278 ANNUAL EEPORT 



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times whether there was such a nursery here at St. Paul, that 

 was carried on by L. L. May & Co. ; now, I did not know and 

 consequently have evaded a direct answer. Woukl it be satis- 

 factory to answer all such questions, No? 



Mr. May. I certainly should. 



Mr, Pearce. I have been quiet on this subject and would like 

 to say a word. I am opj)Osed to agents and think the sooner the 

 agency system is abolished the better it will be. Have no pre- 

 judice for or against this firm; I attend to my own business and 

 don't go outside of that; I don't care what this man or that man 

 does. I have sold stock to May & Co., sold them good stock, 

 which had been delivered and is doing well; I will say that for 

 them. 



Mr. Bunnell. I don't think there would be many orchards in 

 Minnesota, if it was not for the middleman. 



Mr. Pearce. I am speaking from thirty-three years' experi- 

 ence in Minnesota. The quicker we strip every agent from 

 Minnesota the quicker we will get apples. 



Mr. Bunnell. The grangers tried that I believe and they have 

 played out. 



Mr. Latham. I was glad to hear from our friend from Sumter; 

 he hits hard when he can see anything to hit, but I hope he did 

 not hit anything he ought not to hit. It seems to me the farmers 

 are a little to blame; there is no excuse for their being swindled 

 if they read the papers. Of course the farmer never looks at the 

 contract he makes when he gives his order for stock. I have 

 taken a good many contracts and I don't remember an instance 

 where I had the contract read. They listen to the story of the 

 agent and when they give you their confidence they swallow you 

 whole. They know nothing about these nursery firms, but they 

 ought to be educated up to protecting themselves; they should 

 know the Mann apple is of no value and that strawberries wont 

 grow on trees. I don't think L. L. May & Co. are altogether to 

 blame. It is absurd to condemn selling through agents as our 

 friend Pearce does. Of course the trees will die and they will 

 have to be planted again and again. Not that I want to belittle 

 this system of selling bogus stock, or this taking an order for 

 something and then putting in anything you happen to have, 

 but let us be sure about this; let us educate as far as possible 

 through the association. 



Mr. Hunter. Mr. President, I wish to say a word or two. I 

 am not going to say a word against Mr. May or anyone. I live 



