448 THE RURAL NEW-YORKER. JULY 12 
ground because of the lack of training, and the whole com¬ 
munity suffers loss in consequence. Then, there is the 
personal gain through a larger knowledge with Nature, 
started and stimulated by study at college. It is impossible 
for a bright young man to associate for four years with 
studious, inquiring minds without acquiring much valu¬ 
able information and habits of thought and investigation 
that become a mine of wealth to the owner. Ihese acqui¬ 
sitions may not always find expression in money value, 
but yield constant personal enjoyment. This side of the 
subject is usually entirely omitted in these days when 
everything seems to be measured from a financial stand¬ 
point; but he who has to dwell so close to Nature as the 
farmer, can well put himself into position to enjoy to the 
fullest her beneficent bounties. But considerable financial 
gains are possible,in many instances, through time given in 
careful preparation for pursuing the calling of agriculture. 
I have in mind, as I write, the thriftiest stockman in this 
State, a man who has managed his farm so that it has 
always been a model of neatness, system and profit, a man 
whose thoughts and expressions on animal husbandry 
have been carefully listened to by every student of agricul¬ 
ture who was fortunate enough to know him personally. 
This man is a graduateof an English university, and after¬ 
wards trained himself still further on one of the best 
farms in Scotland. Such an intellect as his would have 
shone out had he never attended college, but he certainly 
improved his talents greatly by the judicious course he 
pursued. The argument that some of our best agricul¬ 
tural lights never attended college is a good one in part, 
but fails in pait also. These men have done well, and are 
worthy of great praise, not because of their lack of this 
training, but rather because they have done well wit hout it. 
In the same way we can find men who have succeeded ad¬ 
mirably in business though they could neither read nor 
write. Who would on this account urge that our children 
should not learn to read and write ? Every year our agri¬ 
culture becomes more complicated, and success is con¬ 
stantly being hedged in by new difficulties. To meet the 
new conditions we must place ourselves in new lines of 
thought and effort. I do not desire to be understood as in¬ 
dicating that only those who have gone through college 
are liberally educated ; far from it. Just as some of the 
brightest lights in other departments of life are self- 
educated, so we have men in the agricultural field that are 
really well educated, though they have not been through 
college. These are the men who have made the most of 
opportunity, and who have early seen that knowledge does 
not reside only within college walls, but is found wher¬ 
ever sought by humble students. 
Our agricultural colleges have developed slowly, in most 
cases, and friends have grown impatient with the seem¬ 
ingly small returns from them, but we can begin to feel a 
quickening of the blood for what they have done. It is sur¬ 
prising to note the powerful influence the Department of 
Agriculture at Washington, the experiment stations and 
the agricultural colleges of the country already exert 
upon our agricultural thought and movement. Hardly a 
page of any of our best agricultural papers (themselves so 
wonderfully potent), but bears their impress in some way. 
If this is already true, the generation soon to occupy the 
field of action must be prepared for still greater results.” 
• Patagonian ” Poultry.— In speaking of new and old 
breeds of poultry, J. H. Drevenstedt says:— “ The Pata¬ 
gonians have ceased to be a novelty or a breed. They have 
been discarded by almost every one except Mr. Cooper of 
Schraalenburgh, N. J. The latter really has preserved the 
Patagonian characteristics and lifted the breed into some¬ 
thing like a type. I recently saw his specimens and was 
surprised to find the Patagonian a smaller edition of the 
Dark Brahma in plumage, with a slight top-knot and 
clean legs. It is claimed that the birds are good layers and 
1 would not be surprised if they are exceedingly good 
eating. The body is plump and large in proportion to the 
underpinning.” It setms that The R.N.-Y is still breeding 
the Patagonians, preferring them to any breed it has tried 
except the Wyandotte. Mr. D’s description will answer 
except that the legs are feathered on the best specimens. 
The birds are good layers of large, light brown eggs. For 
table quality their flesh is nearly equal to that of the Dork 
ing and they are exceedingly gentle and intelligent. This 
“ breed ” is worthy of a “ future.” 
THE FRUIT TREE AGENT. 
Was I once a tree agent P In my salad days I was. Let 
me puff away the fog of time and see again what I once 
essayed to do. Hold your breath a minute while I recall 
those beaming days of yore, when I slung my book of 
beautiful lithographs of speckless, rosy apples, blushing 
peaches and impossible plums over my shoulder and set 
out to harvest shekels galore. I had studied my “ instruc¬ 
tions,” “important points” and "emergencies” until I 
felt like a whale, and being abundantly charged with 
enthusiasm, I fully believed that I was irresistible in per¬ 
suasive argument. I felt fully prepared to collar the 
toughest old grisly that ever steered a plow or swung a 
But the Agent “Accidentally ” Dropping His Plate 
Book, Brings a Curiosity to His Aid. 
hoe and convince him that health, wealth and glory were 
his if he would only be wise and cover his broad acres with 
the trees and vines propagated and disseminated by the 
nursery I had the honor to represent. 
This particular nursery was not a common, every-day, 
dirt-and-bush affair, but a “commercial” nursery, and it 
employed only professional and expert grafters, budders, 
cultivators, diggers, heelers, packers, agents, etc., and 
every one of its officers was a person of consequence. In 
employing me—an unprofessional—they said they had de¬ 
parted from their usual custom only because they were 
well satisfied that I was thoroughly O. K., and would do 
my utmost to uphold the good name of the firm and bring 
additional honors to its trade-mark and ducats to its cof¬ 
fers. I was instructed to sell everything that ever grew in 
an orchard or garden, or on a lawn, because they were pre¬ 
pared to fill orders for anything that ever wore leaves, iu 
30 minutes by the watch. 
Well, the first man I attacked was a good old Christian, 
a mild, pleasant sort of a coon, who sat in an easy chair 
and seemed at peace with all the world. With him I 
labored over an hour, and though he smiled and smiled, 
yet not a tree, bush, vine or plant would he buy. The next 
husbandman I encountered was what might be called a 
“rusher.” He was at work in his barn, and when I in¬ 
troduced my firm and business, he used bad language and 
heaped contumely upon my calling, and then informed 
me that my extreme youth alone prevented him from 
cracking my skull with a pitchfork. I was filled with fear 
and fled, congratulating myself on the “ extreme youth ” 
which had saved me from such dire disaster. I was dis¬ 
heartened and filled with forebodings, but tried again. 
This time I met a farmer, a business man and a gentleman. 
When I mentioned the name of the nursery I represented, 
he asked me if I knew that it was a base fraud. He then in¬ 
formed me that he had at three different times bought trees 
from agents of that same firm, and of the few that lived 
not one had proved true to name. He said my business 
was all right when honestly conducted, but that the firm I 
represented was composed of a lot of swindlers who were 
buying up cheap stuff and working it off at a big profit 
through agents. He then gave me the address of a firm he 
knew was reliable, and said he would give me a small 
order if I could secure the agency for that locality. I com¬ 
municated with the firm, was appointed their agent and 
began work. Their prices were reasonable and my profits 
were not half what the bogus firm allowed me; but their 
stock was guaranteed to be exactly as represented. I 
worked hard, sold considerable stock and made fair wages, 
but failed to pile up a great bank account. In a few 
months I gave it up and hired out to work on a farm for 
$16 per month and board, and I found this work fully 50 
percent, easier than selling trees, and more profitable in the 
end. Now, as to agents generally: The pictures show about 
what sort of a reception they meet with at the average 
farmer’s house. Of course, every farmer does not meet 
them with cocked arms and blazing eyes, as there indicated, 
but chiefly with frowns, a sullen aspect and a big dog. 
The man, be he book, tree, implement or notion agent, is 
regarded as a double-dyed villain and rapacious robber 
who comes on evil bent, and in order to frustrate his base 
designs he must be met with a glowering gaze, a few sharp- 
edged oaths and a warlike mien. The experienced agent 
expects these things and hardeneth his heart. Instead of 
introducing his business in a straightforward manner, 
showing what he has to sell and going right to the point, 
he first seeks to divert the attention of his would-not-be 
customer to something else until he gets him into a good 
humor and wins his confidence to some extent; then he 
soon finds his weak points and dextrously gets in his work. 
Now, how does the genuine business man treat an agent? 
Does he gnash his teeth at him, and threaten to feed 
him to his dog ? Does he swear and feel for his gun and 
make tombstone grimaces at him ? Never ! He looks at 
what he has to sell and within five minutes knows whether 
he wants it or not. If he wants it, he takes it at once; If 
not, he says so in half-a-dozen words and that is the end of 
it. A sensible man looks upon an agent simply as a per¬ 
son having something to sell and treats him accordingly. 
He treats him exactly as a grain buyer treats the farmer 
who brings him a load of grain. There is a little plain 
business talk, and in a few minutes each is on his way 
with no ill-feeling toward the other. When an agent calls, 
look at what he has to sell; it may be something you 
need badly. If you want it, and are satisfied with the 
price, take it. If you do not want it tell him so, giving 
your reasons in a few words, and settle the matter at once. 
Sign nothing. It yotf are an honorable man your word 
is as good as your signature, and the agent can write your 
name on his list as well as you can. So many tricks are 
played with the signatures of unsuspecting farmers that 
it is best to be on the safe side always. Treat an agent like 
any other business man. Some of our best nurseries and 
business houses send out agents to sell or introduce new 
articles or lines of goods, and these men are generally 
straight, clean, polite and good talkers and can explain 
the merits of the article they are selling in a very short 
time. Occasionally an out-and-out prevaricator comes 
along selling double-grafted, top-budded, whole-rooted, 
iron-clad trees for which he claims virtues and excellencies 
never before even dreamed of. Then it would be excusable 
to use expressive terms and to bid him an emphatic fare¬ 
well. But there is no necessity for meeting agents with 
When the Single Survivor of 1 OO Peach Trees 
Bears Fruit, the Farmer Loads with Buckshot 
for the Next Agent. 
guns and bludgeons, or even with scowls and dusky insin¬ 
uations. The farmer who does so is a fool of the first 
water, and his actions simply help to make his class and 
calling a despicable by-word iu the business world. 
Champaign County, Ill. FRED, grundy; 
