1876.] 
AMERIGAN AGRICULTURIST. 
only by express, to which we add another caution—don’t 
remit it at all.,..There is no subject on which we have 
more frequent inquiry, or about which there are more 
complaints, than that of 
TREE PEDDLERS AND NURSERT AGENTS, 
nor is there any more difficult to treat. If we say that 
these men as a class arc swindlers, and to be shunned, we 
do injustice to the few honest men engaged in the busi¬ 
ness. Some excellent concerns send out agents, who are 
properly authorized, and for whose acts their principals 
are responsible, but for every one of these there are in 
the field a dozen irresponsible chaps, who represent no 
one but themselves, who get orders and. fill them with 
whatever rubbish they can buy cheapest. The only pos¬ 
sible reason for buying of an agent at all, is a small sav¬ 
ing in freight. If an agent takes orders from a dozen 
persons in a neighborhood, the whole lot of trees can be 
delivered in one parcel, and distributed to the individu¬ 
als ordering them, at much less expense than the 
parcels could be sent separately. But the saving of a 
small sum is poor economy in the matter of trees, which, 
if not true to name, are worthless, and it is safest in all 
cases to deal directly with the nursery. If circumstances 
make it advisable to order of an agent, make sure that he 
is properly accredited. If an agent offers any unusual 
things, or novelties that no one else has, you rnay be sure 
that he is a fraud. Have nothing to do with “self-prun¬ 
ing grape vines,” pears grafted upon the “ French Wil¬ 
low,” “tree strawberries,” or any such impossible things. 
Especially be careful what agreements you sign. 
MEDICAL MATTERS. 
present but few novelties. It is amusing to sec how the 
proprietors of quack medicines appeal to the love of the 
marvelous, and the stories of the origin and discovery of 
these various nostrums, if gathered in a volume, would 
make a series second only to the Arabian Nights in ab¬ 
surdity and impossibility. The majority owe their origin 
to the Indians. It seems to be a popular notion that the 
savages, the most degraded and ignorant of all things 
human, possess wonderful skill in treating disease, an 
impression that a slight acquaintance with Indian life 
would soon dispel. Yet more than half the quack medi¬ 
cines are accredited to them. Here in one Mrs. Leggett, 
who says: “ I have gone from the Indian medicine man 
of the Nevada, to the very pink of science, (!), in order to 
inform and avail myself of all the information to be bad 
on this Subject, and must say that the Indian is far in ad¬ 
vance, so far as relates to botanic medicine.” Here is 
also “ Doctor White,” who “ traveled through Europe 
and America, and the various inhabited islands in the 
different parts of the world, and.among the Red Men of 
the forest,” all to get his wonderful stuff. This White 
pamphlet is really a curiosity. The most horrible botch 
of a wood engraving is given to illustrate “ Dr. White 
and his wife together with their blooming, healthy, and 
interesting children.” We are told on the next page that 
the Doctor is "an extremely rich man, with an income 
of about five-hundred-thousand dollars annually.” We 
Should think that so wealthy a man would, as a matter.of 
family pride, put forth a better family portrait. It is not 
easy to see why one so rich, “and the owner of a number 
of fine elegant ships, which sail in different directions to 
every part of the world,” should be offering premiums to 
those who get up agents for his stuff. We thought Mother 
Noble and Eddie Eastman were the sublimest efforts in 
literature of this class, but this Doct. White makes it 
necessary for these to look to their laurels_Look 
out for 
HUSfBUG COMMISSION DEALERS. 
During the peach season there are always more or less 
rascals who pretend to be commission men, whose only 
store is a few square feet of side-walk. These, bogus 
dealers do not confine themselves to peaches, but of late 
have tried to do a little in the dairy line. We have an 
eye on some chaps of this sort, but we are not quite sure 
enough to call names. Meanwhile let 3very one who has 
farm produce of any kind exercise caution as to the 
character of the dealer to whom he consigns it. The 
commission business, from its very nature, is a difficult 
one, and a dealer who is perfectly honest will, even in 
doing his best, often disappoint the consignor. Do not 
change your commission house for a slight cause ; if the 
sales average well, stick to the same place. Glib-tongucd, 
plausible chaps, are all over the country soliciting con¬ 
signments. Make no promises, and do not send produce 
to any one, without first ascertaining something about 
him. It would be very unjust to say that those dealers 
who do not advertise in the American Agriculturist are 
unsafe, but it is very proper for us to assert that those 
who do advertise here are men of established reputation, 
to whom consignments may bo made with confidence. 
Beware of the bogus chaps, who have no “ local habita¬ 
tion,” and no “ name” but a bad one. 
Meeting? oi siac Swine EBreedevs’ 
Convention.— At the adjournment of the meeting of 
the Swine Breeders’ Convention, held at Indianapolis, it 
was left to the judgment of the chairman, Frank D. 
Curtis, Esq., of Charlton, Saratoga Co., N. Y,, to choose 
the time when circumstances seemed to require a re¬ 
assembling of the convention. We understand that a 
circular has been issued to the committee by the chair¬ 
man, suggesting a meeting of the convention at Phila¬ 
delphia during the Centennial Exhibition. If a sufficient 
number of members of the Association, or of persons in¬ 
terested in swine breeding, shall convey to the chairman 
a favorable view of his suggestion, the meeting will be 
called. It would certainly seem that there could be *10 
bettemopportunity than this for a second convention. 
The first, held under many disadvantages, and having all 
the drawbacks of a new enterprise, has done a real 
service of immense value to all breeders of swine. It 
has reconciled conflicting, adverse, and lukewarm in¬ 
terests, it has given standards of excellence for the va¬ 
rious breeds, which have been accepted without question 
by all parties ; it has met in this critical age with no ad¬ 
verse criticism, and its usefulness has been universally 
acknowledged. It has brought a certain degree of order 
out of chaos, and one of its first fruits has been the re¬ 
duction of the Berkshire breeding to the rule of an au¬ 
thentic record. If nothing more remained to be done, 
the convention would have had a good excuse for its 
organization ; but its work is as yet only begun, instead 
of having been finished. 
The “ Campaigns ” IPolIjiesul have 
not yet developed very actively. Our campaign starts 
to-day—against ignorance, poor crops, unskillful labor, 
etc. We ask our friends to help make it an “ active ” 
one, by calling the attention of their friends and neigh¬ 
bors to the offer on page 325. It will be seen that for 11 
cents a month, (if subscriptions for 1S77 is sent in this 
month,) or less than one-third of a cent a day, the Ameri¬ 
can Agriculturist , with its many fine illustrations, its mul¬ 
titudes of hints and suggestions, etc., can be enjoyed 
from now to the end of 1877. Please let the non-readers 
understand this. 
IIos'Siciiltnire at the Centennial!.— 
Last month we gave some account of the contents of 
Horticultural Hall and its annexes. We had prepared a 
detailed description of the out-door exhibits for the 
present number, but our columns are so crowded, and 
we have already so much about the Exhibition that this 
is withheld for another month. It is desirable, however, 
to call the attention of those who visit the Exhibition 
to this out-door display, as it contains much that those 
interested in horticulture can not afford to overlook. 
There are about 40 acres devoted to out-door planting, 
and while a portion of it is done by the Bureau of Hor¬ 
ticulture as a part of the decoration of the grounds, the 
greater part of the planting is made up by the contribu¬ 
tions of exhibitors. These grounds, which presented a 
sorry aspect in the month of July, are now, in Septem¬ 
ber, daily increasing in beauty. The sunken parterre, 
extending directly west from Horticultural Hall, proba¬ 
bly furnishes the longest continuous example of orna¬ 
mental planting in the country, and does much credit to 
Mr. C. H. Miller, Chief of the Bureau, especially when 
we consider the small number of well-marked plants 
that he had to work with, and the difficulty of procuring 
even these in sufficient numbers to work out his de¬ 
signs. Upon each side of this central parterre are the 
plots of exhibitors, some who have aimed at simply 
showing individual plants, while others have given ex¬ 
cellent examples of ornamental bedding, in some cases 
usiDg plants, which in the aggregate are worth hundreds 
if not thousands of dollars. Of course, there is some 
rubbish to be seen; it could not be well otherwise, 
where each has a plot to plant out as he pleases, but 
there are not enough of these indications of want of 
taste to mar the general effect. As in a brief note we 
can not enumerate the leading exhibitors, we refrain 
from mentioning any at present, but content ourselves 
by advising all lovers of rare and interesting plants to 
give the grounds on both sides of Horticultural Hall, as 
well as on both sides of the central parterre, a careful 
examination. In nearly all cases the exhibition is made 
instructive by means of careful labelling, and there are 
hero brought together rare plants that at another time 
can only be seen by making long journeys from one 
nursery to another. 
Uncle Sana as a ©ardencr. —In the 
grounds near the Government Building is a large plot, 
filled with exotic economical plants, some of which may 
ultimately be introduced in our southernmost States 
with profit, and is well worthy of examination. Another 
large plot is planted with the leading agricultural crops 
of the country, no doubt intended to give visitors from 
abroad a glimpse of our principal crops, from tobacco to 
Indian corn, at one view; here are to be seen Ramie, 
Jute, and several other southern products, not omitting 
cotton in full vigor, all of which will be novel and in¬ 
teresting to many visitors from the Northern States. 
827 
“All fllae Eggs Ibs C&ne l!5^asl£c^. ,, — 
Mr. J. B. Olcott, the facile and often facetious agricul¬ 
tural editor of the “ Hartford Courant,” referring to the 
old adage, “Don't put your eggs all in one basket,” 
says, why not? “ If the eggs are good and the basket 
sound, the one a fitting receptacle of the other, and the 
owner sober and attentive to his business, why not jog 
along to market so in any civil community, as well as U 
the eggs and the efi'orts were scattered around in odd lots. 
... .Why not, where-a man is fond of chickens, and has a 
good .place to keep them, and is generally‘lucky’with 
fowls, go ahead and make a business of raising them and 
their eggs? ”... .Then referring to Mr. Stoddard’s “Egg 
Farm,” a work recently isaued by Orange Judd Com¬ 
pany, [see advertisement,] says : “_It is not offered 
as an exact pattern for everybody, or perhaps for any¬ 
body. It is meant to be suggestive—meant to cross¬ 
plow, fertilize, and seed the brain, as every good book 
is. It is sometimes more valuable to us in practice to 
see a thing so clearly set out in print that we decide not 
to do it, than if wo accepted the plan, and proceeded to 
its execution. It is decision we readers need, and the 
material wherewith to make up our minds. Mr. Stod¬ 
dard’s Egg Farm will assist the poultry fanciers about 
that. Maybe we shall see therein that we have no natur¬ 
al capacity or culture for the business. That will be a 
heap of money saved. There is one thing you may be 
sure of: the work was contrived and written right here 
in our midst. There are no outlandish conceits in it to 
puzzle a Yankee, though some practical acquaintance 
with poultry may be needed to appreciate all the diffi¬ 
culties and necessities, for which Mr. Stoddard would 
provide.” 
Tla© Farmer’s Veterinary Adviser. 
—This is a very useful work by Professor James Law, 
Y. S., of Cornell University. It treats of the diseases to 
which farm animals are subject, in a very plain, practical, 
and thorough manner. The author’s methods of treatment 
are sufficiently simple and free from technicalities, that 
any owner of a sick animal can easily follow the direc¬ 
tions given. For farmers and most veterinary surgeons 
in rural districts, this Adviser will be found useful and 
trustworthy. The work is published and sold by the 
author, Prof. James Law, Ithaca, N. Y. Price $3.00. 
Tainiiiug; E.eatlier. —“J. EL,” Saluda, S. 
C. It would be impossible to give in the American Agri¬ 
culturist sufficient directions for tanning and preparing 
leather to be of any practical use. A book, which is in¬ 
tended to be a standard American work on this subject, 
is now in course of publication. The author is the well- 
known tanner, Jackson S. Schultz, and the book is sold 
to subscribers only at $5 a copy. 
TEac AatioiasaS Ag'a*icM.ltm*al Con¬ 
gress will hold its Annual Meeting in the Judges’ Pa¬ 
vilion, on the Centennial Grounds, at Philadelphia, Sept. 
12 to 14. Addresses will be made by the President, W. 
C. Flagg, of Ill., Commissioner T. P. Janes, of Ga., 
Joseph Harris, of N. Y., and others. 
Coal-Oil BSai-rels.— “ D. M. W.,” Blair 
Co., Pa. We doubt if there is any process, not too cost¬ 
ly to be practical, by which you can clean oil barrels, 
without removing the head. It is said that they may be 
so prepared by a thorough burning out of the interior, 
that they may bo used for cider, without injury to its 
taste or smell, but we have not had occasion to try it. 
Ventilation of a Strain Well or 
Cesspool. —“ J. E.,” Germantown, Pa. To carry a tin 
pipe 3 inches in diameter from the well or cesspool into 
the kitchen chimney, as near the fire as possible, would 
bean effective manner of removing and gases that might 
be evolved from the drainage. To bring the gases into 
as close contact as possible with the hottest air of the 
chimney, would be to dissipate them most effectively. 
B®erpcti»al Motion.—“ C. A. L.,” Ana- 
masa, Iowa. There is no premium offered for the dis¬ 
covery of perpetual motion by any government in the 
world, notwithstanding the very prevalent popular delu¬ 
sion that there is. The idea itself is a relic of the dark 
ages, in which the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life, 
the fountain of youth, and other impossible expectations 
were “ for man’s delusion given.” 
Thrashing' Machines at the Cen¬ 
tennial. —The result of the exhibition test of thrash¬ 
ing machines at Philadelphia was rather in favor of the 
tread-powers, as being the most economical both in power 
and time. Thus a one-horse tread-power thrashed 1,009 
lbs, of grain in the straw in 34 minutes, with an elevation 
or incline of the tread of 15% degrees. The yield was 
319)4 lbs. of grain, or 5 % bushels, equal to 0% bushels 
per hoitr. Two-horse tread-machines thrashed the same 
