44:0 
AMERICAN AGRICULTURIST. 
[December, 
I'!' WESjSj PA¥.—Half a dozen intelligent 
anti thoroughly practical men are constantly engaged 
in hunting up information, examining and sifting 
all they can hear, read, and see, and the results of 
their labors are condensed, into these pages in as read¬ 
able form as possible. The paper is as valuable for what 
it leaves out—as useless, or worthless, or worse—as for 
what it prints. Can any one go through eight hundred, 
r'ljumns of such matter, given in this journal each year, 
without getting some hint, or some train of thought that 
will, in the end, result in a profit of far more than the 
dollar, or dollar-and-a-half, it costs? The four hundred 
engravings will alone give much more pleasure and 
profit than the money would bring in any other way. 
T«ci Million Hollars Saved !—Any- 
bodywho will examine the tens of thousands of letters, 
circulars, etc., which we have received concerning the 
operations of the humbug fraternity, will very readily 
endorse the estimate recently made that this journal alone 
has saved to the people of the country at least ten million 
dollars that would have gone into the pockets of swin¬ 
dlers, but for the exposures and cautions given in these 
pages. The truth is, more than half of the people of 
the entire country have been cheated by the swindling 
operators of one kind and another, though few people are 
willing to let it be known that they have been in the 
trap. But since this journal has obtained an almost 
universal circulation, the swindlers have found their 
occupation gone, or nearly so. One of the leading oper¬ 
ators recently remarked, that “ they ought to have raised 
money enough to have bought out the Agriculturist , type 
and all, and shut it up.”— Mem. It is not for sale, and will 
not be until the Humbugs are made too poor to buy it. 
S&ive fllie Index Slieet, which is put 
loosely in this number, so that it can be bound or stitched 
at the beginning of the volume without cutting the thread. 
USoaotnl Copies of Blits Volume will 
soon be ready. Price, $2, at our office, or $2.50 each, il 
sent by mail. Any of the previous eleven volumes (10 to 
20) will be forwarded at the same price. Sets of numbers 
.-cut to our office will be neatly bound in our regular style 
for 75 cents per volume, (50 cents extra, if returned by 
mail.) Missing numbers supplied at 12 cents each. 
ObsIss can at any time be increased, by remitting' 
for each addition the price paid by the original members, 
i f the subscriptions all date at the same starting point. 
The back numbers will, of course, be sent to added names. 
‘•Heat.ia obi OTsosaSiBag's.*'— The other day 
wc received a club of subscribers from a mountainous 
coal region in Pennsylvania, sent, by a miner who remark¬ 
ed that: “We have not a foot of land to cultivate, and no 
time above ground to work any, but we lake your paper 
because it is death on humbugs. One of our miners had 
the paper sent him by an Eastern relative last year, and a 
single item in it stopped the forwarding of $400 made up 
in our mine to send to a plausible gift enterprise. 
This is only one case. A lot of us estimated last 
week that the single copy of the American Agricul¬ 
turist taken here has saved in one Mine several thousands 
of dollars. The paper has been loaned and read until 
each copy has been worn out, or soiled too much to he 
longer read. Our wives and children are eager after it, 
and the pictures are greatly interesting, even to us begrim - 
ed miners ”—We give this as a specimen of a mul¬ 
titude of other similar testimonials. The work pays in 
the satisfaction it gives, notwithstanding the labor 
it makes. — Thanks to the aid our exposures have 
drawn from Congress, the mails are measurably closed 
against a considerable class. But, like diving ducks, 
they will bob up somewhere — they are too lazy or 
naturally too dishonest to work for a living—and we shall 
keep our trusty gun well loaded, cocked, and aimed, 
ready to pick off every broad bill that comes to the surface. 
“ Tlae MaaialeB- sisaai 'IVst'iiuies”.'’ — In 
this little work, just published by Orange Judd & Co., 
and advertised on another page, Mr. Halsey Thrasher, an 
old hunter and trapper, relates his experience. When a 
hoy, like many others, lie became fond of a gun and trap, 
and his first success, as lie tells us, was in making a steel 
trap in the blacksmith’s shop where he had been placed 
to learn a trade. From his first exploits, of catching 
foxes, to the time when lie became an export trapper of 
the bear and hunter of the doer, very much, of course, was 
learned, and in his book this is all told in a manner that 
cannot fail to interest all who would care to bear an old 
hunter’s story. The best modes of hunting and trapping 
are given, with hints about guns, rilles. and traps, and 
directions for tanning skins, etc. The work is illustra¬ 
ted. It is neatly bound in flexible covers, and will be 
sent by mail, post-paid, for $1. 
TO MORE THAN 
of «Mta* Headers. 
Though many subscriptions originally extended 
beyond this year, and large numbers have already re 
newed for uext- year, in Premium Clubs and other¬ 
wise, there still remain more than 100,000 names to ! 
be renewed on our books before the wrapper 
writers can prepare for mailing them the next num¬ 
ber. It would save us a Thousand dollars at least, 
if we could have these renewals come right in at 
the beginning of this month, so that the entries 
could all be made by experienced clerks, without tlie 
extra help and night work usually required the hit 
ter part of December. JPlease otillge 
BBS, friends, as soon as yon read this item, by sitting 
right down, and sending in your renewal for 1869. 
All the letter needed is, a few simple words, giv¬ 
ing your Post-oitice, County, State, and Name, and 
the amount enclosed, all plainly written. If three j 
others join yon, the four copies cost only $5. II 
making up a larger Club, please let the names be j 
forwarded for entry at once, It will take no | 
longer lo attend to this about Dec. 1, than at a ! 
» I 
later date, while it will help our work greatly. 
We take it for granted that every present sub 
scriber will gladly continue reading this journal. 
The paper has kept right oil improving, for many 
years past, and this rule will hold good hereafter. 
Eaeli year’s experience, and increasing mental and 
pecuniary resources, enable us to do better the 
next. Our success has been abundantly satisfac¬ 
tory, but we have higher aims, and we propose 
to ourselves to supply a greatly improved journal 
next year—one full of good things, of valuable 
practical information for all the people, and beauti¬ 
fully illustrated with the best things t-liat first-class 
artists and engravers can bring forth. So we cor¬ 
dially invite all our large circle of readers to take a 
seat in the Agriculturist family for 1869, and bring 
along troops of new acquaintances for introduction. 
Doors open anew for 1S69 sit 
precisely 7 % A.M., Tuesday, B&ee. 1.- 
Ailmissioia Fee, flea- tlie wliolc yeas*, 
only $1.50, sm«l Hess* to eoitspasiies. 
Crai-ileniBig' for tlie Sontli? or, How to 
Grow Vegetables aucl Fruits. By the late Wm. N. White, 
of Athens, Ga,, assisted by J. Van Buren and Dr. James 
Camak. New York, Orange Judd & Co. Pp. 444. This 
work, which was long ago announced, is now ready. Tlie 
death of Mr. White found a portion of the work in an in¬ 
complete state, but two of his horticultural friends, into 
whose hands he committed the task, kindly finished if. 
and it now appears to fill a long- vacant place in our hor¬ 
ticultural literature. It is the only work we have, written 
with special reference to the wants of the Southern 
States. Not only does the climate of these States require 
peculiar modes of culture, hut it allows many things to 
be grown that cannot he raised at the North except under 
glass. It must not he supposed, however, that the work 
is solely for the benefit of Southern gardeners; the author 
has presented a treatise on gardening that will he found 
useful either North or South, and has discussed the 
operations of horticulture more extendedly than is tlie 
custom with writers on gardening. The division devoted 
to fruits is mainly by Mr. J. Van Suren, a well-known 
pomologist of Clarksville, Ga., and will he found to he 
not the least valuable portion of the work. The lists of 
varieties that upon trial have been found suited to the 
South, are of especial value to those who contemplate en¬ 
gaging in fruit culture in that section of tlie country. 
Tlie work is abundantly illustrated and contains a por¬ 
trait of the author.—Price by mail $2.00. 
r l’oiuatoes Sai Sllcliig'aii.— “C. W.,” 
Market Gardener, Detroit, writes his experience with 
tomatoes, which we publish as an illustration of the fact 
that varieties will not he equally good in ail parts of the 
country. He says: “This spring I purchased seeds of 
the Early Smooth Red, Early York, Early Cedar Hill, and 
Keyes’ Prolific. Tlii§ seed was all planted in hot-beds, 
March 12tli, and the plants were transplanted into other 
liot-beds, April 21st, G Inches apart eacii way. They all 
received the same care, and were planted in the open 
ground Slay 23d. The Smooth Red ripened first, the 
Keyes’ one week behind. Cedar Hill and Early York two 
weeks later still. The Cedar Hill is one of tlie greatest 
humbugs ever sent out. How any man can recommend 
it to be an early and smooth variety, I cannot tell. It is 
tlie latest and worst tomato that can be planted by tlie 
market gardener, and the Early York is not much better.’’ 
4nB*ap« r IT«\* Si nag- at llasiamomls- 
■port, N. Y.—In October last-, a number of gentlemen 
were invited by tlie Pleasant Valley Wine Co. to serve 
as a committee to subject the leading varieties of native 
grapes to tlie test for sugar and acids. Those who grow 
grapes on tlie large scale understand what tliis means ; to 
others we may briefly explain. The relative value of 
grapes for wine making—other tilings being equal—de¬ 
pends upon the amount of sugar contained in the juice 
or must. Regarding tlie juice as a mixture of sugar and 
water, the more sugar there is present, the denser the 
liquid will be, and the instrument used in tlie lest, called 
a saccharometer '(sugar-measurer), will sink more or less 
as the liquid contains less or more sugar. To develop 
the greatest amount of sugar by proper treatment of the 
vine and ripening of its fruit is the great point with the 
vineyardist, as in selling his crop its value depends up¬ 
on the quality of the must. The amount of acid is of lit¬ 
tle importance in the better grapes, but is of consequence 
in those low in sugar. This is ascertained by observing 
how much solution of ammonia of a fixed strength is re¬ 
quired to neutralize a measured amount of must. Thu 
committee was organized by the election of Hon. Mar¬ 
shall P. Wilder as Chairman, and the Hon. J. Staunton 
Gould as Secretary. The manipulation was skillfully per¬ 
formed by Mr. Wasson of the Company. A detailed ac¬ 
count will be published, and wo only present the results 
in brief, with the remark that some of the, samples of 
grapes had been subjected to the deteriorating influence 
of a severe frost. Delaware, raised by E. H. Burgess, 89 
degrees saccharometer, 8)4 thousandths, acid ; ditto, D. 
W. Burgess, 103 deg. saccli.. 7 3 lOths.acid; ditto, W. B. 
Barton, 92 dog. saccli., 9)4 acid; ditto, Pleasant Valley 
Wine Co., 99 deg. saccli., 1014 acid; Israolla, D. S. Wag- 
ener, 84 dog. saccli., 5;-* acid ; Iona, D. S. Wagoner, 101 
dog. sacch., S G-10ths acid : Catawba, A. Eggleston, S9J4 
deg. saccli., 12J4 acid: ditto, Urban a Wine Co., 80 deg. 
saccli., 13acid; ditto, E. H. Burgess, 91 deg. saccli., 
13 2-10ths acid; ditto, Pleasant Valley Wine Co., 01 
deg. saccli.. 12 3 lOtlis acid ; Walter, Ferris & Caywood, 
99 deg. saccli., 9 3-10tlis acid; Diana, P. V. Wine Co.. 88 
deg. saccli., 12 Sloths acid; ditto, Urbana Wine Co., 90 
deg. sacch.. 11 l-10tli acid; Creveling, P. V. Wine Co., 
78deg. saccli., 10 acid; Alvey, P. V. Wine Co., 83 deg. 
saccli.. 12>4 acid; Clinton, P. V. Wine Co., S5 dog. saccli.; 
Concord, P. V. Wine Co., 76 deg. saccli.. 6 acid ; Oporto, 
P. V. Wine Co., 78 deg. saccli., 12 5-10ths acid ; Isabella, 
I’. V. Wine Co., 70 deg. saccli., 12J4 acid ; Scuppernong. 
from S. C .apparently not fully ripe, 00 deg.sacch. ,9j4 acid. 
