4t 46 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
of letters from various places in Texas show that the 
quack Dr. F. E. Andrews, of Lexington avenue N. Y., 
alias Albany, N. Y.. is just now vigorously operating in 
that State with his humbugs, his “Good Samaritan," 
“ American College of Health,” etc., etc. “ Dr H. M. 
Brown," of Albany, N. Y., may be Andrews under an¬ 
other name, or a brother quack. Let them both alone, 
and burn all their circulars that are thrust into your 
hands.Five hundred letters of commendation will 
not whitewash “ Rev. Edward Wilson ” into anything 
less than an old swindler. The “ Golden Remedies,” 
inquired about by several, are nonsensical quackery. 
Our Humbug Drawer for this month contains 43 differ¬ 
ent names ol swindlers. The “263 Lottery of the Free 
City of Hamburg ” is a swindle, at least so far as any 
agency in the U. S. is concerned.The “ N. Y. Loan 
Brokers' Union,” R. H. Lewis, manager, 4 Bond street, 
N. Y., is a humbug, as before stated_ Pardee, of 
Binghamton, N. Y., was still selling his humbug tick¬ 
ets, etc., as late as October 22d. Why don't the good 
people of Binghamton drive this nuisance out of their 
midst 1 They are in danger of getting as bad a reputa¬ 
tion as New York_Don’t be humbugged into sending 
money for watches to any but well-known, reputable par¬ 
ties. A large share of that sent to our large cities in 
answer to circulars is never heard of again, and so much 
of it as is heard from is poorly recompensed. The stories 
about failing firms, etc., etc., is all humbug. Good 
watches, like good gold coin, never go begging cus¬ 
tomers at half-price .No decent person of common 
sense will give the slightest heed to the circulars of C. 
Sheldon & Co., Hoboken, N. J„ or any one of his class 
who pretend to be such great friends to the married and 
knferentially, to the vicious unmarried.To T. E., ol 
Pennsylvania, and others: These various eye-doctors, 
eye-sight restorers, etc., are merely advertisers of cheap 
spectacles. Go to the nearest village, and you can try 
and be fitted with glasses every way as good, at a quar¬ 
ter of the cost, and with more certainty. We are tired 
of chasing tip every advertising swindle of this kind after 
having looked into merits of a score or more of them, 
and find them all de-merits.To E. H. M., New York : 
No circular was inclosed. The syrup is doubtless 
quackery. The swindling fraternity have, in one way and 
another, got the P. O. address of most persons in the 
U. S. They sell and “swap ” lists of these names among 
themselves and with quack-doctors, etc.The 
“Queer" or “Sawdust” swindlers are brisk at work, 
adopting a great variety of names to deceive the P. O. 
people, who try to keep letters from those known or be¬ 
lieved to be cheats. The fellow operating in this line 
sends out, among others, the following names as his ad 
dr ss: At 34 Amity street , N. Y.—H. L Barnard; K. P. 
Douglass; Geo. Savory ; L. F. Harness ; ML Keiley ; 
N. L. Werner; F. II. Park; L. P. Benchley; H. J. 
Keene; Chas. W. Young; K. G. Pott; H. W. Elston; 
E S Hale ; L. F. Stark ; Elbert Putnam ; G. E. Sturtevant; 
F. P. Walters; G. L. Demey ; Ben. L. Crowe. At 609 Broad¬ 
way.—Col. James Warlow ; Thos. Jackson ; E. C. Catlin ; 
OtisT. Bcnger; S W. Westervelt; K. M. Walters; Isaac 
S. Lewis; Edwin Virgil; Arthur Debenham, 190 Broad¬ 
way. Al-o Reid, Delafield & Co., 88 Broadway, N. Y., 
and New Haven, Ct.; David W. Coles, 267 3d ave.; Myron 
F. Brittell & Co., 30 Bond st.; W. n. Malcolm, 63 4th 
ave., etc., etc. All the above use essentially the same 
circulars.We have not room for a lot more of hum¬ 
bugs on hand, but will renew the war upon them in the 
next volume, and, as hitherto, we expect to shield at 
least all our readers from swindlers, and through them 
many other people. 
Parsnip Seed. —“C. C. M.” Leave the 
roots in the ground until spring, then dig. Select 
the best, and set them out to bear seed. If there are wild 
parsnips in the neighborhood, there is danger that they 
will cross with the cultivated ones, and deteriorate the 
seed. This may have been the cause of your trouble. 
Evcrgreen.Trces from (he Woods. 
— W. Oldfield, Canada. Evergreens from the woods need 
care the first year. Take them up and set them in rows 
close together, and put over a rough shelter—a rail plat 
form, covered with boughs, and a foot or two above the 
trees, will answer. Those that survive a season under 
this treatment, maybe set out the next year, and be quite 
sure to live. Yon can judge whether it would be cheaper 
for you to take this trouble, or to purchase trees at the 
price named. 
Cannas. —“L. A. G.,” Vernon, N. Y. The 
roots should be dug before the stems are fairly cut down 
by frost. When the stems are subjected to hard frost, the 
roots soon decay. We find that the roots do not keep 
well in the cellar, and shall try them in a drier place. 
Borers.—“ J. K. B.” We doubt the efficacy 
of any externa' application after the borer has entered 
the tree. They may be of use, at the proper season, to 
prevent the deposition of eggs. Remove the earth around 
the base of the trees, and search for the holes. Often 
they may be cut out with a knife, but if they have entered, 
too deeply, a wire-probe must be used. Sometimes it is 
necessary to cut the wood away with a gouge, before the 
grub is reached, but the cutting will not be equal in in¬ 
jury to that done by the borer. Well-rotted stable manure, 
ashes, or lime are best manures. 
Ciroiind-Vinery.—“ W. O.,” Quebec. We 
do not know of any one who has tried to grow exotic 
grapes in ground-vineries so far north, but we think the 
probabilities are in favor of success. We figured the 
ground-vinery in June, 1866. 
Vinegar Eols.— “H. L. D.,” Oswego, N. 
Y. The so-called eels are worms, and are called by natu¬ 
ralists Anguillula aceti. There are several species, some 
being found in vinegar, some in porter and other ferment¬ 
ed liquors, and others in wet moss and moist earth. The 
only way that we know of, to get rid of them, is to heat 
the vinegar to the boiling point, but it is not likely that 
this will prevent others from breeding after a while. The 
manner of the production and reproduction of low forms 
of animal life related to these vinegar eels is a subject of 
scientific controversy, and one too wide for our limits. 
Fesiclies for Canada.—“ W. O.,” Que¬ 
bec. Probably no variety of peach will endure your win¬ 
ters, no matter how well protected by evergreens When 
the mercury goes 12 ° below zero, the fruit buds are usually 
destroyed. You can grow peaches in boxes or tubs, and 
remove them to the cellar in winter. We can not answer 
the other question. 
Spreading' Ulannre.—“ J. C.,”Ridgway, 
Minn., asks if it is best to spread manure direct from the 
wagon in the fall of the year for plowing in for corn, or 
let it lie in heaps.—Don’t by any means let it lie in heaps, 
but spread direct from the wagon. It saves labor, and 
the ground is more equally fertilized. 
Cross-Harrowing.—” M. B.,” Brush Val¬ 
ley, Pa., sends us a method by which he cross-harrowed 
his field with only half as much turning of the team as by 
the usual method. He commenced at one corner and 
crossed the field diagonally to the opposite corner, turned 
to the left and returned, then turned at right angles until 
he reached the edge of the field at his left hand, then re¬ 
turned alongside of his first stroke to the end of it. then 
turned at right angles until he reached the fence at his 
left hand again, and so on, going continually round the 
field diagonally, when he finished at a corner, and the 
ground had been passed over twice and no hoof-inarks 
were left on the field. 
Cord-wood Stick* for Basiy.— Those 
Northern farmers who put sixty pounds of wood in the 
bales of hay sent to Texas, which the Texan planters 
think not so kind treatment as they might naturally be 
led to expect, should remember that though such con¬ 
duct may be profitable, it is not neighborly. 
Lolling of the Tongue.— “ L. W. W.,” 
Defiance Co., Ohio, informs “ O. C. S.” how to cure a 
horse that carries his tongue out—viz. : Rivet a section 
of a knife from a mowing-machine on his bit; dull the 
edges, and make everything smooth. The knife running 
up in his mouth prevents him from drawing his tongue 
far enough back to get it over the bit. Carelessness in 
breaking colts is the cause of it. ne has just finished 
breaking a colt that had this habit. He broke him by 
taking a strong rubber tape, sewing a buckle on one end, 
and rnnning it through the rings in the bit and over his 
nose, tight enongh to hold the bit up against the roof of 
his mouth. He thinks the rubber would not enre an old 
horse of the habit, although he never tried it; but the 
knife will prevent it as long ns it is used. 
Iloudnn Fowls.— “An Old Subscriber” 
asks if Houdan fowls have muffles in front of the neck 
as shown in the illustration of a trio in the Agriculturist 
of March, 1871.—This is indispensable in pure-bred fowls. 
Sundry Questions. —“ Wm. T. O.,” Bun- 
combeCo., N. C., asks as follows—viz. : 1st. What is the 
difference in value between leached and unleached wood- 
ashes on a wheat crop 1 2d. What is the best way of re¬ 
ducing bones to fine dust where there is no bone-mill? 
3 d. Is not $20 per ton sufficient freight on fertilizers for 
1,000 miles? 4th. What is the best and cheapest way, 
and what is the cost, of transporting a mare from Liver¬ 
pool to North Carolina ? 6 th. What is the cost of a good 
drill to sow seeds and fertilizers at the same time ? 6 th. 
What is the chemical operation of burnt clay used as a 
manure for turnips ? 7th. What is the rate of import 
duty on English farm implements, new or second-hand ? 
— Replies: 1 st. Uuleached are worth double the leached, 
2d. There is no ready way. 3d. If they could be carried 
in bulk in large quantities, Yes; if not, No. 4th. By 
I steamer to New York, thence by steamer to Wilmington, 
N. C. The passage costs from $55, gold, upwards, with 
fare of attendant. $80, and feed additional; total, proba¬ 
bly not less than $200, gold, if not more. 5lh. $90. 6 th. 
Potash is released and rendered soluble. 7th. Forty per 
cent ad valorem. 
Question for Decision. —“J. D. H.” asks 
the following question : At an agricultural fair a pre¬ 
mium is offered for the “ best coop of chickens, not less 
than three varieties, and three of each.” The only coop 
on the ground that contained three fowls of each of three 
varieties was one with five light Brahmas, four dark 
Brahmas, and three half-bred Iloudans. Was this coop en¬ 
titled to the premium?—We should say it was, unless 
the judges, as they sometimes do, reserved the right to 
refuse a premium when in their opinion the specimens 
exhibited are unworthy. But unless this is expressly de¬ 
clared and understood, it leads to dissatisfaction and ill- 
feeling, which should be avoided. 
Cnisliing: Bone*. —“Wm. A.,” Gainesville, 
Va., wants to know all about crushing and reducing 
bones for manure, and if a two-horse railway power is 
Fufflcient to run a bone-mill.—There was a crusher fig¬ 
ured in the Agriculturist of November, 1871. which could be 
run by such a power if the number of stamps were re¬ 
duced to two or three. The ordinary bone-mills require 
five-horse power to run them. The methods of reducing 
bones with sulphuric acid or with alkalies have been 
so often described that almost any back number of the 
Agriculturist contains one or other equally effective 
method. 
How to Iflnnnge a Eot of Cairo*. 
— “Young Farmer” haB a lot of yearlings, which he 
wants to feed as cheaply as possible on corn-stalks and 
corn, ne wants information on the subject.—We once 
fed twenty-four head of calves and yearlings in the fol¬ 
lowing manner: A shed, fifty feet long, was furnished 
with a feeding trough to which access could be had from 
the front. The trough was divided into partitions, so 
that the animals could not crowd each other, and each 
had a feeding place from which it could not be ejected by 
the others. Corn-stalks were cut and wetted and mixed 
with corn-meal and wheat-bran, ground together in equal 
parts, and salted; and half a bushel per head was fed 
twice a day. Each animal had two quarts per day of the 
meal and bran. Plenty of straw was thrown into the 
shed, and none removed until spring, when there was 
three feet in depth of well-rotted manure which had not 
frozen at all, taken out, and which paid for all the feed 
the calves consumed. Regular currying, and exercise in 
the yard through the day when they wished, kept them 
in good health. We know of no better plan. 
Books Received, 
The Polytechnic and The Athencevm are both new col¬ 
lections of music, the first containing selections for 
schools, and the other part-songs- for female voices. J. 
W. Schemerhorn & Co. $1.25 each. 
Object-teaching Aids. J. W. Schemerhorn & Co., New 
York, send a catalogue of a great number of curious and 
useful appliances for the instruction of children. 
Monteith's Comprehensive Geography. A. S. Barnes Ss 
Co. send us a copy of this new school-book, which has 
much to commend it to teachers and others. 
Hobbs's Architecture, by Isaac H. nobbs & Son. Lippin- 
cott & Co., Philadelphia. A handsome volume, contain¬ 
ing a large number of designs in various styles of archi¬ 
tecture. It will be found useful to architects and those 
who intend to build. 
Dick's Encyclopedia of Practical Receipts , by William B. 
Dick, published by Dick & Fitzgerald. This is a compi¬ 
lation of over <>.000 receipts or recipes, covering every 
branch of art. The value of such a work, like that of a 
dictionary, can only be ascertained from actual use. The 
contents seem to be carefully classified, and to be ob¬ 
tained from the best sources, and the whole is presented 
in a handsome volume of 607 pages. 
The Independent Child's Speller. A juvenile book, which 
teaches a child to spell by the use of script, or writing 
letters, which allows writing to be taught with spelling. 
A. S. Barnes & Co. 25 cents. 
The Constitution of the United States , with a concordance 
and classified index. This seems to be a most carefully 
prepared and useful work. The index allows reference 
to be readily made to any article or section. The author 
is Charles W. Stearns, M.D. Published by Mason, Baker 
& Pratt, New York. 
