168 
[June, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
RECORD OF THE BAROMETER AND THERMOMETER FOR APRIL, 1864 
1 28456789 10 11 12 13 14 15 1617 1819 202122 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 
Notes.— Quantity of Rain as follows: 1st, and 2nd, 
0.48 inch ; 11th, 0.91 inch; 13th, 0.26 inch ; 25th and 26th, 
1.63 inches. Total, 8.28 inches. There was slight rain 
on the 5th, 9th, 14th, 23d, 27th, 28th, and in the night of 
the 30th, but inappreciable. There was snow on the 13th 
and 14th, but very slight. Lunar hah >s occurred on the 
evenings of the 15th, 16th, 17th, and > Uh, a Rainbow on 
the 26th, and Aurora Borealis on 27» i. 
May 1st, 1864. O. W. Morris. 
“ 'fl’cii Acres Enough.”— Soon after the 
publication of the rather severe criticism upon the author 
of this very interesting and instructive book, which ap¬ 
peared in the last Agriculturist (p. 134), a letter was re¬ 
ceived from him disclaiming intentional plagiarism, in 
making use of certain articles found “afloat” in the news¬ 
papers without credit, and in which certain points were 
well made, and the views he himself entertained very 
tellingly put. The land company’s advertisement was 
inserted gratis, merely as an act of friendship, and it has 
been removed as likely to give a wrong impression in re¬ 
gard to the work and in future editions the paragraphs 
used as above stated, will be indicated by quotations. 
As to the book and the facts. The writer found it in his 
way to visit the author of “ Ten Acres Enough,” at his 
house, and is satisfied that while a spice of romance runs 
through the book, and what actually was, is curiously 
mingled with what might have been, the author has re¬ 
corded much valuable personal experience upon a farm 
of the size he represents, upon which he still employs 
much of his time, and has worked in the results of many 
practical observations upon the well tilled lands of his 
neighbors. Such records are always valuable, and in 
this book they are put in a very readable form. 
The Patient’s and Physician’s Aid. 
By E. M. Hunt, M. D. Saxton of New York publishes 
a clever manual of 365 pages with the above title. It is 
not often that we commend popular medical works, but 
this one seems an exception to the usual run. Its direc¬ 
tions are plainly given and set forth what can.safely be 
done without a physician, and indicates how intelligent 
aid can be given to one who is called in. Price $1.25. 
Book of Fruits. Many Inquirers. Down¬ 
ing’s Fruits and Fruit Trees of America is the standard 
work on the subject and is one which will probably not 
* be superseded in a long time. It contains besides the 
descriptions, outlines showing the form of many of the 
varieties. It is a work of over 700 pages and is sent by 
mail for $2.00. The best work on propagation of fruit 
trees, and nursery and orchard management is Barry’s 
Fruit Garden. Price 1.50. 
New York Ove Stock Markets.— 
The weekly receipts of Cattle for the last month, ending 
May 10th, average 4,152. Prices have ruled higher 
than for any time for years. The market opened on 
April 12th, with an advance of 1c. per lb., Premium 
bullocks selling at 17c.@17#c. dressed weight; Medium 
to Prime, 14Kc.®16Jc.; Coarse oxen readily brought 14c. 
Average of all sales, 15c. These quotations were sus¬ 
tained at the last market—Cows.—The weekly receipts 
average 164. The demand for good cows is quick, and 
they a: » . eld at high figures , the best cows selling at $75 
@90 ; l:.ir to good ones at $45®$60 ; common at $35®$40. 
_Veal Calves. —Choice veals bring at this date, 9c. 
per lb., live weight; poor, light ones, from 5c.®6c. 
Sheep and Lambs.—The. weekly arrivals of sheep average 
9,190. The )'ices run high. The best wool-sheep are 
worth this v ek about 10%c. per lb., live weight; Poor 
lots 10>ic.; horn sheep rate 6%c.(@8e.; Lambs were 
selling at ■ '®$7 Pelts have declined 50 cents. 
Live Hogs. The weekly average receipts are 11,771. 
The Increased arrivals of the last two weeks have de¬ 
pressed the market, and prices have declined. Prime 
corn-fed sell at ; still fed hogs, 7%c.®8c. 
A Note from Mr. Judd. 
Hospital Camps, 
Belle. Plain , Va„ May 11, ’64. 
Please put the June Agriculturist to press with¬ 
out looking for any help from me. I have been 
here thirty hours, and what hours—an age con¬ 
centrated into a single day. I know not how 
many thousands of wounded men have gather¬ 
ed here from the battle fields, a little distance 
West, South-west, and West. It has been our 
pleasure to receive these men as they came in 
to be forwarded to Washington, and relieve 
their thirst and hunger with coffee, stimulants, 
etc., to furnish clean clothing to the blood-soak¬ 
ed, cratches to the crippled, and say words of 
cheer.-Now we start for a night walk of 8 
miles toward the battle field which is moving 
southward, where we shall find those unable to 
ride here. Along with us go a long line of 
teams, filled with stores from the U. S. Sanitary 
Commission, which we go to distribute.—Tell 
the contributors to the Agriculturist fund, and 
others, that every dollar they have sent is doing 
a world of good.—I can not stop to describe, 
but must prepare for our march. We have 
brought along 140 tons to distribute. O. JUDD. 
(Additional.) 
Fredericksburg, Va., near Midnight, 
May l\th, 1864. 
If I had previously any doubts respecting the 
future punishment of the wicked, those doubts 
would have been removed by what I have this 
day witnessed. What amount of torture, hang¬ 
ing, or death could sufficiently punish those am¬ 
bitious leaders who brought about this terrible 
war. The scenes of suffering are utterly inde¬ 
scribable. In order to load our Sanitary wag¬ 
ons with the last possible ounce of supplies, 
some forty of us started on foot and made a 
weary march of nearly a dozen miles this P.M., 
to this point, part of the way in drenching rain, 
and a hail storm. At least half of the road was 
filled with wounded men on foot, and hundreds 
of army wagons containing four to six men 
each. All of these men were pierced with bul¬ 
lets in some part of the body. Fortunately, 
most of these wounds are not fatal, but they are 
sources of pain and suffering, more or less severe. 
About half of these wounded men were able to 
walk in from the battle field, and thence to 
Belle Plain, where they take steamers to Wash¬ 
ington. The other half were carried in wagons, 
some of them with broken limbs, and many 
others pierced in through various parts. But 
here, in Fredericksburgh, and in the Camps in 
the woods, are lying terribly maimed and shat¬ 
tered human forms. Almost every house, church, 
and other building, is a hospital. But I will 
not dwell on this scene. One word as to what 
is being done by the Sanitary Commission— 
with the money contributed through its fairs, 
through the “ Agriculturist Sanitary Fund,” and 
other channels. Part of our force remained 
at Belle Plain, to supply every man coming in 
with, first a cup of good warm coffee, with good 
sugar, and condensed milk (of which we brought 
down a ton in pint cans); then with soft bread 
and crackers; then with crutches where needed, 
cups, clean garments in the place of their own 
blood-soaked, dirt-soiled, habiliments, and with 
stimulants, delicacies, etc., etc. Oh 1 it was a 
blessed work to hand out these comforts and to 
have a steamboat of 140 tuns ! loaded down 
with them, to go to, and other loads coming. I 
can assure every one who contributed a dollar, 
or a dime even, that the things purchased with 
the money are adding greatly to the comfort of 
our faint, weary, wounded sons and brothers. 
I wish every one could participate in the blessed 
work of giving these things directly into their 
hands. How universal was the kindly feeling. 
Said one to me—as I offered him a cup of cof¬ 
fee (cooked in the large kettles hung on a pole 
in the woods, over a brush fire): “I am dry 
and hungry, having walked 10 miles without 
food or drink, but yonder are soldiers in those 
wagons worse than me, go help them first," and ' 
what he said almost every one else said. There 
was no selfishness any where shown. God bless 
the noble men_Here wc have brought in ad¬ 
dition to the above, farina, canned meats and 
fruits, etc., and after a little sleep we shall be¬ 
gin our labors. The cannon’s boom, and the 
rattle of small arms through the day, at a little 
distance south of us, and the rattle of long 
lines of ambulances arriving, indicate that the 
work of carnage goes on... .This is the longest 
and hardest day’s work I have ever done—and 
the most grateful one—but I am scarcely weary. 
I go to sleep now, wet, but wrapped in a blank¬ 
et on the floor—only because my judgment 
tells me it is essential. I have not put off my 
garments since last Saturday, and do not expect 
to for days to come. O. J. 
Which is the Best Mower ? 
Do we know ? Of course we think we do— 
but may we not be wrong? We beg the 
readers of the American Agricultwrist to consider 
what the effect would be, if we were to tell 
what mower, or reaper, or horse fork, or hay 
cutter, or horse power or plow we really think 
the best—of course supporting the opinion by 
facts and reasons. We should not only run 
counter to the convictions of a hundred of re¬ 
spectable parties and their agents all over the 
country, each of whom thinks his own, or his 
favorite machine best—but we should cause a 
demand for the machines recommended, which 
the makers could not begin to supply. For even 
now they have more than they can do. We 
should prevent many of our readers getting any 
machine at all, perhaps, because they would 
hope to get the best, and in this they would 
probably fail. In addition to all this, we should 
lose credit with multitudes of our readers, be¬ 
cause a great many of them use very good ma¬ 
chines, which they think are best—and each 
has some peculiarity in which it is perhaps 
superior to most or all others. So all those 
with whom we did not agree would think we 
really did not know which was the best machine. 
So, as it would only be productive of harm if 
the opinions of the Agriculturist were expressed, 
we are content to advise our readers to investi¬ 
gate for themselves and act up to the light they 
have. The editors cannot even “privately” ex¬ 
press their opinion or give their advice about 
these matters, as constantly besought to do. 
