48 



THE ILLINOIS FA-HIMER. 



YOUNG'S ADJUSTABLE CULTIVATOR AND WEED EXTERMINATOR. 



Farmers who visited the United States 

 Fair, our own State Fair, and BCTcral 

 other Western State and County Fairs 

 the past autumn, will recognize in this 

 machine an old acquaintance, that re- 

 ceived from the thousands of farmers 

 who there saw it, an unanimous approval. 

 The above cut will pretty fully explain 

 it. The shares or wings can be taken 

 off and replaced with mold boards or hill- 

 ers. We have not tried the implement, 



but so well are we convinced of its value 



^^^ that we give place to the cut as above. 

 ~^^ We shall give it a trial in the nursery, 



Patented June 7th, 1859 



S^^and shall be able to speak further of its 



limerits in the May number in time for 



sthe corn crop. Address John Young, 



" Joliet, Will CO., 111., who is ihe patentee 



"^and manufacturer, and who will be 



pleased to send a circular containing 



full particulars. Price of cultivators 



with weeding cutters, and a set of shares 



for hilling; $12. 



I wish to call their attention to a matter 

 of great importance to them and all who 

 may wish to plant trees and shrubs. 



I do not, in what may follow, intend 

 to attack Messrs. Ellwangoi' & Barry, 

 but as they are the great firm in their 

 line in this country, and the only firm 

 who have felt called upon to put such 

 cautiona in their advertieementa, I uso it 

 for the purpose of showing how it is 

 calculated to mislead the public, and the 

 wholesaler made morally but not legally 

 responsible for most tree peddlers' ras- 

 calities. 



" I^Tot wishing to be held responsible 

 for the transactions of other parties," 

 &c., &c. "All our agents, and those 

 who purchase extensively of us, have 

 CERTIFICATES bearing our signature." 



Well, now, that sounds good. Let us 

 see how it works reduced to practice. 



We will suppose one E. S. Pike & Co. 

 goes to Messrs. E. & B. and wish to 

 contract for trees to peddle. A contract 

 is entered into, in which B. & B. stipu- 

 late that the party first named shall 

 " purchase exclusively " of them. This 

 clause is m all their contracts. Armed 

 with their certificate and order books, 

 bearing the vague words "Mount Hope 

 Nurseries," at the top of every order, 

 the peddler starts out on his travels. 



Now I like the tree peddler and his 

 trade, because he sells thousands of trees 

 and shrubs, to people who would never 

 never think of buying, unless they were 

 urged upon them with the suavity, per- 

 severence and impudence of your genu- 

 ine tree missionary ( ?) Yes, I like the 

 tree peddler, and do not desire to see 

 the " genus " become extinct, provided 

 they are not the smallest kind of thieves. 



Mr. Peddler having reached the scene 

 of his intended operations, seeks a cus- 



tomer. He finds him somewhat auspi- 

 cious, with the air of an injured saint. 

 He exhibits his "certificate,'' his order 

 book, and his little bottles with the 

 marvellous "big" specimens of small 

 fruits, expatiates upon the well known 

 reputation of the establishment. The 

 result, in most cases, is, our suspicious 

 friend gives the obrtifioate, not the 



peddler an order. So he goes; selling his 

 wares almost entirely upon the strength 

 of THAT certificate. So far, it is all 

 right and proper. 



Now Mr. E. S. Pike & Co. having in 

 their carpet (not J. B.'s) bag, all the 

 orders obtained by themselves or em- 

 ployes, proceed to Rochester and make 

 out a list of such articles as they want, 

 and hand it to the parties who gave them 

 that certificate. These articles are car- 

 ried to that part of their packing grounds 

 allotted to the party purchasing. Labels 

 ad libitum are furnished them by the 

 concern, and they commence to put up 

 an order for James. Thompson, Esq., 

 Quincy, Illinois. On that order reads 

 fifty Catawba Grape Vines, at ten cents 

 each. Fifty Diana Grape Vines at 

 J3@=- TWE^'TY five cents each, all taken 

 from the same heap. Now these names 

 are real, and the case occurred in the 

 spring of 1858. Now by reference to 

 Ellwanger & Barry's wholesale catalogue 

 of that year it will be seen that they 

 offer but a " limited stock of this new 

 and valuable grape'' at one dollar each 

 AT wholesale. 



Mr. Thompson had never heard of the 

 Diana grape and purchased it entirely on 

 the recommendation of E. S. P. and paid 

 all he asked for it. 



Mr. Thompson made me a present of 

 ten of these vines as a great acquisition 

 to my stock. Our Diana vines grow as 



fine Isabellas as ever gladdened the 

 heart of those who like foxish things. 

 Now, Mr. E. S. Pike in person, took 

 this order, and in person delivered it. I 

 had a number of rose bushes of the same 

 concern, all of which accidentally (?) 

 happened to have the same kind of flow- 

 r might multiply these cases by 



ers. 



the hundred, but these are sufiicient for 

 my present purpose. This fall and* 

 winter, other parties (the same parties 

 have sufiicient discretion to not pass over 

 the same ground twice) are perambulat- 

 ing all parts of the State, armed with 

 "certificates" **bearing our signature," 

 Mount Hope order books, and those 

 "little jokers" of bottles, obtaining their 

 orders. If they are honest, honorable 

 men, and deliver what they sell, no one 

 has a right to complain. The temptation 

 to sell a Delaware vine for three dollars 

 and deliver a Catawba or a Clinton that 

 costs five cents, is too much for the 

 moral stamina of most tree peddlers. 



On the cars, while on my way to the 

 Bloomington Convention, 1 had the 

 pleasure of meeting and forming the 

 acquaintance of Mr. M. B. Bateman, 

 the Ohio partner of Ellwanger & Barry. 

 I asked him what was the practice he 

 pursued with those parties who had his 

 or "our certificates?" "We deliver 

 what they call for as per contract, pro- 

 vide them a place to do their own pack- 

 ing, and there our reponsibility ceases." 

 And so it does, legally. But what is 

 the effect upon the customer, who knows 

 the articles came from a certain estab- 

 lishment, and that a tree peddler could 

 not touch them with a forty foot pole, 

 without one"of these certificates ? Now 

 I found Mr. Bateman an honorable, 

 high-minded man, and a gentleman of 

 cultivated intellect. I know full well 



