STATE HOETICULTURAL SOCIETY. 275 



may be doing an entirely legitimate business. There is certainly 

 nothing out of the way in a man selling Eochester, N. Y., stock. 

 I wouldn't condemn a man entirely on that account. The trou- 

 ble seems to lie not perhaps with Mr. May — I don't know the 

 gentleman — but there is something wrong about his agents, and 

 if he is responsible for them then he certainly will be in bad odor 

 through the state of Minnesota. I have a letter in my posses- 

 sion from a gentleman who writes to me that there is an agent 

 in his place working for May &Co., selling nursery stock there 

 that he claims is coming from my nursery, and I know that 

 isn't so. 



Mr. May. There are a number of men going through selling 

 under our name. 



Mr. Latham. I think a man who sends an agent on the road 

 in Minnesota anywhere should be responsible for what the agent 

 says. Mr. May looks like a man of his word; he ought to see 

 that his agents don't say anything that he can't back. 



Mr. May. I would be pleased to show to the committee hie 

 contracts we have with our agents, binding them down in the 

 manner we do. I will mail them to Mr. Elliot. Of course men 

 on the road are anxious to make sales. They talk more than 

 they should. Having such a large force it is utterly impossible 

 for ue to keep track of every sentence a man utters in taking 

 an order. We take the precaution to print on our orders that 

 any outside talk or bargain of the agent shall not affect the con- 

 tract in any manner. "We do that in order that people will not 

 say " oh, well, he agreed to do this and agreed to do that," and 

 to give people an idea that they must not expect anything only 

 what is embodied in the order precisely. 



President Elliot. Do you have those read over to your cus- 

 tomers ? 



Mr. May. Mr. Elliot, I will ask you a question. Before you 

 signed youi name wouldn't you read that contract? 



President Elliot. Is the contract on your bill, or order ? 



Mr. May. It is on the order, which is made in duplicate. Mr. 

 Smith, I think if you remember — if you signed an order — you 

 were left a duplicate of your order. 



Mr. J. M. Smith. I bought nothing myself. 



Mr. Bunnell. I saw Mr. May's contract. 



Mr. Smith. I think it has occurred to you that you are ex- 

 ceedingly unfortunate in your agents. 



Mr. May. That is of course a misfortune of any firm doing 



