1876 ,] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
167 
]ars, and wo notice that one dealer also offers to sell coffee 
and tea. We have so often expressed our opinion in 
this matter that we cannot afford the time to answer the 
many letters of inquiry in regard to them. These eye 
cups assume that all troubles with the ej'es are due to a 
want of a proper convexity of the eye-ball, and the ven¬ 
ders of them propose to remedy this by mechanical 
means. This teaching is pernicious, as very few of the 
difficulties of vision depend upon a malformation of 
the eye, which is a most complicated and delicate organ, 
and subject to many derangements that can be reached 
"by no mechanical means whatever. We advise no one 
to have anything to do with eye cups, artificial auricles, 
or any other appliance to the eye or ear, or to use any 
remedy whatever for troubles with these organs, without 
first ascertaining, through an examination by a compe¬ 
tent physician or surgeon, the exact cause of the defect. 
To assume that all difficulties of sight or hearing are due 
to one cause is to make a grave mistake ; to attempt to 
treat either organ yourself is a graver one. 
MEDICAL MATTERS 
have been very dull of late, but we have one new-comer 
in Doctor D's “ System Renovator and Blood Purifyer.” 
The manner in which the various recipes for wonderful 
medicines are discovered and preserved to the world, 
seems almost miraculous ; one cannot read about old 
Mother Noble, withoutan affection for the dear “ old crit¬ 
ter,” but when he peruses the record of our beloved Eddie 
Eastman, if he has a single “bowel of compassion” 
about him, it must be “moved.” Then there was that 
miraculous picking up a recipe in a bottle upon the sea¬ 
shore ; the wonderful discovery of Uncle Joe's Bell- 
tongue syrup all along of the Injuns. But this Sys¬ 
tem Renovator comes about in a more civilized way, and 
it is all pictured out on the circular. There is D's father 
on his death-bed, remarkable as to appearance, the lack 
of hair “ on the top of his head ” being made up by the 
amplitude of his flowing beard. Old D. is about to die, 
but he must first reveal “ the secret of his great discov¬ 
ery,” so “all who had assembled at his bedside,” except 
young D, were bidden to retire, and then the old D. 
“pointed to an old-fashioned bureau,” instructed him to 
touch a “ secret spring,” a drawer was opened, and there 
were the recipes for making the “ System Renovator, 
etc.” Now this is a decent way of doing it; no savages 
—no far off mountains in South America—no picking up 
bottles on the sea shore—no visits to England to see the 
dear “ old critter,” Mother Noble—no visiting old Franz 
Gauswein to learn how to stew up “ Seven Barks,” but 
all done decently and in order. You just touch a secret 
spring in an “ old-fashioned bureau,” and there are your 
recipes. If you don’t believe it, see the picture. This 
medicine has a remarkable motto, “Truth is mighty, 
and will prevail.” We have a faint impression that we 
have seen that somewhere before....” The Indian Blood 
Syrup ” circulars, the same that Eddie Eastman discov¬ 
ered during his “7 and 9 years among the Camanches 
and Apaches,” are still going about the country ; and 
the man in New York still sends over to Jersey City for 
letters directed to Clark Johnson, M. D — The “ Seven 
Barks” man, while his remarkable circular is printed in 
the language of the “world’s people,” has a ‘'Confiden¬ 
tial to Agents ” wherein he, as a correspondent expresses 
it, “ comes the Quaker dodge.” Rarely have more 
“ thee's ” and “ thou’s ” been put into so small a space ; 
in fact it is overdone, as we rarely find “Friends” say¬ 
ing “thou wilt ” and “thou shalt.” It’s a pretty cate 
dodge, but we judge from our correspondence that some 
of our Quaker friends feel scandalized at this resort of 
the “ Seven Barks ” man_The cure for consumptives 
advertised for which one Adee proposes to send the 
recipe free, is as we sometime ago stated,'merely a dodge 
to sell something that is not procurable elsewhere. The 
recipe may be “free,” but the medicine prescribed can 
only be had at a particular place. 
DOUBTFUL SEEDS AND OTHER THINGS 
in which the humbugging is more in the mannerof offer¬ 
ing than in the articles themselves, are noticed elsewhere. 
Basket Items con® 
tinned ©it page 193, 
-- — 
The New York Horticultural Association. 
At the monthly meeting of the Association, on April 
5th, the attendance was larger than at any previous 
meeting, aud included many of the best known nursery¬ 
men, florists, and private gardeners in the vicinity of 
the City, and quite a number of amateurs. The display 
of plants and cut flowers gave every indication that at 
the regular exhibition in June, New-York will have no 
reason to be ashamed of her new Society. The largest 
•collection of plants was exhibited by Wm. Bennett of 
Flatbush, L. I., who had a number of fine grown Or¬ 
chids and other plants, among which were four varieties 
of Cypripedium barbatum, namely: grandiflorum, gigan- 
tevm , majus , and pmpureum, and the remarkable G. cau- 
datum, with its tail-like petals 18 inches in length, and 
Epidendrum macrochilum roseum, another interesting Or¬ 
chid ; also a fine grown specimen of Medinilla magnified , 
with its racemes of rose colored flowers 9 in. in length; 
Draccena spiendens, with crimson and maroon striped fo¬ 
liage, a specimen of the Fern Adiantum Farleyense, and 
cut blooms of the snow-white Carnation, Peerless, of 
which Mr. Bennett is now cutting, from one greenhouse, 
20x100—10,000 flowers per week. He also had cut blooms 
of the new Blue Veronica, “Madame Vilmorin,” and 
Rose “Duchess of Edinburgh.”....From Sami. B. Par¬ 
sons & Sons, Flushing, L. I., a collection of the Dwarf 
Japan Maples, that are probably destined to give an en¬ 
tirely new feature to our lawns and shrubbery, as they 
are doubtless as hardy as other deciduous trees and 
shrubs from Japan usually are. They are named Acer 
Japonicum and A.polymorphum , and run into the most 
wonderful varieties of form and color, in shape similar 
to some Ferns, and in color, rivaling the fancy-leaved 
Caladiums... .From Chas. Zeller, of Flatbush, L. I., were 
cut blooms of some 25 varieties of beautiful Carnations, 
mostly new sorts... .From Jobn Henderson, Flushing, 
L. I., a new hardy plant, Anneria Cephalotes alba, and the 
double and rose-colored Lily of the Valley... .From Mr. 
Vass, Copake, N. Y., a Primula sinensis , with variegated 
(yellow and green) foliage, a fine healthy plant, which, if 
it can be successfully propagated, will be valuable.... 
From Geo. Such, of South Amboy, N. J., a fine collec¬ 
tion of Camellia blooms; also cut Orchid flowers, among 
which were Angrcecum sesquipedale , Epidendrum Stam- 
fordianum, Cattleya speciosissima, Cypripedium Stonei, 
(having! expanded flowers on a stem), Chysis bractescens 
and C. Limminghi _From Peter Henderson, Jersey 
City, N. J., six varieties of new variegated Geraniums, 
and a variety of the well known winter-flowering plant, 
'Begonia hybrida multiflora , with variegated leaves.... 
From David Deans, Bay Ridge, L. I., a splendid specimen 
of the well known Orchid, Bletia TanTcervillix _From 
Isaac Buchanan, Astoria, L. I., a dwarf Palm in flower, 
of some 5 feet in hight, to the stem of which, growing 
in moss, were clustered some six or eight species of Or¬ 
chids, mostly in bloom, among which were some beauti¬ 
ful varieties of Cattleya , Lcelia, Miltonia, etc., giving a 
good idea of how “air plants” grow in their native 
woods. The proper location for a Hall for the June 
Exhibition was discussed, and the Committees to get up 
the schedule of prizes to be then offered arranged. 
■--— 
Hew and Wonderful Seeds. 
Every year many traps are set to catch the farmer and 
gardener, in the shape of plants and seeds. We hardly 
know whether to treat these cases under Humbugs or 
not. Often the plants themselves are well enough, if 
one wants them, but they are so overlaid with ridiculous 
claims and ambiguous descriptions, that whatever the 
plants may be, those who offer them appear to ordinary 
comprehension to put out these statements “The same 
with intent to deceive.” Take the “ Japan Pea,” for 
example. We have no doubt that this, when properly 
introduced on its real merits, will prove a valuable plant 
in some parts of the country. But we are told by those 
who have recently made a fuss about it, that it has “ re¬ 
cently been brought to this country from Japan, ” whereas 
it was in cultivation 15 or 20 years ago. Then again, the 
peas have been offered as “unsurpassed for table use,’’ 
and we quite agree with a Texas correspondent, who 
boiled them for 20 hours without reducing them to an 
eatable state, that the writer of lhat “must have under¬ 
gone a long fast when he ate his Japan peas.” Our cor¬ 
respondents say that in all localities, ■where cotton will 
ripen, especially where there are long drouths, the Japan 
pea is likely to be a productive and valuable plant. Now 
it is offered to the country at largo as a “ new ” pea, to 
produce “200 bushels to the acre”—with no distinc¬ 
tion made between Maine and Texas—moreover, as 
a table pea, and disappointments will be numerous. 
The plant will fail of proper appreciation, all because 
of the preposterous statements of those who offer 
the seeds—or rather of some of them, for we are hap¬ 
py to say that Mr. M. W. Johnson, of Atlanta, Ga., 
offers it on its own merits, as he would any other seed, 
with no nonsense about it_Here is another case. A 
concern offers the “ Spanish nut, Chufa or Souchie,” as 
a “ new esculent.” Ohvery“m«a,” it having been in¬ 
troduced into Europe in 1597, and it has taken a “ spurt ” 
in this country every now and then ever since we can 
recollect—and we are no chicken. “ Will sell for $3 per 
bushel in any market,”—what for, wo wonder. “ Frost 
does not injure it,”—more’s the pity then, else how are 
we to get rid of the pernicious weed ? Wa had always 
understood that one of the claims of the thing was that 
frost would kill it, and thus keep it from being the mis¬ 
erable nuisance that its own brother, the “ nut-grass,” 
is in the southern states. There may be jdaces where it 
will pay to plant chufa as a food for hogs to harvest 
themselves, but for the last third of a century, the quan¬ 
tity cultivated has been growing small by degrees, and 
beautifully less. We do not say that the old and well 
known Chufa ( Cyperus esculenlus ), is a humbug, but 
we do say that the claims made for it belong to that 
class....The “Rabourdine Corn” is offered as having 
every good quality that can he expected in any com ; 
more than this, it “ will yield two or three times as many 
bushels per acre,” but it is not stated what this yield is 
compared with, and we are allowed to suppose other 
corn, as we are warned not to buy of seedsmen “ Old- 
Fashioned Corn, viz:” and here follows a list of the 
sweet and popping corns, though not a word is said 
whether this is a sweet or a popping corn. The funny part 
of this story is that this wonderful variety originated, of 
all places in the world, “ in the Isle of Wight 1”... .Here 
we have a wonderful setting forth of tho surpassing vir¬ 
tues of “Hughlitt’s Ivory Wheat,” and numerous have 
been the letters asking us what we think of it. We 
think in the first place that the stuff is not a wheat at all, 
that is, the grain of Triticum , generally known iu agri¬ 
culture and in commerce as wheat. We draw our con¬ 
clusions from the statements in the circular, wherein we 
are told “The grain of this wheat is small, plump, and 
heavy, of a whitish color, and weighs 70 pounds to the 
measured bushel.” That “its growth is different from 
all other grades of wheat, one pint being sufficient to 
plant an acre.” The grains of the stuff are sold by 
count. Now we hazard the guess that this “ Ivory 
Wheat ” is nothing more than a form of the old Sorghum 
vulgare, which as Indian Millet, Dana, Guinea corn, or 
Durra corn, is a food plant in Africa, and which has been 
offered, in one shape or another, as a valuable plant 
from time to time during the present century. Accord¬ 
ing to tho circular, one man has raised 122J bushels to 
the acre. Supposing one could raise 1,000 bushels to the 
acre, what could he do with it? There is no place iu 
America where ho could find fools to buy it as wheat , 
aud it could not bo sold for flouring under any other 
name, as the American people, even the poorest, have 
not got over a prejudice in favor of having their bread 
made from “tho finest of the wheat.” This grain may 
be useful for chicken feed, for animals in general, 
and even as human food, but to call it a variety of 
wheal is simply a misnomer.Now cometh Frank¬ 
lin Lindsey, who liveth in Virginia, and haveth noth¬ 
ing less than Saccharum officinarum, or Saccharine 
Sugar Cane. F. L., “Saccharine” as applied to sugar 
cane is good, in fact nothing short of a stroke of ge¬ 
nius. The talk about sugar cane in general is rich 
reading, but when wc learn that the making known of 
this Saccharine plant [full-faced type, if you please, 
Mr. Printer], not exactly is, but “ seems to have been 
one of the many special interpositions of Divine Provi¬ 
dence in behalf of this nation,” we get kind’er awe¬ 
struck, and when we read that as early as 1868 it was 
cultivated from Wisconsin to Florida, we wonder where 
we have been all the while, while a plant has been going 
around, the juice of which “ when boiled down, or re¬ 
duced by evaporation, [nothing like being exact in one’s 
statements], the result is a superior article of pure crys¬ 
talline SBJGAlt, [fullface caps, Mr. Printer, if you 
please]. Far surpassing the southern or West ludia su¬ 
gars in strength of sweetness, color , and crystalline puri¬ 
ty, [italics here]. Moreover, we read that “ this plant is 
adapted to our soil and climate, and is even a surer crop 
than Indian corn.” We get no hintas to its culture, ex¬ 
cept that: “Its early maturity renders it peculiarly 
adapted to the short seasons of the north,” while we have 
a great farrago of other stuff about the various induce¬ 
ments to buy the seeds, which sell at $3 a “ package,” 
whatever that may be. To all of this we have to say that 
Saccharum officinarum belongs to the true sugar cane, 
and to that only, which so far from being hardy in Wis¬ 
consin, as Lindsey says, it is killed anywhere by a severe 
frost. Moreover, in no sugar-growing country is the 
true sugar plant, Saccharum officinarum , raised from 
seeds, nor is it known to produce seeds in cultivation. It 
is then evident that of whatever else this Lindsey may 
offer seeds, they cannot be, as he claims, those of Saccha¬ 
rum officinarum, or the true cane which produces the 
sugar of commerce. That this person has a way of mis¬ 
using botanical names, is shown in the same circular in 
which he offers 46 Ozmorliiza ” as a beautiful dwarf 
evergreen “ which was sent to him from Yeddo, Japan.” 
The name does not belong to “an evergreen ” at all, hut 
to herbaceous plants, common in cur woods, and known 
as “ Sweet Cicely.” Nor does it bear “ white ” or any 
other kind of “berries.” This man Lindsey has upon 
the first page of his circular a portrait; he advertises for 
a partner to superintend his two gardens, “ but as I am 
not a married man, I shall reject any proposition from 
my own sex.” All of which we regard as very modest, 
sweet, and lovely, hut as a matter of private opinion, we 
do not think there will be a great rush of applicants. 
