1876.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST, 
207 
this day, and at the very hour when the opening of the 
great exhibition showing our progress in a century, is 
being welcomed with cannon and bells, stares us in the 
face, and wants us to help him about “ Soul charming” 
_As Sydney Smith, when advised to “ take a walk on 
an empty stomach,” asked his physician ” whose stom¬ 
ach?” so we are tempted to ask, “whose soul,” “V.,” 
do you want to “charm,” and whyfore should you 
“ charm ” it ? We cannot give you the advice you seek; 
on general principles we would advise you not to try to 
charm other people’s souls; but if you wish to improve on 
your own, there are some very excellent directions to be 
found in the writings of one Matthew, beginning at 
the 5th chapter. 
“IS THE WYOMING LOTTERY A HUMBUG? ” 
is the purport of several letters that have come so near 
together that it looks as if some parties were trying to 
get us to commit ourselves in writing, and then annoy us 
with a suit at law. If this were the object, vve hope that 
they are satisfied with their success. We regard all lot¬ 
teries as humbugs, according to our meaning of the 
word—in that they are and. must be, however managed, 
unfair. Many pay their money and get nothing in re¬ 
turn, while a few, paying only the same amount of 
money, and without doing anything to merit it, receive 
many times more than they paid. We hold that such 
transactions as these are wrong, and have a bad effect on 
the community in which they are allowed. The result 
to the losers is of little consequence, but the effects upon 
the winners, in teaching them, and others by their ex¬ 
ample—that money can be got in some other way than 
by giving the worth of it, is entirely wrong and abso¬ 
lutely pernicious. 
BUT IS THIS WYOMING TOTTERY FAIRLY MANAGED? 
We say no ! and that it is a fraud upon the community 
in this: It sends out circulars to particular persons, of¬ 
fering to guarantee that by the investment of a certain 
sum, these particular persons will draw certain prizes. 
This is done on the plea that it will induce the recipients 
of these prizes to act as agents, and that their success 
will advertise the lottery. The only leg that the lottery 
had to stand upon, was that it was a game of chance, and 
that one person’s chance was as good as that of another. 
But here is this Wyoming fraud sending its lithographed 
circulars all over the country, and by holding out a 
guarantee of a prize, trying to induce parties to act as 
stool pigeons. Lotteries in general are bad enough, but 
we regard this of Wyoming as a very mean fraud. The 
lottery publishes a paper, partly given to quack medi¬ 
cines and partly to the lottery. It has a column devoted 
to “ What the Press says,” and though the American 
Agriculturist is copyrighted, we shall not regard it as an 
infringement of our rights if they place the above among 
the “ Sayings of the Press.” 
SEED AND PLANT HUMBUGS. 
Last month we gave in a separate article some account 
of the “New and Wonderful Seeds” that are offered 
with such extravagant claims that, whatever the plants 
themselves may be, the descriptions of them are hum¬ 
bugs_What was said in the article referred to in re¬ 
gard to “Ivory Wheat,” was entirely based upon the ad¬ 
vertisement ; we have since received some of these seeds, 
and find that they are, as we conjectured, one of the 
forms of Sorghum, Indian Millet, or Guinea corn. The 
• offering of this stuff as “ Ivory ” or any other kind of 
“ wheat,” is a fraud upon farmers. Those who have 
been induced to plant any considerable quantity of this 
stuff, may feed the product out to animals, but they can 
find no market for it. Cleveland, Tenn., is the head¬ 
quarters of this and other marvellous seeds... A worthy 
successor to Layfayette & Co., advertises his choice 
wares in the St. Louis papers. He has gooseberries and 
■ currants which “ bear fruit twice a year,” “ and the as¬ 
paragus of Caucasus, which are good to eat three months 
after they are planted.” The branching pop-corn intro¬ 
duced several years ago, turns up this year as “ Peabody 
Corn,” a good enough pop corn_We have kept the 
run of all things very closely for the last 25 years, and 
are very sure that all seeds and plants of any permanent 
value are first introduced by the regular dealers in such 
articles. When a wonderful Prince somebody, or Em¬ 
peror something cabbage, or a bran new hardy sugar 
cane, or some new revelation in wheat is offered by some 
unknown person, it is well at least, to touch it cautiously. 
THE STOCK GAMBLERS 
now try a new dodge in advertising. They send postal 
cards all over the country informing people if they wish 
to know how to make money with a guarantee against 
Joss, they must send for such a book. It is of no use to 
write us, as a great many do, asking as to the character 
of these parties and the safety of investing with them. 
We cannot find that they are known to the regular Stock 
Board, but are mere skirmishers on the outskirts of the 
army. When, as recently happened, one known as the 
longest headed and shrewdest of all the stock specula¬ 
tors, one who knew all the “ins and outs” of “The 
Street ” made a melancholy failure, what sort of a chance 
is there for you , with your money in the hands of an 
unknown party ?... .We are asked about investing in a 
BLACK HILLS ASSOCIATION, 
which proposes to facilitate persons in getting to the 
Black Hills ; we have examined the prospectus, and find 
it very faulty, for the reason that the most important 
point is omitted—there is no provision for getting back 
again, and help is much more likely to be needed in this 
direction than in the other. Certain restless mortals 
will go to the Black Hills, for somebody once found a few 
grains of gold there ; but we advise no one to go unless 
he takes money enough to bring him back. 
MISERABLE BOOKS. 
It is very doubtful if decent right-thinking people are 
aware of the stream of foul literature which, under the 
pretense of teaching physiology and other matters, is in 
circulation among young persons, .of both sexes, from 
the ages of 15 to 18. All the nastiness docs not emanate 
from cities, but small towns in the country often have a 
bad notoriety as the source of this style of literature. 
So far as one can judge from their circulars, these “Secret 
Instructors,” “Marriage Guides,” or by whatever name 
they may be called, have very much the same contents, 
and only differ in having the name of some other “Doc¬ 
tor” as their reputed author. We have a circular before 
us which is a fair sample of the whole batch ; the book 
professes to be “Doct.-’s Marriage Guide,” and after 
enumerating a lot of stuff which we do not care to re¬ 
peat, it is also a “ Private Medical Instructor for All, 
married or single, old or young, male or female,” and a 
lot more. The list of contents shows that it is a vile 
book, but more than this there is the same “ Doctors ” 
“Book of Secrets,” offering to tel! everything from how 
to make “ old horses appear young,” to “ produce the 
diamond, ruby, etc.” Besides these, there is included in 
the same volume the “Seventh Book of Moses,” pre¬ 
tended to be a suppressed book by the great law-giver. 
If the announcements of the other books are nasty and 
absurd, this is wicked and profane in presenting its 
claims. Yet their vile circular finds its way into the 
hands of the youth, and the rascals who issue manage 
to introduce them into the most select schools. While 
the circulars of these books avoid absolute obscenity, 
they are quite as mischievous as those which tlm law 
excludes from the mail. 
MEDICAL MATTERS. 
How can we make our position in respect to medical 
men and medicines generally understood, and thus save 
hundreds the trouble of writing to ask about this or that 
one ? If it would do any good, we would keep a state 
ment standing and print it month after month, but we 
fear it would not meet the case. Wc have stated again 
and again that we have no acquaintance with, or personal 
knowledge of, any advertising doctor, and that we would 
not employ one of them or advise any one else to do so, 
yet in the face of this, we get scores of letters, asking if 
so and so is not an exception. We regard all secret med¬ 
icines as wrong, and shall do all that we can to discour¬ 
age their use, and we look upon the advertising of his 
own claims and cures by a “doctor” as in itself proof 
that he has no proper standing in the medical profession. 
We should be very glad if our friends would remember 
this so frequently repeated declaration, for we have no 
time to answer individual inquiries on these points. 
IFerrots Wanted.— “J. W.,” Muscatine, 
Iowa. Enquiries such as yours would be unnecessary, 
if persons would look through the. advertising columns 
for what they want. In this case it would he found that 
ferrets are kept for sale by N. Guilbert, Gwynedd, Pa. 
The 41 iiiTnnt Won-tit. —Powdered White 
Hellebore is, as we have frequently stated, a complete 
and thorough exterminator of the currant worm ; it may 
be dusted over the leaves when the dew is on. or may be 
stirred in water and applied with a syringe. Another 
remedy comes to us from George Cruikshanks, gardener 
to J. C. Whitin, Esq., Whitinsville, Mass., which may 
be useful to those who cannot readily get the White 
Hellebore, or may not like to use it. Mr. C. mixes 5 lbs. 
whale oil soap with one quart of kerosene ; when thor¬ 
oughly mixed, he gradually adds about 5 gallons of boil¬ 
ing water, stirring to dissolve the soap and incorporate 
the kerosene. When this is done, add 25 gallons of water 
and apply with a syringe. It should be applied early on 
a sunny day, so that tne liquid may dry upon the leaves. 
Mr. C. states that three applications have never failed to 
effectually destroy the pests. 
Basket Items con¬ 
tinued on page 
Thorough-bred and Grade Jerseys for 
Fanners. 
BY THOMAS FITCH, NEW LONDON, CONN. 
My experience for many years in breeding Jersey stock 
and crossing thoroughbreds with other breeds, may in¬ 
terest some of your readers, particularly the dairymen 
with whom butter-making is the principal business. 
My first purchase of Jerseys was made from the impor¬ 
tation and breeding of the late John A. Taintor, of Hart¬ 
ford, Conn , who was, I think, the first to visit the islands 
in the British Channel, and to select in person, and im¬ 
port into this State, a herd of Jerseys. He was remarka¬ 
bly fortunate in his selections, for few if any of the later 
importations, down to the present time, have equaled or 
even approached the quality of his stock for form, beau¬ 
ty, or the production of milk, cream, and butter. Solid 
colors and black points, squirrel greys, or silver greys, 
light fawns or dark fawns, or other fashionable marks or 
colors had then as little to do with the real value of a Jer¬ 
sey cow, as it has to-day; or as the dark or light com¬ 
plexion has to do with an Anglo-Saxon’s brains. A good 
Jersey cow, thorough-bred, and well bred at that, one 
that gave say 12 quarts of milk per day on common food 
(not steamed), and made 12 lbs. of butter per week, sold 
then for about $100. I have bred many thorough-bred 
Jerseys, and hundreds of grades; but comparatively few 
of my thorough-breds have given more than 12 quarts of 
milk per day, and I have the credit of breeding some of 
the most celebrated milkers and butter-makers now' in 
this country; among them the following well known 
names: “Palestine 3d,” “Maggie Mitchel,” “Fleet- 
foot,” “Flora,” “Buff,” and many more that I can 
name, all are the direct descendants of Mr. John A. 
Taintor’s stock, some of them having given as high as 22 
quarts of milk, and made more than 2 lbs. of butter per 
day, measured and weighed. I have crossed the Jersey 
bull with nearly all the known breeds of cows, Ayrshires, 
Natives, Short-horns, Dutch, the “sacred cow,” and the 
Devons, and it is an excellent cross with any and all 
breeds for the dairy. I have never yet found a half- 
blood Jersey cow that did not yield a richer quality of 
milk than her dam. One peculiarity of the cross is this: 
wherever the Jersey bull serves, he transmits the rich 
quality of the milk to the grade he gets. 
The thorough-bred Jersey cows, as a rule, have small 
teats and udders, small bodies, and tender, delicate con¬ 
stitutions; they are not so hardy, or so easily kept as Ayr¬ 
shires or natives, but the grades have good sized teats, and 
capacious udders; are hardy, easily kept, and the quan¬ 
tity of the milk is increased. The grade is, in fact, worth 
more money to the farmer than the pure Jersey, for actu¬ 
al production, and all purposes except breeding thorough¬ 
breds. The great value of Jersey stock to the country, 
is, for dairymen, especially butter-makers, who, by cross¬ 
ing thorough bred bulls upon their common cows of all 
the mixed bloods, can select the heifer calves from their 
best milkers, and raise them to take the place of the 
present cows, and then again cross the pure bull with the 
half-bloods. When these herds are three-quarter Jersey, 
their yield of butter will doubtless be one-third more in 
quantity, of a much better quality, in color, firmness, and 
flavor, and worth 50 per cent more than at present. Who 
can estimate in dollars and cents what may be gained in 
the next few years, by the farmers following this course, 
with a slight outlay of money in thorough-bred Jersey 
bulls ? 
[A portrait of Mr. Fitch’s cow “ Palestine 3d,” was 
given in the American Agriculturist of Nov., 1875. Ed.] 
Paris Green—Buying, Using, Keeping. 
Those who would cultivate potatoes, must at the same 
time destroy the Colorado beetle, now generally called 
“ the potato bug.” While small patches may be kept clear 
by hand-picking and brushing oft' and catching, the only 
practical method thus far found with large crops, is to 
use Paris green. The beetle wi 1 no doubt visit the few 
far eastern localities that have heretofore been exempt, 
and for the benefit of inquirers from these and other 
places, we recapitulate what has be n said in former 
years. In buying Paris green, get the pure. Manufac¬ 
turers openly claim to make four or five qualities. It is 
folly to pay them for adulterating it. The pure retails 
at from 40 to 50 cts. a pound. It may be applied dry or 
mixed with water. If dry, mix one part of pure green 
with 20 parts of flour. Do not mix with the hands. Mix 
thoroughly. Contrive some kind of a sifter, like a 
dredging box, any tinman can make one, which can be 
attached to a long handle. Always keep to the windward 
in applying it, and do not breathe the dust. It takes 
but a slight, but evenly diffused dusting. In applying 
with water, recollect that it is not soluble; it is only 
diffused in the water; it is heavy, and will soon settle 
