[ijjiijiiiiir'\'jiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiff 



viiiilijr^ 



mmmMSi 





JLoi^isrs 



l ii !j i iaa r i iiiii| | H ]|iii un iii gg >nww 



miiikREVIEWjlIlK;™««si 



ffrmiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiijiiiT 



HERE'S ANOTHER 



REAL GOOD THING 



The Review has not been able to interview all the parties interested, but 

 enough has come to light to indicate that "Ironite" is what is known, in the 

 language of the day, as a "good thing" — a good thing, at least, for the man 

 who seems to have a monopoly on its sale to florists. 



AVE you had the pleasure 



Mof a visit by the "Iron- 

 ite" manf His name is 

 MiUer— Dr. Allen W. Mil- 

 ler is the way he endorses 

 checks — and he knows the 

 trade from A to Z, or, 

 should we say in recogni- 

 tion of the astuteness of 

 some of the most success- 

 ful florists, from alpha to omega f If 

 you have entertained this interesting 

 traveler, quite likely about the place 

 you have a bag, a not large but quite 

 heavy bag, of a substance that seems 

 in harmony with the inscription on the 

 tag — Ironite. 



Quite likely you have it, because, 

 while there is record of many who have 

 bought and received commendably 

 prompt delivery, thus far no one has 

 been heard from who has made any use 

 of his purchase. 



"HMce's Something New." 



The first word of Ironite came to The 

 Review from Gullett & Sons, Lincoln, 

 111. "Here's something new," they 

 wrote, "or at least it is new to us, A 

 man giving the name of Miller called 

 on most of the florists in this section, 

 introducing a 'soil conditioner' named 

 Ironite. Enclosed is the receipted bill 

 he gave to one of our neighbors. He 

 had good letters from some Chicago 

 growers. What do you 

 know about itf " 



One of the functions 

 of The Review, you 

 know, is to dig up the 

 information its readers 

 haven't the local facil- 

 ities to find for them- 

 selves. 



The billhead carried 

 the name of the Na- 

 tional Co., San Fran- 

 cisco. There was no 

 street address. Inquiry 

 of the telephone com- 

 pany brought the reply 

 that no concern of that 

 name in San Francisco 

 had a telephone and 

 consulting the San 

 Francisco city direc- 

 tory at a nearby li- 

 brary of city directo- 

 '■les failed to give the 

 desired information, so 

 a letter was written to 

 the Office of Fertilizer 

 Control, U. S. Depart- 

 "jent of Agriculture. 

 1 h e government li- 

 censed all fertilizer 

 "manufacturers during 

 the war and limited 



THANK YOU I 



One of the moat pleasant of the 

 many Interestlnir features of pnb- 

 llehlny The Bevlew has to do with 

 the invaluable aaaletance rendered 

 by Its readers. 



For many ysars the steady 

 growth of the paper, particularly 

 in circulation, has come principally 

 throuffh well-pleased readers rec- 

 ommending it to others to whom 

 it should prove equally helpfuL 



This assistance will be especially 

 valuable now that the trade is 

 about to enter another period of 

 rapid expansion and will be thor- 

 oughly appreciated. 



their prices and profits. The official re- 

 ply was: "We have no record showing 

 that a Mr. A. W. Miller applied for a 

 license, nor have we granted any license 

 to the National Co. If you can aid us 

 in getting in touch with this Mr. Miller, 

 we shall be glad of your assistance; 

 meanwhile we shall endeavor to find him 

 through our regular channels. ' ' 



The Review printed these facts, with 

 the request that some reader supply the 

 street and number of the National Co., 



AN OFFICIAL REPORT ON "IRONITE." 



STATE COLLEGE OF WASHENGTON. 

 Agricultural Experiment Station. 



Pullman, Wash., 

 January 21, 1919. 



Gentlemen: — 



Tour sample of "Ironite" has been received and analyzed. 

 This sample has absolutely no value as a fertilizer in tliat it con- 

 tains just a trace of potash, phosphorus and nitrogen. The fertility 

 content is lees than is ordinarily found in soils as taken from the 

 field. The substance seems to be composed of just common white 

 sand mixed with a little lamp black to give it color, as well as a 

 considerable quantity of iron filings to give it weight. 



I cannot see what possible good would result from applying 

 this material to growing plants outside of the good that might 

 result from using the same amount of white sand. 



Yours very truly, 



r. J. Sievers, 



Soil Phjrsiclst. 



so that this paper could send a repre- 

 sentative to the headquarters of the 

 concern. 



Since then there have been many let- 

 ters about Ironite, for Review readers 

 are prompt to respond to any request 

 for information. From Seattle and 

 Spokane, from Knoxville, Tenn.; from 

 Toledo, O., and from many places be- 

 tween, word has come that the Ironite 

 man had been there. But there is no 

 news of headquarters of the concern, to 

 which one might go to replenish his sup- 

 ply of Ironite if he wanted to. 



In all cases reported Miller has made 

 the sale. His method is to ship a quan- 

 tity of Ironite to himself at some point 

 where there is a colony of florists. Then 

 he canvasses his ptospects, books his 

 orders, hires a conveyance, usually an 

 auto, makes deliveries and collections 

 and goes on to another town. 



A Good Thing. 



The transactions are quickly closed 

 and it is not until the seller has disap- 

 peared that the buyers begin to suspect 

 that perhaps the salesman had in mind 

 a certain story when he said Ironite was 

 a good thing. 



It is related of a certain millionaire 

 manufacturer of a patent medicine that 

 about his country place he dressed and 

 looked the typical farmer. One day he 

 was accosted by a party that stopped 

 in a big touring car: 



"That's Blank's 

 place, isn't itf" asked 

 one of the strangers. 



"Yes," replied the 

 owner. 



"Made it all out of 

 Blank's Bitters?" 

 "So they say." 

 "Is the stuff really 

 any good?" 



"Well, it did me 

 good." 



From Spokane, 

 Wash., came the report 

 that some of the buy- 

 ers of Ironite changed 

 their minds before Mil- 

 ler got out of town and 

 got their money back- 

 he seems not to ha\^e 

 objected, indeed, to 

 have been glad to re- 

 fund the money, take 

 his goods and go his 

 way. 



Good thing though 

 Miller says Ironite is, 

 there is a suspicion 

 that the formula is not 

 constant. The sample 

 submitted to the Wash- 

 ington Agricultural Ex- 



.•«-..<;: 



