242 
[July, 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
had been victimized. This man Holman has no con¬ 
nection with the proprietors of Horsford’s patents, and 
all should beware of him. Western papers will do the 
public a favor by showing up Mr. A. G. Holman-A 
very successful swindle was recently perpetrated in N. 
Y. City. An auctioneer advertised the sale of a quantity 
of unclaimed parcels from the office of Adams’ Express 
Company. About two hundred of these packages were 
sold at prices ranging from $5 to $130. When the boxes 
and parcels were opened they were found to contain bricks, 
si ones, pieces of iron, old clothes, a sheep’s head, etc. Not 
one of the purchasers obtained anything of the slightest 
value. This buying of express and custom-house pack¬ 
ages, as the boys swap jack-knives, “on sight unseen,” 
is not rare in New York, and some sharper took advant¬ 
age of it to make a nice little sum. The authorities 
could give no redress in the case_Since the above with 
regard to Gumbridge & Co. was in type, we have re¬ 
ceived the following in relation to a similar concern, 
which we print in full. “Ithaca, III. Dear Sir:—You 
will please show this Company to be cheats, in your pa¬ 
per. I sent them $5.00 for counterfeit money, and they 
sent me these cards. If you know where I can get. some 
of the right kind I will payyou for it. Yours resp’y, 
James Tripp.”-Enclosed was a very neat card photo¬ 
graph of a $500 U. S. Treasury Note, and the following 
circular from Hunter & Co., Hinsdale, N. II. “Confi¬ 
dential.— J\fy Dear Sir: We have a large stock of ex¬ 
act copies of U. S. Treasury Notes on hand, made by men 
skilled in the art, which we desire immediately to dis¬ 
pose of, even if sacrificed. They are arranged in pack¬ 
ages, each representing over $500, in various denomina¬ 
tions, so accurate as to be a perfect fac-simile of the gen¬ 
uine U. S. Note. We will not sell a package for less than 
$15, upon receipt of which we will send it to you : or if 
you do not wish to trust us to this amount, we will send 
it to you on receipt of $5; the balance, $10, you can send 
to us as soon after you receive the package as possible. 
We trust partly to your honesty to do this, at the same 
time thinking that, as you will consider it to your inter¬ 
est to deal with us further, you will comply with our re¬ 
quest. After yon have ordered the package, any inform¬ 
ation we can afford will be cheerfully given. We 
would prefer to have the money sent by mail, registered, 
as it is less trouble, and saves both you and us the Ex¬ 
press charges. If you desire to avail yourself of this 
opportunity you must do so at once, and address us care¬ 
fully. Yon have our address. We offer special induce¬ 
ments to any one desirous of becoming our confidential 
Agent.”.Now, James Tripp, are you not ashamed 
of yourself? Yon went into a dishonest speculation and 
got sold, and then ask us to expose those who cheated 
you. The best we can say of you, is, that, you are a par¬ 
ticularly mean scoundrel, and we advise you to reform your 
shaky morals as fast as possible. If any other fools or 
scoundrels get caught, in a similar trap, don’t let them 
come whining to us for redress; our verdict will be 
“ sarve’d ’em right,” and we shall publish their names, 
on the principle that the receiver is as bad as the thief. 
If there were no one willing to buy what is represented 
to be counterfeit money, the trade of Gumbridge & Co., 
Hunter & Co., and others, would soon cease. 
itiny f»w,—“B. B. McKeage.” 
—Make two strong wooden frames that will go easily on 
the cow’s neck, and fasten them twelve to fourteen inch¬ 
es apart on her neck by rungs, like chair or ladder rungs, 
pinned into the frames. This she will have to wear until 
the habit is cured, and she will not be able to get her 
head round to her side for any purpose. 
Cure Tor S„iee on Cattle. — Joseph 
Graner, Oneida Co., N. Y. We have repeatedly recom¬ 
mended the carbolic acid soaps and compounds for the 
destruction of lice on cattle, and have used it for other 
animal parasites, and have yet to hear of a case where 
it was properly applied and failed to give satisfaction. 
The Smallest Calf.— Geo. F. Lnsell, of 
Fayetteville, N. Y., reports to the Agriculturist a calf 
dropped on the farm of John Bender, which, though but 
20 inches high and weighing 22 pounds, was as bright and 
sprightly as any calf. Is this a rare occurrence ? 
B'Vo<5iag Cows.—“A Boy Farmer” can 
find no one to tell him how much corn meal one can 
profitably feed a cow per day.-The answer depends 
upon whether the cow is being fattened or is kept, for 
milk. If fattening, she should be gradually accustomed 
to eat more and more, so long as she shows a sharp appe¬ 
tite. good health, and gains steadily. The amount a cow 
can and will eat depends much upon hersize. A large cow 
would probably eat half a bushel of meal a day for some 
time. It would never be profitable to feed a milch cow 
so much. Her feed should be increased until she shows 
a tendency to run too much to fat. This will vary with 
different cows on good pasturage, and may safely he put 
down as from 4 to 10 quarts per day. A bushel of Indian 
meal weighs 50 pounds by law, in most States. 
“Personal Knowledge.” — “West 
Va.” It is quite out of the question for us to name in 
the Agriculturist those breeders whose stock we think is 
the best or who are themselves the “most reliable with¬ 
in our personal knowledge.” It is a very delicate matter 
for ns to give this information personally, and it could 
not be done promiscuously without giving just grounds 
for offence. We may prefer one man’s hogs or sheep to 
another’s, and an equally good or better judge may take a 
different view. If we can help it, wo allow no inferior 
stock and nothing liable to deceive to be advertised in 
the Agriculturist. Therefore to our advertising pages we 
can confidently recommend our readers. 
Trouble li» niilliiug. — “T. M.,” of 
Marion, Iowa, writes: “ I have a cow whose milk, when 
I press the teats hard, flows out in a scattered stream, so 
that, unless I hold the bucket or cup very near, a good 
part of the milk is wasted. What can I do ? ’’—Examine 
the orifices of the teats carefully, and see if little warts 
or excrescences do not grow in them. If so, see how 
they can he removed. The trouble is probably just at the 
orifice, and we would not hesitate to attempt burning off 
the warts with lunar caustic, applied slightly moistened 
or in strong solution. The caustic would have to be ap¬ 
plied every few days until a cure was effected. 
BJime on Gypsum?—A correspondent 
asks which is the more beneficial to laud—lime or 
plaster in equal quantities. We will ask him which is 
the more valuable—a horse worth $200, or a wagon worth 
the same amount? The two articles are quite different 
in their nature and uses. 
ronerete Walls as Fences.— Concrete 
will make a good and lasting fence if well capped or 
finished off roof-shaped, to shed rain. We have seen 
such a wall that stood well through severe winters, but 
how it will stand on land very much moved by the frost, 
we cannot say. Perhaps some of our readers can. 
Clover willi Peas.—“E. M. M.,” Isle of 
Wight Co., Va., has seven acres in oats, which will be 
harvested before the middle of July; they will be fol¬ 
lowed immediately by black peas. The question is— 
“ Would it be risky to sow clover with the expectation 
of a stand next spring f” There will he n@ trouble un¬ 
less the pea crop is so heavy that the clover is smothered. 
The stand, next spring, will depend upon the richness of 
the land, however. On rich ground, clover sown in the 
spring will often make stand enough in the fall to cut a 
ton and a half to the acre. 
IEc<l Sorrel.— U. C. Rutter. — “The best, 
cheapest, speediest, and most effectual way of getting 
rid of red sorrel” is, without doubt, to put hoed crops 
on the land, and keep them very clean for several years 
before seeding down. Try plowing this fall, potatoes 
next year; fall plowing, and potatoes again; fall plow¬ 
ing again, and roots ; sugar beets, parsnips, or carrots, 
if the soil is deep enough, and well manured; fall 
plowing again, and spring grain, with clover and grass. 
“ Vi lie's New System.”—H. W. Mor¬ 
row, Richmond Co., Va., asks for our opinion of Pro 
fessor Ville’s new system.—Well, it is not new, though 
Professor Ville takes a little different view of the princi¬ 
ples and practice of good farming from that usually taken. 
We all know that ordinary land, if well supplied with his 
four elements of fertility, in connection with enough of 
humus or organic matter, will be very fertile for a long 
time, perhaps for thousands of years. Lime, potash, 
ammonia, and phosphoric acid, are the only ingredients 
of manures which have or have ever had a definite market 
value, and a certain agricultural value. Gypsum, salt, 
Glauber’s-salts,green vitriol.and many other materials,are 
sometimes useful upon land, or in manures, but they are 
often entirely neutral, and at times evil in their effects. 
Grass.— Luther Purdy, Holmes Co., Ohio, 
writes: “I have a small piece of ground that has lain in 
sod several years, and propose to sow it to buckwheat, 
then to rye for soiling, with grass and clover in the 
spring for permanent pasture. Do you think my plan a 
good one ? What kind of grass is the best ? The land is 
gravelly, with some sandstone on il, and on the side hill, 
and subject to wash with heavy rains.” The plan is not, 
a bad one, for you may manure quite heavily, if you will, 
for the permanent good of your pasture. Apply 2 or 3 
hundred-weight of bone-dust per acre, with the buck¬ 
wheat, if you can, and a compost containing hones and 
ashes, leached or unleached, with the rye. Sow Timothy, 
red-top and blue-grass with the rye, and both red and 
white clover in the spring. The Timothy and red clover 
will chiefly disappear in two or three years, while the 
blue-grass, red-top and white clover, with native grasses, 
will remain. It is difficult to state amounts, as it is all 
guess-work except as regards Timothy and clover. One 
pound of white clover is enough, for there is probably 
plenty of seed in the soil, and a few quarts of each of the 
fine grasses per acre would suffice, if evenly distributed. 
A ISoolc that is both Interesting' 
ami Highly Valuable is not one of the most 
common things, even in these days, when “ of making 
many books there is no end.” But such a book is “ How 
Crops Grow." by S. W. Johnson, Agricultural Professor 
in Yale College—who, by the way, was originally brought 
up a practical farmer in Northern New York, though he 
has devoted the past 20 or 25 years to the thorough study 
of the Science of Agriculture. A friend who bought this 
book (How Crops Grow) on our recommendation, told 
us two months ago, that he had read the first hundred 
pages and gave it up because he found it hard, dry read¬ 
ing, as he knew nothing of chemistry. We suggested 
that he turn to page 220 and read the following 150 pages 
first. He now reports that he has done so, and that he 
has found so much of interest and instruction that he 
would not take a hundred dollars for the book, if he could 
not get another. We throw out Ihis hint for the benefit 
of others. The 2d and 3d Divisions of the hook can be 
readily understood by those having no scientific knowl¬ 
edge, and by boys; and aside from the practical inform¬ 
ation afforded, there is a world of interest opened to 
occupy one’s thoughts while plodding on with his daily 
toil upon the farm. And those who read the second half 
of the book will be pretty sure to turn back and master 
the vast amount of information given in the first half. 
Altogether, this is one of the most valuable and thorough¬ 
ly prepared books of the year. We would advise every 
one to read it. The price is $2, which is very low, con¬ 
sidering the great number of engravings, and laborious 
preparation. It is sent by mail at the same price. For 
sale at this office, and by booksellers generally. 
Ha ve We si “ Spungiolc” among 
ns ?—We regret to see Dr. Hull, whom we esteem as one 
of our first horticulturists, making use of this obsolete 
word. In a report of the doings of the Alton (Ill.) Horti¬ 
cultural Society, he is put down as saying: “I believe I 
wrote the first paper showing that the Spongioles die as 
the leaves do, and how produced the next season. When 
the vine starts to grow, the little mouths spoken of will 
be found to open and shut like a valve, and, strange as it 
may appear, they only take up the food appropriate to 
them. ” We sincerely hope that Dr. II. has been incor¬ 
rectly reported, for we cannot conceive how one at all ac¬ 
quainted with the laws of vegetable growth could make 
such a statement. The word “ spongiole ” has long been 
discarded by vegetable physiologists as a name for some¬ 
thing which does not exist, and Dr. Hull in his lecture, 
before that remarkable Illinois Industrial University 
used it to express root hairs, which is entirely different 
from the original meaning. Dr. Hull has many excellent 
ideas, and his teachings are such as we are always pleas¬ 
ed to read; but we hope he will drop so ambiguous a 
word as “ spongioles,” and when he means root hairs or 
rootlets, say so. When he gives us any thing more on 
those mouths which “ open and shut like a valve,” won’t 
he please favor us with a drawing of them ? We should 
he glad to be the medium of presenting so remarkable a 
discovery m vegetable physiology to the public in general, 
and the scientific world in particular. 
Peas. — “A. B. T.,” Columbia, 
Conn., asks how to save seed peas and not have them 
buggy. In districts like yours where the pea weevil is 
abundant the only way is to plant a late crop which may 
escape mildew, but is more likely to be attacked by it. 
Our seed dealers have their seed peas raised far north, 
where the insect is not troublesome. 
Pondi’ctto. — New Use for OIil 
'Sli r:isli mg Ttladiincs. —“ G. A. P.,” of Sandy 
Hill, N. Y., hauls night-soil from the village and muck 
from the swamp and puts them in two adjacent piles; 
then, when sufficiently dry, sets his horse power and 
thrashing machine running and one man at each pile to 
shovel. The materials are thrown into the thrasher in 
about equal quantities, and the result is a most perfect 
commingling, and a fine article of poudrette which gives 
oil' no odor.—[N. B. The semi-liquid consistence of 
night-soil as usually obtained would essentially interfere 
with making a “pile” of it, but we conceive no diffi¬ 
culty in reconciling our correspondent’s statement with 
probabilities if the half fluid mass be confined at first by 
low banks of earth or muck, and thus exposed to evap¬ 
oration by the heat of the sun. This should be done at 
a distance from dwellings, or the mass should at first he 
partially dried and covered by a layer of dry swamp muck.] 
