458 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
[November, 
Our Editors Abroad. 
It is increasingly the custom of the Editors of the 
American Agriculturist to go here, there, and everywhere, 
and see what is being done, and what is wanted. Just 
bow two of the oldest Editors—those who have given to 
this Journal their whole heart and soul work for 28 and 
18 years respectively, contribute Notes of Observation 
to this number from widely separated points. One tells 
us what he has seen in the West and Far Northwest—in 
a region hithertoiittle visited ; the other in "Notesfrom 
the Pines,” gives a condensed vaiiety of observations, 
horticultural and otherwise, from over the sea. The lat¬ 
ter is accompanied by another important member of the 
staff, whose practical work and abundant knowledge will 
doubtless yet do much towards supplying most useful 
information to our readers.—With so important a part 
of the editorial working corps absent, we hope our read¬ 
ers will find in this number evidence that there is a “re¬ 
serve force” sufficiently strong to get out a fairly good 
paper, to say the least. It speaks for itself! But all 
hands will be back at their posts in time to take hold of 
the first number of Volume 40 with renewed vigor of 
body and mind, and with new stores of fresh thought; 
and we are sure the “ two-score ” Volume will surpass all 
previous ones in many ways—in beauty, in practical, 
useful, interesting material for all of its hundreds of 
thousands of readers. 
Specimen of Muck or “J. J. T.,” 
Pass Christian, Miss. The sample called “ muck ” is ex¬ 
cellent peat—good either for manure or fuel. To pre¬ 
pare it here for manure it would be best to dig it late in 
autumn or winter, and expose it while wet to freezing, 
but it is hardly likely that with you it would have frost 
enough to break up its tenacity. However, when parti¬ 
ally dry, peat usually crumbles when roughly handled, 
and so you may be able to get it fine and dry with ease. 
When in this condition use it as an ingredient in com¬ 
post heaps, and as an absorbent of liquids in the stalls, 
stables, and barn-yard. Composts may be two-thirds to 
four-fifths muck and the rest manure. Acted on by lime 
or ashes, with salt, such muck will prove excellent for 
many crops, and add much to the products of the farm. 
Dam for Ice Pond.—“P. S. D.,” Dean's Corners, 
N. Y. If you do not strike a gravel bed, the problem 
you have to solve is an easy one. If you can dam the 
stream and cause the water to back over a meadow, that 
is your best plan, for whatever of dirt the stream brings 
down will not get into the pond very much, but if the 
bed of the stream must be in the pond, it is still most 
likely that you will not have much trouble from dirt. 
The pond need not be over three or four feet deep; but 
it will probably be best to level it by plowing over the 
hummocks, and taking them off with a road scoop to fill 
low spots. The water may stand on all winter and not 
kill the grass roots, so if the whole is level and seeded 
to grass, and can be thoroughly drained as soon as the 
ice crop is harvested, you may depend upon one or two 
crops of hay besides. The best dam you can have will 
be a clay dyke. Through the center of this dyke, a row 
of planks should be set perpendicularly breaking joints, 
thus * — "~* — —" and clay 
should be rammed hard on each side of them. This 
prevents leaks, and the burrowing of muskrats. You 
must provide an overflow—best at the bed of the stream, 
and a sluice to draw off the water. The top of the over¬ 
flow must usually be a foot lower than the top of the 
the dam. Make it as narrow as you think it will do, 
say four to six feet. You will need two, and perhaps four 
frames (see figure), upon which to spike two-inch planks 
crossways—making the joints as tight as possible, bat¬ 
tening them with fence strips if necessary. Planks are 
nailed across the sides of these frames against the dyke 
on each side, and clay is well rammed against and 
around them. The lower part of this plank part of the 
dam must also be well clayed, and if the clay is very 
stiff it will be necessary to dash a little water on it to 
soften it during the operation of ramming. 
Sundry Humbugs. 
In sending on the a- 
droit swindle noted be¬ 
low, Mr. Judd writes: 
“Follow up the hum¬ 
bugs with an unsparing 
hand. I hear on every 
side, in the Far West 
especially, constant tes¬ 
timonials to the great 
work the American Ag¬ 
riculturist has accom¬ 
plished in the persistent exposure 
l 1 of humbugs during all the past 
quarter century. Those of the 
cheating fraternity who work 
mainly through the mails, gener¬ 
ally hide themselves in the depths 
_ _ of some densely populated city; 
operate chiefly at distant points—so far off that their 
victims will not be likely to ferret them out and obtain 
legal redress. But the Western country abounds in trav¬ 
elling "agents” for this, that, and the other boms imple¬ 
ment, patent, device, recipe, etc., etc. The press, so 
long silent, is latterly coming to the aid of our Jour¬ 
nal, by copying our articles, and partly by original in¬ 
vestigations and exposures. This is well. If they will 
keep it up, and unitedly shut out advertisements of 
Lotteries and other swindling schemes, it will be worth 
millions to the country. I have been told scores of 
times this summer by our western subscribers, that 
the American Agriculturist would have paid its readers 
many times its cost, if, leaving out all the rest, it had 
only priuted its Humbug Columns and its advertising 
pages—the latter as one of the few sources of informa¬ 
tion, where one may find what he needs, with the con¬ 
fidence that lie will not be cheated by the advertisers.” 
JOURNALS ADVERTISING LOTTERIES INDICTED. 
If the newspapers would not advertise the “ draw¬ 
ings,” and the false stories about “ great prizes ” secured 
by little outlay, often told as news items, the lottery 
business would soon come to an end, especially now that 
the Post Office Department is as far as possible 
closing the mails against the managers of these swindling 
concerns, for such they all are in effect, if not osten¬ 
sibly so. The best managed, if there can be any best, 
do not give the ticket buyers anything like an equit¬ 
able chance ; while as a whole the so-called State and 
other lotteries are merely organized cheating establish¬ 
ments. During the past month a considerable number 
of prominent journals of New York City have been in¬ 
dicted by the Grand Jury, and their right to trample 
upon, or defy the legal enactments of the State is likely 
to be tested. That they feel and fear, is shown by the 
present absence from their pages of the array of long 
columns of “prizes,” “ Capital,” “ Grand,” and other¬ 
wise, said to have been secured, or that are to be secured. 
An Adroit Scientific Swindler. 
While travelling at the West, we learn from a friend 
of one of the victims, the particulars of a novel, or, at 
least an adroit swindle practised in Illinois and Iowa, 
and probably elsewhere. There is a little philosophical 
apparatus, long in use, called a “ Pulse Glass,” to illus¬ 
trate the effects of slight differences in temperature. It 
consists of two glass bulbs, (A, B, fig. 1) of very thin 
glass, of any size from half an incli to three inches in 
diameter. The-e are joined together by a tube of thicker 
glass, anywhere from 3 inches to 15 inches in length. In 
making them the air is expelled by ether vapor, and the 
bulbs are partially filled with liquid ether, colored scar¬ 
let or red. If the hand is applied to A , its heat ex¬ 
pands the ether vapor above and rapidly pushes the liquid 
ether into the bulb B, as in figure 2. Shifting the hand 
from A to B will quickly drive the liquid back to A again, 
as in figure 3, and the operation may be repeated as long 
as one wishes. If A be taken in one hand, and B in the 
other, as in figure 4, and both hands are equally warm, 
there will be no motion of the liquid. If two persons 
each take one of the bulbs in the hand, the warmer 
hand will drive the liquid into the other bulb. If, as in 
fig. 5, a person takes hold of one lube, with the thumb 
and finger, the inside of the hand not touching the bulb, 
though held over it as a blind, and places the other bulb 
against the face, or any part of the warm flesh, the liquid 
will be driven into the bulb under the hand. But by 
grasping the other bulb closely in the hand, the liquid 
will be driven back, as in figure 6. In brief, any slightest 
degree of higher heat upon one bulb, will drive the liquid 
into the other. Simply blowing warm breath or cold air 
upon either bulb will cause a movement of the liquid. 
HOW USED BY THE SWINDLER. 
A man, of good address, driving a fine team, calls upon 
a well-to-do farmer, nominally to inquire the way. He 
speaks of the beauty of the country, etc., and continues 
the conversation on various topics, managing to intimate 
that he is Prof. B-, in the College of Physicians and 
Surgeons, in New York, or in some other well-known 
Medical University. He also himself assumes the name 
of some distinguished Professor jn the College, and says 
he is out on a vacation or visit, driving for his health, 
and on his way to some town at a considerable distance. 
The result is that he gets an invitation to stop for 
the night, which, after sundry protestations he accepts. 
His horses are well cared for, he is assigned to the 
“spare room.” and generously entertained as 
"AN ANGEL UNAWARES.” 
He makes himself veryagreeable during the evening, baa 
much information to give, and all are delighted at having 
so distinguished a guest. Of course, he will not be al¬ 
lowed to pay for his keeping—the offer of remuneration 
is almost an insult. So, on departing, he is profuse in hia 
admiration and thanks for Western hospitality, and in 
return feels obliged to do a little favor. So he calls hia 
host aside, and intimates to him, in the most delicate 
way, that his great skill has enabled him to discern that 
the wife, or a favorite daughter, is threatened with ap¬ 
proaching epileptic “fits,” or even “insanity,” or other 
brain disease, and advises him to call early upon his 
“ FAMILY PHYSICIAN.” 
Tfhe host is alarmed, and earnestly asks if it can be so. 
Here comes in the “ pulse-glass ” which the “ Professor” 
brings out from his pocket-case of instruments. He ap¬ 
plies the liquid bulb to the region of the jugular veim 
(fig. 5), and the liquid darts over to the other bulb, sim¬ 
ply from the heat of the neck. He applies it to another 
person’s neck, and no such effect takes place, because h* 
then carefully keeps his warm hand upon the other tube, as 
in fig. 6. Repeated trials on different persons invariably 
produce the same result; the “diseased” wife or 
daughter only sets the red liquid in rapid motion because 
in her case only is the opposite bulb left unwarmed. Of 
course the unscientific host, not observing the sleight of 
hand, is fully convinced, and becomes greatly anxious. 
He is still referred to the “Family Physician,” as the 
accomplished guest “determined, on leaving home, to 
