Fortunes for Farmers 



peach these firms. Some of them are my friends, 

 and many are upright in their business, carrying 

 the confidence of farmers, but in case of dispute, 

 the conditions are changed, and the more unscru- 

 pulous are unfair and even tyrannical. I have known 

 some behave in an outrageously high-handed 

 manner to the small farmers who sell them goods, 

 who are helpless, and must submit to what may 

 amount to extortion. These are they against 

 whom combination is necessary, for in disputes 

 their interest is to obtain what they can, and 

 they retire only before a show of force. I have 

 heard in a decade a dismal list of frauds, of potatoes 

 and vegetables refused when the market sinks — 

 simply thrown on the sender's hands — of corn 

 taken to distant towns, then re-consigned for the 

 same reason, and tales of what sometimes amounts 

 to sheer robbery. 



There are firms who combine the functions of 

 buying and selling, and these may be relied upon 

 for fair treatment, as they have both their 

 branches to consider. Perhaps the worst foe is 

 the shady commission agent, a shark who sets 

 up his stall in some market, and by advertising 

 or touting, persuades farmers to let him have 

 their goods. Sometimes the unlucky farmer gets 

 a portion of his money, and sometimes nothing — 

 but it is his own fault, for he should never sell 



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