AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
199 
of honeyd words to the “bone and sinew,” before 
election, hut after election, how few of them ever 
think of doing anything to promote the Agricultu¬ 
ral interest. 
But it appears our remarks have not been 
without effect, even in Washington, and a labored 
attempt has been made to counteract the force 
of criticisms like the above—though, as will ap¬ 
pear, the very means taken to do this involves a 
worse humbug than any one previously pointed 
out. Let us see how the thing is done. 
Fiist, a Captain in the United States Army 
signs a letter addressed to the Chairman of the 
Congressional Committee on Agriculture. The 
chairman next signs a letter to the Commis¬ 
sioner of Patents, under whose care the agricul¬ 
tural department is placed—since this interest is 
not important enough to have a department of its 
own. The Commissioner sends back a communi¬ 
cation to the Chairman, and the Chairman sends 
a letter to the Captain ; and the whole is then pub¬ 
lished in the official organ, the “Union,” and 
copies of that paper are sealed up and sent at public 
expense {franked ), to many, and we presume to 
most, if not all the journals in the country. On 
the well-grounded supposition that this whole af¬ 
fair, in its conception and carrying out, is mainly 
the work of the person chiefly interested, it ex¬ 
hibits more shrewdness than we have hitherto 
given him credit for, though in this case, as in 
former ones, he has not fully covered his tracks, 
and has overshot the mark so far, in his autobio¬ 
graphy, as to destroy much of the effect, even 
with, the casual reader. Let us examine these 
documents (copies of which are before us), par¬ 
ticularly the letter of Mr. Holt, Commissioner of 
Patents. We do not know Mr. Holt personally, 
but on the supposition that he is at all fitted for 
his station, we cannot suppose he drew up the ful¬ 
some eulogy on D. J. Browne, to which his name 
is attached ; for no one but Mr. Browne himself 
could have given the minute statements concern¬ 
ing his personal career, dating back to 1822, and 
extending over almost half the globe, and occupy¬ 
ing a full, closely printed, wide column, in the 
“ Union.” The charitable supposition is, that, in 
the pressure of other engagements, the Commis¬ 
sioner simply signed the document, without care¬ 
fully considering the contents. [We may be al¬ 
lowed to state here, that we have no personal ac¬ 
quaintance with Mr. D. J. Browne himself, al¬ 
though we are informed in the document before 
us that he was engaged for half-a-dozen years up¬ 
on earlier volumes of the Agriculturist ; it was 
before we had any connection with or control over 
it, and we have scarcely heard his name even 
mentioned by the former publishers orresponsible 
editors. We have only to do with him in his 
public capacity, as responsible for the govern¬ 
mental department over which he actually, though 
not nominally, presides]. 
The communication (signed by Mr. Holt) first 
states, that agents have been sent to Europe only 
three times at the expense of the Office. We 
have charged no more than this. 
It is next asserted, without a shadow of doc¬ 
umentary proof, that “ the seeds, cuttings, &c., 
have been procured from reliable sources, the 
selections having generally been made with dis¬ 
crimination.” This is one point denied. In 
discrediting the statements signed by the Commis¬ 
sioner, we do not implicate his integrity, for he 
has not had charge of this matter, nor any respon- 
sponsibility for it, until very recently. 
The document frankly admits other charges 
we have made, respecting the manner in which 
many seeds have been distributed. We quote : 
“ ... .It may not generally be known that the apartments 
in the Patent Office in which the labor of packing the 
seeds has been performed were, perhaps unavoidably, for 
several years accessible to many persons other than those 
properly engaged therein— indeed to the public, and that 
the Commissioner’s frank, in some instances, was obtain¬ 
ed and used for carrying through the mails seeds not selected 
by the office. From lack of knowledge on the subject, or 
through inadvertence, individuals were liable to send out 
seeds at inappropriate seasons, or to localities to which 
they were not adapted, and cases have been known in 
which franks were used to cover seeds procured from other 
sources , while there is cause to suspect that in some in¬ 
stances frauds were practiced with a view to throw dis¬ 
credit upon the office.... ” 
This is precisely what we have charged, [the 
italics are our own), and though it might not 
“ generally be known,” we have been cognizant 
of this “ lack of knowledge,” “ inadvertence,” and 
inefficiency in the said department, and have been 
trying to correct it. But we accept with pleasure 
the following statement: 
“_During the past Winter and Spring, however, a 
salutary reform has been realized in these particulars : 
The rooms in which the operative force has been em¬ 
ployed have been entirely private; the work of packing 
and distributing has been executed under the supervision 
of a responsible clerk, assisted by men of intelligence and 
experience ; and to avoid mistakes, seeds of only one va¬ 
riety have been opened at a time, for putting up. In 
short, the utmost care has been exercised to secure accu¬ 
racy, justice and dispatch in these important duties.” 
This is just what ought have been done long ago, 
to have failed in doing which, would have cost 
any private dealer in seeds his business and repu¬ 
tation, as it has turned out with our government 
“ seed store.” 
The next paragraph suggests other improve¬ 
ments in the mode of distributing seeds, which, 
if carried out, will prevent, in a measure, the 
wholesale waste of costly seeds that has constant¬ 
ly occurred, till very recently, at least. It will be 
a decided improvement if, for example, the grains 
bought at great expense, for experiment, are put 
into the hands of efficient agricultural societies for 
trial, rather than, as has been alleged, franked 
through the mails by the bagfull, to feed or fat¬ 
ten somebody’s favorite animal. 
The fifth statement, signed by Mr. Holt, whe¬ 
ther drawn up by himself or Mr. Browne, is evi¬ 
dence enough that the writer has not the right 
kind of intelligence and judgment to fit him to have 
even nominal charge of a national agricultural 
department. What say the great mass of intelli¬ 
gent, practical farmers, who have read, say the 
last two or three Patent Office Agricultural Re¬ 
ports, to such an endorsement as this : 
“_No doubt can exist as to their usefulness or ac¬ 
ceptability. No series of documents, indeed, have ever 
emanated from the government which have been more 
highly prized. They are well-approved repositories of 
useful facts, peculiarly suggestive in their character, and 
prepared with great care, assiduity, and acknowledged 
ability.’ 
That will do, considering that the endorsement 
comes direct from the Department where they ori¬ 
ginated. The writer cannot have read the agricul¬ 
tural press very carefully, nor heard the almost 
united expressions of the intelligent agriculturists 
of the country, for four or five years past. We 
will not delay on this point, as an analysis of the 
merits, or rather demerits of the latest printed 
report, was given in the January number of this 
journal, page 5. 
Thesixth,and closing part of the article under 
review, is of great length, and is really the most 
amusing—if it were not absurd and ridiculous— 
public document we have seen in a long time. We 
shall, for want of space, reserve its discussion for 
another article, requesting our readers to preserve 
the above carefully to read in connection with 
what is to follow. 
-- i i m 
Study to live as you would wish to die. 
Sink Slops as Manure. 
In last volume, page 157, (July No.) we gave a 
pretty full article on this subject, with directions 
for making cheap, neat reservoirs, bailing out, &c. 
An associate sends the following hints on the 
same topic : 
English farmers put a higher value upon li¬ 
quid manures than Americans do. They apply 
many fertilizers, in a liquid state, through sprink¬ 
lers, and with a degree of care and labor that here 
would be thought excessive. There is philosophy 
in this method ; for every one must know that 
manures are of little benefit, except as they are 
dissolved by rain, and presented to the roots of 
plants in a liquid form. 
We refer to this principle now, merely to show 
that the use of refuse w’ater from the sink is a ra¬ 
tional one. This liquid is rich in fertilizing pro¬ 
perties, and is in just the state to furnish imme¬ 
diate food to vegetable life and growth. 
An excellent mode of securing the sink-wash 
for use is, to set an old oil-cask in the ground, on 
the north side of your shed, under the spout, and 
cover it with a lid. This will prevent the cask 
from shrinking, and if a little charcoal is thrown 
into it once a week, will prevent all unpleasant 
smells. Apply the wash every few days, to cu¬ 
cumbers, melons, squashes, raspberries, grape¬ 
vines—in short, to every growing thing, and 
the result will amply pay for the trouble. 
Another method is to conduct the slops into a 
vault, where they will be absorbed by muck, 
leaves and other suitable ingredients of a compost 
heap. If possible, make this vault a permanent 
arrangement. Dig a hole two or three feet deep, 
eight or ten feet square ; lay up the sides with 
stone or brick laid in water cement. If you hesi¬ 
tate at this trouble and cost, dig the hole and sur¬ 
round it with firm clay, or slabs, or old timber. 
Put a layer of saw-dust, turf, or muck at the bot¬ 
tom, and then let the sink-slops pour in. Add ab¬ 
sorbents from time to time, as needed. When 
the vault is full, cart away, and then commence 
filling up as before. Almost any farmer can make 
twenty dollars’ worth of excellent manure every 
year, in this way. 
- -ii c— -. *-— 
Digging a Well. 
“And what has the American Agriculturist to sa) 
upon a subject which every one understands so 
well as that!” Not much, to be sure ; only that, 
mind and look a little to the season, and the state 
of the weather when it is done. A dry season, 
and the dryest part of the season is the best time 
to dig a well. We have knowm many a w r ell dug 
“ down to water,” and enough of it, too, at a 
time, when in a rainy or other season, the 
springs and streams were full; but after being 
stoned up, curbed, and finished, in a few weeks 
failed altogether, when it either had to be taken 
up and sunk deeper, or if on rock, drilled down 
several feet, to give a permanent supply of wa¬ 
ter. 
The month of August is usually the safest time 
to sink a well. The hot season has then generally 
dried up the surface streams and springs, and left 
those which percolate deep and silent through the 
earth in their full and natural flow, and when 
reached, they then scarcely fail to yield a perma¬ 
nent supply. Before digging the well, the stone or 
brick for walling it should be on the ground, and 
so placed as to be ready at a moment’s notice for 
use, as we have known wells lost, from a sudden 
break of the earth or rock at the bottom, and the 
rapid flowing in of the water, driving the laborers 
out, and filling up to a hight even above the 
tools they wrought with. And so strong was th« 
