1880 .] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
you to get out as soon as possible, and as our business is 
done, I’ll bid you good evening ”—and goes. It is very 
likely that the thoroughly frightened victim will start for 
home at once. Sometimes the sharper is so polite that 
he will see the other safely to the ferry-boat or train. 
■ Sooner or later the purchaser inspects his counterfeit 
money. Ho finds upon opening it that he has 
A PACKET OP NEATLY CUT NEWSPAPERS, 
and his good money gone beyond recovery. Enough of 
transactions of this kind become known, to show that 
they are of more frequent occurrence than one would 
suppose. Sometimes a victim is foolish enough to com¬ 
plain to the authorities, but if the victim is a person of 
3ny shrewdness he will see that to complain is to expose 
the fact that he was willing to become a “ shover of the 
queer,” which is rogue’s slang for passing counterfeit 
money. This is one of those frauds that can injure no 
honest person. No one can become its victim without 
first acknowledging that he is willing to defraud others, 
and such can get no sympathy from any one.... 
THE PARMER WHO SIGNED HIS NAME, 
this time hails from Pennsylvania. Heretofore he has 
lived mostly in New England and New York, with a few 
of him in Michigan and the West; but we do not think 
we have heard of him in Pennsylvania before. But it is 
the same old story, only it is not mowing machine sharp¬ 
eners, or other machinery, but this time it is a Fertilizer. 
“ Two well dressed men of pleasing address, drove up to 
the house of Mr. Samuel Brown.”—These are always in 
■ couples, always well dressed, and have pleasing address, 
and always ‘‘drive up” somewhere—how many times 
have we read it! The “Well-Dressed” represent the Com¬ 
pany that makes the Fertilizer. Only a few selected agents 
are to be appointed in each county. Nothing to pay until 
the stuffis sold. The “Well Dressed” had inquired among 
other farmers, and learned that Mr. B. was the proper 
mar. to be appointed as agent—Mr. B. thought so too—so 
it was agreed. The “ W. D.,” would report to the “ Com¬ 
pany,” and the Fertilizer would be sent.—“As a mere 
matter of form you know,”—the W. D. had to send in a 
- statement, to show that they had appointed a substantial 
agent, so out come pen and paper. “ How much land 
have you Mr. B?—and what is it valued at?--Horses?— 
Cattle? ” etc., etc.,—“and not encumbered by any mort¬ 
gage?”—“Oh no.”—There, please look that over Mr. 
Brown, all correct isn’t it ?—Please put your name to it 
as a memorandum—mere matter of form you know.” 
BROWN GOES AND DOES IT. 
The “W. D.” go—days and weeks go—Fertilizer don’t 
come, but a note does. It. was left for collection—in a 
distant city, but to oblige Brown, it might be paid at the 
bank in the village near by. $198.83 is the amount. 
Brown declares he never signed a note for that amount, 
and won’t pay it. We hope that he won’t.Last 
month it was silver plated ware, just now 
IT IS A SOLID ROLLED GOLD RING, 
about which inquiries are made. A party advertises to 
send for 25 3c. postage stamps, a “Heavy Plain Band 
Gold Ring,” and several have sent ns the advertisement, 
and asked if it does not belong in our Humbug Column. 
We do not see why. The advertisement offers to send a 
■. gold ring for 25 three cent stamps. We see nothing 
about the advertisement that makes us doubt that the 
stamps •will bring 75 cents worth of Ring. If any one ex 
poets to get any more than 75 cents worth of Gold Ring, 
Rod Herring, or Soft Soap for 75 cents, he has lived in 
this selfish world to little purpose, and is altogether too 
“ cliild-like and bland,” to endure the disappointments 
that the future has in store for him....In the medical line, 
all other curative agents are overshadowed by the toys 
called Electric Batteries. Indeed, we are just now en¬ 
during what may be termed 
A BOOM OF THE BATTERIES, 
ar.d the number increases; new batteries with new claims 
are offered. We can not say that the later comers claim 
to do any more than the first ones did, for those would 
• cure everything , but these propose to do it in a different 
way. A few months ago we noticed a Boston Battery 
which was an improvement on the others, as it drove out 
■ disease, and then kept it out by means of a pad, which 
absorbed it. Now we have another Boston Battery far 
ahead of the other. This not only sends out disease, but 
SENDS IN THE MEDICINE, 
for do we not read of “ Dr. Rhodes’ Electric Transfusing 
Battery. The only Battery in existence capable of being 
■ charzed with medicinal properties which can be trans¬ 
fused into the system.” This, moreover, differs from 
-other batteries in being worn on the spina! column in¬ 
stead of on the breast. In whatever respect these bat¬ 
teries may differ from one another, they all agree in one 
particular: each one claims that his is the only useful one, 
and that all others are of no account. The latest is 
PROFESSOR CALDWELL’S MAGNETO GALVANIC, 
and the circular setting forth its merits is a remarkable 
document. There is a picture of a man without any bat¬ 
tery, labelled “ Before Using,” and another picture of a 
man with a battery, and this is labelled “ After Using.” 
Now if these pictures are accurate representations of the 
man before and after, we protest against its use. One 
has only to wear one of these things, and his own mother 
would not know him. A rogue has hereafter no need to 
go to Canada to escape justice. All he has to do is to 
wear one of these batteries, and if these pictures are true, 
he becomes another man altogether. We have already 
told about Boyd’s Battery and his claim that his electricity 
“WAS FORMED IN GIMLET SHAPE.” 
It may do well enough for Boyd, but Caldwell, being a 
“Professor,” has nothing to do with gimlet-pointed 
lightning. According to Caldwell, electricity is “ ejected 
from the Battery in a circular current, similar to the ac¬ 
tion of a ball after being shot from a rifle, and enters the 
system in that shape, twisting and turning until it has 
spent its force.” Uncharitable persons might say that 
with the exception of substituting a rifle-ball for a gimlet, 
that this reads just like Boyd’s circular. But great 
geniuses often hit upon the same ideas. Our readers can 
now have their choice. Those who prefer their’s gimlet- 
pointed will take Boyd’s, but if they prefer to have it 
“twisting and turning” in rifle-ball style, Caldwell’s is 
the battery for them. Sensible people will let all these 
batteries alone, as the most useless humbugs of the day. 
44 Pussly.”— This plant, which is with some the type 
of meanness, is known botanically as Portulaca oleracea , 
and is a near relative of the beautiful Portulaca of the 
flower garden. The range of this weed is a large one, as 
the following names which it bears in different countries 
show. In Germany it is known as Portzdkraut , in France, 
Porcellaine , and Pourpier , in Italy, Porcellaria. The 
spelling of the English name has varied some; as for ex¬ 
ample, the old English writers have Pt/rcellaine , and Poi'- 
celayne , but with us, while a few say Purslane, the name 
is generally shortened down to simply “Pussly.” What¬ 
ever the name, or the spelling of the name, of the plant 
may be, it remains the same rapid growing, plump and 
low spreading weed, that it was centuries ago, when it 
was called Porcdla, the diminutive of porcus, a pig, prob¬ 
ably on account of its greedy feeding and quick growth. 
Still it is not all bad. As a weed it is a great promoter 
of industry; a gardener must be wide awake during the 
hot weather, or “ his ‘ pussly’ will get ahead of him.” Its 
seeds are very pretty when magnified, and as a table veg¬ 
etable, it is not to be despised. The plump succulent 
stems with their leaves, are boiled tender, and dressed 
with butter the same as spinach. The French market gar¬ 
deners cultivate it regularly, and have different varieties. 
Keeping a Record. —A habit of noting the an¬ 
cestors and date of birth of the larger stock of the farm, 
even though it be not “ full blood,” is a useful one. If a 
record is of so much value for the best stock, it is at least 
worth the keeping for the good grade cow, or the mixed 
bred horse. It is often a great convenience to know to 
what animals a cow in question traces her parentage, and 
it. may be of money value to be able to show the record. 
Time to Cut Timber. —July and August are the 
best mouths for cutting timber, that it may be the most 
durable. The growth of the year is now well nigh over, 
and if the trees are allowed to lie until the green foliage 
dries upon them, the greater portion of the sap is thereby 
withdrawn from the wood and the seasoning is rapid and 
perfect. Cut in mid-summer, insects are much less liable 
to attack the wood, which is an important point with 
some kinds of timber like the hickory, etc. 
Angora Goat Company. —The Legislature of 
Virginia, has recently granted a charter for the incorpo¬ 
ration of a company, to be known as the “ Virginia An 
gora Company.” Up to the present time in this country, 
the growth of the Angora goat has not been a source of 
very great income to those thus engaged, but with a con¬ 
siderable demand for the goods made from the hair of 
this goat, and the admirable adaptation of portions of 
Virginia to the animal, we may reasonably anticipate a 
profitable issue to the new impetus given to the Angora 
goat enterprise. 
The Cow Essay.— We wish our readers interested 
in the keeping of one or more cows—and the list must be 
a long one—would read the capital essay given on page 
270, and see how thoroughly practical it is from the be¬ 
ginning to the end—how full of valuable information in 
all its parts to the thousands interested in good milk. 
Haw to Use Hen-Manure.- Dry muck. loam, 
or other earth, will retard qr prevent, the fermentation 
and hold the ammonia that is formed. Water enough to 
keep quite wet will do the same in cool weather. Plaster 
with enough moisture will also absorb the ammonia, hut 
dry plaster will not. The custom of mixing lime and 
ashes with hen dung is wrong. They drive out, the am¬ 
monia instead of holding it. Mouldiness implies, and 
259 
sine.l of ammonia (heartshorn) proves, decomposition 
and loss of ammonia. But the smell of ammonia is ex¬ 
tremely pungent, and unless it is very strong, not much 
loss need be feared. Since the chief fertilizing ingredient 
of hen dung is nitrogen, and it has so little phosphoric 
acid and potash, it is rather a stimulating than a lasting 
manure. Many farmers use it for corn. But nearly all 
of our experiments (s w American Agriculturist for March, 
April, and May) imply that this is poor policy, since com 
gets but little help from nitrogen and responds best to 
phosphoric acid and potash. A little in the hill, how¬ 
ever, well mixed with earth, may be very useful to give 
the crop a start. Hen dung is useful for potatoes, gal-den 
vegetables, or indeed almost all crops, including straw¬ 
berries and other small fruits. 
The Horse Fork Neglected. —While the ex¬ 
cellent labor-saving machinery for sowing, caring for, 
and cutting the farm crops, have been very generally ap¬ 
preciated and employed, the means for placing the grass 
and hay in the barn, have been far too frequently neg¬ 
lected. The improved and almost perfect horse forks 
have claims upon the farmer, that he is slow to acknowl¬ 
edge. We used to think the hardest work of the haying 
and harvesting was the “ pitching off,” but when we put 
up one of those grappling forks and set it at the work, 
with a horse as the power, the hard labor was changed 
into a sort of half sport. The horse fork is one of the 
great recent inventions, and deserves to take a front 
rank among those machines that lighten the labor of the 
farmer, and at the same time allows his work to be done 
in the most rapid manner in that portion of the season 
when he is the most hurried and every aid is appreciated. 
Cultivated Wheat and Hessian Fly.— It 
is now a well established fact, that the Hessian Fly is 
much less troublesome on wheat that is sown in drills, 
between which the cultivator is passed now and then 
during the early growth of the grain. Two fields of wheat 
growing side by side, one of which is cultivated and the 
other not, but alike in all other respects, seem strong 
proof of the truth of the above statement. 
Red Ants, one of the worst pests of the household, 
may be trapped by placing a greased plate where the ants 
can get to it, when in a short time it will be covered 
with the awts adhering to its sticky surface. The ants 
may be wiped off and killed, whenever the plate becomes 
covered, and the trap set for another “catch.” 
Heavy Figs. —“ A. T. H.,” Renssalaer Co., N. Y., 
seeing a notice of some heavy pigs in the February num¬ 
ber, sends an account of others worthy of mention. On 
March 13th, 1853, Mr. Thomas Hoag, of Tomhannock, N. 
Y., had from a sow of his own breeding, 10 pigs, of which 
the combined weight was 35 pounds. In looking them 
over a few days after, he concluded to see what he could 
make of them. He kept an accurate account of all feed 
given, except the sour milk from four cows, even charg¬ 
ing them for their pasture and the old wood used in 
cooking their food. On the 15th of December he killed 
them and sold them in Lansiugburgh for $7.50 per hun¬ 
dredweight. The aggregate weight was 4,241 pounds t 
averaging 424 pounds. The account stand as follows: 
DR. 
To 10 pigs seven weeks old..... . $30 00 
“ 212)4 bush, corn at 75c. 159 37 
“ 36 bush, oats at 45c . . 16 20 
“ grinding. .. 14 78 
“ 13 bush, small potatoes at 12)4c. 163 
“ 6 loads pumpkins at $1.. . 6 OO 
“ pasture. . 3 00 
“ wood. . . 2 00 
Total expenditure.$232 98 
CR. 
By 4,241 lbB. pork at $7.50 per hundred.... $318 0T 
Balance... $85 09 
As you will see, they were only nine months and two days 
old. They were from the best breed of swine that he 
could procure in his neighborhood at that time, which 
was before the era of the large improved breeds. Mr. 
Hoag proclaimed at that time that whenever his weights 
were beaten, under like circumstances, he would try 
again, but he has waited long and has seen the snows of 
nearly 80 winters, yet he believes he still remains the 
champion of heavy weights, as he has seen no authenti¬ 
cated report to the contrary. 
The Tide of Emigration.— It is an interesting 
sight to see Castle Garden—which is not. a garden, but a 
great building— filled with new comers from all parts of 
the world. During the month of > pril, there were no less 
than 46,148 emigrants landed, this being the largest Dum¬ 
ber that has ever come to our shore in the same space of 
time, and this does not include the many that come over 
in the cabins of the steamers, and go at one' to their 
friends. The emigrants, as a whole, appear to be of the 
hard working class with but little capital, they mostly go 
