218 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
[June,, 
The Size of Cows.— The size of the cows a dairy¬ 
man may desire for his herd, is somewhat a matter of 
fancy; but, other things being equal, when the cost of 
feeding, etc., is taken into consideration, the medium¬ 
sized cows are the most profitable. Cows are machines 
for making coarse food into that of a more concentrated 
and valuable form, and, like other machines, there is a 
size that does this work with the greatest ease, with 
the least waste, and therefore greatest profit. 
Do Thistles Enrich the Soil ? — It is 
stated that a good growth of thistles (Canada) leaves the 
soil richer than before. This is doubtless the truth, and 
the same may be said of any erbp, provided it is not re¬ 
moved from the ground This is merely the general way 
that soil is made rich in the organic elements that are so 
essential to the growth of profitable crops. But there is 
more than ordinary ability possessed by the thistle plant 
to enrich the soil. The roots penetrate to a great depth, 
and bring up large quantities of potash and other valua¬ 
ble constituents, and deposit them upon or near the sur¬ 
face, as their stems and leaves decay. Again, the me¬ 
chanical action of a vigorous growth of thistles is to 
loosen, pulverize, and render the soil more accessible to 
the roots of other plants Granting that the action of 
the thistle plant upon the soil is good, we must look at 
the other side of the question. What is the cost of this 
method of improvement? While the thistles hold pos¬ 
session no paying crop can be obtained. When useful 
plants are sown, they must be carefully tended, or the 
thistles will crowd them out Lastly, the bringing up of 
valuable substances from the subsoil, can be as well done 
by plants that are themselves useful for food, as clover, 
etc , and no miserable weed afterwards left to infest the 
ground The best that can be said of the thistle is that 
it is a miserable prickly pest, which, when allowed to 
have its way, loosens and enriches the upper soil. 
Tlie Tenth United States Census will be 
taken this month, and all persons should be ready to give 
prompt, full, and accurate answers to the questions pre¬ 
sented by the Census taker Any opposition to an open 
statement of the plain facts springs from an ignorance of 
the duties of the Officers detailed by the Government to 
gather the information, or a thoughtless disregard of the 
important objects for which the statistics are to be oh 
tained The value of the Census depends upon its full¬ 
ness and accuracy, and to secure these ends it would be 
well for all persons to take a little time and get ready to 
answer the questions that must be asked A rainy day 
may thus be employed with profit to all concerned. 
Roots.— It is often the case that one has a small 
piece of ground that can be easily put into roots. An 
acre or so thus occupied will give excellent returns for 
the trouble ot sowing and attention while growing. 
Sugar-beets may be sown now, and Ruta-bagas and Tur¬ 
nips a month or six weeks later. Where an early crop 
has been removed, or one failed, it may he useful to try 
a late crop of roots, mauuring well before sowing. 
Clearing a Drain.— If the drain is a short one, 
such as that which leads from the house to some spot 
not far distant it is often the quickest to take up the 
whole drain Such drains, if stopped at any one place, 
are generally more or less filled all along and need a 
cleaning throughout. When the drain is a long one, and 
the locality of the stoppage is'known, then open at, or 
above the point of obstruction, and after removing the 
impediment, the drain should be flooded with an abun¬ 
dance of water at that point. A force-pump is an excel 
lent aid in this work, as it will give a pressure that will, 
in many cases, force all small obstruciions from the drain. 
Science vs. Common Sense.— Prof. Huxley 
hits the nail upon the head—and this is a thing that he 
is very apt to do—when he says; “ Science is simply 
common sense at its best, that is, rigidly accurate in ob¬ 
servation and merciless to fallacy in logic.' 1 When facts 
arc seen as they really are, uucolored by prejudice, or ob¬ 
scured by ignorance, and are weighed in the balance of a 
cool sound judgment, we may say they are treated scien 
tiflcally, and the man who can do this is scientific, nas 
common sense, which he exercises intelligently. Such a 
man may be a mechanic, or a professor in a college; a 
farmer, or a lawyer. Let it be understood that science 
is not above the masses, because the masses have com¬ 
mon sense, and it may be intelligently exercised. 
The fa'obage Flea.— “II. G.,” Simmons, Mich. 
This is often very destructive in the seed-bed, and where 
it is known to abound, it is best to anticipate their com¬ 
ing, and just so soon as the young plants appear—when 
they first break through the soil, give them a dressing of 
air-slaked lime, or a mixture of ashes and plaster. Equal 
parts of unleached ashes, sifted to remove bits of coal, 
and land plaster, thoroughly mixed together, and kept 
In a dry place, is not only useful to keep off small in¬ 
sects, but in its application the soil is benefited. Mar¬ 
ket Gardeners, near New York, use shell-lime for this 
purpose; it is exposed to the air until slaked, and then 
kept closely covered; where shell-lime can not be had, 
ordinary or stone-lime will answer; the other is only 
preferable because it makes a finer powder. Either of 
these sifted over the young plants, so as to cover them 
with the dust, is the most effective remedy thus far found 
for the little beetle, which, from its ability to jump, is 
popularly known as a “ flea.” Where but a few cabbage 
plants are required, they maybe raised in boxes elevated 
5 or 6 feet above the ground; this distance being too great 
for the leaping powers of the insect. 
Soil for Sugar Beets.— The best Sugar-beet, 
when properly grown, should be conical, and with a sin¬ 
gle tap-root. To grow such beets the soil should be 
deep, mellow, free from stones, and abundantly rich. A 
deep sandy loam, with a plenty of vegetable matter, may 
be expected to produce, with clean culture, a profitable 
crop of Sugar-beets. A strong clay is not suitable, nei¬ 
ther is a soil that is low and naturally wet and cold. 
Sundry Humbugs. 
Sometimes a fraudu¬ 
lent scheme shows such 
an amount of ingenuity 
and knowledge of hu¬ 
man nature, that we are 
tempted to overlook the 
rascality of the. thing in 
our amazement at its 
audacity and 'cuteness. 
For example, handbills 
were recently largely 
circulated in New England, set¬ 
ting forth that there would be at a 
certain place on a given date a 
“ Grand Mammoth Balloon Ascen¬ 
sion.” The bills before us give 
Bridgeport, Conn., as one place 
of this remarkable show ; but the 
same bills have been circulated near other large places in 
New England, and the country for 20 miles around there 
well notified that the “ascension” would take place at 
these towns on given days. This handbill is something 
remarkable. On one side it proposes to have 
16 MAMMOTH BALLOONS IN THE AIR AT ONE TIME. 
Then each of these balloons is to “ carry two or more 
daring aeronauts, who will, when the balloons reach an 
altitude of 3,000 feet from the ground, leap overboard 
and float gently down to mother earth again by means of 
parachutes.”—There is a picture with many balloons and 
their occupants going down in parachutes. It must be, 
as the bills say, a “ Marvellous Spectacle,” these chaps 
coming down, while there are “ fifteen beautiful tricol- 
ored balloons soaring away towards the sun,” and we 
may add in the words of the showman about the eagle— 
“ the higher he flies the nigher he’ll come to it.”—But all 
this strikes us as a great waste of balloon material, for 
the aeronauts to leave their balloon, to go off to the sun 
and get burned up. But as we are told that the expenses 
arc in part paid by a “ subsidy allowed by the govern¬ 
ments” of the different aeronauts, we suppose they can 
stand the loss. But this side of the hand-bill is nothing 
to the other side. There we have 
“ A MAGNIFICENT AND THRILLING BALLOON WEDDING 
away up among the clouds.” This is all to be done in, 
or on, the “Sixteenth Balloon,” which will represent 
nothing less than “ Cupid’s Bridal Chariot.” This bal¬ 
loon holds “70,000 feet of gas,” but that’s a trifle to the 
amount used in inflating the description of the wedding. 
Its all very funny, and at the same time very wonderful. 
When the ceremony is over, the balloon is to be lowered, 
the bride to be presented with $100 in gold, then “ the 
wedding party will be started on their heavenly tour 
of bliss.” Whether this “heavenly tour” means that 
they will be set adrift in the balloon is a matter about 
which we are left in doubt. When the bill calls these 
“ GRAND, SUBLIME, AND NOVEL ATTRACTIONS,” 
we feel how weak the language is when it would express 
a “big thing.” No wonder that.people crowd by thous¬ 
ands to the towns where all these wonders are to be seen, 
all for nothing too. To be sure there is no Balloon Show 
at the time and place advertised, but people having come 
out for a holiday have some money to spend, and they 
fortunately find that there happens to be a circus at the 
place and they can go to that. It is all 
A DODGE OF A TRAVELLING CIRCUS 
to draw a crowd at the place and on^he date where it is 
to be.—We should say, by the way, that the show is not 
Barn urn’s, as one of our correspondents quietly intimates; 
he has a way of presenting enough attractions inside of 
his tents to induce people to come to them, and would 
not at any rate resort to such a miserable deception. As 
this fraudulent bill is circulated solely in rural communi¬ 
ties, we think it proper to warn our friends against being 
deceived by it. We have heard that the trick was played 
quite extensively in Texas and some others of the South¬ 
ern States last year_There are some schemes that are 
not really humbugs, but they allow 
PEOPLE WHO WISH TO BE HUMBUGGED 
to deceive themselves. Take, for example, certain silver¬ 
ware which is extensively advertised, four showy pieces 
for $5. It takes not much figuring to show that here a 
caster, a cake-basket, and two other large pieces, are 
offered at $1.25 each. No doubt that those who receive 
these articles will feel that they have been defrauded. 
We have seen the articles sent out by one establishment, 
and think they are as good as can be afforded for the 
money. But what does one want of plated casters and 
cake-baskets at $1.25 each ? The majority of people fail 
to consider that a thing offered for $1.25 is not likely 
to be worth any more, and a cake-basket that has not 
probably near $1.25 of actual silver on it is not worth 
much. Those who wish low-priced plated ware will have 
no difficulty in finding it, but it is far from being cheap. 
BECIPE TO MAKE SOAP. 
There are parties who sell recipes to make various 
things: recipes for the manufacture of Honey, for mak¬ 
ing Cheap—and dangerous—Illuminating Oil, or for 
making of somebody’s Soap, are among the most com¬ 
mon. One of our readers sends a recipe for soap, and 
asks what we think of it. In the first place the recipe, 
though it says so, is not for “making” soap, but for 
mixing it with other things. It starts with “ any kind of 
bar soap,” to which are added a solution of Caustic 
Soda, and Alum, Borax, and Benzine. These are melted 
and mixed together, and there is no “making” of soap 
about it. The addition of Soda and of Borax to soap in 
washing is sometimes practised, Alum is altogether use¬ 
less, and the small quantity of Benzine directed can make 
no difference whether it is put in or left out. The hum¬ 
bug attached to the thing is the threat; “The Holder 
Hereof is Warned not to Divulge or Make Known any of 
the Ingredients Comprising this Soap, 
UNDER PENALTY OF THE LAW.” 
We should like, just for the fun of the thing, to know 
what law ? If a person paying a dollar for the recipe 
agrees that he will not give it to another, he is probably 
morally bound to keep his promise, but as to any penal¬ 
ties of the law, that is simply nonsense.Inquiries 
begin to come about 
“THE CO-OPERATIVE COMPANY OF CANADA,” 
which proposes to sell all sorts of dry goods at very low 
prices, or as their circular says at “Fifty to One Hundred 
Per Cent Cheaper” than the same goods can be bought 
in stores. We as yet know nothing of this “Co operative 
Company” beyond what its Circular states, and this re¬ 
minds us strongly of a “ Co-operative Store ” at Chicago 
8 or 10 years ago, that had the same name and made 
similar offers. In that case we could not see where the 
catch was, but feeling that where goods were continuously 
offered at much less than real value, there must be some¬ 
thing wrong, we advised caution. That Chicago thing 
went on swimmingly for a while, gave people a sufficient 
number of good bargains to inspire confidence; those 
who bought once found the things so cheap that they 
would order again for themselves and their neighbors. 
One day the Co-operative Store ceased to co-operate, and 
the co-operators were not to be found, and a large num¬ 
ber of persons are still waiting for the goods for which 
in their confidence they had sent their money. When¬ 
ever staple articles of trade are offered below their real 
value it is well to be on one’s guard. Such things may 
be occasionally sold at a sacrifice, but it can not be 
done as a regular business. Besides if sold “ 100 per 
cent below ” the price asked by others, what is that but 
offering to give away the goods ? Our Arithmetic says 
“100 per cent” is the whole of a thing, and the only 
thing we can think of likely to be sold in that way is a 
piece of property “mortgaged” beyond its value, the 
purchaser being responsible and assuming the “bond." 
....It is well 
TO REMIND FARMERS 
that this is a favorable season for the visits of the “Mow¬ 
ing-Machine Knife-Sharpener man.” He will sell you 
one very cheap on condition that you will act as agent 
for their sale to your neighbors ; you will please give 
him your address that the articles may come all right. 
In due time you will hear that the rich “note shaver” 
up the road, has been buying a piece of your paper, or 
be notified that the bank at the next town has discounted 
a note of yours. It may not be knife sharpeners, but 
whatever it may be, don’t act as agent for travelling ven¬ 
ders, and don’t sign your name for any purpose at all, not 
even your address, for any one unless you know him well. 
MEDICAL MATTERS. 
When we take up the pamphlet or circular of a new 
medicine we are sure that it will contain an account of 
how the stuff came about; the venders of these prepara¬ 
tions seem to think it necessary to publish some remark- 
