1298 
October  7,  1916. 
RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
PUBLISHER’S  DESK 
I  bought,  a  Tattle  Bull  tractor  from 
Mallalieu  &  Conrey,  Philadelphia,  Pa.,  ou 
May  20,  1915,  costing  me,  equipment, 
freight  charges,  etc.,  $149.17.  'i'he  trac¬ 
tor  produced  little  but  trouble  from  the 
time  the  agent  of  Mallalieu  &  Conrey 
started  from  the  freight  station  to  my 
farm  with  it.  The  literature  of  the  Bull 
tractor  assured  mC  that  no  pew  equip¬ 
ment  was  necessary,  hut  my  plow  would 
not  fit  the  tractor  at  all,  and  I  had  to 
make  n  shift  attachment.  My  next  disap¬ 
pointment  was  that  I  needed  a  man  to 
ride  the  plow,  while  the  manufacturer  ad¬ 
vertised  that  this  would  not  be  necessary. 
After  n  series  of  annoyance  and  troubles 
to  get.  the  engine  to  run  I  plowed  after  a 
fashion  10  acres  of  ground,  when  I  found 
that  the  traction  gear  which  is  bolted  to 
the  hull  wheel  was  worn  out.  T  then  put 
the  tractor  in  the  barn,  which  allowed  mo 
at  least  to  work  on  the  farm  instead  of 
working  on  the  tractor.  The  tractor 
had  not  sufficient  power  to  pull  two 
plows  in  ordinary  sod  ground,  for 
which  work  the  manufacturers  recom¬ 
mended  it.  The  tractor  people  offered  to 
exchange  the  little  Bull  for  a  big  one — if 
I  paid  them  another  $450.  G.  B. 
New  Jersey. 
We  have  had  complaints  from  at  least 
two  other  farmers  in  other  localities  who 
purchased  Little  Bull  tractors  through 
the  agents  of  the  Bull  Tractor  Co.,  of 
Minneapolis,  Minn.,  both  of  them  con¬ 
firming  the  contentions  of  G.  B.  regarding 
this  tractor.  Under  favorable  soil  condi¬ 
tions  perhaps  the  tractor  might  have 
pulled  two  plows  and  stood  up  fairly  well 
under  the  work.  Under  conditions  as 
found  on  most  farms,  however,  the  Little 
Bull  tractor  was  not  equal  to  the  job. 
This  is  quite  apparent  from  the  fact  that 
the  Bull  Tractor  Co.  in  the  meantime  dis¬ 
carded  the  Little  Bull  tractor  and  are 
now  manufacturing  a  larger  and  more 
powerful  tractor  which  they  call  the  “Big 
Bull,”  and  only  recommend  this  Big  Bull 
to  pull  two  plows  the  same  as  they  guar¬ 
anteed  the  Little  Bull  to  do.  We  under¬ 
stand  the  concern  marketed  something 
like  4.000  of  these  tractors,  many  of 
which  they  have  taken  back  in  exchange 
for  the  Big  Bull.  A  comparatively  few 
manufacturers  in  this  line  have  put  out 
tractors  that  have  proved  unsatisfactory 
in  the  hands  of  farmers.  The  least  a 
manufacturer  should  do  when  it  is  dem¬ 
onstrated  that  a  tractor  is  essentially  de¬ 
fective  or  unable  to  perform  the  work  for 
which  it  is  recommended  would  be  to  take 
the  machine  back  and  refund  the  pur¬ 
chase  price.  One  of  the  other  complaints 
that  came  to  us  regarding  this  tractor 
has  been  satisfactorily  adjusted,  hut  G. 
B.  and  another  subscriber  have  been  un¬ 
able  to  get  any  fair  consideration  at  the 
hands  of  the  Bull  Tractor  Co.  The 
attitudp  of  the  concern  towards  the  fann¬ 
ing  public  and  its  customers  we  regard 
as  more  important  than  the  merits  of 
their  line  of  goods.  In  purchasing  a  trac¬ 
tor  or  other  implement,  at  comparatively 
large  expenditure  the  most  important 
thing  for  the  fanner  to  consider  is  that  he 
is  purchasing  from  a  house  that  has  a 
reputation  for  standing  squarely  behind 
its  machinery  and  makes  good  its  repre¬ 
sentations  for  it.  The  advertising  of  the 
Bull  Tractor  Co.  has  been  refused  by 
The  Rub  ax  New-Yorker. 
I  enclose  a  notice  from  a  collecting 
agency  representing  the  Whiting  Nurs¬ 
ery  Co..  1‘US  Beacon  >St.,  Boston,  Mass. 
Mr.  Whiting  obtained  my  -signature  for 
some  trees,  and  after  he  had  left  I  found 
that  on  the  hack  of  my  duplicate  order 
was  a  notice  to  the  effect  that  Mr.  Whit¬ 
ing  did  not  grow  his  own  trees.  I  then 
wrote  at  once  canceling  the  order,  which 
cancellation  was  not  accepted.  I  re¬ 
fused  the  trees,  hence  the  yellow  notice. 
A  neighbor  states  that  you  have  had  this 
company  in  your  Publisher’s  Desk  col¬ 
umn.  and  I  write  to  ask  if  you  know 
Mr.  Whiting  and  his  nice  line  of  talk. 
New  Jersey.  F.  w.  T. 
W.  M.  Whiting  is  credited  in  the 
trade  as  the  best  nursery  salesman  on 
the  road.  The  yarns  Mr.  Whiting  can 
spin,  when  he  desires  to  get  a  fruit  grow¬ 
er’s  name  to  an  order  put  the  claims  of 
Burbank  in  the  kindergarten  class.  We 
have  exposed  Mr.  Whiting's  methods  so 
often  that  our  old  subscribers  recognize 
bis  guff  as  soon  as  lu*  opens  his  mouth, 
but  some  new  reader  occasionally  bites. 
First-Class  nursery  stock,  (minus  tbe 
agent’s  guff)  cau  always  be  purchased 
from  the  most  reliable  growers  at  less 
than  half  the  price  asked  by  these  sliek- 
tongued  agents.  When  a  farmer  once 
signs  his  name  to  an  order  with  one  of 
these  agents  it  is  not  cancellable  and  all 
sorts  of  brow-boating  methods  are  em¬ 
ployed  to  compel  him  to  pay  for  the 
stock.  On  the  other  hand  any  responsi¬ 
ble  nursery  house  selling  direct  is  will¬ 
ing  to  accept  cancellation  of  au  order,  at 
any  time  previous  to  having  prepared  the 
order  for  shipment. 
C.irl  F.  Geyer,  wealthy  manager  of  the 
Double  Service  Tire  and  Rubber  Com¬ 
pany,  Akron,  and  manager  of  two  other  tire 
concerns,  and  Ralph  O.  Harper,  assistant 
manager,  were  placed  under  arrest  by 
Federal  authorities  on  a  charge  of  using 
(he  mails  to  defraud.  Geyer  and  Har¬ 
per  arc  charged  with  doing  a  fraudulent 
business,  ami  Federal  authorities  said 
they  had  sold  hundreds  of  defective  tires, 
representing  them  as  standard  quality. 
The  arrests  are  the  result  of  a.  year  or 
more  of  investigation  here  by  Federal 
officers  and  automobile  clubs  of  North¬ 
ern  Ohio.  Geyer  and  Harper  also  are 
alleged  to  have  been  receiving  tires  for 
repair  without  returning  them.  They 
sold  stock  in  the  company  for  25  cents 
and  guaranteed  buyers  80  per  cent,  divi¬ 
dends.  according  to  Federal  officers. — 
Ohio  paper. 
We  are  glad  to  see  these  tire  fakers 
brought  to  justice  and  a  stop  put  to  their 
swindling  of  country  people.  This  out¬ 
fit  was  first  exposed  in  this  department 
on  January  8,  1910;  and  our  readers 
warned  against  having  anything  to  do 
with  the  concern  repeatedly  in  the  mean¬ 
time.  It  is  safe  to  put  any  tire  concern 
making  extravagant  claims  of  tire  mile¬ 
age  or  cut  prices  down  as  “gyps”  and  to 
be  avoided. 
On  March  2,  1916,  I  sent  an  order  to 
R.  M.  Stein  Co.,  formerly  No.  20  St.  Paul 
Street,  but  now  at  408-412  N.  Calvert 
Street,  Baltimore,  Md.,  for  two  auto 
tires  and  two  tubes  30x9^4  and  when  I 
put  them  on  the  car  and  undertook  to 
inflate  them  one  of  the  tubes  hurst  In 
half  with  not  more  than  30  lbs.  pressure. 
T  secured  another  tube  and  put  on,  but 
when  I  started  J.  had  not  got  more  than 
50  feet  when  the  other  tube  burst  at  the 
same  place.  The  tubes  both  burst  at  the 
valve.  I  have  written  them  twice,  hut 
received  no  reply,  and  on  the  13th  just., 
my  sou  called  at  their  place  of  business 
and  talked  to  them  about  the  matter,  and 
they  promised  him  to  adjust  the  matter 
within  a  few  days,  but  as  yet  they  have 
not  done  so,  nor  do  they  give  any  atten¬ 
tion  to  my  letters.  I  returned  the  tubes 
to  them  by  parcel  post,  immediately  after 
I  had  tried  them,  and  found  them  to  be 
of  poor  material,  and  I  find  the  tires  are 
of  just  as  poor  material;  they  are  scaling 
off  badly  and  I  have  not  rim  more  than 
oO  miles.  I  don't  think  they  will  run 
more  than  150  or  200  miles  at  the  most, 
and  they  claim  their  goods  are  first  grade. 
Will  you  try  to  get  them  to  adjust  this 
matter  either  by  refunding  the  price  I 
paid  them,  which  was  $8.50  each  for  the 
tires  and  $2.50  each  for  tbe  tubes,  total 
$22 ;  or  send  tne  other  goods  in  their 
place?  A.  M.  M. 
West  Virginia. 
After  writing  several  letters  to  R.  M. 
Stein  &  Co.  they  came  back  with  a  pro¬ 
position  to  supply  new  tubes  at  $2.  Tak¬ 
ing  into  consideration  that  the  subscriber 
had  nothing  for  the  money  sent  them  for 
tubes,  it  is  small  wonder  he  I'efused  to 
consider  the  proposition.  They  then  in¬ 
quired  what  disposition  we  wsuted  them 
to  make  of  the  complaint,  as  it  was  the 
first  one  they  had  ever  received.  We  re¬ 
quested  a  return  of  the  $5  remittance 
for  the  tubes.  To  this  we  received  no 
response,  and  no  adjustment  has  been 
made.  From  the  above  record  our  people 
will  see  the  wisdom  of  dealing  with 
standard  houses  for  goods  of  the  kind. 
As  I  so  often  read  of  your  collecting 
hills  for  your  readers  I  wish  to  ask  if 
you  can  help  me  to  collect  the  enclosed 
hill  for  eggs  shipped  by  parcel  post.  J. 
1ST.  Gates  resides  at  2030  Locust.  St., 
Philadelphia,  and  is  employed  in  the  of¬ 
fice  of  .T,  Tatnall  Lea  Co..  Stephen  Gir¬ 
ard  Bldg*  Philadelphia.  I  have  mailed 
him  many  bills,  but  have  bad  no  response, 
though  on  Sept.  9  ho  wrote  asking  me  to 
send  a  bill.  About  the  15th  of  December 
I  called  at  the  office  of  J.  Tatnall  Lea 
&  Co.,  saw  Mr.  Gatos,  and  lie  promised 
to  mail  me  a  cheek  that  night,  but  I 
have,  heard  nothing  from  him,  though  I 
have  written  him  several  times  since,  tell¬ 
ing  him  that  we  are  in  need  of  this 
money.  r,  w. 
Pennsylvania. 
Mr.  Gates  made  repeated  promises  to 
pay  this  small  bill  of  $11.92,  but  neglect¬ 
ed  to  keep  any  of  them.  Finally  he  rep¬ 
resented  that  he  would  send  cheek  di¬ 
rect.  This  has  not  been  done.  Here  is  a 
man  able  to  furnish  seemingly  satisfac¬ 
tory  references,  and  evidently  in  good 
standing,  who  is  willing  to  supply  his 
table  at  the  expense  of  a  woman  who  is 
endeavoring  to  make  a  poultry  plant  pay. 
Shun  Mr.  Gates  aud  his  appeals  for  pro¬ 
duce. 
J  'rLamco” 
Arctic 
a  Lambertville 
Arctic  u)ith 
stout  rib* 
Wear  and  Comfort 
Right  Down  to  the  Ground 
Think  how  impossible  it  is  for  this  Arctic  to  crack. 
Those  seven  stout  rubber  ribs  absolutely  prevent  it. 
Then  the  heavy  red  soles— doubly  protected  sole  and 
vulcanized  welt — make  Lambertville  “Lamco”  Arctics, 
-5  p  f"  Boots  and  Shoes  as  sturdy  as  oaks. 
H§  1  AMRERTVII I  C 
will  wear  you  long  after  “the  cows  come  home,”  and 
while  they  wear  you  they  keep  you  in  greatest  com¬ 
fort.  Only  the  toughest,  all-new  rubber  is  used. 
And  we  use  plenty  of  rubber — more,  we  think,  than 
In  any  other  boot. 
Lambertville  Footwear  is  made  in  four  brands  t 
“Snag-Proof”  (all  duck),  “Redskin”  (red  rubber 
throughout),  “L”  Brand  (duck  vamp),  and  “Lamco” 
(pure  gum  with  ribs) — each  full  value  and  at  reason¬ 
able  prices.  If  there  isn’t  a  Lambertville  dealer  near 
you,  write  us  and  we  will  see  that  you  are  supplied. 
Send  for  booklet. 
LAMBERTVILLE  RUBBER  COMPANY 
Lambertville,  N.  J. 
, 
International  Harvester 
Spreaders 
;fi  Low  Corn  King 
.  Low  Cloverleaf 
ONCE  you  have  seen  both  kinds  of  work  you 
will  say:  “There  is  certainly  a  wide  gult 
between  the  ordinary  spreader  and  the  modern  IHC 
machine,  with  its  good,  wide-spreading  device.  Give 
me  the  up-to-date,  time  and  labor-saving  spreader.” 
International  Harvester  spreader#— Low  Corn  King  end  Low 
Cloverleaf — are  made  with  wide  spreaders  that  throw  the  manure 
out  in  a  wide,  even  spread,  and  broken  up  into  fine  particles  by 
the  disks  that  give  it  a  second  beating.  In  this  condition  the  soil 
takes  up  quickly  and  evenly  the  fertilizing  elements. 
Though  they  are  narrow,  conveniently  handled  spreaders,  easy 
to  drive  right  into  stables  for  loading,  they  spread  to  a  width  of 
8  feet,  or  better.  This  cuts  the  spreading  time  in  half,  increases 
the  tractive  power  of  the  spreader  by  keeping  tire  wheels  oft  the 
slippery  manure,  and  gives  you  the  best  machine  made  for  top 
dressing,  IHC  spreader#  are  simply  built,  and  very  strong. 
They  are  low  for  easy  loading.  They  are  built  in  sizes  to  suit 
any  buyer,  and  they  do  work  that  is  uniformly  satisfactory. 
Be  sure  to  see  the  IHC  dealer  who  can  sell  you  a  Low  Corn 
King  or  Low  Cloverleaf— or  write  us  for  catalogue. 
v  International  Harvester  Company  of  America^ 
(i  (Incorporated) 
I)  CHICAGO  USA  (r 
7f  Champion  Dieting  McCormick  Milwaukee  Osborn#  Plano  ^ 
When  you  write  advertisers  mention  The  R.  N.-K  and  you'll  get  a 
quick  reply  and  a  “square  deal.”  See  guarantee  editorial  page. 
