STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 191 



stance where an order for stock worth some seven dollars and 

 fifty cents had been filled at twenty-five dollars. He thought 

 their swindling operations ought to be exposed. He did not be- 

 lieve they grew a tree themselves. 



President Elliot said he understood this firm had an office 

 here, but were handling stock grown in Western New York. 



Continuing, he said there had been an agent around this last 

 summer representing Augustine & Co., who had called upon him 

 to get an order; not having much to do he sat down to listen to 

 his story; he was one of the "greenest" men in regard to stock 

 one could imagine and knew scarcely anything ; with a pencil 

 and card he took some notes, which were amusing to say the 

 least. This agent made the most absured statements as to the 

 stock he sold and its hardiness; had his plate books, with speci- 

 mens greatly overdrawn as to size and coloring; his stuff was 

 all hardy and outrageously high. For instance, he charged |1.50 

 for the Tartarian honeysuckle; Transcendent crabs, worth -$10 to 

 $12 j)er hundred, 25 to 75 cents apiece, etc. He was most 

 amused with a statement as to a new lily of which the company 

 hail been able to secure all the stock, amounting to some eleven 

 bulbs, at an expense of 1250; he asked the agent if there was 

 any way he could get three or four, and he replied he didn't 

 know but he might manage to furnish one at thirty dollars! 

 That was the style of this class of men that were going all over 

 this country, and if there was any law to reach them, why 

 not have it put in force"? \vhy should not Wisconsin, Dakota, 

 Iowa and Minnesota join hands in this matter to get a law 

 enacted that would put a stop to these fraudulent transactions ? 



Mr. Brand stated that he was acquainted with the firm of 

 May & Co. only by reputation; that he had examined some 

 trees near Mr. Brimhall's place last summer, purchased of an 

 agent, and found among them trees that he recognized as Ben 

 Davis. He had lost 150,000 of that variety in 1873 and knew 

 the variety well, although the labels read "Wealthy;" found 

 some Early Harvest labeled "Tetofsky." Agents had been sell- 

 ing stock in Rice County last season which was untrue to name; 

 Pewaukee was sold for Transcendent, etc. These things were 

 regulated by law in the Southern States; in Alabama and Mis- 

 sissippi their laws provided for a bond in the sum of 110,000 

 with a license fee of five dollars, for each town in which orders 

 were taken for nursery stock. The law, however, was not en- 

 tirely satisfactory; the agents were hard to get rid of 



