American agriculturist. 
1869.] 
tainly cheaper than four at the latter figure. A special 
feature in our columns is the fact that medical, humbug, 
deceptive, and unreliable advertisers, are rigidly exclud¬ 
ed. This is understood by the readers, being frequently 
and prominently stated. Customers are not afraid to 
send cash orders to persons admitted here, and the uni¬ 
versal testimony of advertisers admitted is, that this fact 
alone makes this paper the most valuable for their pur¬ 
pose. Good, reliable advertisers are welcome to the 
benefit of these facts ; none others need apply. 
Special IPremvaiiwa.—TTJae Eauticlaii 
Grape. —This remarkable grape is now attracting much 
attention, being a beautiful black grape of the first 
quality, and ripening Some time before the Delaware. It 
has already been planted in many different sections of 
the country, from the Atlantic to west of the Mississippi, 
and the promises of its success are most flattering. It 
has proved, generally, vigorous and hardy. The quality 
of the fruit is, in our judgment, as good as any variety 
with which we are familiar, except it be the Iona. It has 
taken the highest premium for quality at many exhibi¬ 
tions this fall. "We are convinced that this grape is 
worthy of general trial, and we shall take much interest 
in seeing its true merit developed. We have made ar¬ 
rangements with Messrs. Hasbrouclc & Bushnell, of Iona, 
near Peekskill, N. Y., who have the original stock of the 
vines, and a very superior stock of the young plants, to 
furnish us a limited number of No. 1, and extra vines, 
for the purpose of offering them as premiums , and we give 
our subscribers the benefit of our large purchase by fur¬ 
nishing the vines as premiums at the lowest rate per 
thousand. We will furnish the American Agriculturist, 
with Eumelan vines, as follows: 
1 copy for one year and 1 No. 1. Eumelan vine for $2.50 
4 d* « “ “ “ q “ “ “ “ 9.00 
10 “ “ “ 11 “ 10 “ “ “ “ 22.00 
20 “ “ “ “ “ 20 “ “ “ “ 40.00 
To parties desiring an extra quality of vine , we will 
furnish 
1 copy for one year and 1 Extra Eumelan vine for $3.25 
4 “ “ “ “ “ 4 “ “ “ “ 12.00 
10 “ l> “ “ “ 10 “ “ “ “ 29.50 
20 “ ’■ “ “ “ 20 “ “ “ “ 55.00 
These vines will be of really No. 1 and extra quality, 
and will be sent by mail, postage paid, or boxed, by ex¬ 
press, the receiver paying express charges only. Orders 
received too late for sending this fall will be entered, 
and the vines forwarded as soon as it is safe in the spring. 
Oscei’Isag' f8.ej»or4s come in from all parts 
of our great farm—the “Universal Yankee nation,” the 
Dominion, and the lands beyond the oceans—in the form 
of large lists of actual and promised new subscribers for 
the coming year. The Editors are stimulated to increased 
effort, and the Publishers ditto. We mean to make a 
paper useful to all, profitable to all, interesting to all, 
and we hope to have everybody, and his wife, and his 
children, read it. The Publishers hold out inducements, 
on pages 400 and 401, worthy of general and individual 
attention. All new subscribers received now get the 
benefit of an extra month free. See page 398. 
Agricultural Qualitative asi«l 
Quantitative Chemical Analysis, after E. 
Wolff', Fresenius, Krocker, and others. Edited by G. C. 
Caldwell, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry in the Cor¬ 
nell Univej-sity. Pp300. New York: Orange Judd & 
Company. In this work Prof. Caldwell has brought to¬ 
gether the processes of analysis which apply especially to 
soils, fertilizers, animals and plants, and their products. 
He has tested the methods of the best foreign authorities, 
and presented them, with matter of his own, in a compact 
hand-book. Such a work has long been needed by all 
who teach agricultural chemistry, and by analytical chem¬ 
ists generally. The establishment of numerous agricul¬ 
tural colleges throughout the country demands text books 
suited to their wants, and we are glad to supply one which 
will be so welcome as the present one. Price $2.00. 
A IPrerniiioai ISaill Talces a 
mium. —Mr. Peter W. Myer, Saugerties, N. Y., writes: 
“ Thinking that it may be of interest to you to hear from 
some of the premium articles sent out by you last year 
for subscribers to your paper, I have the pleasure of an¬ 
nouncing that the Jersey Bull, ‘ Ticonderoga,’ I received 
of yon last spring has taken the first premium at the 
Ulster County Fair, held September 22d, 23d, and 24th. I 
have also a two-year-old heifer which took the first pre¬ 
mium. I was obliged to compete witli all others, and 
upon recommendation of the judges as being ‘ very fine 
specimens of Alderneys,’ a special premium was award¬ 
ed to my stock. ‘ Ticonderoga ’ has grown to be a fine 
animal, and will compare favorably with a bull of any 
other breed. His color is now black, with a beautiful 
amber band running down his back. Mine were the 
only Alderneys ever exhibited at the Ulster Co. Fair, and 
excited about as much curiosity there, as well as at home, 
as Tim Bunker’s Jerseys did.” 
TTIae ’Weather and the Crops.—Our 
rather extensive correspondence at this season enables us 
to estimate approximately the condition of the crops, es¬ 
pecially taken in connection with the crop and weather 
reports of the Agricultural Department. The inordinate 
rains which almost deluged a good part of the Missis¬ 
sippi Valley had comparatively little influence upon the 
wheat crops. Summer wheat suffered most, but, as a 
whole, the crop is good in quality and large as to yield. 
Barley and Oats, so far as we can judge, are above aver¬ 
age in botli yield and quality. The crop of Oats is espe¬ 
cially large, and the trials made with the Norway cause 
a general enthusiasm in regard to it,. Potatoes have been 
damaged by the drought along the Atlantic coast, espe¬ 
cially south of New York, but benefited by the rains, we 
should judge, west of the Alleghanies. At the East the 
quality of several sorts, almost discarded from the markets 
last year, is this year above medium, or even excellent. 
We presume the reverse will he found true where the 
rains have prevailed. The oorn crop has been completely 
under the ban of the weather, and our great cereal this 
year is a failure to the extent of not less than one-third 
the usual crop. Along the entire Atlantic seaboard back 
fully 300 miles from the coast the drought was very severe 
upon it; in Ohio, Indiana, and parts of Illinois, the crop 
is fair. Farther west the rains damaged the crop, and ren¬ 
dered tillage and weeding impossible ; hut still farther 
westward the rain was favorable, and great crops are 
reported from Nebraska, Kansas, and Arkansas. In re¬ 
gard to sorghum we have few estimates, and our readers 
seem not to he especially devoted to the tobacco crop, for 
its prospects are rarely reported. However, we believe 
the general estimates of both crops are favorable to an 
average yield. Mr. Dodge, the statistician of the Agri¬ 
cultural Department, estimates the cotton crop this year 
at 2,750,000 bales. The rains have come at the east and 
south with power and frequency. Fall pasturage is 
thereby greatly improved, and farmers have done with 
feeding hay for the present. The amount of hay gathered 
and well cured is above the average, but the shortness of 
the corn crop and the high price which thdt of a good 
quality bears makes hay high wherever there is a market. 
Fattening' and Marketing I'ouU 
try.— There is an item on Feeding and Marketing Fowls 
in the Hints about Work on page 399, to which reference 
is made in the following paragraph : Turkeys for fatten¬ 
ing may be treated much like fowls. They must have 
very clean coops, and plenty of fresh air. It is well to 
put charcoal in their feed. The addition of a portion of 
fresh, chopped beef suet hastens the fattening. Feed no 
pork scraps within ten days of killing time. It makes 
the fat soft, and is apt to give an oily look. Ducks. —For 
our own table it is well worth while to feed with meal 
in which chopped celery leaves are pretty liberally min¬ 
gled. Get the ducks in the habit of coming to the call, 
then feed them as often as you can—certainly once in two 
hours. They will do much better than if confined, and 
fatten very rapidly. It will pay to buy young live ducks 
and feed them for table use, if not for market. In feed¬ 
ing, have a basin of water close at hand, and feed late at 
night and early in the morning. Geese should be confined 
for fattening, fed often, and on rich feed, have fresh 
water, and be kept clean. 
of 5,ig’ht ISraInnas.—J. W. 
Warner. The points of Light Brahmas, as regards 
plumage, are briefly these: The feathers are prevailingly 
white, except those of the tail and the flight feathers at 
the extremities of the wings. The hackle, @r feathers of 
the neck, are each tipped with black, forming a sort of 
arrow-head penciling, which should be very bright and 
clear. The exterior of the “ fluff,” or the downy feathers 
which cover much of the body, must be pure white, but 
within it may be smoky. The yellow legs must be 
feathered to the toes, that is to the end of the outside, 
and, if possible, of the middle toes. The feathers need 
not be perfectly white, but no other colored feathers but 
white and black (or gray on the legs) are admissible. 
Yellow on the cock is bad, and brown or gray on the 
back, or dark feathers anywhere, except where stated, are 
inadmissible in show coops. 
A SoMtJiepner’s Impression of 
Northern Farming.—An intelligent gentleman 
from South Carolina has been visiting some New York 
farms. We extract the following from a private note re¬ 
ceived after his return home. He called on the author of 
Walks and Talks, “whom we found just such a gentle¬ 
man and farmer as was to be expected. With him we 
spent a very pleasant, and I hope not altogether unprofit¬ 
able day, in seeing and discussing farming in that beauti¬ 
ful country, and the next day came as far as Lake Geneva, 
408 
where we saw Mr. Sheldon’s magnificent herd of cattle 
and their almost marble halls—the finest herd, his neigh¬ 
bors say, in the world, and we were not disposed to deny 
it after seeing their broad backs; but it Was not until we 
were many miles away that it occurred to me to ask if 
anybody ever tastes the tenderloin of cattle which Seli 
for several thousand dollars apiece. ,* * * In two 
matters I was disappointed in Yankee farming,—that in 
spite of all that has been written and said about the 
preparation and saving of manure, so many of your farm¬ 
ers should expose their stable manure to the deteriorat¬ 
ing influence of sun and rain. And in the second place 
that the profits of farming should be so small. What 
makes your people so crazy to buy land at $150 per acre, 
which will produce about $40 worth of wheat, when there 
are thousands of acres of cotton land to be had at $10 per 
acre, which, with a little manure, will yield from $75 to 
$100 worth of cotton per acre ?” 
Sundry Mitmahiig's.—While in a flourish¬ 
ing city at the West, recently, an agent of one of our 
leading Express Companies informed us that humbug 
boxes and parcels are still coming to his office for many 
persons, some of whom pass for men of considerable in¬ 
telligence. Occasionally one of these boxes is opened at 
the office by the recipient. The last one opened was 
stuffed with hay and old newspapers, hut at the bottom 
was a small photograph of U. S. Bills, a "fac simile," so 
called. It cost the recipient $15, and was not worth 
three cents, as a picture even. We 'were happy to learn 
from him that since a large premium club of subscribers 
to the American Agriculturist was made up there, the 
humbug parcels received had decreased from about 20 a 
week to less than 3 a week—a saving of more than $100 
per week to the people there. This is the case, on a larger 
or smaller scale, wherever this Journal is thoroughly in¬ 
troduced. In every town it has gone into it has saved 
to the inhabitants many times the entire subscription 
money. Let it be scattered more widely still. The hum¬ 
bug fraternity are shrewd fellows, who will by new dodges 
and schemes continue to operate among the ignorant, 
non-reading class. The occasional newspaper paragraphs 
are not sufficient to set a community on guard... .An 
explanation will answer sundry inquiries, and he useful 
otherwise. First, then, let it be understood that the 
name and P. O. address of nearly every man having a 
fixed residence in the United States is recorded on one 
or more lists in this city. These lists include also the 
names of many ladies, and of young men and wom¬ 
en, from the age of 10 or 12 years upwards. They have 
been gathered from time to time, from postmasters or 
their clerks, and from numerous other parties, usually 
under some specious plea, such as a desire to send circu¬ 
lars of a valuable invention, or by paying so much 
per hundred for their names. They are gathered from 
newspapers, from reports of Societies, premium awards, 
at fairs, etc. etc. Parties have offered to sell us the name 
and address of each of 500,000 farmers, for example. We 
heard of one swindler who had sent out 1,200,000 circu¬ 
lars to that number of parties. A humbug operator pur¬ 
chases a copy of say 200,000 of these names, probably 
yours among them, reader. He then gets up a very 
plausible scheme, such as we have so often described, 
and sends out his circulars. If well got up, a sufficient 
number of persons will respond to make his operations 
successful. For example, he gets a lot of cheap watches, 
costing $2 to $4 each, but so stamped and silvered 
gilded, as to make them look to be worth $10 or $20 to 
$100. These, under one plea or another, he works off, 
getting $10 or $12 each, so that if one person in a hundred 
responds, he makes a large profit above the cost of circu¬ 
lars and postage. A more frequent plan is to make no 
response at all, but to pocket the whole money received. 
During our past investigations we have purchased several 
of these watches, but never yet found one worth three 
cents as a reliable or even passable time-keeper. As 
soon as one scheme gets to be too well known, the 
operator starts a new one, assuming a different name 
himself; then another scheme and name is assumed, and 
so on. Two operators have each worked thirty or forty 
schemes, at least. Several hundreds of schemes we 
have shown up in this city have been run by a very 
few operators — Todd, nubbard, ete., under various 
aliases. We append a few examples_“The Great 
Trade Improvement Association.” so called, is flooding 
the country with its very attractive circulars, which are 
well calculated to catch the unwary. “Engravings” are 
soldat50c. each, withagreatdiscountandgreatpremiums 
promised to those who will help catch the greenhorns. 
A chance at plenty of watches, etc., said to be worth nil 
the way from $10 to $750, is promised to buyers of en¬ 
gravings. As the fools and simple-minded people are not 
all dead yet, Michelin & Co. will probably do a large 
business among the class who don’t read the Agriculturist 
or the Mail. If any of our readers invest, don’t tell us 
about it, for we prefer to believe they are all too intelli¬ 
gent to do so.... J. M. Blake and Co. A large number of 
letters have been forwarded to us, of which the following 
