1888 
598 
A new mode of swindling farmers and 
others has been discovered here. A fellow 
called Flagg hired an office and sent out a lot 
of circulars and advertisements offering loans 
on very easy terms. Soon a la^ge number of 
applications for money were made in person 
and by letter. Meanwhile Flagg had made 
an arrangement with a reputable insurance 
company by which he was to obtain for the 
company a large amount of insurance and to 
receive in return a fine percentage of the 
premiums. As he was willing to take his full 
compensation out of the first premium, he 
got about two-thirds of the whole amount, 
since the company would have to pay nothing 
on subsequent premiums. Well, whenever an 
applicant for a loan appeared before Flagg, 
the latter insisted that as a preliminary pre¬ 
caution he must first insure his life with the 
company. 
As the terms of the promised loan were 
very favorable a large number did insure, and 
Flagg took good care to draw his com¬ 
missions at once. Having done this he paid 
no attention whatever to the demands of the 
insured, for the stipulated loan; for of course, 
Flagg never intended to lend a cent, his only 
object being to make the applicant insure his 
life so that he might draw his commission. In 
this way he cleared several hundred dollars 
before the insurance company discovered his 
“ little game,” and refused to be a party to the 
fraud. There is little doubt that this swindle 
will be played on the public in many parts of 
the country before long: hence this caution by 
the Eye-Opener. 
Another novel swindle, which is certain to 
find imitators in many other places, is that 
which has just lodged Champion Bissell in 
jail here. He professed to be “attorney and 
counsellor at law;” to make “foreign col¬ 
lections,” etc., and he hired an office on Broad¬ 
way. He also advertised that he would make 
loans on the most liberal terms, in sums of 
$500 and upwards. No collateral security 
was required, nor was a note from the bor¬ 
rower demanded. It wasn't money exactly 
that Bissell offered to lend, however, but he 
offered the impecunious applicants credits for 
60 or 90 days on a London alleged banking 
firm. He would give a draft on the English 
concern, and the applicants were to get it dis¬ 
counted by some banking or mercantile house 
in this city. He guaranteed that the London 
house would accept the draft, and said there 
would be no difficulty whatever in obtaining 
money for it here. All he wanted for his 
generous services was a small commission of 
three per cent. Thus, for a draft of $500 (£100) 
on the London concern, the applicant had to 
pay Bissell $15 cash down, and then get the 
paper cashed wherever he could. Quite a 
large number paid the commission, how¬ 
ever, but found it impossible to get the drafts 
discounted, and Bissell indignantly disclaimed 
all responsibility for this when they returned 
to remonstrate. He also firmly refused 
to return more than half the commission. 
His angry dupes appealed to the police, and he 
is in jail; but it is very improbable that he 
can be held, as his frauds are not considered 
criminal. 
iiUsccUancous. 
CORRESPONDENTS’ VIEWS. 
Doing One’s Best.— The longer I live the 
more certain I become that he is on the right 
track who undertakes to do no more than he 
can do thoroughly well. Last winter, at an 
institute in a grape-growing section, I asked a 
man who had about 50 acres of vineyard how 
many grapes he got per acre on the average. 
He replied, “We are pretty well satisfied if 
we get a ton and a half right through. ” I then 
turned to Mr. J. H. Tryon, one of the oldest 
growers in the section, who sat by my side, 
and asked him if there was any reason why 
this man could not take half the number of 
acres and put labor enough on his grapes and 
take good enough care of them to get three 
tons per acre. He said there was nothing in 
the way of doing this except the growing dis¬ 
position to spread over many acres, and half 
take care of the land—a disposition found not 
only in vineyards but on many farms. 1 no¬ 
ticed that a young man with whom I had been 
talking was listening very closely. When we 
were through talking, he told me that he had 
one acre of grapes of which he took the best 
THE RURAL !EW-¥©RKiR. 
care in every respect, and that last season ho 
sold Jive tons besides what were used in their 
family. 
I have known men who put on half the 
wheat ground all the labor and manure that 
they had been in the'habit of spreading over 
twice as much, and as a result got more wheat 
than they had ever raised before. Then think 
of the satisfaction ! Who wouldn’t rather 
harvest a big crop on a few acres ? Alas, 
there are a good many who would rather brag 
about the number of acres they have got in. 
But they do not know what real enjoyment 
is—the enjoyment that comes from trying to 
do one’s best, and from conquering difficulties 
that lie in the way in all directions. 
Summit Co., Ohio. t. b. terry. 
From A Car Window.— A farmer who 
seldom gets away from home, takes more in¬ 
terest in the farms seen from the car window 
than in the daily paper. One can learn many 
lessons by using his eyes at such times. One 
of the first things I noticed on a late journey 
was fields of sowed fodder corn. It seems 
strange that intelligent farmers will continue 
a practice which defeats the very end the 
farmer seeks to secure. Sowed corn seldom 
forms ears. There is, if the ground is rich 
and a large variety is planted, an immense 
growth of stalks, and I suppose farmers reason 
that a large growth of corn stalks means 
a large amount of fodder, but they over¬ 
look an important principle. In the fifth re¬ 
port of the Massachusetts Agricultural Ex¬ 
periment Station, Prof. Goessmann says: 
“ The amount of vegetable matter in a given 
weight of green fodder corn cut at the be¬ 
ginning of the glazing of the kernels is known 
to be not only twice as large, as compared 
with that contained in an equal weight of 
green fodder corn when just showing the 
tassels , but it is also known to be, pound for 
pound, more nutritious; for it contains more 
starch, more sugar; more of valuable nitro¬ 
genous matter, etc,” Italics are his. 
It was found that 100 pounds of fodder cut 
at the time of the first appearance of the tassel 
contained from 12 to 15 pounds of dry vege¬ 
table matter and from 85 to 88 pounds of water; 
when cut at the time of the beginning of the 
glazing of the kernels, 100 pounds contained 
from 23 to 28 pounds of dry vegetable matter, 
and from 72 to 77 pounds of water. From 
this we deduce this rule. Plant cow for 
fodder and silage so that the kernels will 
begin to glaze before it is cut. 
Looking from the car window I realized the 
waste caused by bushes and trees in mowings. 
Stones are bad enough, but a mowing machine 
and horse rake will go over them, while a tree 
forces one to go around, causing a loss of val¬ 
uable time. Then if one undertakes to plow 
near a tree, he finds only vexation and delay. 
Better cut all such trees and bushes and keep 
the sprouts down, or put coal oil on the 
stumps, which is pretty sure death to them. 
The curse of drought I never realized as 
now. On leaving home where there had been 
plenty of rain, and where crops were green 
and thriving, a few hours’ ride on the cars 
brought me into a region of drought—corn 
stunted, oats short and turning white, pas¬ 
tures destitute of feed. My own farm is wet 
and stony, hard to plow, but seldom affected 
by dry weather. I prize it more than ever 
since 1 got home. If a farmer is tempted to be 
dissatisfied with his own home, let him get 
away for a few days and see the troubles oth¬ 
ers have. If he can look into the crowded city 
houses and streets, he will learn to be thankful 
for his country home. plowman. 
A Pair of Common Shears, with a sharp 
point, is just the thing to kill the worms upon 
the cabbages. Fingers are too blunt. It is 
nasty and unpleasant work to crush the worms. 
Walk along one row at a time, eves intent, 
and if there is excrement on or holes in the 
leaves and you see the worm, snip it and go 
on; but if the worm is not seen, then insert 
the end of the shears inside the curled leaves 
and open the points. This uncurls the leaf 
and exposes the worms to view ; then snip 
again. Alum water and the spraying bellows 
do good, but the shears should supplement 
this work. I also use a net to capture the 
moths. For summer pruning the grape the 
same shears are the best implement to be had. 
Upon bearing vines the canes should be 
stopped two or three nodes beyond the end 
cluster, and the laterals at one leaf. This 
turns the energy of the vine to building up 
and maturing fruit, instead of wasting its 
force upon useless wood. Here is a secret that 
will enable one to win the premium at the fair 
every time : Snip off the end of the canes in 
the spring at the second cluster as soon as the 
fruit can be seen. This throws all the forces 
of the cane into the two clusters left. Do it 
early and don’t wait. d. s. marvin. 
Jefferson Co., N. Y. 
Early and Gentle Training.— Actual 
experience is better than theory and guess¬ 
work. It teaches sensible and observing men 
that the training of a colt should begin when 
it is three days old, when it should be halter¬ 
ed and tied. No teasing or other foolishness 
should be allowed at any time. If the animal 
show any inclination to be ugly, a sharp slap 
will bring it to its senses. A colt that has 
been trained to lead, stand tied, take a bit in 
its mouth, and be curried and brushed down 
is more than half “broken”—I would rather 
say educated —and is really much more valu¬ 
able than one [that has been allowed to run 
wild until three years old. I have seen mules 
that were petted and trained from the time 
they were foaled, and they were actually as 
gentle and safe as pet lambs; while the aver¬ 
age mule is not much safer to handle than a 
chunk of dynamite. Train your animals in 
ways of gentleness, and battles in the barn¬ 
yard will be less frequent. 
Christian Co., Ills. f. g. 
Is it ?—Grape vines strike root very easily 
from the old wood if layered about July 1, 
Ulster Prolific is promising. Empire State, 
F. B. Hayes and Niagara are all hardy varie¬ 
ties. Add the older Concord, Lady, Delaware 
(on clayey soil), Catawba (whereit will ripen) 
Champion (for early), and I am half inclined 
to think that will be enough. j. j. b. 
3nl»tst’l Societies. 
INTERSTATE GRANGE PICNIC EX¬ 
HIBITION, WILLIAMS’ GROVE, PA. 
The fifteenth annual Interstate Picnic Ex¬ 
hibition opened at Williams’ Grove, Pa., on 
Monday, August 27th., and was continued 
during the week. It was one of the largest 
gatherings of representative farmers ever seen 
in the Eastern States. Patrons representing 
almost every State in the Union were present. 
Among the distinguished visitors present were 
James Draper, of Worcester, Mass., Master of 
the National Grange; Mortimer Whitehead, 
of New Jersey, Lecturer of the National 
Grange; Governor Beaver, Norman J. Col- 
man, Ex-Governor Robie, Rev. Thomas K. 
Beecher, Col. Hastings and the Hon. W. H. 
Hatch. The meeting was an exposition, pic¬ 
nic and convention all combined. Morning, 
afternoon and evening meetings were held in 
the large auditorium, and local grange meet¬ 
ings were held in a large tent. Almost every 
subject of interest to the farmers was talked 
about. The tariff attracted a good deal of 
attention; the sentiment of the grangers 
seemed to be that we should reduce the tariff 
or tax on articles which the farmers use and 
inorease the tariff on farm products. 
The picnic part of the meeting was a great 
success. Tens of thousands 'ff farmers with 
their families came to the groubds on the 
trains and in carriages. Many of them oc¬ 
cupied the tents on the out-skirts of the 
grounds or bunked in their wagons during 
the continuance of the picnic. 
The patrons in most cases ate their meals 
under the great trees in the old-fashioned 
picnic style, and seemed as happy as possible. 
A few fakers were present, but they were 
chiefly of the unobjectionable kind and only 
added to the fun and enjoyment of the occa¬ 
sion. No liquor was sold in the grounds. 
The exposition proper covered acres of 
ground and was the mo3t [extensive and com¬ 
plete showing of farm apparatus ever made 
in the State. A peculiar feature of the 
exhibit was the great number of new and 
valuable implements. Among the newly 
patented [articles we noticed the following; an 
Automatic Level Tread Gate made by Millard 
F. Fink, Middleton Md; Poulson’s new 
Mower and Reaper Knife Grinder, made by 
J. W. Pratt, Westfield N. J.; Gochnauer’s 
Keystone Hay Fork, made by J. S. Gochnauer, 
East Berlin, Pa.; The Metcalfe High-Speed 
Engines, made by J. T. Metcalfe, Quincy Pa.; 
Coffin’s Automatic Milk Aerator and Cooler 
made by E. W. Coffin, Ashland N. J.; Hall’ s 
New Potato Digger sold by W. H. Jones, 
Philadelphia Pa. A Combination Fence 
Machine made by[E. Thorne Co., Marlbor¬ 
ough, Pa.; The Eclipse Cutter sold by John 
Laughlin, York, Pa. and a New Crank Feed 
Cutter (the Holtzman) made by Spangler 
Bros, of York, Pa. 
Nearly all the larger implement manu¬ 
facturers made fine exhibits. The plow-men 
were out in full force. Nearly every reaper 
made in this country was exhibited in oper¬ 
ation. An endless variety of grain drills, 
cultivators, hay rakes, etc., were scattered 
over the ground. The traction engines, and 
the portable saw-mills were a feature of the 
show. It was a surprising and novel sight to 
* the Patrons from a distance to see the traction 
engines running in and out among the trees 
and over the various obstructions. They 
seemed to go wherever a horse could and with 
as much ease,'apparently. The Geiser M an’f’g. 
Co., and Frick & Co., of Waynesboro, A. B. 
Farquhar of Y ork, and A. W. Stephens Son & 
Co.,were the principal exhibitors in this depart¬ 
ment. Among the implements were Clark’s 
Harrow, and Dutton’s Mower Knife Grinder, 
shown by the Higganum Manufacturing • Co., 
the Keystone implements including their 
hay loader, etc., the Spangler imple¬ 
ment, the King of the Cornfield, made 
by Messrs. Hench and Dromgold, Waldron and 
Sprouts mills, A. W. Blaker’s horse powers, 
W. O. Hickok’s fodder cutters and S. S. 
Myers’s pumps. Dairy apparatus were shown 
by the Vermont Farm Machine Co., A. H. 
Reid, J. S. Carter, C. L. Kneeland, the Flint 
Creamery Co., and Mosely and Stoddard Co. 
The show of stock was limited. The chief 
exhibitor was Edward Walters, of West¬ 
chester, Pa. The building devoted to the 
display of things to interest the sister^ was not 
what it should have been. The Weaver Organ 
Co., however, made a fine exhibit in this 
building, and the ladies were entertained with 
fine music on. these celebrated organs. 
j. H. G. 
Stye 
SWINE REQUISITES. 
Twenty-five years ago I had my first ex¬ 
perience with a Poland-China hog, bought out 
of a Western drove. I have kept a strict ac¬ 
count and found that he cost in the barrel 2X 
cents per pound,*with the offal contained 
in a two-quart pan. For years I kept debit 
and credit account with different breeds 
of hogs and they cost from 12 to 26 
cents per pound. In winter I feed a 
common water-dipper full to each hog 
three times daily—at six A. M., at noon and 
at six P. M.—of a mixture of one part each in 
bulk of boiled and mashed potatoes and shorts, 
and two parts of green cured hay cut fine. 
Soak the hay in boiling water for three or 
more hours, then mix the whole thoroughly. 
It costs 10 cents per head a day and gives a 
growth of five pounds a day actual weight. 
To each barrel of the feed add a handful of 
salt and two quarts of fine charcoal screenings. 
I have abandoned feeding corn or corn-meal 
to hogs for the following reasons. It weakens 
and deranges the digestive organs, dries up 
the blood and makes pork fit only for oil-mills. 
Here in New England, corn-meal pork costs on 
an average 15 cts. per pound. Poland-China 
hogs feed systematically on feed prepared as 
stated above are not only kept in perfect con¬ 
dition and rapid growth but will fat rapidly 
on the same food when fed in proper quanti¬ 
ty and the pork instead of being dry and un¬ 
wholesome as is the case when fed on corn, 
will be juicy and sweet. 
Windsor. Vt. m. l. 
Caw. 
“ Every Man is presumed to know the Lawl 
Nine-tenths of all Litigation arises from Ig¬ 
norance of Law." 
LIABILITY FOR THE SALE OF SEED AND PLANTS 
UNTRUE TO NAME. 
“ Subscriber," Cheshire. O. —An order for 
“ Sure-head ” cabbage seed was sent to a seeds¬ 
man: 20 acres were planted with the seed 
sent. It proves to be some other variety that 
is earlier and undesirable and, judging by ad¬ 
joining fields on which “ Sure-head ” is plant¬ 
ed, the loss caused on the 20 acres by the 
seedsman’s deception may be many hundreds 
of dollars. Can we recover the loss, when 
established, from the seedsman, if he is pecuni¬ 
arily responsible ? 
Ans. —It has been frequently decided in 
“ common law ” that the seller of seed which 
proves different from what it is represented 
to be, is liable only for the amount paid for 
the seed, unless it can be proved that he medi¬ 
tated fr aud on the customer. Common law, 
however, which is founded on common custom 
which has become so fixed that courts recog¬ 
nize and enforce it as a rule of conduct, is 
superseded by statute laws whenever a State 
passes one, and several of the States have 
passed laws relating to the sale of seeds, and 
plants untrue to name. For instance, about 
two years ago Kansas passed a law punishing 
by fine and triple damages deception in sale 
of seeds, shrubs, plants and trees, and several 
other States have also enacted severe laws in 
this matter. There is no doubt that, in equity, 
the seller of seeds and plants untrue to name 
should be liable not only for the price of the 
