132 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



neighbor has for $15.00 to $20.00. Buying pedigreed Hve stock is Hke 

 every other mercantile business, you must have confidence in the party 

 you deal with, and must IrequenLl)- allow the seller to influence you in 

 making selection. To illustrate this point, I have for many years pur- 

 chased tooth brushes from a party in St. Louis, and although I pride my- 

 self on some knowledge of what constitutes a good tooth brush, yet I am 

 always glad to ask this party his opinion, and whenever I take his judg- 

 ment I invariably get full value. I certainly use my own judgment as 

 every purchaser should, but we must be willing to take the other fellow's 

 judgment to at least some extent, and if we have not enough confidence 

 in the party we are buying from to do that, we should buy our stuff 

 from some one in whom we do have confidence. This is especially true 

 with beginners, but I presume if I was as old and competent a breeder 

 as our Mr. Gentry, Mr. Harris and many others that I could mention, 

 that when I wanted to buy an animal out of some other herd, I would 

 use my own judgment entirely, but if this is true with those breeders, it 

 is the exception rather than the rule. 



Of course, there is the other side to the question, and that is the 

 breeder or seller should be very careful in his description. I believe our 

 best breeders are, and if the general public become educated to the point 

 v/here they are willing to pay the price for quality, there will be less 

 dissatisfaction in buying pedigreed live stock on mail orders. I have 

 found that the successful breeders are good business men and good 

 business men do not misrepresent their goods. There is, however, a 

 class of breeders who are perfectly honest, but whose judgment is bad. 

 An intended purchaser may write the breeder of this class asking him 

 for price and description of a certain kind of animal, and the breeder in 

 sending description may unknowingly overdraw it. He does this from 

 ignorance, and not from any intention to cheat. However, the damage 

 done the buyer is just as much as though he had intended to defraud, 

 and if he is really honest, he will make the purchase good in some equit- 

 able way. 



There is also a possibility of the purchaser not knowing whether 

 or not the animal he receives is what it should be. The seller may not 

 have overdrawn description, but he sees the animal in the light of ex- 

 perience and knowledge, whereas the buyer does not really know a good 

 animal when he sees it. I remember an incident of this kind that came 

 under my notice some years ago. A friend ordered a male pig from a 

 reliable breeder. The pig came and the buyer was greatly disappointed. 

 He had in mind a show animal fitted for the fairs, whereas the pig re- 

 ceived was in good breeding condition only, and of course, not having 



