1865.] 
AMERICAN ACRIOULTURIST, 
5 
Veimont: Burlington, Montpelier, Kutland.-3Ia.ssa.- 
chusetts s Boston, Fall Kiver, Lowell, Lynn. Pittsfield, Sa¬ 
lem. - Connecticut : Bridgeport, Hartford, New Haven, 
New London.- Rhode Islund s Newport, Providence. 
- New York s Aibany, Albion. Auburn, Bingliampton, 
Brooklyn, Bufl'alo, Elmira, Hudson, Lockport, Newburg. 
New York City, Norwich, Ogdensburg, Oswego, Plattsburg, 
Poughkeepsie, Rochester, Saratoga Springs, Syracuse, Troy, 
Utica, Watertown.- New Jersey : Jersey City, Newark, 
Trenton.- Pennsylvania : Easton, Erie, Harrisburg 
Honesdale, Johnstown, Lewiston, Meadville, Newcastle, 
Philadelphia, Pittsburg, Pottsville, Reading, Scranton, Wil¬ 
liamsport.- Delaware ! Wilmington.- Maryland s 
Annapolis, Baltimore, Cumberland, Frederick. -D. C. s 
Washington.- South Carolina! Port Royal.- Vir¬ 
ginia s Alexandria, Norfolk, Old Point Comfort.- West 
Virginia ! Wheeling.- Ohio : Cliillicothe, Cincinnati, 
Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Lima, Marietta, Portsmouth, 
Sandusky, Toledo, Urbana, Wooster, Xenia, Zanesville.- 
Indiana : Evansville, Fort Wayne.Indianapolis, Lafayette, 
Madison, Terre Haute, Vincennes.- Michigan ; Detroit, 
Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Lansing.- Wisconsin : Be¬ 
loit, La Crosse, Madison, Milwaukee. Racine, Sheboygan.- 
Illinois : Alton, Bloomington, Cairo, Chicago, Elgin, Free¬ 
port, Galena, Ottawa, Peoria, Quincy, Rockford, Rock Island, 
Springfield.- Kentucky : Lexington, Louisville.- 
Tennessee ! Chattanooga, Memphis, Nashville.- Mis¬ 
sissippi : Vicksburg.- houisiana i New Orleans.- 
Missouri : St. Louis.- Iowa : Burlington, Davenport, 
Dosmoines, Dubuque, Keokuk, Muscatine.- Minnesota : 
Red Wing, St. Paul, Winona. 
Coal Tar ibr Stakes and Isabels.— 
Slakes used in nursery rows, or for labeling plants in 
general, will by clipping the portion which enters the soil 
in coal tar, last four times as long as if not so prepared. 
Where to Toeate. —Among the difficult 
and almost unanswerable questions addressed to the 
American Agriculturist, are those of which the following 
is a specimen : “ Will you give your opinion as to which 
is tlie best place for raising small fruit. New Jersey or 
Delaware ?” We have before stated our inability to give 
definite replies to such questions, but they continue to 
come. In reference to the question above quoted, the 
clioice would depend mainly upon one’s object. If he 
wislies to raise early fruit for the New York and Phila¬ 
delphia markets, he would naturally look towards Dela- 
There is an abundance of land in both Delaware 
od New Jersey adapted to small fruit-growing, and one 
should first determine what market he intends to supply, 
and then locate with reference to marketing facilities. 
A few days of personal observalion will be of great 
value to a person about to engage in such an enterprise. 
Ciand Advertisements.— This class of 
business notices we admit with less strictness of investi¬ 
gation than almost any other, because it is not supposed 
that any one will buy a landed property without full per¬ 
sonal investigation. Sometimes such .advertisements may 
lead to needless traveling, but we always advise a man 
seeking a permanent homestead to visit a number of 
different points before deciding where he will finally settle 
down. The time and money thus exapnded will be 
fully saved in the long run, not only in securing a belter 
location and better land, hut in acquiring a knowledge of 
soil culture generally. Several New Jersey tracts are 
from lime to time advertised. Concerning them, we have 
received a great variety of letters: some, who would 
seem to be good judges, speak of them in high praise, 
while others condemn them in unmeasured terms. We 
nave long intended to give several of these tracts a thor- 
ougli personal examination, but, so far, one thing and an- 
otlier has come up to interfere with the project. 
A Government Ag-ricnltnra.1 Edi¬ 
tor,— The wife of one of a firm celebrated for black¬ 
ing making boasted of keeping a poet; so may the De¬ 
partment of Agriculture pride itself on keeping an edi¬ 
tor—or at least some person whose business it is to en¬ 
gineer the agricultural press in its interests. We have re¬ 
ceived, under the fr.ank of the Department, a “notice"’ of 
tlie Reportof 1863,alt nicely made to our hands by the Gov¬ 
ernment scribe. As we happen to prefer to write our own 
notices—having one already in type when this official one 
came—we decline the kind offer. Has the Department so 
little confidence in its claims upon the favorable consid¬ 
eration of the press, that it must keep some one on hand 
to manufacture opinions for it ? As we help pay for this 
Agricultural Department, we reserve to ourselves the 
right to commend or censure, as its acts may demand, 
and as a tax payer, we object to the employment of a 
Washington correspondent at public expense. Judging 
trom t'ne signature, we find the same ready writer ap¬ 
pears in the Prairie Farmer, in an article which sets 
forth the wonderful mental and physical qualities of the 
head of the Department, in a style romantic and peculiar. 
The whole article is so funny that we regret we have 
not room for it. We can give only an extract: “ At nine 
A. M., the Commissioner and his corps of clerks are at 
their desks. A page has placed before the Commissioner 
a pile of five hundred letters, more or less ; tlieseare all 
opened and read by him, contents noted and immediately 
.sent to the clerk in whose department they properly be¬ 
long. Half an hour after, the string of daily visits com¬ 
mences—some to form his agreeable acquaintance, others 
for office, some for employment at putting up seeds, again 
a petition desiring his signature, then a subscription list 
for some charitable nurpose, now an old friend claims re¬ 
cognition.’’ Now ji-e think we know something about 
opening letters, and have some clerks wlio are rather 
quick at the business, but 500 letters in half an liour 
is ratlier rapid work. It is over 16 a minute, and gives 
nearly four seconds , ch. This is quick opening, but 
w hen we consider that they are at the same time “ read 
and the contents noted,’’ it becomes something super¬ 
human. Well may tlie writer add, “None but one of 
great strength of both body and mind could persevere 
under such a lierculean task”—to which we say, “just so.” 
Original ConuBKlrmin.—When is an edi¬ 
tor like a greedy swine? Ans. When he steals from others’ 
pens. Exchanges who take articles florn the American 
Agriculturist without giving any credit, will please copy. 
A Bad Case. — A friend in Connecticut has 
sent us a circular of a so-called “Purchasing Agency” 
in New York, of a cliaracler loo indecent to particular¬ 
ize. Were we to expose the swindler by name it would 
only give him a wide advertising, which would just suit 
him. He is lost to shame, and tlie best we can do in tlie 
case is to hand the vile circular to tlie Chief of Police. 
'%VBiat Is tlie Best Blorse Boole ?— 
We are often asked, and many times have answered, 
that for general use. for indicating the principles which 
should guide any one in breeding, buying, training and 
using horses, “ Herbert's Hints to Horse-keepers'" stands 
unrivaled among American books. “ Mayhem's Horse 
Management " and “ Doctor." are very English, but con¬ 
tain a vast deal of value to all horsemen, mixed with 
more or less w hicli is of little use to American farmers. 
The BJotton S®lin,iites*'’s This 
work, by J. A. Turner, was the first, and we believe the 
only work published on ttie culture of cotton. In view 
of the fact lliat many persons w ho liave had no previous 
experience in cotton grow ing, are engaging in this branch 
of Agriculture, a new edition of tliis work is publish¬ 
ed to meet a growing demand. Aside from tlie 
author’s ow n expel ienoe, tlie work embodies essays and 
letters from several other cultivators, and contaiss a 
great deal of useful and interesting information. 
Bailway Accicleaits im Great Brit¬ 
ain.— The London Arlizan states that in 1861, 79 pas¬ 
sengers were killed and 789 injured by railway .accidents 
in the United Kingdom ; in 1862, on an increased number 
of lines, 35 were killed, 536 injured; 1863, with still more 
numerous lines, 35 were killed, and 401 injured. These 
matters are managed differently in the United State.s, 
where as with other enterprises the slaughter of rail¬ 
road passengers is conducted on a magnificent scale. 
Cheese Maimlactt»rer’s Assoeia> 
tion.— The second annual meeting of the New York 
State C. M. A. is announced to take place at the City 
Hall of Utica, January 11th and 12th instant. In addi¬ 
tion to the regular business, it is proposed to discuss the 
following important topics :—Improved Methods of 
Cheese Manufacture ; Best Manner of Marketing Cheese, 
wliether direct or through middle men ; A Uniform Rate 
of Cheese Manufacture for 1865; The Best Manner of 
Organizing Factories, whether by private enterprise, by 
corporations, or otherwise : Best Breed of Cows for the 
Dairy ; Summer and "Winter Management of Milch Cows, 
etc., etc. There should be a full attendance of dairymen. 
BRi*nitm^<4 Amci'ican Mii<«eia.m.— 
Strangers in the city have asked ns tlie queslion, “ Shall 
we go to Barnum’s ?” “ Will it pay ?” Our answer has 
been, and is, “Yes.” The Museum contains a large 
and rare collection of curiosities, to which Mr. 
Barnum is continually adding from every quarter of the 
globe, and from every kingdom of nature—giants and 
dwarfs, fat people and lean ones, whales, minnows, and 
queer fish, birds of many featliers, animals, minerals, 
specimens of the oldest, and the most beautiful produc¬ 
tions : but it would require a book to enumerate them. 
There is enough to please, instruct, exercise and gratify 
curiosity, to repay for many hours of careful examination, 
A $25 Bollar Tsirmer’s lill»rary.— 
We are often asked to recommend a greater or less num¬ 
ber of books, for a Farmer’s Library. Our book list, 
(page 29,) is kept standing to answer such queries. Here 
is a list just made up for one who desires us to select 
from available books an assortment for $25: American 
Farm Book ; American Weeds and Plants : Allen’s Rural 
Architecture ; Barry’s Fruit Garden ; Bement’s Poultry ; 
Dadd’s Horse Doctor ; Frencii’s Farm Drainage ; Flint 
on Grasses : Flint on Milcli Cows; Fuller's Grape Cul- 
turist; Fuller’s Strawberry Culture ; Herbert’s Hints to 
Horsekeepers ; Langstrolli or Qninbvon Bees ; Our Farm 
of Four Acres (bound edition) ; Onion Culture : Tobacco 
Culture (if wanted) ; Todd’s Young Farmer’s Manual, 
Youatt on the Hog; Sheplierd’s Own Book; Watson’s 
Home Garden ; Youman’s Hou.^ehold Science. This list 
comprises a variety on different topics, which would 
make a good foundation for a library, and be of far more 
value tlian any other permanent investment of $25. The 
retail price, or if sent by mail, amounts to about $30; but 
a lot like this, taken togetiier and sent by express, could 
be furnished for $25. Ten dollars more added, for Down¬ 
ing’s Fruits and Fruit Trees of America ; Bridgeman’s 
Young Gardener’s A.ssislant; Buisl’s Flower Garden Di¬ 
rectory ; Quinby or Langstroth on Bees; Goodale’s Prin¬ 
ciples of Breeding ; Youatt and Martin on Cattle ; Thom¬ 
son’s Food of Animals, and Tucker’s Annual Register, 
would malte tlie list still better, and more complete. 
Thirty-five dollars in good books, placed before a son, 
would be of infinitely more value to him. than if laid up 
to be left to liim by will, or put into an extra acre of land 
for him in the future. 
Badil’s Horse B>oct©r. —We knotv of 
no better book for the price, as a guide to anyone who 
must himself treat his horses for those ailments and acci¬ 
dents to which all liorses are liable. It is adapted to pop¬ 
ular use, and lias given general satisfaction. Price $1.50. 
Tl»e B^ar»Bser’s Bsimial. — We often fell 
tlie need of a hand-book of practical rneclianical opera¬ 
tions on the farm, and in tlie tool shop, before “ Todd’s 
Young Farmer’s Manual” supplied the want. Do you 
want to know liow to buy an axe and hang it ? Would 
you like to “ post” your.self as to how to examine and 
judge of various kinds of tools, how to frame a shed or 
barn, how to select a grindstone, hang a gate, make a 
fence, plain or ornamental, of wood, stone or wire, temper 
edge tools, survey a lot, lay out the site for a house, or 
plot a field for plowing ? Tliese tilings are all explained, 
and a great deal more, with numerous good illusirations, 
ill ihe volume above named. Price $1.50. 
BSceping" — This pleasant and in- 
slructive employment for young folks may be made 
more agreeable, perhaps, more profitable too, by greatej 
familiarity with tlie principles of breeding, varieties, dis¬ 
eases, and general management. “Bement’s Rabbit Fan¬ 
cier" furnislies mucii excellent information. Price 30 cts. 
Tlie Oliio Sorgliitm Assoeiatiou 
holds its annual meeting at Columbus, in the Hall above 
J. L. Gill & Son, Agricultural warehouse, on the 3rd of 
January. Samples of syrup and sugar will be exhibited. 
A Happy Group.— The more we study Mr. 
Nast’s beautiful sketch, on page 16, the more we enjoy 
it. Every toucli of the pencil speaks. The joyous greet¬ 
ing to the returning patriot, is not only exhibited by the 
whole family group, but the animals appear as if partici¬ 
pants—the dog, the poultry, the sheep—and even the 
sleek porker seems to be specially pleased. 
Evergreen aii«l oilier Tree Seeds.— 
Those who inquire where tree seeds can be had, will do 
well to notice that Mr. Thomas Meehan, of German¬ 
town, Pa., advertises several desirable sorts. We under¬ 
stand that Mr. M. has seeds of several of the rare Rocky 
Mt. evergreens. We fear he will not meet with much 
sale for these, as the seeds of all such things first go to 
Europe, and the plants return as high priced novelties. 
I®eIroleiiii* is a good thing. Its genera! in¬ 
troduction into com nerce just at the outbreak of the war 
may be considered Providential, as the immense export 
of the article has saved many millions of gold, and thus 
aided the country’s finances very materially. There are 
good companies in operation, but there are also so many 
more bogus ones, or those without a sound basis, that it 
is not safe for a man to invest in them, unless lie can go on 
the ground in person, or by a reliable proxy, and definite¬ 
ly ascertain where his money will be expended, and how. 
This was all we intended to intimaie last month—not to 
discourage enterprise in this direction, as .n few seem 
to suppose. As a rule, the most reliable companies say 
little to Ihe public—they think too much of their posses¬ 
sions to let others come in for a share of the profits. 
Timofliy Hay in Bo"W'a.—To show how 
false Ihe notion is that cultivated grasses will not make 
good crops of hay in Iowa, J. Rhode-s. of Marshall Co., 
assures us that he cut Timothy hay at the rate of 3Ji tone 
per acre for the fu st crop, and one ton tor tho second. 
