132 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[Apbil, 
American Grape Growing and Wine 
Making. 
Is the title of a new work by Prof. George Hustnann, of 
the Missouri State University. Some 15 years ago the 
grape “ craze ” was general, books were written, nur¬ 
series could not supply plants fast enough, new varieties 
were offered, vineyards planted, and fortunes were made 
—on paper. Suddenly, in one of those peculiar reverses 
that no one can explain, all came to a sudden stand-still; 
grape-vines could not be given away, and were one to 
offer a new variety he would be laughed at. But amid 
all this general wreck, there were a few who had faith in 
American grapes and American grape culture; these 
men by no means gave them np ; they have been quietly 
investigating the causes of failure, devising better meth¬ 
ods of culture, seeking out better varieties both for the 
table and for wine, than we have ever had before, until 
now grape growing is in a healthier condition, on a surer 
basis, and promises far better results than it has ever 
done. Prominent among the few who have been faithful 
through every adversity, and whose industry has not 
abated, is George Hustnann, who has so long been identi¬ 
fied with grape culture in this country, and especially 
with that of Missouri. So great have been the changes 
since the flush time referred to, especially in the way of 
varieties, and our knowledge of them, that much in 
the old literature is out of date, and so much new materi¬ 
al has accumulated that one of the demands of returning 
prosperity is a new work. This Mr. Husmann has given 
us, and all who know anything of him or of grape culture, 
are aware that none is more competent. This work will 
be ready for distribution in a short time. The work is in 
three Divisions, or Parts. The First Part is devoted toa 
description of varieties,and includes all the valuable recent 
additions to the list, and describes the methods of culture 
that he has found most successful, as well as treating upon 
the insect and other enemies, and showing how to combat 
or avoid them. Part Second gives the experience of 
others in the grape-growing localities in the different 
sections of the country, including Texas and California, 
with other matters of interest. Part Third is devoted to 
wine-making; not an elaborate treatise, but gives such 
practical directions as will allow any intelligent grape 
grower to convert his fruit into wine. The work is illus¬ 
trated with explanatory engravings, and comes as a most 
timely and acceptable aid to the growers of native grapes. 
Sent from this office on the receipt of price, $1.50. 
Valine of Swamp Muck.— Some time ago, we 
remarked that an acre of swamp muck of good quality, 3 
feet, deep, was actually worth $25,000. No doubt such a 
.statement is surprising. So was the statement of Dr. 
Lawes of England, that a ton of bran fed to cows, returned 
more than its cost in manure. Swamp muck, free from 
sand, contains 2 per cent, or 40 lbs. of nitrogen in a ton. 
Nitrogen is worth in the market, 25 cents a pound. So 
that a ton of swamp muck is actually worth $10 tor the 
nitrogen in it. All that is needed is to workup the muck, 
so as to make the nitrogen available. An acre of swamp 
muck 3 feet deep, contains 2,500 tons, and would require 
B months to draw out, at 10 loads a day. Few persons 
realize the value of the fertilizing elements of common 
waste matters which lie under their feet, and the innumer¬ 
able tons of matter, that may be available for fertilizing 
purposes, and that much of the idle and neglected mate¬ 
rials represent a vast amount of wealth. 
Cocoannts for Hanging; Basket*. — The 
shell of the cocoanut is so hard and durable that it can 
serve an excellent purpose as a hanging basket for small 
plants. If cut across in the middle, a single shell will 
make two baskets ; it is perhaps more artistic to remove 
one-third of the space of the shell and use the rest. The 
shell of itself is “ rustic ” and harmonizes with plants. 
Preserving Timber. —There are several com¬ 
pounds used for preserving timber. The process called 
Kyanizing, invented by a person named Kyan, consists 
in saturating the timber with Bichloride of Mercury 
(Corrosive Sublimate). Salts of Copper have been largely 
employed. Creosote is now perhaps the most generally 
used preservative. The principle is the same in all cases: 
to change the albuminous matter in the wood—that part 
which is the most susceptible to decomposition. 
Kerosene Stains upon a Floor.—A corres¬ 
pondent writes from Pilot Mound, Minn., that the break¬ 
ing of a kerosene lamp has caused a “ frightful spot ” 
upon the floor, and wishes to know how it can be re¬ 
moved. Good kerosene has a boiling point at 3S0°. con¬ 
siderably above the melting point of lard-hence in or¬ 
der to drive it completely from any fabric, from paper, 
or from wood, it must be heated high enough to form a 
vapor, when, if pure, it may be completely removed. 
Heat may be applied to the floor by using flat-irons suf¬ 
ficiently hot, first placing a piece of paper over the spot. 
It may be that after the oil is driven from the surface by 
heat, the stain will reappear; some of the oil remaining 
in the wood will be brought to the surface by capillary 
attraction. In such a case it will be necessary to repeat 
the operation as often as the stain appears. 
Muck Iiand.—“ W. A. C.,” Ohio, has some 20 acres 
of land which seems to be entirely decayed vegetable 
matter, and he would convert it into grass laud. Though 
it gets very dry in summer it is probable that it is very 
wet in spring, and that its present condition is due to an 
excess of moisture. Drainage is one of the first steps in 
reclaiming such land. If there are large tussocks of sedge, 
these should be cut off, dried, and burned. After a heavy 
dressing of lime, at least 50 bushels grass seed may be 
sown with a fair prospect of success, but without drain¬ 
age and lime it will do little good to sow grass upon it. 
©leo-Margarine in Iowa. —The legislature of 
Iowa has passed a law, that every package of bogus but¬ 
ter shall be stamped ‘'Oleomargarine” in letters not less 
than } of an inch in length. Whoever violates the law 
must pay not less than $20 or more than $100, or go to 
jail for not less than ten days or both. 
Sundry Humbugs. 
As we look over our 
large monthly budget, 
we find two classes of 
documents “ conspicu¬ 
ous by their absence.” 
Not a single letter or 
circular showing how 
1 easy it is to make a 
fortune by stock specu- 
lation in Wall Street 
is here; formerly we 
|i had half a dozen daily. Then we 
8 find only two poor little lottery 
schemes from over the Canada 
border in place of the scores of 
Gift Enterprizes, Distributions, 
Concerts, and the like. These 
__changes are in lications of the 
efficacy of the work of the Postmaster General in ex¬ 
cluding all swindling schemes from the mails and the 
great utility of the law which gives him power to do 
this. But though these gigantic schemes are broken 
up, the minor swindles aud frauds seem to be present in 
as great variety as ever, and show that with the return 
of business prosperity comes a revival of those arts 
which have for their object “living by one’s wits,” or 
getting money without work. The scheme which appeals 
most directly to us is that in which some chap uses the 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST AS A SWINDLING MEDIUM- 
Complaints came from persons in Nebraska that they 
had not received the paper, and upon looking at our 
books no such names were found there. This occurring 
so many times, and the complaints all coming from the 
same part of the State, it was evident that there was 
something wrong. Upon inquiry it was ascertained that 
a person calling himself sometimes Jennings, and at 
others Stevens, had been about representing himself as 
our agent and obtaining money for subscriptions. He 
had a printed form for receipts, and the manner in which 
he signed these ought to have aroused suspicion, as they 
were sometimes signed “ Orange & Judd” and again 
“Orange & Judd & Co.” It should be known that 
WE SEND OUT NO AGENTS 
to solicit subscriptions, and that any one claiming to be 
such is an impostor. By our system of clubs, each one 
who solicits subscriptions for a club does so where he is 
known, and subscribers know to whom they pay their 
money, or can readily find out his responsibility. 
This chap is described as a “red-headed man” who 
claims to have been a Quartermaster in the army. 
Later a letter from the publishers of the “ Nebraska Farm¬ 
er,” at Lincoln, informed us that apparently the same 
scamp had been taking subscriptions to their paper, and 
that they had offered a reward of $50 for his arrest. 
This is a form of swindling that is practised with almost 
every popular paper, and is one which it is beyond the 
power of publishers to prevent....The well known 
Madame Demorest, who publishes a Magazine devoted 
to fashions and sends out the widely celebrated 
DEMOREST PATTERNS FOR DRESSES, ETC., 
is having trouble with a woman who goes about the coun¬ 
try claiming to act as hei; agent and collecting money 
wherever she can. Madame will give $50 for the pleasure 
of sending her where the fashions do not change . 
A TOWN CHEATS A WIDOW. 
The following is a fair sample of many like cases re¬ 
ported to us. We leave the names blank for those who 
feel guilty to fill and see how it would look with their 
own township standing out in capital letters in the blank: 
“ To the Editoo' of the American Agriculturist. 
The town of-State of-wished to have a 
railway constructed to bring them near market, and 
which would (and did) largely increase the value of the 
farm products. To secure the building of the railroad 
the town promised aid to the amount of $50,000, or about 
$2 per acre. (The land afterwards increased at least $25 
an acre all round.) Not wishing to pay the cash down, 
the town gave its Notes (Bonds) on 10 per cent interest. 
These were sent East, and on the plausible statement of 
agents, and having confidence in the character and good 
faith of the people of the town, the cash was paid for 
them, generally by widows and other poorer people, who 
having but little, wighed to make it go as as far aB they 
could in the returned interest. A neighbor of mine 
being in poor health, sold his farm, the savings of a life 
of hard work, and put $2,500 in these Bonds. He died 
soon after. His aged widow had those $2,500, in this 
Western Town’s Bonds 
AS HER WHOLE DEPENDENCE 
for the rest of her days. The town, finding it not quite 
agreeable to pay the interest, to say nothing of the prin¬ 
cipal, got a lawyer to contest the validity of the bonds, 
partly on the ground that the Railroad did not quite 
keep up its agreement, and partly on the ground that it 
was “unconstitutional” for the town to issue the bonds. 
Tocurry favor with the people (voters) a Politician Judge 
decided against the bonds. The widow is unable to carry 
the case up to a higher or to a juster court. The other 
holders of the $50,900 Bonds are doubtless like situated, 
and being widely scattered and unknown to each other, 
they can not combine their efforts. And so the town'of 
——has cooly pocketed the $50,000 savings, needed by 
widows and orphans, and while they are sitting enjoying 
their comforts and luxuries, these innocent contributors 
of hard-earned cash are thrown into penury and want. 
They trusted in the good faith of the people who issued 
those bonds and loaned money on its credit.” Comment 
is unnecessary.. ..Postal Cards are a great convenience, 
but they are largely made use of to promote various 
doubtful and swindling schemes. Here we have the 
country flooded with postal cards advertising 
THE “UNITED STATES WASHING MACHINE.” 
Sometimes it is “ Lynn & Company,” or it is “ Sisson 
& Company,” and they are “ Importers and Exporters of 
Machinery.” The parties named make a “ Very special 
offer” to the one who receives the card, which it is. “ If 
you will promise to show theU. S. Washing Machine, to 
any ten of your lady friends,” they will send the machine 
packed and prepaid, to the person addressed, and also 
make terms for the sale of machines, etc. The “ party 
of the other part,” is asked to send only 75 cents, “ which 
we have estimated will just cover the cost of packing, and 
the various charges to your point ” This machine—so 
says the card, “ is indeed a very remarkable labor-saving 
invention, doing entirely away with all the miseries of 
wash day’’—and for 75 cents.—“It will,” says the card, 
“do the work of several women,” and much more to the 
same effect, and all for 75 cents and a promise to show it 
“ to any ten of your lady friends.” Having great curiosi¬ 
ty to see what kind of a washing machine could be 
sent to Indiana and Kansas, for 75 cents, and feeling it 
to be something that our readers should know about, we 
STARTED ON A VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY. 
No. 36 Beekman Street was easily found, but not so 
easily the office of Sisson & Co. They occupy the first 
floor , if one begins his count from the sky downwards. 
The door stood open, and a man stood in the doorway. 
He didn’t say, “Walk in,” but his manner said as plainly 
as could be, “Keep out.” The glimpse obtained of the 
interior was not tempting, evidently that room was as 
innocent of “ washing,” as we believe it to be of “ ma¬ 
chines.” We would see Mr. Sisson. He of the door had 
a different view of the matter. We couldn’t, as “ it was 
after office hours.”—A look at the time-piece gave 12.15 
p. M. as the hour.—We would see the “ United States 
Washing Machines,”—not much. He of the door in¬ 
formed us that they “ did business according to a system ” 
—one part of the “system” evidently being to keep people 
out of that room. Mr. S. would be back at 3.30, but it 
would be of no use for ns to call then, as it would be 
“ after office hours.” We learned that the machines were 
all packed and ready for shipment, and also learned that 
Mr. Sisson did not care to be seen—unless indeed he of 
the door were Sisson himself. Our next departure was for 
“THE IMPORTERS AND EXPORTERS OF MACHINERY,” 
Lynn & Co., Nos. 104-106 John Street, which, in due 
time, was found. No man in the door here, but within 
the portal was a woman, and as communicative and affh- 
ble as Sisson was short and surly. Here were machines 
too, real washing machines. We inspected—and as we 
inspected we learned : that the machine was a new one ; 
was not advertised in the ordinary way, the object being 
to sell through agents—some agents sell a good many, 
