18G8] 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
•439 
anti practice, if they choose, the very processes which he 
finds most profitable. With this view lie has written 
Practical Floriculture, in which he tells all the "secrets” 
of the trade in vigorous Hendersonian style, and he gives 
full instructions in his way of doing things. Not only is 
the whole “art and mystery ” of propagation explained, 
but the reader is taught how to plant and grow the plants 
after they have been propagated. The work is not one 
for florists and gardeners only, but the amateur’s wants 
are constantly kept in mind, and we have a very complete 
treatise on the cultivation of flowers under glass, or in 
the open air, suited to those who grow flowers for pleas¬ 
ure, as well as those who make them a matter of trade. 
The work is characterized by the same radical common 
sense that marked his “ Gardening for Profit,” and we 
predict for it a similar popularity. Special contributions 
have been furnished by Messrs. E. A. Baumann, Jas. Flem¬ 
ing, and others. Beautifully illustrated; ready in January. 
Semi ms :j ESolitlsiy fl'rcseiit, to a. 
country or other friend, a year’s subscription to the Agri- 
<cullurist. It wilt be useful, and will remind the recipient 
of the giver;, every time it comes to hand. When desired, 
in such cases, the Publishers enclose in the first number 
an office receipt, marking on it the name of the donor. 
CsittSe SMseases. —A new work by Prof j 
John Gamgee on Cattle Diseases, adapted to the needs 1 
of American farmers ^uul breeders, is in the course of 
preparation and soon to be issued by Orange Judd & Co. 
Prof G. has been for nearly a year past, and is now. 
studying the diseases of American neat cattle and will be 
greatly obliged for any information which will add to the 
accuracy of his knowledge on this subject. Address, 
care of the Publishers of the American Agriculturist. 
Seeds,-Please understand that we send out 
no seeds to subscribers, except in collections, as stated in. 
our premium lists. We have no seeds whatever for sale : 
those wishing to purchase should apply to dealers, lhe 
names of several of whom are to be found in our advertis¬ 
ing columns, and who will fill orders by mail, with care. 
Stasaulry Hr&mkos-gw,,—If any one supposes- 
becanse wo have routed and defeated the “ Gift Enter¬ 
prise” wc have done with, humbugs, he makes a great, 
mistake. These were only the light artillery ot the 
grand army ; being able to move rapidly and change 
front often, wc were obliged to follow them up—to the 
neglect sometimes of other divisions of the enemy. Hav 
ing driven back this battery, and Congress havingspiked 
t heir guns, wc can attend to some of the intrenched forces. 
...Mutual Benefit Associations. Be cautious here! 
Some of these are doubtless started in good laith. while- 
others are pure frauds, as no such ” companies ” are to be 
found at the places advertised'. We have called at the 
ofiices of several ol these associations, as designated by 
their circulars, etc At some we found a regular office 
with the usual outfit of desks, clerks, books, etc., such 
as pertain to an ordinary Life Insurance Co., while in 
other cases we lonnd ourselves confronted by the '• shin - 
ele ” of some old offender in the quack doctor line. 
These old chaps avail themselves of every dodge to bring 
fpli into their nets, and “agents” for a Mutual Benefit 
Association is one of them. Assuming that an association 
of the kind is managed by honest hands, of what “ bene¬ 
fit ' is it’ We have looked into the plans, and as they 
have been presented wc fail to see any inducement for 
anybody to invest. An association of this kind is not a 
Life Insurance Co. but a “ Mutual Association ’’ for the 
benefit of deceased members. Let us look a little closely 
at the plan. One of these associations proposes to classi¬ 
fy members by their ages. For Instance, persons between 
the ages of 2b and 25 years make one class, those from 25 to 
GO another, and so on. We are told that each class, when 
complete, will have 5000 members. The “Mutual Bene¬ 
fit ' consists in this,—-when one member dies in any class, 
each of the survivors is to pay a dollar for the support of 
his family. Suppose you join a class at 20 years of age 
and live until you are GO years old. What have , you to 
pay out as a tax for deaths in your class for forty years ? 
Taking their estimate, that thirty members will die in 
each class every year, you are taxed $1 for each death, 
(it is generally a few cents more, to defray postage, etc.), 
which would amount in forty years to $1,200. But at this 
death rate it would take over 1(10 years for any one class 
to die off’ which is over three times longer than the average 
duration of human life. So that, in reality, if you pay $1 
for each member who dies, you will in forty years have 
paid, say three times $1,200, or $3,GOO. Suppose at the 
end of that time you die, what will your iamily get from 
the association '? The $3,000 represent 3,600 deaths out of 
5,000 members ; so that your family get for your outlay of 
$3,600 just $1 ,-100, at the time of your death. Of course the 
association claims that the class is kept up to the full num¬ 
ber by addition of new members, but this is not practi¬ 
cable. Wo are well assured that an old organization of 
this sort of several years’ standing has only a few hundred 
members including all ages, and that for a year or more 
the admission of new members has not more than equal¬ 
ed the death rate. From all we can learn, then, we feel 
assured that these “Benefit Associations” are ill advis¬ 
ed, impracticable, and unsafe.. .We would suggest to per¬ 
sons visiting New York to avoid the various cheap jew¬ 
elry and plated ware venders in basement stores and on 
streets leading from the Railroad Stations and Steamboat 
Landings. Every few days we hear complaints of swin¬ 
dling at these places, principally of strangers who are 
spending a few days in the city. It is a safe rule never to 
buy a tiling you do not want, no matter how cheap it may 
be. This holds doubly true with jewelry, plated ware, 
and the like. If one wishes to purchase articles of this 
kind, let him go to a regular dealer, and if lie is a stranger 
in New York, let him step into our office and wc will tell 
him where to find one; but let him keep out of all un¬ 
derground places of this kind_“One Dollar” shops 
are multiplying ; it is the old “ anything on this board 
for a shilling ” expanded to a dollar. These shops differ 
in extent and style, but, take them as a class, there is 
no advantage in them, but the contrary Persons may 
rest assured that merchants do not sell things for less 
than their value. And we have yet to see the article 
worth more than $1.00 to be had at these places. Their 
main stock in trade is “ Fine Gilt Jewelry” and galvan 
ized trumpery called “ plated ware.” We deprecate most 
earnestly the taste that seeks after and uses such stuff'. 
... .The Fair of the St. Louis Agricultural and Mechani 
■cal Association was a grand exhibition, and we regret to 
be obliged to use the name of St. Louis or of Missouri in 
an article on Humbugs; but the truth obliges us to pro¬ 
test—and all right-thinking people in Missouri will sus 
tain us in it — against coupling so noble a fair with a base 
swindle. Every lottery, every drawing, every game of 
chance of every kind, we hold to be a crime and a fraud 
against the public, and wc cannot except the “ Grand 
Drawing of the Paschal House Association.” Even if 
this drawing was held on the fair grounds, and even if 
the Mayor of St. Louis did so far forget his office as to 
preside at the drawing, we can not the less denounce it. 
Many bought tickets, and but few drew prizes. ' Many 
fools lost their money, and a few sharpers made a “ pile. ” 
Notwithstanding the drawingwas held on a place dedi¬ 
cated to better things, and the presence of the Mayor 
■of St. Louis gave promise that “ everything was serene,” 
somehow — nobody can tell how, and wouldn't it he 
could—the chief prizes happened to go to the members of 
the association aforesaid. Didn't the St. Louis people 
ever hear of the great “ Crosby Opera House Lottery''” 
! Wc will give ihe Mayor credit for being ashamed of his 
I share in the swindle, as he has published an article 
s stating that the whole thing was unlawful and wrong. 
and “ warns all persons from entering into any 
j similar enterprise whatever.” That warning is very 
j good of the Mayor, and if. as Sambo said, it had come 
“just previously before” instead of “just previously 
after ” the “ drawing.” if, might have had some effect... 
Wheat that produces 300 bushels to the acre ! Let every 
body send at once to the “ Southern Experimental Com¬ 
pany,’ and get—beautifully sold. Mr. S. E. Company— 
whoever you may be—you are very green. If you had 
put it at 50 or even 100 bushels, the thing might have 
caught a few, but you have spoilt the whole with your 
300 bushels. “It outrivals all acclimated novelties” 
—we should say so. It is “ Rocky Mountain Mammoth 
Wheat,” of course it is, and wasn't the Pacific Railroad 
built by the S. E. Company, all on purpose to bring in 
this Mammoth thing? “It is unlike wheat in every 
respect, except it makes a very good flour.” Why call it 
wheat at all ? Why not say wliat the thing is ? “ Entirely 
new kind of Grain ”— confounded li - l£ly story. “ How 
to send money ” isavery necessary direction. Few will 
be fools enough to heed it. “ Southern Experimental 
Company,” try again .... Farmers arc liable to be swin 
died at their own doors. One of the latest dodges is for 
a couple of chaps with surveyors’ instruments to come 
along, pretending that they arc surveying for a railroad 
the line of which will run directly through your farm. 
For a consideration of $50 or so, they can be induced to 
go a little to one side. If any such fellows come along, 
ask to see their authority. If they can’t show any, then 
show yours, and order them off of the premises. 
Aquariaim. — “Effie.” — You will find a note 
on feeding gold-fish on page 418, last month. Any plants 
that grow in our ponds and deep streams, nearly or quite 
submerged, will do in an aquarium. The Water-Ranun¬ 
culus, Water-Milfoil, and Honey-wort are among those 
most used. These arc now probably in their winter 
state, and must be sought for at the bottom. 
The Concord drape in Missouri.— 
A. A. Blumer, Pike Co., Mo., writes that, in 1866. lie 
planted 1800 vines of Concord, which fruited this year, 
and proved a failure. Mr. B. nays that, “apparently, the 
Concord does not improve here in Pike Co., but proves 
as bad in the West as in the East, any assertions to the 
contrary notwithstanding.” The Iona and Delaware do 
well in his neighborhood. On the other hand, the Mis¬ 
sissippi Valley Grape Growers’ Association have recently 
decided by a vote, which wc think was unanimous, that 
the Concord is the best grape for Missouri. All tins 
goes to show that the question of varieties is a local one. 
No one variety of fruit can be the best for every part 
of any State, especially for one so large as Missouri. 
Ciiutoia Grape BSlightiiag-.— J. Wells 
has a row of Clintons, on each side of a garden walk ; a 
drain from the cellar runs close by the roots of one row. 
The same grape in other parts of the garden does well. 
The trouble probably is the drain from the collar, which 
keeps the soil around the roots unduly moist. 
Salsify autl Parsnips. —“ J. W.,” War¬ 
ren, III. These are left in the ground mainly as a matter 
of convenience, as it saves trouble in storing, and some 
think that they arc improved by the action of frosti In 
our notes for the month, we always advise lifting and 
storing a sufficient quantity to last during the time the 
ground remains frozen. There is no necessity for leaving 
them until spring. Either parsnips or salsify may be 
eaten, when large enough, in summer or fall. 
Twelve Thousand B>«3 Ssib->s' Worth 
of Engravings, at least, will be given in the Agri¬ 
culturist during 1869. To obtain neatly printed copies of 
all these, will cost only $1.50, or less to clubs, with all 
the reading matter thrown in. 
A IBook to Make a CUootTL Farmer. 
—“ Juvenile,” Athens, Tenn. A young man desirous of 
being a good farmer wishes to buy “ the best book for 
beginners.” The young man wants a practical book. 
He had better let theory alone until he has a good foun¬ 
dation of agricultural practice and experience to guide 
him. This he will get ten times as fast in the garden as 
in the field, and so wc think the very best book we can 
put into his hands is Peter Henderson's “ Gardening for 
Profit.'' In this he will learn, 1st, the value of clean, deep, 
thorough tillage; 2d. the importance of manure; 3d, that 
well-directed labor pays; 4th, the importance of good 
seed ; 5th, the necessity of raising such crops as one has 
a quick market for. These lessons from the garden are 
the most important ones that a young farmer can learn and 
practice, and are just as applicable on a 1000-acre farm in 
Illinois or Tennessee as in a Jersey market garden. 
See book list. Gardening for Profit is $1.50 by mail. 
The American IfforticisSlnral Am* 
nual will be ready at the beginning of the year. It will 
contain valuable communications and reports by many of 
the eminent horticulturists of the country, and in intrin¬ 
sic value and beauty of illustration will, to say the least, 
be equal to the volumes which have preceded it. Price, 
by mail, 50 cents, paper; 73 cents, cloth. 
H«w to Plant Hickory Ants.— 111 T. 
.J." We have not had much experience, but found last 
year that Hickory nuts sprouted well laid in sand under a 
flat stone, where they remained moist all winter. This 
year we are planting some upon a mass of forest leaves 
m a furrow, covering with leaves and soil 3 inches deep. 
Steaming' Pood for Cattle, etc.— 
Herbert Mead, of Cross River, wishes information which 
we can hardly give without gratuitously advertising Mr. 
Prindle’s apparatus, which it is not our business to do. 
So fiir as we know, the steaming is not done under pres¬ 
sure, and the effects of steam upon fodder at high pres¬ 
sures has never, to our knowledge, been the subject of ex¬ 
periment, and is an important subject for investigation. 
A Christmas SI sow of Poultry.— 
We publish an advertisement of a National Show of 
Poultry to take place Christmas week in Philadelphia, 
under the auspices of the Philadelphia Poultry Club, 
which is composed of men whose names give a charac¬ 
ter to the undertaking, and place it above suspicion. 
The Potomac Fruit Growers’ As¬ 
sociation of Alexandria and Fairfax counties, Va., 
was organized on the 1-lth of September by tire election 
of lion. Charles H. Bramhall, of Fairfax Co., as President, 
with Mr. Robert A. Phillips, of Alexandria Co., as first. 
Vice-President. This is the first association of the kind 
yet formed in that section of the country, which lias 
great capabilities for fruit raising, and we trust that sim¬ 
ilar societies will he formed in all parts of the country, 
