32 THE GOLD MINE 



he came along with abundant professions of double dis- 

 tilled honesty. That is, he said he was honest, and he 

 ran down those mean fellows who would betray the con- 

 fidence of their customers. For instance, he allowed 

 no man to plant his stock but himself. He wouldn't 

 trust them. He would plant them so as to be sure they 

 would grow. He had something brand new, which for 

 size, fragrance and blooming capacity put every known 

 variety in the shade. 



He would sell his roses for the very low price of 

 $2.00 each. She said she would take three. He plant- 

 ed them that day, and she paid him $6.00. They were 

 nothing but wild rose bushes, and dead at that. 



Such men discourage people. But they are a race by 

 themselves. I have known them to sell very choice 

 kinds of apple trees for 76 cents each, and then go to a 

 nurseryman's brush pile and pick out refuse trees and 

 tag them and palm them off .at such high figures. So 

 beware of the tree fakir. 



On the other hand, there is no class of men who are 

 doing more for the material benefit of the country than 

 our hard working, enterprising nurserymen and their 

 agents. They are straightforward and honest. They 

 have to be. It gives them the heartache sometimes to 

 see their experience and integrity all set aside for the 

 fakir. With too many all that is needed to secure an 

 unlimited confidence in the dealer is that he is a perfect 

 stranger. Then he is trusted implicitly. 



Your nearby nurseryman has his reputation at stake. 

 He has a sort of fatherly interest in every tree and 



