60 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST 
deary corn hogs arej now worth 6hic.'a>6l c. per lb. live 
weight. 
Tine Weather during the past month has been 
sxccedingly variable, including one heavy fall of snow, 
nd a “ cold term ” which the weather prophet of Brook- 
,yn Hights (Merriam) called the coldest for 70 years. 
Ouit Daily Weather Notes, condensed, read : Decern- 
ter 21; rainy day—22, cool and rough wind—23, clear A. 
M., cloudy P. M., with light rain at night—24, clear and 
warm—25, 26, freezing weather—27, 28, mild—29, 30, light 
fall of snow—31, thick fog with some rain.—1859. Janu¬ 
ary 1, moderate rain—2, clear and cool—3, cloudy, snow 
at night—4, heavy N. E. snow' storm, 18 inches deep—5, 
clear and fine— 6 , fine day with rain at night and on most 
of the 7th— 8 , snow squalls—9, clear and cold (10°)—10, 
coldest day for many years, mercury 9“ to 10° below zero 
here, and 20° to 30° degrees in some places, all day, 
people badly frostbitten, some fatal cases— 11 , very cold 
morning, 1 C° below zero, but moderating during the day— 
12, cloudy and milder—13, foggy and cloudy—14, light 
rain—15 tr 20 mostly clear, fine and mild weather, the 
past few <i*ys very fine and even warm— 21 , still warm as 
Spring, wtth considerable rain to-day. 
business ibtro. 
t§p" Fifty Cents a Line ■> 
GROYEK & ISASiEirS 
CELEBRATED 
FAMILY SEWING MACHINES, 
495 BROADWAY, NEW-YORK. 
A New Style. Price $50. 
WlK-eler & Wilson’s, Singer’s, and Grover & Baker's Ma¬ 
chine^, nil work under Howe’s Patent, and are so far the best 
Macr.lnes. * * For our own family use, we became fully sa- 
tisfi., 1 that Grover & Baker’s Machine is the best, and we ac¬ 
cord ugly purchased it.—Am. Agriculturist. 
V# heeler and Wilson’s Sewing Ma¬ 
chines. 
•None are better adapted to Family Use.” 
American Agriculturist, Dec . 1858. 
PRICES GREATLY REDUCED. 
Office 505 Broadway, New-York. 
Send for a Circular. 
-- —— 
nooks Supplied. 
The rule of this office is, to receive no orders for imple¬ 
ments, seeds, or other articles. Still, as Agricultural and 
Horticultural Books are immediately connected with our 
business, and to be able to get them readily, is a matter of 
great convenience to many of our readers living remote 
from regular book stores, we very cheerfully supply any 
book or books called for by letter or otherwise. Most 
publishers allow us discount enough to cover the expense 
of procuring, mailing, and postage ; and we can conse¬ 
quently send any book desired, postage paid, on receiving 
the usual retail price. N.B. Books going over 3000 miles 
are charged double postage. Therefore subscribers living 
at that distance, will need to remit about 20 cents extra 
for each dollar’s worth of books desired, as the extra post¬ 
age averages just about twenty per cent on the price of 
books. 
If not pre-paid ;the postage on books is 2 cents per 
ounce under 3000 miles, and 3 cents per ounce if over 
3000 miles. The average weight of books (including 
wrapping paper) is about one ounce for each 5 cents of 
price ; thus a book costing $ 1 , when ready for mailing, 
w eighs about 20 ounces—some weigh more, and some 
less. 
Sale of Engravings. 
We daily receive requests for stereotype copies of, or 
the loan or purchase of most of the engravings that appear 
in the Agriculturist. These come from not only many of 
our exchanges but from dealers iu implements, nursery¬ 
men, etc., and they have become so numerous that it is 
impossible to reply individually by letter. 
There are several reasons for declining to furnish 
duplicates, or loan the use of these cuts, the chief one be¬ 
ing the great number of applications for them. There are 
many special cases where we would be glad to furnish 
them, but should we do so, those refused the courtesy 
would have reasonable ground of complaint on seeing 
them in other journals unless the specific reasons were 
in every case given to all others. To this we might add, 
that there is the same reason for preserving the original 
engravings in the Agriculturist, as there is for keeping 
Ihemin a copy-righted book. We have large sales of‘‘back 
volumes”—the sales of these amounting to many more 
copies than are sold of many published books. If, then, 
the illustrations of the value in these volumes, were fur¬ 
nished freelv to all, the back volumes would soon become 
stale or of little peculiar worth. This objection would 
not, however, be a great one with us, were it not for the 
labor and expense involved in attempting to furnish them 
when desired, as we must do this in all cases, or none. 
Mauy Thanks 
are due, and feelingly offered, to the old subscribers of 
this paper for the great interest they have this year mani¬ 
fested in promoting its circulation among their friends 
and neighbors. The daily receipts of subscribers for three 
mouths past have been a good deal more than double 
what they were during the same period one year ago—or 
ever before in the same time. With only the usual cur¬ 
rent receipts, the ordinary expenses of the present volume 
are provide! for. But we can profitably (to the readers) 
lay out additional expense upon these pages beyond what 
we have designed, and w ill do so if our friends continue 
there good offices in increasing the subscription list at the 
present time. There are at least a few persons within the 
acquaintance of almost every one, upon whom a speeb 1 
benefit would be conferred if they were persuaded, even 
against their will, to become readers of these pages. 
Please look over the diversified sixty-four pages of this 
volume thus far issued, and then bearing in mind that 320 
more are yet to come—all of which will be got up under 
more favorable circumstances—let us ask whether the 
current volume will not be worth to every family in the 
land, much more than its small cost. May we look for 
your response during the present month in the form of 
new subscribers. We do not believe we are entirely sel¬ 
fish in desiring to have every tiller of the soil especially, 
become a reader of these pages, or those of some similar 
journal. We firmly believe that every cultivator who 
reads more and thinks more, will become not only more 
successful in his calling, but every w'ay better and happier. 
--- ■ ► -- 
Plenty off Time to Secure the Premiums. 
More Ilian two hundred valuable premiums have been 
already sent out to individuals, for the large lists of sub¬ 
scribers obtained by them this year. There is ;.n abund¬ 
ance of time the present winter for hundreds of others to 
obtain similar rewards for their efforts. This month is 
even a more favorable time than the preceding one. Peo¬ 
ple are now beginning to think about the labors of next 
season, and they will be more ready than ever to receive 
the aid they may derive from a practical journal devoted 
to their occupation. Again, this and the previous number 
(though got up at our most hurried business season, and 
necessarily less valuable Ilian those which are to come) 
are yet sufficiently valuable we trust to serve as attract¬ 
ive specimens of the current volume. Any numbers soil¬ 
ed or lost, by exhibiting them to others, we will cheer¬ 
fully replace by fresh copies. Show-bills will also be sent 
when desired. For want of room we have dropped some 
of the less important premiums, but those published on 
page 58 are worthy of effort. These premiums are only 
offered for obtaining subscribers to begin with this vol¬ 
ume, and the offer of them will be continued so long as 
canvassers find it practicable to obtain subscribers from 
that date. 
-- - — « - ►-»- 
Increase off tetter Postage. 
We should deem it necessary to go out of our appropri¬ 
ate sphere to discuss this topic, if we believed there was 
a possibility even, of the success of the present move¬ 
ment at Washington, to increase the rates of letter post¬ 
age. Government now monopolizes the business, refuses 
to be responsible for the thefts and losses of its agents, 
and charges more than one dollar a pound for all letters 
carried! The average weight of letters is about fths of an 
ounce. Allowing them to be exactly this weight, at the 
rate of 3 cents per letter the postage is $1.28 per pound. 
The Department is running behind its expenses, it is 
true, but it is the hight of absurdity to talk of meeting the 
income by raising the postage on letters—already higher 
than it should be. Any one of our large Express Com¬ 
panies w'ill very gladly pay the Government a large bonus 
for the privilege of delivering all legitimate letters, news¬ 
papers, etc., now carried by mail, both in this 
country, and in Canada, Europe, California, Oregon, 
etc., and do it at a less rate than is now charged ; and 
they would furthermore become responsible for all 
losses of valuable letters entrusted to their care. 
It is idle to expect that the income of the Department 
should meet its expenses, as things are now arranged. 
Shall the epistolatry correspondence of the people be 
taxed for the carriage of six tuns of franked matter sent 
to a country post-office where the entire letters of a year 
would not weigh a tun 1 We have known of such an in¬ 
stance. Shall every letter between friends—weighing 
less than half an ounce—be taxed 5 cents instead of 
3 cents, as is proposed, to enable the Department to 
pay enormous salaries to political favorites 1 
The SSasket Missing:. 
The more pressing labors of our “ harvest season ” are 
nearly over, and we shall soon have time to devote to the 
mass of communications, notes, queries, books, maga¬ 
zines, reports, etc., received during the past two months. 
The “ basket ” now buried beneath its over-flowing con¬ 
tents will be “ dug out ’’—and kept in sight hereafter. 
-— •>- «>» -- •--- 
“Pure Religion.” —One who signs himself a 
Free Thinker,” writes us at length, wishing our opinion, 
of what pure religion is, and a-ltempts to depreciate the 
influence of the Bible, etc. These pages are not the ap¬ 
propriate place for the discussion of such questions, but 
to “ Free Thinker,” who is so much troubled with the 
defects of Christians, and the crimes in Bible lands, we 
would say: If people under the influence of the Bible are 
so bad, what would they be without it 1 What people 
without the Bible would he be willing to exchange places 
with! Among what people without the Bible is to be 
found the philosophy, the astronomy, and the basis of any 
“moral education” which he would teach his child. Oh 
no, friend. The unregenerate human heart is deceitful 
above all things, and desperately wicked, and let us be 
thankful for what of good we have received from the Bi¬ 
ble, and try to get more of it. 
McKay’s Grapes.-We have to-day (Jan. 17), 
eaten Isabella grapes, in very good condition from a box 
received in November, from the well-known “one acre,” 
cultivated by E. A. McKay, at Naples, Ontario Co., N- 
Y. They are put up in paper boxes, three inches deep, 
w'ith cotton batting under,betw een,and above the bunches. 
They came by express without injury. 
A Strono Medicine. —The following story, perhaps on 
its fortieth round, is as good as ever, and specially appli¬ 
cable to some of the recent puffs of artificial fertilizers. 
A manufacturer of patent medicines sent some of his 
“ Balsam ” to a friend, and requested a strong recommen¬ 
dation, and received this reply: “Dear Sir—The land 
composing my farm had hitherto been so poor that a 
Scotchman could not get a living off it; and so stony that 
we had to slice our potatoes and plant them edgewise, 
but hearing of your ‘ balsam,’I put some on a ten-acre 
lot, surrounded by a rail-fence, and in the morning I found 
that the rocks had entirely disappeared, a neat stone wall 
encircled the field, and the rails were split intooven-wood, 
and piled up systematically in my back yard. I put half 
an ounce in the middle of a blackberry swamp; in two 
days it was cleared off, planted with corn and pumpkins, 
and a row of peach-Lees'in full blossom through the mid¬ 
dle. As an evidence of its tremendous strength, I would 
say that it drew a striking likeness ef my eldest son out of 
a mill-pond, drew a blister all over his stomach, drew a 
load of potatoes four miles to market, and eventually 
drew a prize of ninety-seven dollars in a lottery.” 
Landlord— “ Mr. Editor, I’ll thank you to say I keep 
the best table in the city.” Editor—" I’ll thank you to 
supply my family with board gratis.” Landlord—" I 
thought you were glad to get something to fill up your pa¬ 
per.” Editor —“ I thought you were glad to get somebody 
to fill your house. It’s a poor rule that wont work both 
ways.” Exit landlord in a rage, threatening to have 
nothing more to do with that stingy office. 
A Mnd hearted Vermont physician, having frequently 
missed wood from his yard', kept watch, and discovered 
a neighbor carefully selecting an armful of dry wood and 
starting for home with it. The Doctor hastily gathered up 
an armful of green wood, and followed, tugging as fast 
as he could, and just as the man threw down his armfnll, 
the doctor did the same, exclaiming, “ There, you must 
burn green w'ood a part of the time—I have to,” and de¬ 
parted, leaving the thief to his own reflection. 
A confirmed tippler was bothered how to honor his 
birth-day; he wished to do something extraordinary. A 
brilliant idea struck him. He kept sober. 
200,000 pounds weight of women’s hair i-s annually sold 
in France, and that the price paid for it is usually six cents 
an ounce. 
“ Mike, what sort of potatoes aro you planting there?” 
“ Raw ones, sure—your honor would’nt be thinking I was 
planting boiled ones.” 
Some young men are so fast that they keep always ahead 
of common sense. 
