1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
299 
The impression to be conveyed was that the $4.50 repeat¬ 
ing rifles would be forwarded to hunt large animals, and 
■shoot them at long distances, whereas a ,2 /ioo bullet 
would only seriously affect a deer when chancing to strike 
a very vital part, and then at not over 50 or 100 yards 
11 was argued to us that “ the picture was only to attract 
attention, and that the text of the advertisement did not 
actually promise any such results.” But it did not say 
anything to the contrary, and so we felt compelled to re- 
iect the advertisement, in the interest of our readers, 
however convenient the SI ,000 proposed to ns for a few 
insertions.—Afterwards it was again pressed upon us 
with the offer to strike out the prominent “ $4.50' in the 
engraving, and to make any other change we desired. 
This seemed fair, but reserving a little time to decide, we 
despatched a private “ detective” to the advertised head¬ 
quarters of the Company, in a neighboring city, who was 
instructed to go as a country purchaser of the rifles. He 
found instead of a iarge Arms Manufactory, with exten¬ 
sive offices, etc., only two small 3d-story rooms and a few 
of the ‘'rifles” in a case on a small counter. That of course 
ended further advertising negotiations, just as similar in¬ 
vestigations often do. We were saved the mortification 
experienced by many respectable cotemporaries who 
adorned their pages with the big “ Hunting Scene.” They 
got their money ; we suppose their readers got the wonder¬ 
ful $4 50 repeating rifles; though for some reasons, not our 
fault, complaints came to this office that money had been 
sent and no rifle received ; or, instead, in some cases at 
ieast, a postal had been received stating: “Orderplaced on 
-file, and will be shipped when reached, not later than—," 
having a date two weeks or more ahead.—Result: we don’t 
know how many of these ‘'rifles” went out, or “went 
off,” but the Company has 1—(We can hardly wonder 
that a business man in Walla-Walla, a twenty years’ sub¬ 
scriber, who depends largely on buying in eastern cities, 
•should, in renewing his subscription recently, write us 
thus: “I consider the American Agriculturist of great 
value to me on account of its care over its advertising 
columns : I prefer, as a rule, to pay a double price for 
any article I want, if it has even the qualified endorse¬ 
ment of being advertised in your Journal.”) 
SUPPRESSING QUACK DOCTORS. 
A large number of men, and some women, hang out 
their signs as ‘ Doctors” or “Physicians,” who are 
ntterly incompetent to give medical advice The mass 
of people have no means of distinguishing between these 
•quacks and the really competent physician who has 
thoroughly prepared himself by studying, and by work 
ing under and with a regular practitioner. So, those 
needing or thinking they need medical advice, are jnst 
as likely to call upon one of these quacks as upon a 
trustworthy physician, or rather more so. as the former 
usually puts out the boldest, most attractive “ sign.” 
The regular physicians arc limited by the rules of the 
profession from displaying any thing more than their 
full name and a single word indicating their calling.— 
The last Legislature of New York State made an admira¬ 
ble move towards suppressing this dangerous nuisance, 
in the passage of a law requiring every one offering to 
practice physic, medicine, or surgery, to be at least 21 
years old, and to register before Oct. 1, 1880, in the 
County Clerk’s Office, his name, residence, and authority 
for practising , and receive a license. Persons coming 
from out of the State, to obtain a license, must exhibit a 
diploma of graduation from a reputable medical college. 
—Any person practising without such license will be 
guilty of a misdemeanor; and subject to punishment by 
fine or imprisonment. Half the fines go the informer, 
and half to the county treasury. Now let not only the 
medical profession, but all good citizens, see to it that 
the provisions of the law are rigidly enforced, and let 
every State that has not done so, immediately enact 
similar laws and one large source of swindling, of suf¬ 
fering. of death even, will be dried up. Let the good 
work be followed by other laws in regard to patent medi¬ 
cines The necessity of such laws will be seen in an 
article on page 300 
Harness Sores on Horses.— There are few 
things which cause more delay and trouble in farm work 
during these hot months of summer, than the galls and 
sores that come upon the shoulders and backs of work 
horses. A vast amount of hard work must be done, and 
the animals are strong and well enough to do it, provided 
there were not these painful sores that prevent their ap¬ 
plying themselves to the labor. A horse with shoulder 
oi back galls, or both, suffers pain when it is put into the 
harness. The direct cause of these sores is the friction 
to which the parts are subjected, combined with the ex¬ 
cessive heat and great flow of sweat. Inflammation and 
chafing of the skin are produced much more readily in 
hot than in cold weather, because the conditions of 
greater friction are then present. The preventive is in 
•reducing the friction to the least possible amount. In 
the first place, the harness must fit closely and smoothly 
lo the form of the horse, "that the weight of the load 
may be uniformly distributed over the surface beneath 
the harness. Secondly, the horse should be in a healthy 
state, that the muscles and skin may be of their normal 
toughness, and the sweating not unnaturally profuse. 
This involves the proper care and feeding of the horse. 
A poorly kept animal, or one not in good health, will be¬ 
come sore more readily than one in good health. When 
the sores are already formed, a speedy cure is the thing 
needed. Sponge carefully the afflicted parts, to remove 
all accumulations from sweat. Then bathe with a lotion 
of Alum and Tannin, with a little Laudanum added. 
All pressure upon the sore should he removed by a proper 
adjustment of the harness, and, if necessary, keep the 
horse from work until cured. 
Siibsoiling:.— The advocates of deep plowing are 
not either so numerous or so strong in their views as they 
were a number of years ago. It is safe to say that one 
of the best methods of loosening up the subsoil—and 
this is the chief end to be accomplished in using a ssb- 
soil plow—is by deep-running clover roots. With an 
occasional crop of clover that will send its roots below 
the depth to which the subsoil plow goes, the soil in 
most cases will be made deep and mellow, and at the 
same time enriched for the crop to follow. 
America at tlie Great Fishery Exhibi¬ 
tion. —The Fishery Exhibition recently closed in Ber¬ 
lin (Germany) was made a great success, largely through 
the American contributions—a fact most freely acknow¬ 
ledged by the German officials, and abundantly testified 
by the numerous awards made to America and Ameri¬ 
cans. The exhibition made by the IT. S. Commission of 
Fish and Fisheries, of which Prof. S. F. Baird is the 
Commissioner, was at the same time the chief American 
contribution and the principal feature of the Fair. This 
was in the personal charge of Prof. G. Brown Goode, the 
competent assistant of the Commission, whose efficiency 
is testified to by all accounts of the exhibition and by a 
special award of a silver medal by the Crown Prince. 
America is honored, in the person of Prof. Baird, by the 
Emperor's prize, a gold and silver fish basin of elaborate 
design; and the various individual American exhibitors 
received prizes, so that in all no less than sixty honors 
of various kinds come to the United States. As this is 
the first International Exhibition in which this country 
ha*s occupied the leading place, it is well to remember 
that it is due to competent management. Our former 
displays, however valuable individually, h8ve been with¬ 
out arrangement and without a proper head. In this 
case, Prof. Baird officially and Prof. Goode personally so 
systematized the American display that America at once 
took the leading position that belonged to her. 
Granaries. —In many cases it is the most economi¬ 
cal to thresh the grain as it is drawn from the field. Tiie 
straw being mowed away in the barn in the space that 
would otherwise be taken by the sheaves before thresh¬ 
ing. But as the grain is the chief portion of the crop, a 
place to store it must be provided in the barn, or other farm 
building. When the grain is threshed directly from the 
field it is green, and goes through a “ sweating ” process 
which, as heat is generated, may injure it, u^ss the 
bin is properly ventilated. To turn the grain in the 
bin by hand is hard work, and to obviate this, ventilating 
shafts should be made for the thorough circulation of air. 
These ventilators may be made of strips of half-inch 
VENTILATOR FOR GRAIN BIN. 
boards of convenient width, about four inches being 
usual, these are nailed together so as to form a triangular 
trough as shown in the engraving. The sides of the ven¬ 
tilator are bored full of small holes, and the ends coining 
through the sides of the bin are covered with a fine 
gauze. These ventilators arc fitted into the bin, running 
from the front to the rear, with the open side downward. 
As the grain is poured in, a considerable vacant space is 
left below the ventilator, in which the moist and warm 
air can accumulate and then nass out the end of the ven¬ 
tilator. In this way, with two or three such ventilators 
in an average sized grain bin, even newly threshed buck¬ 
wheat, the most “heating” of grains, maybe stored with¬ 
out danger from overheating. 
The Ox-Eye Daisy. —A Boston daily paper says: 
“ The Ox-Eye Daisy has become a great pest in some sec¬ 
tions of the country. Those who are troubled with this 
weed should bear in mind that it is propagated by seed 
and not by root, and that to rid themselves of it they 
have only to mow before the seed is ripe. It may take 
two or three seasons to rid a field of this innocent-look¬ 
ing flower.”-This is an “innocent-looking” para¬ 
graph, but calculated to do mischief. The writer has 
somehow got hold of the idea that Ox-Eye Daisy is an 
annual, while it is really a perennial and does spread by 
the root very freely, and is also propagated by seeds. As 
with other perennial weeds, it should be cut while in 
flower to prevent it from ripening seeds. Mowing at this 
time will tend to weaken the root, but it is only through 
frequent and persistent cutting that it can be subdued. 
News from Cloudland. —Not a spiritualistic 
revelation through a “ mejium,” but a very matter of 
fact communication from a scientific gentleman who is in 
the mountains of North Carolina on a tour of observation. 
Cloudland is on Roan Mountain and 0,367 feet above the 
sea level. On a day in the middle of July, with the ther¬ 
mometer in the nineties in the city, it is pleasant to read : 
“ It is simply glorious. In ten days our extremes of heat 
have been 50° and 67”, air bracing, water crystal, views 
magnificent; for we can see land in seven different 
States. The show of Rhododendron Catawbiense, when 
the whole mountain was one great dome of flowers, was 
indescribably beautiful, while Azalea calendulacea , with 
its masses of flame, is worth coming here to see.” 
A Very Curious Growth.— Many articles are 
sent us which are simply curious or unusual, but which 
teach no especially instructive 
lesson. Of this kind is the speci¬ 
men forwarded by W. J. Hester, 
McLean Co., Ill., which consists 
of two seedling Osage Orange 
plants, which are put together 
much as a blacksmith would 
arrange the parts of a pair of 
tongs. A root in its forward 
growth exercises a surprising 
amount of force, and we have 
seen various cases in which a 
soft and apparently yielding 
mass has moved a great weight 
for a very shert distance. We 
have frequently seen cases iu 
which rootshaving met with a 
potato, or with a beet or other 
root in theircourse, havepierced 
and gone through the obstacle, 
instead of going around it, as they would have done had 
it been a stone. All that, can be said of the present case, 
of which we figure the interesting portion, is, that the 
point of one root pierced the other root when that was 
young and soft, and in their after-growth the two roots 
accommodated themselves to the situation. 
‘ Refrigerators. —“L. B.” In the June number of 
the American Agriculturist , 1875, a Home Made Refrig¬ 
erator is illustrated and described. An ice-box of this 
kind which will answer all the purposes of a more cost¬ 
ly refrigerator for a small family, can be made with 
very little outlay of time and money. An ice-box can be 
made from two dry-goods, or other boxes, the one smal¬ 
ler and put within the other, and the space between filled 
with sawdust—provide a double lid, and a hole at the 
bottom for the escape of the drip from the melting ice. 
Hellebore, Wet and Dry.—“ J. M.,” of Tomp¬ 
kins Co., N. Y., writes: that our notice on “ Mixing 
White Hellebore with Water has nearly cost me the loss 
of my bushes. It has done me no good at all. I always 
rely on your advertisements, but this time have been 
sold.”—When one is unfortunate the desire to blame 
some one is quite natural. “ J. M.” does not say so, but 
he probably had used dry Hellebore successfully, he saw 
our direction for the easier and more economical method 
of using it in the wet way, tried it, and failed. The use 
of water-seemed to be the cause of the failure, and as 
we advised water, we are, in the view of “ J. M.,” the di¬ 
rect cause of his trouble. We are not disposed to blame 
“ J. M.,” as he judged from what he saw or knew. There 
are two sides to all such cases: this is our side. When 
an application or process is advised in these columns, 
without qualification or comment, it is an indication that 
it has been found, either in our own experience, or in 
that of friends on whom wo can rely, a proper or useful 
one. Whenever a thing seems*probab!y useful, but has 
not been tested by ourselves or others, whose verdict we 
can adopt, we are always careful to state the source of 
our information, so that our readers.can judge how far 
to accept it. Now take the present case. When White 
Hellebore was first used (o kill the Currant Worm, it was 
always applied as a dry powder. So far as we are aware, 
our correspondent “Connecticut” was the first to apply 
it mixed with water. We tried it ourselves, and found 
it in every way so much better than the dry powder, that 
we have, each year, at the proper season, advised the use 
of water. As the advice which “J. M.” says “nearly 
cost me the loss of my bushes,” was based upon a year¬ 
ly experience of over ten years, and the fact that the 
powder is also used in the wet state by the largest cur¬ 
rant growers in the country, it is just possible that the 
failure of “ J. M.” may be due to other causes. It is not 
easy to see why the powder, if active when dry, should 
