132 THE ITINERANT HORSE PHYSICIAN 



request for a guarantee on what you do for 

 them. 



After you have examined a case of lameness 

 and decided that the cause is a ringbone or a 

 spavin that must be fired and you tell the farmer 

 the fee will be ten dollars, he usually says, "Well, 

 I will give you ten dollars for the job if you will 

 guarantee it." And to some of them you can 

 talk for an hour, using up your best arguments 

 on the point, but you won't get the job except 

 "no cure no pay" fashion. This state of affairs 

 is the direct result of quackery and the farmer 

 must not be blamed for it entirely. 



A veterinarian in such localities must combine 

 the selling qualities of a sewing machine agent 

 with his professional ability as a practitioner if 

 he expects to do any business; and it is mighty 

 discouraging work until you get a good start. I 

 know what it is from personal experience. One 

 or two jobs of "hard luck" in such localities 

 "cooks your goose;" you might just as well begin 

 to look around for a new location at once then. 



In such localities as these the young practi- 

 tioner must resort to his knowledge of "handling 

 trade" in the beginning more than to his ability 

 as a practitioner. Until he has made a name for 

 himself Jie will get no credit for being ever so 

 conscientious or painstaking. Although he may 

 spend half an hour carefully examining a case 

 and using every known scientific means to arrive 

 at a diagnosis, he won't get the credit for it that 

 "old Doc so and so" gets who drives into the yard 

 and "can see what is the matter before he gets 



