreement, or con¬ 
tract, duly witnessed and acknowledged before a 
notary, not to impart any knowledge he may pos¬ 
sess, it would be difficult to find any law to prevent 
him from doing 60 . These recipe chaps of all 
kinds are nuisances to be let alone. 
American Amber Wheat. 
That little town in Tennessee, which formerly 
sent out “Hulett’s Ivory” and other astonishing 
wheats, as well as corn of marvellous pretentions, 
appears to have gone out of the seed business. 
Still, farmers can be cheated in their seed wheat 
if they wish to buy “ Hamor’s American Amber.” 
A maxim in law 6ays : “ False in one thing, false in 
all.” When Mr. Hamor, in describing his “Amer¬ 
ican Amber ” wheat, steals mainly word for word 
the description of “ Martin’s Amber,” given in the 
fall circular of our long time advertiser, J. A. Ev- 
eritt, we wonder if he did not steal the wheat 
also. That “American Amber” grows so exactly 
like “ Martin’s Amber,” according to the descrip¬ 
tion, that there can be no excuse for keeping both 
on the market, and the new “ American ” may as 
well retire before the older “ Martin’s Amber.”— 
Later, we learn that Hamor established his head¬ 
quarters in a town in Michigan, and sent his circu¬ 
lars broadcast. As registered letters and money 
orders began to come to Hamor, the Postmaster 
of the town asked for a reference. As he could 
give none, the department at Washington ordered 
that all letters for Hamor be returned to the 
writers of the same. 
A Forward March 
may be looked for in Pennsylvania, especially in Le¬ 
high and neighboring counties. We do not refer 
to the first month of spring, but to an individual of 
the same name. Mr. “L. J. 8.” writes us that he 
subscribed to and paid for the American Agriculturist, 
in July last; as he has not yet received a single 
number, he naturally wishes “to know the reason 
why?”—We find that Mr. 8. has a receipt which is 
on a printed form. It reads: 187 
Received of 
/ 100 Dollars, 
for 
The filling in is with pencil and states that “One 
6 %oo” Dollars has been paid for “the American 
Agriculturist for one year” and signed “Orange 
Judd Comp. Per March.” A blank receipt of this 
kind should excite suspicion, as it is not likely 
that a house with abundant printing facilities would 
make use of a blank, which might as well be used 
for coal or cabbages as for a subscription, or one 
printed for two years ago. Our friends in Penn¬ 
sylvania, where we are glad to know we have a 
vast host, should keep on the lookout for this 
scamp. If he pretends that he acts as an agent of 
the publishers, repeat his own name, or its equiva¬ 
lent, “ get out.” 
No Name, but a Post Office Number 
is given by many advertisers, and these are the 
very advertisers which our readers should severely 
let alone. When a person is in a legitimate busi¬ 
ness, he knows the value of his name, and takes ah 
honorable methods of making himself and his 
place of business widely known. When one puts 
forth an attractive advertisement, and places at 
the end, “Address Box 54,321,” in some Post 
Office, it is fair to assume that this person’s former 
career has been such that it is desirable to keep his 
name out of sight, or that it is a direct attempt at 
swindling. We have the circular of 
A Publisher of Masonic Books, 
who gives his name, but no place of business, only 
a Post Office number. Now there is nothing in 
selling Masonic Books that any one need be 
ashamed of, for many of our most esteemed citi¬ 
zens belong to the Order, and purchase the books 
relating to it. “ A Subscriber” inquires about this 
circular. We can only say that the regular dealers 
in Masonic Books, those who are not ashamed to 
announce themselves as such, and who are glad to 
be seen at their well known places of business, do 
not know anything about this advertiser, whose 
only address is a P. O. number. We advise all who 
would purchase works on Masonry to go to the 
regular dealers. Moreover, we advise all our read¬ 
ers to avoid those who give only a P. O. number, 
no matter what they advertise. If they are honest, 
they are unfortunate in making use of the very 
methods adopted by swindlers. 
The Premium List. 
Have you looked it all over and discovered what 
a great variety of beautiful as well as useful arti¬ 
cles are to be found in the elegant Premium List? 
The very many applications made to us by letter, 
and otherwise, indicate that thousands of our read¬ 
ers have been attracted by these articles. Letters 
from all over the country inform us that subscrib¬ 
ers, and those who are not subscribers, are working 
for these Premiums. Scroll Saws, Watches, Books, 
Household Articles, Musical Instruments, Clothing, 
Jewelry, Farm Implements, etc., etc., are being se¬ 
cured in large numbers. In fact, everybody can, 
through this Premium List, obtain almost anything 
they want, by securing subscribers to the American 
Agriculturist. If any subscriber has lost or mislaid 
his Premium List, we shall be pleased to send 
another. 
Savoy Cabbages in the South. 
The Savoy varieties of cabbage differ from the 
common sorts in having the leaves deeply wrinkled, 
and the heads of superior delicacy, approaching 
the cauliflower in fineness of flavor. The best 6eed 
bed is a moist loam. The seed may be sown in 
January in a cold frame, or in the open ground, 
which may be covered with litter, if protection is 
needed against untimely frosts. A still better way, 
as thought by some successful growers, is to throw 
the grouud into ridges two feet apart, running east 
and west. Set the young plants on the south side 
of these ridges where they will be shielded from 
the cold north winds, and exposed to the warmth 
of the sun. A slight covering of straw may be put 
on during the severest weather, which should be re¬ 
moved as soon a.. mild weather comes. The ridges 
are generally levelled by cultivation during the 
spring, aud a fine early crop may be expected. 
This ridging has a beneficial effect in the killing of 
many cut-worms. The cabbage ground should be 
enriched with well decomposed stable manure. 
Bone-dust and superphosphate of lime have a good 
effect upon the growth of cabbages. Salt applied 
to the land some months before the cabbages are 
set, aids in destroying the cut-worms and thereby 
increases the crop. 
Plants raised in the cold frame will be ready to 
transplant about the middle of February. A moist 
day is best for this work, and it is well to wet the 
roots before the plants are set. Cabbage plants re¬ 
spond quickly to high culture, and the soil should 
be frequently stirred with tl, j hoe. The secret of 
growing early cabbages is la having the soil rich 
and stirring it often with cultivator and hoe. 
