1883.] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
259 
tive of Humbugs, as will be seen by the list which 
we present below: 
How a SJostoss Medical “Institsate” 
Hid Wot Make $500. 
There recently came to us, all the way from 
the State of Iowa, at an expense to himself of 
thirty-one dollars in railway fares, a subscriber 
who desired to consult us regarding a real or 
imaginary bodily infirmity. This young man lived 
on a quarter section of land, considerably remote 
from any village, and consequently having no one 
with whom he could consult, he became much 
worried and troubled over his condition. Seeing 
the great claims put forth by a Boston quack, who 
advertised extensively through the country, and 
imposes upon the fears and credulity of the un¬ 
suspecting our young friend had written to him. 
This Boston fellow, who calls himself a physician, 
replied to the young Iowa farmer that he would 
cure him for $1,000—he subsequently reduced the 
terms to the moderate sum of $500. While the 
Iowa farmer was willing to pay this sum to be 
cured of his supposed trouble, he thought he 
would first come on here to New York and consult 
with us before closing the bargain with the $500 
Boston “physician.” We at once sent the young 
man to a reputable practitioner in New York City. 
Two hours later the Iowa farmer had received all 
the information, advice, and prescription that 
were necessary to his case, for which he paid three 
dollars fee, and was soon after on his way back 
home, a happy man. Had he written us, he could 
have obtained the same advice, and saved his trav¬ 
elling expenses both ways. This recent case gives 
point to our warning, to beware of most medical 
advertisements. Behind the majority of them are 
spurious physicians, whose proper place is in the 
State Prison. If a young man finds that there is 
anything the matter with him, or if he thinks there 
is anything the matter with him, we say, consult 
your home physician. Steer clear of patent medi¬ 
cines and advertising “ Doctors,” especially of 
those swindlers who profess to be “Institutes ” in 
Boston or elsewhere. If any of these quacks send 
their circulars to you, forward them for exposure 
to the Humbug Department of the American Agri¬ 
culturist. We repeat, do not throw money away 
upon “patent” or secret medicines. Do not be 
deceived by notices of wonderful cures effected. 
Avoid as you would the plague the “Doctor” who 
advertises what wonderful cures he has effected, 
how many medals he has received, and how high 
he is held in public estimation. 
“SBusiaess Opportunities.” 
While young men are naturally on the lookout 
for business opportunities, there is at the same 
time a class of swindlers on the lookout for them. 
A large share of what appear to the unwary, regu¬ 
lar business advertisements, are really schemes to 
attract those who are seeking the best chance to 
invest their small capital. 
♦Whenever you, residing at a distance, see an 
advertisement in a city paper—it makes no differ¬ 
ence whether it is in a New York, Boston, Phila¬ 
delphia, or Chicago paper, setting forth that the 
advertiser wants to find a “ partner ” in a business 
“that will yield 40 per cent or more annually,” do 
not become that partner. If you do, the result 
will be, as it has heretofore been in 99 cases out of 
100, you and your money will soon be permanently 
separated. These are traps for catching the un¬ 
wary. If any person has a business that will pay 
40 per cent or 20 per cent, he can procure a partner 
without advertising. 
Another class of swindlers to be shunned are 
those who in their advertisement offer a good posi¬ 
tion on the payment of “ a small deposit.” These 
fellows are almost invariably rascals. Whoever 
sends money to them with the expectation of get¬ 
ting a place, will be likely to die of old age before 
he has secured the position, or obtained possession 
of his money again. 
When you see an advertisement that begins 
“Immense Chance for a Young Man,” let that 
chance go. 
When there are offered “ Sure and Large Profits 
in Cattle and Sheep Raising,” go out first and find 
whether there are any cattle or sheep, or any place 
to raise them on. 
When an advertiser wants a “ Live Helper ” for 
a business of “ great value and profit,” learn all 
about him before you become that helper. He 
may be all right, but make sure of the fact. 
When you read that “afew hundred dollars will 
secure a business that affords a good living,” ask 
the advertiser to give a full description of this 
business. 
When you are informed that an advertiser here 
in the East will give you “ eight per cent for your 
money, and good first-class mortgage as security,” 
do not do it. If the security is good for anything, 
he can get all the money he wants at five per cent. 
Then why should he want to pay you or anybody 
else eight per cent ? 
Several “New Cancer Cures” are being adver¬ 
tised. Don’t touch them ! 
Whenever any one offers to trade you for your 
farm some shares in a valuable mining company, 
or some other stock organization, keep your farm. 
Look Out for this Whole Gasig. 
The Post Office Department has placed the fol¬ 
lowing names on the list of persons and firms 
engaged in fraudulent schemes : 
Wm. M. Clinton & Co., Bloomington, Ill.; Comet 
Publishing Company, Bloomington, Ill.; Western 
Card Company, Normal, Ill.; Union Novelty Com¬ 
pany, Mount Pulaski, Ill.; Star Publishing Com¬ 
pany, Atlanta, Ill.; the Agents’ Guide, Lincoln, 
Ill., and the Guide Publishing Company, Lincoln, 
Ill. All of these alleged firms and companies are 
fictitious, and are the successors of a fraudulent 
combination which transacted business under the 
name of C. C. Williams & Co., at Springfield, Ill., 
until it was blacklisted by the Post Office Depart¬ 
ment. The fraud which they were practising con¬ 
sisted in the advertisement and sale of what pur¬ 
ported to be a “ New American Watch,” but which 
was in reality only a worthless tin sun-dial. Post¬ 
masters have been directed to discontinue the de¬ 
livery to the above addresses of money orders or 
registered packages. 
“ Swedish Clover.” 
Is the heading of a circular to which is appended 
the name of T. Vosburger, who lives in a small 
village in Pennsylvania. A friend in Virginia writes 
us, that a “ seed peddler” has sold a considerable 
quantity of “Swedish Clover” to his neighbors at 
75 cents per pound. “ He advised to sow two 
pounds per acre on wheat and it would last for¬ 
ever.” The circular says that it will flourish “on 
the sand barrens and clay soils of the Atlantic sea¬ 
board,” and that “ on soils unfit for anything else, 
it furnishes good pasture.” Whether the man who 
sold the seed is the same as the one whose name is 
at the bottom of the circular, we are not informed. 
If not the same, there are two of them, and a 
“promising” pair they are. Swedish Clover, is 
another name for Alsike Clover, of which the usual 
retail price in our seed-stores is 30 cents per pound. 
Perhaps the extra charge of 45 cents is for the 
stories told about it—which, when we consider the 
exertion required to give the tiuth such a fearful 
stretch, is not over pay. This clover is rather short¬ 
lived, as clovers go, but as this peddler says “it 
will last forever,” he has probably tried it several 
times, and ought to know. Swedish Clover 
does not appear to make for itself a conspicuous 
place in our agriculture, one reason, and the chief 
one, being, that it requires a very strong soil. The 
statement that it will grow on land “ unfit for any¬ 
thing else” is in keeping with the other statement 
that “ one hand can mow as much in one day as a 
horse will eat in a year.” We think we have heard 
of this same clover man before, and our advice to 
him is, to adopt some honest way of getting a 
living. 
BJ>oss’t BBuy Seeds of* Seed B*e«l«llers. 
Excellent mail arrangements and Post-office facil¬ 
ities, place every man, in all the older States at 
least, practically just “around the corner” from 
the leading seed stores of the country, and they are 
as good as any in the world. Now, there is no seed 
of any kind, worth planting in this country, that 
cannot be placed by mail at each person’s door by 
the time he can get his ground properly prepared. 
If a peddler comes along with seeds of any kind, 
whether of flower, vegetable, grass, grain, or what 
not, which he claims to control, and which he as¬ 
serts is not to be had at the seed-stores, that seed is 
one that ought not to be planted. It is very dan¬ 
gerous buying an unknown seed of an unknown per¬ 
son ! It is within our knowledge that a large box of 
the seeds of one of the vilest weeds in existence— 
equal in its way to Canada Thistle, was imported into 
this country for distribution. Suppose such a seed 
as that were bought and sown, as might readily 
happen. The result would be to render that region 
planted practically uninhabitable. Farmers must 
be constantly on the alert, not merely to procure 
good seeds, but as much so to avoid sowing bad 
ones, whether bought as of some plant they do 
not know, or mixed as impurities with regular 
seeds. 
A Mammoth Oiitiit lor 25 Cents. 
Large and small are indefinite terms, and even 
“ mammoth ” does not convey a clear idea of the 
size of an object, even if it is an “ outfit.” As the 
“ outfit ” is sent by mail, we are sure that it does 
not weigh over four pounds. In this case a “mam¬ 
moth ” is under 64 ounces. “Outfit” for what? 
That is a secret. To find that out one must 
send twenty-five cents to Smith & Co. This circu¬ 
lar of S. & Co. is very funny reading. It claims 
that every agent will make “a dollar every hour 
that he works at the business.” The principal part 
of both sides of the circular, and a large one it is, 
is filled with items most ingeniously calculated to 
excite curiosity, and we have no doubt that remit¬ 
tances come in abundantly to Smith & Co. This 
circular is an interesting addition to the literature 
of the “ Variety Business.” 
Tlie Ts-ieks of the Tree Resldlevs. 
A correspondent in Berks Co., Pa. writes us that 
two tree agents visited him, claiming to represent a 
nursery in Ohio. They, of course, had nice speci¬ 
mens of fruit in cans, talked large, and promised 
freely. Though many tree peddlers had visited 
that place in former years, none were so freely pat¬ 
ronized as these. When the trees came, every one 
was pleased at the fine packages, they were put up 
so neatly, but within was a lot of miserable trash, 
fit only for the brush heap. The sellers promised 
to replace half the trees that died, but they haven’t 
been around since. At. this late day our correspon¬ 
dent inquires about the nursery which the peddlers 
pretended to hail from, and says that our many 
readers in that place would be glad to have them 
exposed. The probabilities are that the peddlers 
had no more to do with that particular nursery 
than with half a dozen others. Our readers should 
exercise great caution, as we have so frequently 
before said, in purchasing from tree peddlers, and 
be sure that they are genuine agents of the houses 
they claim to represent. 
Waists a Royalty. 
Mr. James A. Moline, Enon Valley, Law: nee 
Co., Pa., has received from a Pittsburgh lawyer a 
demand for a royalty on a grain drill. He writes 
