288 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[August, 
his box to a private place. If tie is suspicious, and don’t 
take out the box, he gets a lot of letters threatening ex¬ 
posure, etc.—all of no account. Here is the circular, 
which is sent out by the hundred thousand,and enough dis¬ 
honest greenhorns are caught to make it very profitable : 
“STRICTLY SUB-ROSA, AND THE SECRET NEVER 
TO BE IMPARTED TO A LIVING BEING. 
“My Dear Sir : I take the liberty of sending you a Cir¬ 
cular that is printed by myself in my own printing office, in 
order that its contents may be known only to the few that 
I conclude to take into my confidence. 
“I hope that after I have placed confidence enough in you 
to send a circular of this kind, relating the nature of my 
business, that you would not be so treacherous as to even 
breathe the contents of this document to a living being; 
should you betray me, / will find means to be avenged in a 
way perhaps you would not dream of. If you do not wish 
to enter into this confidential business with me, all I ask is, 
that you burn this circular and let the secret die with the 
flame, mi the other hand, if you conclude to enter into this 
speculation, that will in a few weeks make you a wealthy 
man, I would also advise you to burn the circular and pre¬ 
serve the secret, as when 'this circular is destroyed all evi¬ 
dence against you and me is obliterated. 
“ A person in a business of this character must be true to 
themselves, and as true as steel to the person they are doing 
business with. You should always abstain from tile use of 
strong drink, for in that there is great danger, as a person 
knows not what he might say when drunk. You should also 
keep the secret of the business as still as the grave, not even 
hint at it to your nearest relation or breathe it to your sec¬ 
ond self. Now, with all the warning I have given you that 
is most necessary to adhere to without a single exception, I 
will proceed to state facts in reference to the business, 
which, if managed with care and shrewdness, will lead you 
to fortune without any one dreaming from whence your 
wealth came. 
“ In tlie first place, I wish to state that I am an engraver, 
and said to be by those who are competent of judging, the 
most expert one in America. I liavebeen employed by the 
U. S. Government for ten years. I superintended the en¬ 
graving of all the plates for the United States money. When 
the Government ceased to issue Greenbacks my services 
were no longer required, and ns soon as I found that my 
time was my own I conceived the idea of engraving a few 
plates for myself and for my benefit,'as I am well aware 
that a man can never become wealthy working lor a salary. 
I have only recently finished the work that I began almost 
two years since, that is, the engraving of six plates which are 
exact duplicates of the Governments. Mine are the Fifty 
Cents, the One, Two, Five, Ten, and Twenty Dollar plates. 
I have taken the greatest care in engraving these plates, and 
I defy the best experts to detect the counterfeits from the 
genuine. I deposited a few days since a large amount of my 
money in six different banks ill New York ; they all accept¬ 
ed it without saying a word; my money being all new, I 
thought it would not he advisable to deposit any more, for 
fear they might think something wrong. When it is depo¬ 
sited in banks there should lie other money that lias been in 
use mixed witli it, then there-will he no suspicion, and I 
now need only a few true men to assist me for six months, 
then we will secure a fortune that will enable us to enjoy 
all the pleasures that money can procure on earth. My 
bills are printed on exactly the same paper as the United 
States money, so that there is not a possible chance to detect 
the difference only in one way, which is this: the Govern¬ 
ment bills are numbered from one up, so are mine. If you 
should come across two of the same number, one will cer¬ 
tainly be counterfeit and the other genuine. If it is con¬ 
venient for you to come to New York, I wish you would; 
then you could see the money, and I would give you a few 
dollars to pass, then you would see that everybody would 
take it exactly the same as if it was genuine. 
“The price of my money is ten cents on the dollar; one 
half cash, and the other half as soon as the money is passed. 
State in your letter, when you order, how many 50 ets., 
$1.00, $2.06, $5.00. $10.00, and $20.00 bills you wish, so that t 
will know exactly how many of each to send. You must 
be sure to seal your letter perfectly tight, and write my 
name very plainly. I will make the following discounts 
when large amounts are ordered. For a three hundred 
dollar order the price will be thirty dollars. You must in¬ 
close ten dollars with tlie order, and the other.twenty dol¬ 
lars when the money is passed; and for larger orders at the 
following rates: 
$400 order for $40. Send $12 cash, and $2S when 
money is passed. 
$500 order for $50. Send $15 cash, and $35 when 
money is passed. 
$1,000 order for $100. Send $25 cash, and $75 when 
money is passed. 
$5,000 order for $.700. Send $100 cash, and . $400 
when money is passed. 
$10,000 order for $1,000. Send $200 cash, and $800 
when money is passed. 
"When a large amount is sent, I pack it in a box and mark 
it in such a manner that no one would suspect it being 
money, and send it by Express. Always state when you 
order how you wisli the money sent, and if by Express. 
“ I will send you a hundred dollars assorted, on receipt of 
five dollars, so you can see how it passes, then you can order 
a large lot. 
“By all means come at once and seem? if possible, and 
bring all the money you can possibly raise with you, so you 
will be prepared to buy a large stock, for this may be the 
last chance you will ever have to make a fortune at a single 
stroke. After you arrive in tlie city you can take tlie Broad¬ 
way stage and get out at Fourth street; walk down Fourth 
street, west side, until you come to No. 22; you will see tlie 
sign • Book Agency 13?” ’ over tlie door of the office. I oc¬ 
cupy tlie ground floor, so you will have no trouble in finding 
me. But if you can not possibly come on here now, send me 
10, 20, 50, or 100 dollars in a thick envelope, by mail, or by 
express. Do not send by registered letter under any cir¬ 
cumstances. All registered letters are supposed to contain 
money, and Post-Office Clerks are apt to open them, take tlie 
money out, and then seal them up as before, and send them 
through. You see if tiiis were to happen it would expose 
tlie whole thing. I guarantee to send you hack ten times 
tlie amount I receive, in tlie best counterfeit money ever 
issued, or if you prefer I will send my money to you C. O. I), 
by express, an 1 you can pay the money due me to the 
express agent when he hands you the package. I sew the 
money up in tlie lining of a coat, and pack it in many other 
ways before I ship it, so no one would dream of its being 
money. Now, my dear sir, I have disclosed this golden op¬ 
portunity to you in faith and hope—faith in your ability and 
fidelity, and imping that one year hence may find us both 
wealthy and happy, and I here pledge you my word of 
honor that while you are faithful to me f will he true, to you. 
My name and address is on the enclosed slip, which you 
will keep, but burn this circular. 
“This is the compact which X sign, and to which you must 
agree: 1st—We mutually agree not to betray eacli other, 
and to disclose tiiis matter to no living soul. 2d—I am to 
return to you, secure from observation, ten dollars of the 
best counterfeit money made for every dollar I receive 
from you. 3d—When you come here to see me, I am to 
count you out $10.00 for every dollar you give me, and you 
need not pay me until you have my money in your hands. 
We must do business under this compact, and let him who 
first violates it suffer the consequences.” 
Aj’sessic for I®ags. —W. W. Chance, Naples, 
Ill., says he has cured bis pigs of paralysis of the hind 
parts, or kidney complaint., by giving a quarter of a tea¬ 
spoonful of arsenic in their feed once a day. Pigs had 
been thus cured which bad been affected for two months. 
[There are sevei'al other less dangerous remedies than 
arsenic, which are therefore preferable in all such 
cases. —Ed.] 
Cassises* <>i* tSac Frog.-“X.,” Randolph 
Co., Ill., has a mare whose feet are out of order ; the frog 
is swollen, soft, spongy, and tender. What must he do ? 
—This is probably canker, or it may be a commencement 
of thrush, caused by standing in a wet, foul stable or 
yard, or running in a wet, mucky field, or by an unhealthy 
condition of the blood. The soles should be washed with 
warm water and soap, then with a strong solution of 
blue vitriol (sulphate of copper); if there are any cracks 
in tlie sole, they should be filled with tow, soaked in the 
solution. If the general health is poor, that should he 
remedied at once by proper treatment. 
SJoaacs. — “N.,” New Albany, Inch, asks, if 
bones can be purchased at $8 per ton, whether it would 
be cheaper to burn them to reduce them to powder than to 
buy bone-dust at $35 per ton. If the bone-phospliate alone 
is wanted, it would be cheaper to burn and crush them. 
If the ammonia is wanted as well as the phosphate, bone- 
dust from unsteamed bones would be cheaper at the price, 
as the nitrogen from fresh raw bones is considered by 
Prof. Johnson to lie worth $24 per ton of bones. 
HiiiTalo Ci'osses.—“ Army,” Fort Leaven¬ 
worth, Kansas, advises “ P. B. B.” (see Agriculturist , May, 
1S72). not to use the buffalo hull for crossing purposes, 
lie has lived during several years in the buffalo country, 
and they say there that a half-bred buffalo calf will have 
the hump common to the buffalo, which will be fatal to 
tlie cow in her efforts to produce the calf. Domestic bulls 
will not breed with buffalo cows. Near Chicago several 
valuable cows have been lost in the effort to give birth 
to half-bred buffalo calves. We give “ Army’s ” letter, 
but he seems not aware of the fact that the buffalo bull 
has been crossed with success with the native cow, and 
the lieifer calf from this union has bred with a buffalo hull. 
SmII-CsiIco. — “L. S.,” Saratoga Co., N. Y., 
asks, what is salt-cake, and what is it worth as a fertilizer ? 
Salt-cake, the refuse of the salt manufactory, contains 
mainly sulphates of soda and magnesia or Epsom and 
Glauber salts and chloride of calcium, which are practi¬ 
cally of no value in agriculture, or but very little; in 
fact, they often do more harm than good. Such matters 
should not be used without a well-understood purpose. 
Artificial liEaiiasres. — “A Subscriber,” 
Bonsacks, Ya,, last year collected two tons of horse aud 
cattle droppings, which he mixed with nine bushels of 
unslaked lime, same quantity of leached ashes, and four 
hundred pounds of guano. The mixture was pulverized 
and sowed with the drill at the rate of 100 pounds per 
acre on the wheat crop, with what advantage to tlie crop 
is not known. He thinks that if farmers knew what in¬ 
gredients to add to their compost heaps much valuable 
and cheap manure might be made.—This experiment is 
not a satisfactory one, because there is no result, for the 
reason that tlie effects were not watched aud noted. 100 
pounds of such a compost is too small an application ex¬ 
cept for comparison. 500 pounds per acre would have 
been better, but the effects of it should be closely ob¬ 
served as a guide for tlie future. Besides, the mixing of 
fresh lime with ammoniacal manures is contrary to what 
is considered sound principle, unless plenty of ab¬ 
sorbent matter, as leaf-mold, swamp-muck, or even 
earth, is added to retain the escaping ammonia. 
Saltpetei*. — “ W. J.,” Fitchburg, Mass., 
asks if saltpeter would he of any benefit as a dressing 
for grass laud. Nitrate of potash, which is one form of 
saltpeter (nitrate of soda, called soda-saltpeter, being 
another), has been used as a dressing for grass with very 
good results in England, but in dry seasons it is apt to 
“burn” the crop. It should therefore be used with 
caution, and in quantities of not over 100 pounds per 
acre at a time. It encourages the growth of clover and 
the most valuable grasses, and tends to make the soil 
more absorbent and retentive of moisture. Nitrate of 
soda is not so highly thought of as nitrate of potash. 
ToBraiii a Flat llearcrUIcadow,— 
“ Field ” has a heaver meadow which he wants to 
drain, but there is not sufficient fall on his land. lie 
suggests digging a fish-pond. This would not reduce the 
level of the water. If permission could he got, the creek 
might doubtless be lowered a foot or two in much loss 
than a mile; if not, there is no resource but digging 
channels to collect the water, and sowing Red-top. 
SPECIAL PREMIUMS 
STILL OFFERED. 
MCLTUM IN PARVO KNIFE, OPEN.—WEIGHT 2 OZ. 
Tlie General Premium List closed July 1st. The 
following Special Premiums are continued until 
further notice: 
The nlturn in Parvo Knife for 8 
subscribers to American Agriculturist at $1.50 a 
year; or 4 subscribers to Hearth and Home at $3.00 
a year; or 5 subscribers for one year to both the 
•above papers at $4.00 a year. (Knife sent post-paid.) 
The Beckwith $10 Sewing- .lla> 
chime for 12 subscribers to American Agriculturist 
at $1.50 a year; or 6 subscribers to Hearth and 
Home at $3.00 a year; or for 10 subscribers to both 
papers at $4.00 a year. 
A. 55.—'i'wo halikyear subscribers in all 
tlie above cases may count for one full year in a 
Premium Club List. 
MULTUM IN PARVO KNIFE, CLOSED.—3 inches long. 
liaising Water.- “ T. N.” has his house 
40 feet above a spring, and 150 feet distant from it. What 
would be the host and cheapest way to bring the water 
to the house ?—If there is a fall of several feet within 
30 or 40 feet of the spring a ram could be used, at a cost 
for pipe and ram altogether of about forty dollars. If 
there is no fall, a windmill might be used, at a cost of 
about $150, or less if made at home. See Agriculturist 
for May, 1S72. 
WJsat Masam’es “ J. M. J.” asks what 
manures, artificial or otherwise, would be best for soil 
composed of “ silex and silica," oxide of iron, alumina, and 
sulphates and carbonates of lime and magnesia. This 
description is very incomplete, and although it might 
form the basis of a theoretical chemical formula as to the 
necessary manures, we do not consider it of any value 
practically. Wo never knew a soil which could not be 
improved by barn-yard manure, with a dressing of lime 
every five years, and good plowing; and in the absence of 
a knowledge of the amount of silica or alumina contained 
in it, we would advise “ J. M. J.” to pin his faith on to 
barn-yard manure as his main reliance. 
