1880.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
A99 
the case would depend on the evidence of fraud that may 
be presented at the trial, and how much of threatening 
was used to obtain the note. As a general rule such notes 
are collectable, if the parties who bought them of the 
swindlers, were themselves acting in good faith, without 
any collusion, paying their money for what they had every 
reason to believe were good notes. The makers of the 
notes should not have given out such notes. How often 
have we written, 
“ FARMERS, SIGN NOTHING FOR STRANGERS,” 
no agreement, not even your address, if it goes into 
the hands of a stranger?....It is a long while since we 
heard of the “Powder to Prevent Lamp Explosions.” It 
has been so thoroughly exposed that we supposed it to be 
quite dead. Here is a letter from Oregon, the writer of 
which asks where the Powder can be procured, as he 
wishes some. Years ago this was a very successful 
humbug. The peddler went from house to house, show¬ 
ing that when (his powder was mixed with kerosene, 
he could thrust a lighted match into it, and the oil would 
not explode, and other such tricks. Not being aware of 
the fact that oil never explodes, but that it is the vapor of 
the oil that is dangerous, many have been deceived by 
these tricks, and supposed that the powder prevented an 
explosion. After a while a chap appeared, whose Powder 
not only prevented the lamp from exploding, but would 
also prevent the chimneys from breaking. A few years 
ago we procured some of this wonderful Powder, which, 
•on examination, proved to be only 
COMMON SALT COLORED BLUE, 
which could have no more effect npon the oil than the 
■same quantity of sand.... There has, of late, been a 
a great dearth of new medicines, and a new one comes 
as a surprise, especially when it is “The only known 
Remedy for the Cure of Rupture ”—which is claimed to 
be “ascertain a specific in this dangerous and distress¬ 
ing affliction as Quinine in Malaria.” Rupture is a me¬ 
chanical trouble, which can no more be treated by medi¬ 
cine than can an in-grown toe-nail, and the thing need 
-only to be mentioned to show its absurdity.For 
several months we had heard nothing of the Battery 
business, but just now there come several inquiries con¬ 
cerning them. To these we reply in brief: We have ex¬ 
amined all of these so-called “ batteries ” that have been 
extensively advertised. They are disks of the size of a 
half-dollar or smaller, made up of bits of different 
metals, and are intended to be worn next the skin, over 
the heart, etc., and great are the virtues claimed for 
them. We have not seen one of these that did not show 
THE MOST UTTER IGNORANCE 
-of every law of electricity. It would be absolutely im¬ 
possible for these to produce any electrical effect upon 
the body. Whatever cures they may have effected are 
• entirely due to the imagination. As much benefit would 
result from the wearing of a leather medal, or carrying 
a horse-chestnut in the pocket, as some persons do to 
keep away rheumatism....For the information of new 
readers we must add that we know nothing about any 
DOCTORS WHO ADVERTISE THEIR CURES. 
New York is a large town, and there is no better place 
for one to hide in than a great city. A great many ob¬ 
scure chaps advertise in distant papers of the wonderful 
■ cures done at their infirmary, hospital, or sometimes 
even “ university ” in New York, and propose to send 
out medicine to cure people at a distance. We are often 
asfctfd about such “ doctors.” As a general thing they 
are quite unknown here and do their business through 
the mails- Our invariable advice is, to have nothing to 
do with one who advertises his cures or proposes to un¬ 
dertake a case without seeing the patient. The whole 
crew are unreliable quacks. 
P. S.—Since the above relating to the Boston “Ladies 
Deposit” was in type, we have learned that a similar 
concern has been operating in New York as the “Ladies 
Mining and'Stock Exchange.” It proposed to receive 
■deposits, use them in stock operations and return the 
depositor half the profits on the investment, and to always 
return the-investment whether it made or lost. Like the 
Boston affair this was quite too good to last, and one 
bright morning early in November, Mrs. M. E. Warren & 
Co. did not open their “Exchange." Callers found a 
sign stating that “ This office will not be open until Wed¬ 
nesday next at 10 a.m.” On Wednesday there was a large 
■ crowd of depositors, but no Mrs. Warren, who appears 
to have “gone where the woodbine twineth.” Every 
sensible person knows that all unusual, unbusiness 
methods of making money must always end in a collapse. 
Fowls for Eggs.—“P. E. M.,” Columbus, Ohio. 
Light Brahmas hold on laying in very cold weather, per- 
Tiapa better than White Leghorns, but on the whole Leg¬ 
horns are the cheapest and best fowls for you to buy for 
eggs only. Do not think of hiring an acre of ground two 
■ or three miles away. It would be running great risks— 
you need to live close to your fowls. Begin on a small 
-scale, and let the business grow with your knowledge of 
it, and with its own profit to a considerable extent. Start 
with a dozen hens and one cock ; nothing fancy—good 
healthy birds that look as if they might be puie White 
Leghorns, but be sure that the cock is pure. In a few 
weeks, if these do well, start another flock, but keep 
them apart. It may cost $50 to $75 to start in the way 
suggested, ana within a year you will have gained ex¬ 
perience to guide your future operations. 
CUarcoal as a Fertilizer.— “O. J. M..” Penn 
ville, Ind., writes: “ Is charcoal a good fertilizer on clay 
soil? If not strictly a fertilizer, is it of any advantage? 
I have some old fields and a plenty of wood and could 
produce charcoal cheaply.”—Charcoal is composed almost 
entirely of carbon, is insoluble, nearly indestructible, 
though it may serve as an absorbent, is not in itself in any 
sense a fertilizer. When applied to heavy clay soil the 
mechanical effect of charcoal may be of value in making 
the soil more porous ; but this end can be obtained by 
using sawdust, straw, and other coarse litter, much more 
readily than by converting wood into charcoal for this 
purpose. If the wood is to be disposed of, the quickest 
and best method to make it available as a fertilizer is, to 
burn it and spread the ashes upon the soil. 
A Kicking' Horse.— Mr. “ T. M. C.,” Duchess 
Co., N. Y., sends sketches and descriptions of a method 
Fig. 1.— ABBAGEMENT OF PARTS. 
of hitcing a kicking horse to a double wagon. Fig. 1, 
shows the arrangement of the parts of the “frame” 
into which the “kicker” is fastened. A piece of wood 
A, C, 2 by 2 inches is made to fit behind the whiffletree 
and reach out as 
far as the outer 
trace. A brace, 
B, C, runs back 
from the middle 
a 
tongue bar. The 
kicking horse is 
placed inside the 
thills and har¬ 
nessed in secure¬ 
ly. It does not 
; a 'G 
Fig. 2.— PORTION OF FRAME. 
take long for the Imrse to give up his bad habit when thus 
fastened down. A thill is bolted to this end. The ar¬ 
rangement of the frame is shown in larger view in fig. 2. 
A Heavy Clay Soil.— “W. II. M.,” Mount Clem¬ 
ens, Michigan, writes: “I have a piece of heavy clay 
soil. What shall I use to make it more mellow? Are 
ashes good on clay or should I use lime?”—Ashes are 
very good, if you have plenty; they will probably mellow 
up the surface, so that you can plow in a crop of clover, 
which will help matters very much. Your soil probably 
needs thorough draining more than either ashes or lime. 
Sorglium Seed, Etc.— “ G. W. K.,” Washington, 
D. C.—The seed of most grasses (and Sorghum is a 
grass) is highly nufritious. Its value depends upon the 
time at which it was cut, the degree of ripeness, etc. 
If sound, the seed may be ground and fed to any farm 
stock. The leaves of the sorghum, if not frozen and 
dried out so that they become unpalatable, are good food 
for horses and cows. So is the begasse, or cane, after it 
is ground, provided it has not soured and heated. 
How to Treat Manure.— “ Agricola,” of Mas¬ 
sac Co., Ill., writes: “I would like to understand more 
fully the action of water upon the manure and litter taken 
from the stable and cow-shed. Should it be exposed to 
the rain, freezing and thawing of winter, or sheltered 
until spring ? Would it have time to rot after the freezing 
weather sets in, and be in time for use on the corn-field ?” 
—It would be much better to have the manure piled up 
under a shed, than exposed to the weather. Manure, to 
keep well, must be either packed by treading to exclude 
the air, or kept so moist that fermentation will not be¬ 
come violent and burn (fire fang) the heap. If exposed 
to rain and water much of value leaches out, and is lost. 
If kept under cover, there should be a tank at the lowest 
point, covered with rails, or a grating where liquids can 
settle, and be pumped up over the heap again. Add fresh 
water, if necessary, to secure moisture enough to prevent 
burning. Such manure is in good condition in spring. 
The corn crop does not require rotted manure. 
Leached Ashes or Horse Manure.—“A 
Reader,” of Tiffin, 0., is in a great quandary. “Which 
is the cheaper,” he asks, “ strawy horse manure at 25c. 
per load or leached ashes at 10c. per load? Will it pay 
to draw either, making two loads a day when the teams 
have nothing else to do ?”—The price paid has very little 
to do with the question. It is one of hauling. The 
horse manure can hardly be worth less than $2 a-load, 
and the ashes certainly 6c. a bushel. A load would prob¬ 
ably be 40 bushels, which would be $2.40. In one case 
the team would earn $4, in the other $4.80. The ashes 
would be best applied to grass and potatoes. The horse 
manure to corn or wheat. 
About tbe “ Bentaplione.”— Two strong com¬ 
plaints, and many letters of inquiry, lead us to say: As 
there are certain nerves leading from the teeth to the ear, 
it is frequently the case, that in certain forms of deafness 
one’s hearing may be improved by. holding between the 
teeth a broad plate of some kind that will receive on a 
wide surface the vibrations of sound from the air. Some 
time since we received, from a firm in Cincinnati, an in¬ 
strument arranged for this purpose. It was submitted to 
a scientific physician, who made several tests with it, 
and reported in its favor. Upon this report, and the 
further testimony of some good men whom we know, 
that it had proved useful, we admitted to our columns 
an advertisement of it, which had been kept out until 
investigated. Several inquiries seemed to establish the 
fact that the company advertising them were no myths, 
but a sound company, who would fulfil their engagements 
with the public.—Thus much for the present. Two of 
our subscribers who bought the instrument report that 
it is wholly useless to them. An expert in this city tells 
ns that it proves useful in some cases certainly, but that 
in many others it does not—that it is useful only in cer¬ 
tain cases of deafness, and no one can himself tell in 
advance whether it will be valuable or not. In this con¬ 
dition of affairs, we cannot advise any one to purchase 
one except upon the express condition that it is to be 
tried, and, if found useful, paid for, and if not, to be 
returned. That is the only condition on which ive would 
take one. We also think the company should either re¬ 
deem the instruments sold when proving entirely useless, 
or replace them with some form that will be serviceable. 
“ Osier, or Basket Willow.”— Every now and 
then we have inquiry as to the cultivation of the “ Osier, 
or Basket Willow,” and the probable profits of the crop, 
a writer sometimes adding that he has a muck swamp 
especially suited to its growth. It is a very common 
impression that there is but one Basket Willow, and 
that is the Osier. The fact is that the common Osier is 
the poorest of all the Willows, and is only useful for 
making coarse, heavy work, such as hampers, market 
baskets, etc. In England and other countries the choice 
willows are known by local names, such as Whip-oord, 
Rose Willow, French Willow, etc., and it is these vari¬ 
eties that are used for fine work, such as ladies’ baskets, 
etc. It is a mistake to suppose that willows require a 
wet, swampy locality. The best basket willows are 
grown upon good grain land. Another error is, that the 
basket willows are of dwarf kinds—some of. them are 
large trees, but when cultivated for basket work they are 
annually cut back to the ground, as only straight rode 
of one season’s growth are of use. As we have before 
stated, the willow business in this country is in the 
hands of foreigners, who will not buy American-grown, 
stock at any price. There is no difficulty in growing as 
good willows in this country as are produced anywhere, 
but there is no regular market for them. The produce 
commission merchants manage to get rid of a few wil¬ 
lows grown in this country, but they are slow of sale. 
Notes on Blue Grass.— In an article in Septem¬ 
ber last. Prof. Gray expressed a doubt that the Blue Grass 
(Poa pratensis) was really indigenous so far South as 
Kentucky. This has called out several notes from friends 
in Kentucky and Ohio, who claim that the grass must be 
a native there. “S C., Jr.,” Louisville, Kentucky, thinks 
the readiness with which the grass takes possession of 
the soil, “rooting out all other kinds of grass,” is proof 
that it is native. This is, to us, the strongest evidence 
that it is a foreigner. As the aboriginal man receded be¬ 
fore the intruding white man, in a similar manner do 
plants give way to foreigners. The Wild Oat that covers 
the hills of California to such an extent, is a European 
species that has crowded out all native growth, and the 
same may be said of the Bermuda Grass in some of the 
Southern States. Mr. C. states that the reason for call¬ 
ing this beautifully green grass Blue Grass, is on account 
of its peculiar blue color when in bloom, at which time 
he says the appearance of the grass is most charming. 
(Basket Items continued on page 525.) 
