Q32 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
No. 151 . 
down as belonging to the feminine gender, and 
send us the $5,000—or if you give the $5,000 to 
men, put us down in the masculine gender—but 
do send on the $5,000 
[No. 8.[ 
OMMERCIAL AGENTS—Able and lion- 
est men from New-England or N. Y., wanted.-, 
Philadelphia. 
In response to the above we wrote June 21, 
and though not required, we sent a stamp for re¬ 
turn postage. Up to July 17th we have no 
answer. ' What's the matter, Mr.-1 What 
more can we do to get a “ Commercial Agency ■” 
Please tell us. Do you want “ able and honest 
men,” or able men, and honest men also! Must 
the men be able in body, or able in mind 1 Let 
us know, and we can get up certificates to suit 
you. We never yet heard of any thing for which 
good certificates could not be got in quantity. 
(To he continued as needed:) 
- - —-—a-CM*™--- 
White Rye—A Sew Premium. 
We have at different times received a head or 
two of what is termed White Rye—that is, a va¬ 
riety much resembling wheat, in the whiteness 
of its kernel. Some of these specimens we have 
previously referred to. Mr. Carpenter, of West¬ 
chester, who is an indefatigable experimenter 
with new plants of almost every kind, presented 
us, this year, with a fine bunch of heads upon the 
straw, the latter measuring about five feet. The 
heads are long, well filled, and the kernel large, 
and quite as light-colored as the common red 
wheat. From three bushels of seed, on about two 
acres, he estimates the yield (not yet threshed) at 
60 bushels. It was sown rather late (Oct. 15th,) 
but was ready to cut the second week in July. 
It should be sown during September. Mr. C. has 
promised to his neighbors all he can possibly 
spare this year, and he has no more to sell. 
We have prevailed upon him to furnish us a 
little for distribution. It will, however, be out of 
season at our annual seed distribution, next Win¬ 
ter, and as the quantity is small, we shall only 
offer it now as a premium. 
To any person sending a new subscription for 
the Agriculturist, for himself or other person, we 
will present a small parcel of seed, say two ounces 
or less. It can be called for at our office, or it 
will be forwarded by mail, if the receiver will 
furnish the necessary postage (3 cents per half 
ounce. Scarce seeds like this, where it is desira¬ 
ble to multiply them as rapidly as possible, should 
be sown in drills, giving each seed room to tiller 
and produce the largest possible yield. With pro¬ 
per care in sowing and weeding, two ounces of 
rye or wheat may be made to produce a large 
supply of seed for another year. 
-- -—a »r- — . —-. 
Sow Turnips Yet. 
The old rule, “on the 25th of July sow r your 
turnips, wet or dry,” is not far out of the way 
for the common field varieties, yet it should not 
be forgotten that a very good crop is frequently 
raised from seed sown so late even as the end of 
August. The amount of yield will depend upon 
the length of open weather in Autumn. Turnips 
will grow until actually frozen into the ground. 
For late sowing, such quick-growing varieties as 
the Red-top Strap-leaf and the White Flat are 
preferable. The Long White French, the Ash¬ 
croft Swedish, and the River’s Swedish Stubble 
grow rapidly, and though they are larger when 
sown early in July, yet they acquire a good size, 
sometimes quite large enough for table use, when 
sown' in the first half of August, or even later. 
No directions for their cultivation are needed. 
Scatter the seed, not too thickly, either broadcast, 
or better in drills, wherever open space can be 
found for it to grow. A slight covering only is 
needed. With this, as with other crops, the bet¬ 
ter the soil, the better the yield. Fresh or high¬ 
ly stimulating manures produce too much top at 
the expense of the root. 
Newspaper Controversies. 
We have usually agreed very nearly, on most 
subjects, with our cotemporary, the Connecticut 
Homestead, but a recent number of that journal 
enters into a long argument to show that we are 
wrong in our estimate of the value of mineral 
manures, generally. We cannot find the time to 
discuss, in the columns of the Homestead, the 
theories and statements of the article referred 
to, which are in part erroneous, and it would be 
useless to do so through the Agriculturist, which 
of course goes to a different circle of readers. 
We will here take occasion to say that vve con¬ 
sider newspaper controversies as useless waste 
of paper, and ink, and time, especially when car¬ 
ried on between the editors or contributors of 
two different journals. A fair discussion of any 
controverted topic, when both sides are presented 
in the columns of the same journal, is often pro¬ 
ductive of good, if personal attacks and recrimi¬ 
nations be wholly ignored ; but for one journal to 
present the arguments of one side of a question 
to its readers, while another journal presents the 
opposite side to a different class of readers, is very 
like trying a prisoner before two distinct juries, 
one of which shall hear only the evidence and 
counsel for the plaintiff, and the other hear only 
that of the defendant. Both juries would be 
most likely to be led astray. The number of per¬ 
sons who take and read two agricultural journals 
is so limited that we have made it a point to 
avoid all controversy with our cotemporaries, and 
we shall continue so to do, as a general rule. 
In regard to the question at issue, though we 
have often stated our theory of the growth of 
plants and on manuring generally, we may have 
occasion soon to take up the subject somewhat at 
length, not only on account of its general import¬ 
ance, but also in view of the Homestead's theo¬ 
ries, which we did not chance to see until just 
before going to press. 
-- l f-o- - 
Impositions on Farmers. 
An old and true adage is : “ set a rogue to catch 
a rogue.” The one most likely to have a sharp 
look-out for roguery in others, is he who has be¬ 
come skillful in the practice of deception. Farm¬ 
ers are more likely than others to be imposed 
upon, for the very good reason that, as a class, they 
constitute the more upright, unsuspecting part 
of community. Intending no evil themselves, 
they are not always on the look-out for fraud on 
the part of others, and on this account are more 
easily deceived by plausible statements. It is 
owing to this fact that we feel it a part of our 
duty, as guardians of the farmer’s interest, to 
hunt up and expose humbugs. We confess that 
we have had a little sore experience, which adds 
a zest to this department of our labors—the show¬ 
ing up of some of the humbugs afloat in the com¬ 
munity. Promises of law-suits, threatening let¬ 
ters, personal abuse, are of course to be expect¬ 
ed from those whose schemes are thwarted, but 
these do not alarm or intimidate us in the least, 
and so long as we can use the pen we expect to 
be on the watch to expose the fraudulent schemes 
of those who are thriving upon dishonest gains. 
We shall be glad of any assistance that can be 
rendered by our readers. New-York was former¬ 
ly the central point for the operation of humbugs, 
but latterly they have scattered themselves pretty 
well over the country, and from various remote 
Post-offices, plausible circulars are distributed 
through the mails. Those who still make this 
city their headquarters, operate chiefly at distant 
points. Instances have occurred recently where 
thousands, and even millions of circulars have 
been sent to the West, scarcely one of which has 
been dropped within a hundred miles of the city. 
A single establishment, upon which we are keep¬ 
ing an eye, have, by one means and another, ob¬ 
tained the names and address of a vast number of 
farmers, and a large force is constantly employed 
in forwarding pamphlets and circulars to them. 
One scheme is pushed for a few weeks, or so 
long as it can be done with safety, and then an¬ 
other is hatched out by the same parties, but un¬ 
der a different, assumed name. Those farmers 
who receive these pamphlets or circulars, no 
matter how plausible or attractive, will do well 
to send a line of inquiry to us, before investing 
even so much as a sixpence. They may thus 
save themselves from loss, and help us to warn 
others. 
Weeds for Manure, 
It is gravely proposed, in one of our exchanges, 
to use weeds for enriching land ! The writer 
claims that they keep the land moist, by con¬ 
densing dew and conveying it down to the roots 
of the plants, and by keeping the ground shaded. 
When they attain considerable size, the farmer 
plow's thorn under, just as he does clover crops. 
At first, w'e thought this writer must be some 
lazy wag, but on studying him closer, we are sat¬ 
isfied that he is a grand reformer in agriculture. 
“Why should the wrneds be wasted,” he asks, “and 
time and labor lost in trying to extirpate them, 
when they were evidently designed to grow and 
to be made useful ”1 Now, it may be making the 
best of a bad bargain to plow under a heavy 
growth of weeds which have once got the start of 
us ; but to grow a crop of them “ on purpose ” to 
use them in this way, is bad policy. Do they not 
exhaust land of fertility which should go to the 
growing crop 1 And is there not great danger 
that if wmeds. are allow'ed to get under full head¬ 
way, they will prove too much for the farmer to 
subdue '! If they go to seed, what a crop of mis¬ 
chief do they make ! White daisy, thistles native 
and foreign, docks and the rest, are dangerous 
things to trifle with. Manure made in this way, 
will probably cost too much. 
- «n < -►- O- - 
Home-Made Manure. 
A correspondent of the Agriculturist, in a re¬ 
cent letter, says: “_Wishing to procure a 
couple of loads of manure, I endeavored to pur¬ 
chase them of a neighbor, but was told he had 
none to spare ‘ for love nor money ;’ that he him¬ 
self had already ordered a ton of guano for his 
own use. I had that morning rallied him on the 
slovenly appearance of his back door-yard, which 
he admitted, was a shame to the place, but plead 
want of time to attend to it, as an excuse. I 
finally offered to clear it all out for him on condi¬ 
tion that I might have the little manure I could 
scrape up there, and he consented—making me 
promise to do it up slick. I W'ent to wmrk at it 
with a hired man and team, and was two days 
about the job, but got for my labor tiventy-cnc 
well-rounded loads of manure! It was composed 
of chip dirt, the ashes from some half-dozen old 
leach tubs, and the soil where the house-slops had 
been thrown for a long time. This was wmrth 
much more than a ton of guano. He thought I 
had made too good a bargain, but I answered 
that I had only removed what was a nuisance to 
him, and wms of no benefit to any one.” J. L. E. 
