﻿c27 
  

  

  will 
  bring. 
  I 
  read 
  the 
  other 
  day 
  with 
  great 
  interest 
  the 
  pros- 
  

   pectus 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  pecan 
  orchard 
  started 
  several 
  years 
  ago 
  by 
  a 
  

   very 
  honorable 
  and 
  high-minded 
  man, 
  and 
  the 
  promises 
  of 
  suc- 
  

   cess 
  were 
  most 
  alluring. 
  What 
  are 
  the 
  facts 
  ? 
  The 
  boll 
  weevil 
  

   came 
  along 
  and 
  wiped 
  out 
  his 
  intermediate 
  cotton 
  crops. 
  The 
  

   floods 
  came 
  later 
  and 
  destroyed 
  acres 
  of 
  his 
  orchards, 
  and, 
  if 
  

   he 
  were 
  to 
  write 
  a 
  prospectus 
  today, 
  it 
  would 
  no 
  doubt 
  be 
  a 
  state- 
  

   ment 
  of 
  hope 
  rather 
  than 
  a 
  statement 
  of 
  facts. 
  He 
  would 
  no 
  

   doubt 
  turn 
  from 
  the 
  Book 
  of 
  Revelations, 
  where 
  at 
  that 
  time 
  

   he 
  saw 
  "a 
  new 
  heaven 
  and 
  a 
  new 
  earth," 
  and 
  write 
  from 
  the 
  

   Book 
  of 
  Genesis, 
  where 
  "the 
  earth 
  was 
  without 
  form 
  and 
  void." 
  

  

  How 
  many 
  people 
  have 
  been 
  defrauded 
  by 
  these 
  various 
  

   schemes, 
  no 
  one 
  knows. 
  How 
  many 
  clerks, 
  barbers, 
  bookkeepers, 
  

   stenographers, 
  students, 
  preachers, 
  doctors, 
  lawyers, 
  have 
  con- 
  

   tributed 
  funds 
  for 
  farms 
  and 
  future 
  homes 
  in 
  sections 
  where 
  

   they 
  would 
  not 
  live 
  if 
  they 
  owned 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  county. 
  How 
  

   many 
  people 
  have 
  been 
  separated 
  from 
  their 
  cash 
  by 
  literature 
  

   advertising 
  rich, 
  fertile 
  lands 
  in 
  sections 
  where 
  the 
  alligator 
  will 
  

   bask 
  unmolested 
  in 
  miasma 
  for 
  the 
  next 
  fifty 
  years, 
  and 
  where 
  

   projects 
  should 
  be 
  sold 
  by 
  the 
  gallon 
  instead 
  of 
  by 
  the 
  acre. 
  

  

  Some 
  time 
  ago 
  it 
  was 
  reported 
  that 
  inquiries 
  in 
  reference 
  to 
  

   the 
  feasibility 
  and 
  profits 
  of 
  various 
  orchard 
  schemes 
  had 
  come 
  

   in 
  to 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Plant 
  Industry 
  of 
  the 
  Agricultural 
  Depart- 
  

   ment, 
  at 
  Washington, 
  in 
  such 
  numbers 
  that 
  the 
  officials 
  of 
  

   that 
  Bureau 
  had 
  considered 
  the 
  advisability 
  of 
  printing 
  a 
  gen- 
  

   eral 
  circular, 
  which 
  they 
  could 
  send 
  to 
  the 
  inquirers, 
  advising 
  

   them 
  to 
  make 
  due 
  investigation, 
  and 
  giving 
  a 
  few 
  general 
  sug- 
  

   gestions 
  about 
  proxy 
  farming 
  and 
  orchard 
  schemes. 
  I 
  was 
  ad- 
  

   vised 
  by 
  a 
  friend 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  west 
  that 
  the 
  contemplated 
  is- 
  

   suance 
  of 
  this 
  circular 
  by 
  the 
  Bureau 
  of 
  Plant 
  Industry 
  had 
  

   aroused 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  protests 
  throughout 
  the 
  country, 
  and 
  that 
  

   various 
  Senators 
  and 
  Members 
  of 
  the 
  House 
  of 
  Representatives 
  

   had 
  entered 
  strong 
  protests 
  with 
  the 
  Secretary 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  

   against 
  it. 
  A 
  number 
  of 
  these 
  protests 
  have 
  come 
  to 
  my 
  notice, 
  

   and 
  they 
  take 
  various 
  forms 
  of 
  opposition, 
  but 
  are 
  all 
  unanimous 
  

   against 
  the 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture 
  offering 
  to 
  the 
  prospec- 
  

   tive 
  purchaser 
  any 
  information. 
  Various 
  reasons 
  for 
  their 
  stand 
  

   were 
  given 
  by 
  the 
  protestants, 
  but 
  how 
  flimsy 
  and 
  ridiculous 
  

   they 
  are 
  when 
  analyzed. 
  Congress 
  for 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  years 
  has 
  

   been 
  appropriating 
  money 
  and 
  authorizing 
  certain 
  work 
  by 
  

   the 
  Department 
  of 
  Agriculture. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  people's 
  money, 
  and 
  the 
  

   people's 
  Department, 
  and 
  the 
  information 
  gathered 
  by 
  the 
  ex- 
  

  

  