1866.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
439 
that autumn, the prize was awarded to Doct. C. 
W. Grant, for the Iona. As but few kinds were 
offered in competition, on account of the short 
notice, Doct. Grant relinquished his claim to the 
prize and the matter was again thrown open. 
A new committee was appointed, which met in 
the fall of 1865, but adjourned for a year with¬ 
out making any aAvard. In September last, an¬ 
other exhibition was held, at wliich there u'as 
another competition for the prize, and on Octo¬ 
ber 27th, we find in an obscure corner of the 
Tribune an announcement of the award. The 
committee, after stating the grounds of their de¬ 
termination, give the prize to the Concord. Let 
us hope that we have seen the last attempt at 
selecting one varietj'-, of any kind of fruit, as the 
best for everybody, everywhere. It was tcell in¬ 
tended, but has produced more dissatisfaction 
Ilian can be offset by any good that will result. 
(3^ For other Household Items, see “ Basket ” pages.) 
holes as near the edge as you can and be sure to catch 
inside the running thread previously sewed in. 
Put yie needle in at the upper a, bringing it back 
at 6, in at a, back at c, and tie at a, as above. Re¬ 
peat the same at the 
lower three letters. 
This is all quickly 
done, and will leave 
the whole a strong 
book, with a back en¬ 
tirely elastic. The 
thread first sewed into 
the pairs will be caught 
by the through threads, 
and hold the whole 
lirmlj'. Let the thread 
be strong and doubled. 
—It is better stiil, to 
put strips of paste-board along the edges and sew 
through them iu the final binding. Or full sized 
paste-board covers may be fastened on iu the same 
wa 3 ^ A leather back may be added, and colored 
or fancy paper be pasted upon the paste-board, and 
over its edges. [Single numbers may be sewed as 
described for two, though this leaves the thread 
exposed at the backs. We print this year’s index 
and titie page seisarately, so that they can be readily 
placed in front of the volume iu binding.—E d.] 
To Housekeepers. —The high appreciation of 
this department of the paper, expressed by so many 
of our fair readers, leads us to lay out plans for in¬ 
creasing its value materially during the course of 
the next volume. The 8100 prize offered last 
month (p. 390), and other expenditures, the procur¬ 
ing of additional editorial aid in this department, 
and the devotion of more time to it, are among 
our plans for the future. We solicit abundant 
communications, and any number of questions 
about practical topics. We desire something be- 
j oud mere recipes, though, when good, a limited 
number of these are valuable. There are a mul¬ 
titude of interesting topics—those which occupy so 
much of the housekeeper’s thoughts, and are the 
source of so many anxieties—that ma}' be appro¬ 
priately talked over in these columns, such as cloth¬ 
ing, furniture, variety of food, care and health of 
children, etiquette, arrangement of the table, 
economical variety of food, etc., etc. If every 
housekeeper who, iu visiting, or in her own ex¬ 
perience, gets a new idea about the best mode of 
doing this or that, would note it down in simple 
plain words and send it to us, the probability is 
that the idea would be new and valuable to ten 
thousand others.—We are apt to think that what 
we now know well, is understood by everybody 
else. But multitudes of others are now just where 
we all were iu knowledge only a few years ago. 
Home-Binding of Papers, Pamphlets, etc. 
Ill response to an inquiry in June, we have numerous 
plans for home-binding of copie.s and volumes of the 
Agriculturist, txom which we select the follovving—ap¬ 
plicable to all kinds of smaller papers, pamphlets, etc.: 
(.4)—By N. II. Coleman, Laraotte, Iowa: First. 
—Open two consecutive numbers, as January and 
Eebruary, in the middle, and place them back to 
, back, that is, outside 
against outside (tig. 1). 
Run a needle with a 
strong thread iu at a, 
up ou the other side 
to 6, bring it through 
to you, put in again at 
a, bring it through at 
c, and up to a, and tie 
the two ends in a fast 
knot. Close the pa¬ 
pers, and bring them 
round to their proper 
position, one upon the 
other. They may then 
be cut and read as de¬ 
sired.- Second .—When the numbers of a volume 
are all thus stitched iu pairs, lay them together iu 
order (as in fig. 2^ and with a straight awl punch 6 
{B )—By Mrs. C. H. :M. Newell, Wilbraham, Mass.: 
Cut two pieces of stiff card or box-board, a little 
larger than the p.aper to be bound. Cover the 
edges and the outside with any flmcy colored 
paper; make four holes about % inch from one 
edge of each, and fasten into each hole firmly a 
common eye¬ 
let. Take four 
short pieces of 
red tape, tie a 
knot in the end 
of each, and put 
the other ends 
through the 
front eover. As 
each new paper 
comes to hand, 
makes holes in 
it, then take off tiie back cover, jmt the paper 
iu and the strings through, and tie them iu two 
liairs. The knots will hold the other ends. This 
method has served my purpose very well. [By 
having the horizontal threads described iu A, the 
papers can be punched much nearer the backs so 
that they will open more freely, and the whole will 
be stronger. Then, this cover, B, will be neat and 
convenient for adding successive numbers.—E d.] 
(C)—By J. Fleming, Craigleth, C. W. : Provide 
two pieces of strong tape, % to % inch wide and 
about 3>^ inches long; draw it through paste, strip¬ 
ping the surface clean, and dry iu the form of tig. 
3. Place the papers evenly together, press them 
well awhile, and then place them ou the tapes as in 
fig. 4. Markdown each side of the tapes m a guide ; 
then sew the papers upon the taj^es, letting the 
strong sewing thread pass along on the inside of 
each paper and over the outside of the t,ape just as 
books are sewn on to cords, which m.ay easily be 
seen by dampening and taking apart an old book. 
Round the back a little, and coat with thick glue. 
For covers, cut two pieces of stout paste or card¬ 
board, % 
larger on all 
sides than the 
trimmed pa¬ 
pers. Glue the 
I)roj ecting 
tapes to the 
inside of the 
covers in book 
form, and glue 
over each tape A 
end a bit of canvass to hold it firmly to the cover. 
Glue a ]uecc of coarse canvas over the back of the 
book. When all is dry, the whole may be covered 
with paper, cloth, or leather, according to fancy. 
{D )—By E. H., Geneva, Ohio: I cut two pieces 
of paste-board large enough to cover the paper, and 
pass twine through them thus (fig. 5), leaving am¬ 
ple space between for a volume. The numbers as 
received are stitched in iu book-binder’s style. 
[The thread is run along the inside of each paper, 
but put through the back and around each cross 
string .at the 
back, as above 
described. Ed.] 
—At the end 
of the year the 
ends of the 
cord are drawn 
down and tied 
firmljq making 
a strong vol¬ 
ume. This is 
not very ele¬ 
gant, but it is 
substantial and cheap, [and is far better than to have 
the numbers scattered arouud in loose leaves.— Ed.] 
• (A)—By Amos L. Griflith, Jasper, Tcnn.: Make 
a cover of two pieces of paste-board or bonnet 
board, and apiece ofcalf or sheep skin long enough 
and wide enough to cover the back and lap about 
% inch upon each side cover. Stitch it on firmly, 
.as in fig. 6, using strong, well w.axed thread. If 
desired, hide 
the stitches by 
pasting on a 
X^iece of cloth 
or paxser [which 
may extend 
over the whole 
cover. — Ed.] 
Put in the pa- 
Xiers, and run a 
strong w.axed 
twine or shoe¬ 
maker’s “wax-end” through the whole, four times. 
I have used this method on books and papers for 
15 or 20 years, and the first one made, though iu 
constant use, is as good as new. The binding did 
not cost, ten cents. [In all these methods, the 
papers should first be sewn with a strong thread 
running along the inside, and through and through 
the back. The cross threads through the back will 
come inside of this to hold the p.axiers fast.—E d.] 
(F )—We keep on hand at the office regular Agri¬ 
culturist covers for binding, or “jackets,” as the 
book-binders call them, which have gilt backs and 
are all ready for any book-binder to insert the vol¬ 
umes, at a cost of 25 to 50 cents. These can be 
used during the year as portfolios to hold the pa¬ 
lmers, and then be bound u)! .at the end of the year. 
We have them for 1860 and 1867, and for each of the 
past nine years. They are furnished for any year 
desired at 50 cents each, (00 cents if sent by mail.) 
Don’t Buy the Bitters. 
Before us is a Religious Journal having a “Bit¬ 
ters” advertised tlamingly in a whole column, and 
the editor endorses and commends it, because the 
manufacturer asserts that it contains no alcohol. 
Yet, from a bottle of that same “ Bitters ” bought 
of one of its agents, we readily extracted 14 per cent. 
of x^ure alcohol, without a close analysis. Com¬ 
mon whiskey, by a similar incomplete analysis, 
yielded only29x5er cent, of XJure alcohol. A bottle 
of materhal sold under the name of “ Temperance 
Bitters,” yielded 11 per cent, of alcohol, by the 
same treatment. A few years .ago we gathered bot¬ 
tles of every kind of bitters we could find adver¬ 
tised and sold, and they every one yielded alcohol, 
the lowest 9 per cent., and the highest 24J^ x^^r 
cent. The truth is, .all these various “Bitters” so 
extensively .advertised (to the amount of more th.an 
a million doliars a year!) are che.ap whiskey or gin, 
diluted with water and adulterated with a little 
bitter extract, some of them having a small quanti¬ 
ty of Rhubarb and other drugs added. The bitter 
Xirinciple extracted from Gentian root, Peruvian 
bark, etc., is sometimes useful in cases of weak di¬ 
gestion, or a debilitated state of the system, if 
XU'oxierij' taken under medical advice, and only used 
temporarilja But the gener.al u.se of these .adver- 
