1870.] 
287 
AMERICAN AGRICULT URIST. 
find that it is accompanied by ample provision for its 
enforcement.—Good for Congress! — Wc have in for¬ 
mer articles given what seems to us sufficient reasons 
why lotteries that are conducted fairly, according to 
their terms, were au evil that should be suppressed ; but 
the fact is that most of the schemes announced as lot¬ 
teries, gift distributions, prize concerts, or by w hatever 
name, are not conducted according to the rules go: erning 
lotteries, but are barefaced swindles. Prominent exam¬ 
ples of these frauds are the 
TOPEKA (KAN.) AXU WYOMING LOTTERIES, 
about which we have had scores of letters asking if we in¬ 
cluded them as humbugs. The “ Kansas Farmer, which 
had heretofore done good work in showing up the To¬ 
peka lottery, in its issue of June 14. last, gives an ac¬ 
count of the drawing, which in violation of the published 
■conditions, was conducted privately; it says: “ The 
concern was the most outrageous and unblushing piece 
of villany ever perpetrated under the guise of public 
charity." This shows what is thought of this lottery at 
home in Topeka. If any of those who have written to 
inquire about this lottery have lost the money they in¬ 
vested, we can quote for their benefit still further from 
the outspoken “ Kansas Farmer," which says: "People 
who are such consummate fools as to place money in the 
hands of dishonest, irresponsible gamblers, expecting 
they would deal honestly with them, deserve to pay for 
the lesson they are sure to receive." 
THE WYOMING LOTTERY, AT LARAMIE, 
has already had some of its dark ways exposed in these 
■columns. This is managed by one Pattee, wh o happened 
to visit Topeka, Kan., and the editor of the “ Farmer" de¬ 
scribes an interview with him, and says: “ He seems to 
delight in boasting of his own villainy in swindling 
weak human nature. He said his conscience did not 
trouble him, that the people wanted to be humbugged, 
and it was his business to do it."—We regard this Wyo¬ 
ming as the most pernicious of all lotteries, as it is a sort 
of perpetual thing, and managed with great tact and 
perseverance, and its schemes find their way to the most 
remote places. The papers of New Brunswick state that 
some counties at that distant Province are flooded with 
the flaming circulars of this Wyoming scheme, and that 
the number of tickets reported to be sold is “ something 
fabulous.” One paper,.the Sackville “ Borderer,” goes 
so far as to print a letter from some one claiming to be 
connected with the lottery, who proposes, for a consider¬ 
ation, to insure a prize at the next drawing, as he is in a 
position to do a little cheating. Sensible people do not 
need to be warned against all lotteries, however tempt¬ 
ing their offers, and we are glad to know that the law has 
been passed to protect the weak and foolish from these 
swindlers. 
SEVENTT-FIVE CENTS WORTH OF INFORMATION 
was purchased by a young man in Ohio who sent all the 
way “ down East,” as far as Portland, Me., to get it. He 
writes: “ I sent 75 cents to him about a year ago for a 
watch chain which was to be as good as gold, and wear 
as long and as bright. When the chain came it was 
nothing but brass, 1 ’—Our correspondent paid 75 cents to 
learn that cheap jewelry, no matter by what name it may 
be called, is cheap, and that people even down in Maine 
do not give more than 75 cents worth for three-quarters 
-of a dollar As the concern advertises largely, and pub¬ 
lishes many circulars, with engravings of the jewelry, 
which are expensive, whatever the articles themselves 
maybe, it is probable that this 75 cent chain itself did 
not cost the sellers over 25 cents, if as much. 
MORE CHEAP BUTTER. 
The “ Golden Butter Compound ” seems to have fizzled 
out; we have sent several times to a place advertised as 
a “ depot,” but no one is to be found. It is just a place 
to receive letters, for such chaps work at arm’s length, 
and avoid coming face to face with purchasers. Still 
cheap butter is not to die out, for there is a chap who 
now makes two pounds of butter out of a pound of but¬ 
ter and a pound of sweet milk, by the aid of “ The Com¬ 
pound Vegetinc Extract of Helianthus Annuus,” to 
which is graciously added for the benefit of the unlearn¬ 
ed, “ or common sunflower." The circular would not be 
complete without some chemist’s certificates. There is 
one from the “ Laboratory of College Department of 
School of Mines," which is so very l>:gh sounding that 
it does not appear necessary to state where the “ Labor¬ 
atory ’’ is situated. This sunflower stuff has an advantage 
over the “Golden Butter Compound,” as it will not only 
make two pounds of butter out of one, but it will, if we 
are to believe the circular, make two gallons of sperm 
oil out of one. All you need is one gallon of sperm oil, 
one gallon of lard oil, and some of the sunflower stuff, 
and there you are, with two gallons of sperm oil worth 
$5. This is all well enough, but a round-about way to 
get at it. Why not feed the sunflower stuff to the pigs, 
and turn them into whales at once, and thus quadruple 
at once the value of the hog products of the country? 
—In all our experience we have never known such a 
dead calm 
IN MEDICAL MATTERS. 
For months wc have not had a single new “ sovereign 
remedy,” and it is the Centennial year at that. Nobody 
has discovered a “MotherNoble.” No young fellowand 
his wife have escaped from a seven years’ captivity 
among the Indians, and like Eddie Eastman, brought off 
all the Medicine Man’s secrets. No one has been stroll¬ 
ing by the seaside in a fit of despondency, and picked up 
the bottle that contained a recipe that restored him to 
life. No one has been among the Andes and found a 
new “Bell Tongue,” or discovered any more “Seven 
Barks.” All is weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable. 
TO ALL WHO CAN READ 
and understand what they read ! We have stated many 
and many times that we had no confidence in any secret 
medical compounds whatever, and that we regarded their 
use as a great evil. We have stated as many times that 
we have no confidence in any one who advertises any¬ 
thing beyond tire fact, that he is a physician or surgeon. 
In our view all who advertise their ability to cure cer¬ 
tain diseases, who parade accounts of their cures, and 
certificates of those they have treated ; those who will 
contract to cure a case for a certain sum, or who adver¬ 
tise that they will return the money if a cure is not ef¬ 
fected ; those who profess to have any medicine, treat¬ 
ment, or appliance that is better than any other—in short 
the whole brood of advertising doctors—are unfit persons 
to employ. They come within our meaning of the term 
quack, and as we would not, no matter what and where 
they advertise, employ one of them in our own family, 
we can in no manner aid or abet any one else in employ¬ 
ing, consulting, or having anything to do with them. 
Though we have stated this so frequently and so plainly, 
we have one or more letters daily, asking about some 
medicine or “ doctor ” of the above classes, and we must 
once more repeat, and ask our friends to remember, that 
our acquaintance among medical men is confined to phy¬ 
sicians of good standing in the community and among 
their professional brethren. We do not personally know 
a single one of those who call themselves doctors, who 
living in New York advertise and send their circulars 
to distant points. These chaps know our views too well 
to seek our acquaintance, and it is not possible for us to 
seek theirs. Therefore, all letters of inquiry about such 
persons must be met by the simple answer that we know 
nothing about them. To recapitulate, we can give no 
information about secret medicines, wc do not know any 
advertising doctors ; we do not associate with men who 
claim to cure fits, or women who advertise to cure ca¬ 
tarrh ; and we know nothing of the persons who offer 
gimcracks with which people may make risky experi¬ 
ments on their own eyes and ears. We know none of 
these, and similar people, person illy, and only judge of 
them by the circulars they put out and the articles they 
offer. It is therefore useless to ask us if they will do as 
they agree. Wc don’t know the parties, and all the an¬ 
swer we can make is to that effect. While we do not 
hesitate to criticise what these persons offer, and do so 
freely, we are not in the way of knowing anything about 
their private lives cr pecuniary responsibility. We feel 
sure that the communiiy would be better off in health 
and pocket, did all these medical pretenders got their 
living in some other manner. 
LOOK OUT FOR THE LAW ! 
Since the foregoing was in type, we learn that the bill 
for excluding all lottery and gif t circulars from the mails 
here referred to, has been signed by the President, and 
is now a law. Now let post-masters do their duty, and 
the lottery nuisance will be essentially abated. No 
doubt some of the swindlers will contrive to evade the 
law, as the business is too profitable to be given up 
without a struggle, but they have no longer any right to 
use the mails. 
Osiliw of tlie FnitcA States; 
by Dr. Geo. Engelmann. Dr. Engelmann has a way of 
taking up some difficult subject, studying it for a long 
while, and finally coming out with somelfhing satisfac¬ 
tory, or as near to that as possible. This on our Oaks- 
just published in a pamphlet of 20 pages, reprinted from 
the third volume of the Transactions of the St. Louis 
Academy of Sciences—is one of the best of his papers, 
and the most important, practically, because it deals 
with such useful trees as Oaks. It is written in English, 
and plain English too: so that any one with a moderate 
knowledge of botany, or a little patience and persever¬ 
ance in studying it out, can use and understand it. Dr. 
Engelmann puts the Oaks into a good natural arrange¬ 
ment, points out the best characters for distinguishing 
the species, and brings in some new ones, derived from 
the way in which the leaves are rolled up, plaited,or other¬ 
wise disposed in the buds. He shows that the popular di¬ 
vision into black oaks and white oaks, from the hue and 
nature of the bark, agrees with a scientific classifica¬ 
tion ; that the wood of the black oaks, of whatever kind, 
is always brittle, porous, and comparatively worthless; 
w hile that of the white oaks is tougher, heavier, more 
compact, and furnishes the only sorts fit for the wheel¬ 
wright or cooper’s use. He distinguishes 38 species, in¬ 
cluding one very peculiar Californian one, ( Quercus den- 
siflora ), of an Asialic type, and in many respects more a 
chestnut than an oak ; and he describes six hybrids— 
Quercus Leana is one of these, a cross of scarlet oak with 
shingle oak but Q. heterophyHa , the Bartram Oak, he 
decidedly ranks as a species. 
.Volliai Cnilpina. —The last effort of Mr. C. M. 
Crandall, of Building Block fame, is a toy to illustrate the 
various incidents of the wonderful ride of John Gilpin, 
as set forth by Cowper in his “Diverting History.” We 
have found that a really good child’s book or story usu¬ 
ally has sufficient merit to be attractive to grown people 
who are fond of children, and we do not doubt that this 
toy will afford amusement to many men and women, who, 
under the guise of showing the children, will derive no 
little pleasure themselves from renewing their acquaint¬ 
ance with the “ undying verso” of Cowper, and in help¬ 
ing the little ones compose the most fitting illustrations 
to its lines. The advertisement on another page gives 
an idea of the toy and its uses. 
The Fi'itiiklin In§litnte of Penn¬ 
sylvania.— This very old and very useful Association 
has a reception room in the north-western end of the Ma¬ 
chinery Hall at the Centennial Exhibition, where visitors 
interested in the mechanic arts are invited to call, and 
where some member of the Institute will bo in attend¬ 
ance to give information in regard to the exhibition 
The Institute has a fine collection of apparatus from 
which some articles of historical interest have been taken 
to the reception room; among these is the electrical ma¬ 
chine with which Franklin made his experiments. 
Pevcliieroai Slorses.—Messrs. E. Dillon & 
Co., of Normal, Ill., inform us that two members of their 
firm are now in France, selecting twelve stallions with 
which they expect to return about August 20th. 
E*oi’iaviam S-maiio S«l«l l>y Analy¬ 
sis and Guaranteed.— A much needed and very 
satisfactory arrangement has been made by the agents of 
the Peruvian government for the sale of guano; the price 
is fixed according to the valuable fertilizing constituents 
as shown by analysis, and the quality is guaranteed. Each 
cargo of guano as it arrives is mixed, the stones taken 
out and the lumps crushed, by machinery. It is then an¬ 
alyzed and bagged, each bag being stamped with the an¬ 
alysis and the price, and the trade-mark with the word 
guaranteed. A specimen of the marking of the analy¬ 
sis of the first cargo sold under this arrangement, handed 
to us by Mr. Chas. Y. Mapes, 158 Front St., N. Y., the 
retail agent, is as follows : 
CARGO A. 
Ammonia. fi.80°/o at $3.50... $23.80 
♦Soluble Phos. Acid. . 3.80°/ o at 2 00 - 7.00 
♦Reverted “ “ . 11.50% -it 1.60.... 18.40 
Insoluble “ “ . 3.00% at #>■■■■ 1-26 
Potassa (Phosphate). 3.70% at 1.50- 5.55 
Estimated Retail Price.$56.5G 
Marked on Bags for Sale.$56.00 
*33.40% of total available Phosphates. 
This innovation is very important and desirable, and 
cannot fail to be satisfactory. 
Patrons of Husbandry at Use Cen¬ 
tennial.— The Patrons have an encampment at Elm 
Station, on the Pcnn’a. Railroad, three miles west of the 
Exhibition grounds. It is really an enormous temporary 
hotel, at which guests can stay for a very moderate price. 
Some of our friends who have been there say that it is 
plain but wholesome, and it affords an excellent opportu¬ 
nity to those who wish to visit the Exhibition as econo¬ 
mically as possible. Though started for the benefit of 
the Patrons, any persons of good character are received, 
there being accommodations for 4,000 guests. For circu¬ 
lars address Board of Managers, Patron’s Encampment, 
Elm Station, Montgomery Co.,'Pa. 
agsist Proof Wheat.—'“ E. B. D.,” Hous¬ 
ton Co., Texas. Messrs. Landreth & Sons, of Philadel¬ 
phia, made some extended experiments last year with 
several varieties of wheat and oats suitable for the 
Southern States. In their published reports we notice 
that some of these wheats were remarkable for their 
healthy foliage and the most vigorous of these would 
probably resist rust much better than other varieties. 
The report in full can be procured of Messrs. Landreth 
& Sons, Philadelphia. 
A Fails to Breed.— “ W. W.,” 
Richmond Co., Va. A sow that has failed to breed for 
two years, may be considered as hopelessly barren, and 
should be fattened for slaughter. There is no drug or 
medicine that can be relied upon to produce any effective 
condition of fertility. ' 
