84 Thikd Annual Report 



Then the thing- was to let the people know it after we got 

 the potatoes. That was the hardest matter of all — the day I 

 went to Akron, our nearest city, with a bushel of potatoes, — 

 and my wife, — she went to back me up, — and I needed it — I spent 

 the whole day in that city and it was nearly dark before I got an 

 order. Twenty-five cents was all I was offered ; I told them 

 we had some potatoes unlike any they ever saw ; they were mag- 

 nificent, of uniform size, good eating quality, and just perfect. 

 When they were dug they were picked up immediately and cover- 

 ed so everything was in perfect condition and just as fresh as 

 though they had just been taken from the ground, and they had 

 been grown in the ground, too, — this was the Early Rose, — a 

 good while ago, you know. I went to all the leading grocers 

 in the city and told them I had something extra fine, and I show- 

 ed them the bushel I had, and told them my price. They said 

 potatoes were potatoes and they would not raise the price. Every- 

 where it was the same story. I talked and argued. Just as I 

 was about ready to give up I came across one man who looked 

 at the potatoes, then he looked at me and said : — "Do you pretend 

 to say that you can bring me a load of potatoes as good as that 

 sample ?" I said "Yes, sir," and he told me to bring them ; that 

 although he had never paid an extra price for potatoes he was 

 willing to if they were all like the sample. I picked up my 

 basket and started for the carriage, when he said, "I want the 

 sample left here." I saw the point and left the basket. The 

 next day I got out my spring wagon, — I had had it varnished, 

 canvas covered, etc. I piled the potatoes up to a peak in the cen- 

 ter of the box, covered them, and just before I got to the city I 

 uncovered them, got a pail of water and springled them on top — 

 you know potatoes look so much better when they are damp, — I 

 left the cover off and began to drive through the streets of that 

 city. I wish you could have seen the crowds that followed me ; 

 as I went past the dealers who had refused me the day before 

 they came rushing out trying to buy. I told them the load was 

 sold, that I found a man who knew a good thing when he saw it. 

 They all asked me to bring them a load, and from that day on 

 for fifteen years I never caught up with my orders. We got 15 

 cents above the market price, and for 15 years we never took 

 less than that for a single load. That means a good deal when 

 you raise them by the thousand bushels. It was my fixed rule 

 to sell them at 15 cents above market price, and dealers never 

 asked me to accept less. I was a stand-by, and they kept me 

 going. By the way, there were thousands and thousands of 

 Terry's potatoes sold in Akron that Terry never raised. 



T remember one year when we sold a carload of very 

 choice potatoes to a banker in fronton, O. He went back on 



