No. 5. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 325 



for the farmer rather than for the office holder." In this, the Gov- 

 ernor deserves and should have the hearty support of, not only every 

 farmer, but likewise that of every well meaning citizen of the Com- 

 monwealth. 



Seven years ago, without either my knowledge or consent, the Exe- 

 cutive Committee of this body elected me one of its Consulting Spe- 

 cialists, assigning to me the work of the Mineralogist and later elect- 

 ing me Economic Geologist. As such, it was my province to be at 

 the beck and call of any farmer in the State for the identification of 

 minerals and advice along geologic lines. During these seven years, 

 many letters asking for advice, etc., have been written to me from 

 various parts of the State. Each and every one of them has re- 

 ceived prompt and careful attention, and was answered as fully and 

 as explicitly as if they had been sent to me by regular paying clients. 

 For this service, not a dollar was either asked or received, nor have 

 I been remunerated, for postage, stationery, clerk hire or for the 

 return charges on specimens forwarded for examination. Several 

 cases have been brought to my attention, wherein farmers at the in- 

 stance of others, have taken advantage of this gratuitous service by 

 writing for information, and later, giving it to others, who could and 

 should have paid for the professional services rendered. Should it 

 so happen, that the staff of Consulting Specialists be abolished, the 

 writer will have no regrets, but will retire with the satisfaction of 

 having conscientiously performed each and every duty assigned to 

 him, and that, if his advice has been followed, he has effected a saving 

 of thousands of dollars to the farmers of Pennsylvania by advising 

 them against prospecting for minerals in localities where there was 

 no probability of finding them and by repeatedly warning them 

 against men claiming to be experts, some of whom assume mis- 

 leading titles without any warrant whatsoever. In fact, the State 

 oflSces they claim to fill do not now nor ever did exist. 



Numerous instances have been brought to our attention, wherein 

 farmers and others have been badly advised and now mourn the 

 loss of both time and monev. Investigations of these has brought 

 out the fact that some were due to incompetency upon the part of 

 the adviser, others to a lack of knowledge on the part of the prospec- 

 tors, while in others, there was n decided element of fraud. In one 

 case, it was found that farmers were beincr solicited to buy stock in 

 a coal mine not far from the Capitol. Of this operation, T made, at 

 the request of some clients, a thorough examination, after which I 

 was shown an elaborate prospectus that had been prepared by the 

 promoters of the scheme. At the time of my visit. I met there some 

 farmers and business men, who had gone to investiiratp this wonder- 

 ful (?) operation. A few moment's investigation sufficed to show 

 that carbonaceous deposit was not within the Coal Measures and 

 that any p+temiits to mine the deposit would result in financial 

 disaster. This conclusion has since been verified and the $15,000 

 sunk is gone forever, unless the experience was worth it and will be 

 profited by. for these men, like the boy who fooled around the busi- 

 ness end of a mule, don't look ouite so well, but thfy have a good 

 deal more sense. We have also been called upon for opinions as to 

 the probability of findincr petroleum in nayin? nuantitips in Lohig-h. 

 Schuylkill, Carbon and Luzerne counties. Our advice was unheoded. 

 Wells were sunk but no oil was found, nor was there the slightest 



