606 
PUBLISHER’S DESK 
The E. A. Strout Farm Agency issues 
a monthly bulletin for the information 
and instruction of its agents. It is 
called Strout “Buggy-Seat Confidences.” 
The margin of the first page has this 
line: “Caution !—Keep this magazine 
out of sight. It is for the use of Strout 
men only.” In the issue of June, 1909, 
we find the following: 
A LITTLE SECRET. 
BY E. A. STROUT. 
Never call our listing blanks “an 
agreement.” Always refer to it as “price 
list.” Many farmers are shy of signing 
agreements, and in Heaven’s name don’t 
ever ask an owner to “sign here,” point¬ 
ing to the line with your finger; but, in 
as easy a manner as possible place your 
pen or pencil into his right hand as you 
speak and say “Just put your name on 
that line, please,” and it is usually well 
to sign your name first on the proper line 
just after filling in the price agreed net 
to him and just before getting him to put 
his name down. 
This secret which I am giving you, 
with reference to getting contracts 
signed, is the method taught by one of 
the smartest book salesmen in this coun¬ 
try ; a man under whom I trained for 
six weeks when I was a boy before 
starting out to sell a book, and while we 
are on this subject, let me say remember 
never to draw your papers out until you 
have the farmer in a place where it will 
be perfectly convenient to lay the paper 
on a table or box, and where it will be 
no trouble at all for him to write his 
name on the paper easily and in a nat¬ 
ural manner. 
From my own personal experience, cov¬ 
ering many years, selling articles by sub¬ 
scription from house to house and on the 
road selling specialties to storekeepers 
who had never seen me befox-e, or in 
many cases had never even heard of the 
company I represented, in looking back 
now at the methods I used to get their 
names on the order-blank, I recall that 
many times I placed the pencil between 
their forefinger and thumb of the right 
hand just after signing my name on the 
order-blank and while the psychological 
effect of the prospect’s having seen me 
write my name was still in force and he, 
feeling the weight of the pencil between 
his thumb and forefinger, the line before 
him and my suggestion of “right here, 
please,” with my finger pointing to that 
line, secured the prospect’s signature 
when if I. or any other man, had said 
to him, “Just sign here, please,” that 
word “sign” would have aroused him 
like a red flag shaken in front of an angry 
bull. 
Human nature is the same every¬ 
where. When one agent goes out and 
lists a large number of properties in a 
few days and secures the owner’s signa¬ 
ture to every contract, it is because he 
is following these methods. Another 
agent in a similar territory where hu¬ 
man nature of course is the same as in 
the other territory reports that he can¬ 
not get the farmers to sign. Let him 
start out again and follow carefully the 
method outlined above and I will bet him 
dollars to doughnuts that his report will 
be entirely different. 
Here is a virtual admission that farm¬ 
ers would not sign the Strout contract 
when given an opportunity by untrained 
agents to become familiar with its con¬ 
tents, but under the skillful wiles of a 
trained and disciplined agent he is led 
to sign this legal contract prepared by 
skillful attorneys under the impression 
that the paper is a mere “listing blank.” 
Later on he finds that it is a contract 
that binds him for all time, dead or alive, 
to pay the Strout Agency a fee or a com¬ 
mission. Even if he pays the fee in the 
hope to rid himself of the contract, and 
later sells the farm to some one that 
Strouts claim as a customer, he is eon- 
fronted with the alternative of paying 
the Strout Agency a commission or of 
defending a suit for their claim under 
the contract. 
Mr. Justice Hand, in his recent decree, 
held that our contention that the con¬ 
tract could not be enforced could rest 
only on the belief that the farmer had 
been imposed upon and did not under¬ 
stand the contract, and that this view 
might turn out to be true. If a farmer 
was improvident enough to sign such a 
contract knowing and understanding its 
contents, he ought to stand the conse¬ 
quence as a future warning and a mat¬ 
ter of principle; but where the farmer 
can truthfully set up this defense in 
good conscience, we think the above 
“secret” fully and amply corroborates his 
contention. Under such circumstances 
we do not believe any court or jury 
would hold him to the contract which he 
signed under the suggested impression 
that it was a mere “listing blank.” 
If the Strout Agency yet dispute our 
judgment, let them bring suit on one of 
the claims of our subscribers and we 
THE RURAL NEW-YORKER 
August 2, 
will bear the expense of the first suit to 
test the facts and the law. 
Can you get any satisfaction for me 
ont of the Page Seed Co., Greene, N. Y., 
on the following claim? Two years ago 
I purchased eight bushels of seed peae 
from them, to be “Duke of Albany”; 
planted same and when they came to bear 
there was not over one per cent, of them 
“Duke of Albany.” There were three 
different varieties, most of them being a 
small podded variety hardly worth pick¬ 
ing. c. B. E. 
New York. 
We have presented the claim of this 
subscriber to the Page Seed Co. From 
the letter received from the firm in reply, 
the Page Seed Co. seem to feel that be¬ 
cause a neighbor of this subscriber made 
a similar complaint this is sufficient to 
discredit the claim. They further state 
that farmers in other sections received 
seed from this same stock and made no 
complaint that it was not “Duke of Al¬ 
bany” variety. The coincidence might 
be explained by the fact that farmers 
generally have learned that there is little 
redress to be obtained from some seed 
houses when they fail to receive the va¬ 
riety of seed ordered, and therefore take 
their medicine and say nothing about it. 
The experience of this subscriber and his 
neighbor emphasizes the importance of 
buying seeds from houses with an estab¬ 
lished reputation for seeds true to name. 
This is more important in the matter of 
seeds than ordinary purchases, because 
the original cost of the seed is so small 
in comparison with the value of the crop 
which may be obtained if proper seed is 
secured. 
I bought and paid cash for an engine 
of the Detroit Motor Car Supply Com¬ 
pany under a five-year guarantee. The 
engine was to be set up ready to run, 
but it did not come that way. I had to 
set it up and it failed to run, and ac¬ 
cording to contract and guarantee I re¬ 
turned it and demanded my money back. 
Instead they held the engine for some 
time and returned it (the same one) 
short some of the connections. Con¬ 
sequently I could not try it then, and 
stated what was short and asked them 
to forward the missing parts at once. 
They failed to do so, claiming they sent 
all and did not know what I wanted. 
After several letters they sent the bush¬ 
ing for the tank connection, as they call 
it in one letter. I call it reducer. They 
refused to send pump connection, that 
is, intake and outlet. I tried to get 
them here and could not find any that 
would fit, so I took the matter up with 
them again and finally after one year 
they sent the last springs. We spent 
days trying to get it to run and used 
several gallons of gasoline and could 
not get it to run one minute. I got 
other parties—two practical engineers— 
to try it and it failed just the same. 
Then I again asked them to take it back 
and refund me my money. I finally 
asked them to let me return it and 
give me $40 and I would stand the loss 
of the rest. They flatly refused. 
I will enJose some of their letters; 
some of them I have mislaid. Notice 
my special instructions to them when I 
ordered the engine. They have failed 
to comply with the agreement. They 
held back part of the engine and kept me 
from trying it in specified time. They 
talk about a second trial, as you can 
see by their own letters. I would like 
you to take this matter up with the 
company and collect if you can. I will 
return the engine as soon as I can get 
instructions to do so—not to be returned 
to me any more, but for the return of 
money. J. Z. T. k. 
West Virginia. 
Signed and sworn to before a notary 
public. 
We regret that we are unable to get 
any adjustments of complaints from this 
company. We long since refused their 
advertising; but complaints continue. 
We can do nothing for those who have 
complaints. The information may have 
value for others. 
I wish to thank you most sincerely for 
the able manner in which you handled 
our claim against the New York Central 
Railroad. The check for $18.98 was a 
very welcome adjustment of the claim, 
which had been refused by the company 
nearly a year ago. I assure you that I 
appreciate your action in the matter, and 
hope I may have an opportunity to re¬ 
ciprocate. - M. A. N. 
New York. 
December 5, 1911, a shipment of pota : 
toes was sent by the subscriber. They 
were eight days en route, while 30 hours 
would be sufficient time to make the trip. 
When the potatoes reached destination 
they were frozen, having run into freez¬ 
ing weather, which would have been 
avoided had the shipment been given or¬ 
dinary handling. The claim was refused 
and responsibility denied to the shipper, 
and later the refusal repeated to us. We 
did not see the justice of this in view 
of the circumstances, and put the case 
before the president of the road, who, 
without delay, ordered voucher passed for 
the damage. 
There are some subscribers who don’t 
say a word but think just the same, and 
appreciate what you are doing all the 
time for the farmers, myself among the 
rest. I see by the last issue that you 
have been sued for damages, and if it 
is through your influence that all of those 
papers have refused the advertising of 
that agency it is a grand record and I 
say glory be. Every subscriber should be 
willing to contribute a dollar toward 
expenses (and I think would) ; at any 
rate my dollar is ready and another with 
it if it is needed. F. b. P. 
New Jersey. 
If the above were an isolated expres¬ 
sion it might not be significant of any¬ 
thing; but it is typical of many expres¬ 
sions that come to us on every such 
occasion in one kind of language or 
another. And when it comes to expres¬ 
sion we would like to see some of the 
literary artists attempt to improve on 
the above. When a man has an impulse 
in his mind or heart and transfers it to 
paper he is eloquent, and no touch of 
art can improve on it. 
The Strout Agency has now filed some¬ 
thing near to a dozen different suits for 
alleged damages to their business of 
selling farms through the publication of 
complaints by farmers. We expect this 
will serve as the basis of another. We 
appreciate this offer to share the burden 
of such suits by farmers. We always 
get these offers. We have had many 
other such suits; but we have not yet 
needed nor accepted the kindly and ap¬ 
preciated offers of help. Such exper¬ 
iences are necessarily troublesome and 
expensive; but if a farm paper shrinks 
from its full duty to its subscribers there 
is no very good excuse for its existence. 
J • D. 
Ailing Ducks. 
Can you tell me what to do for my 
young ducks? They are about a month 
old and have been well and growing 
until the last few days. They ax-e droopy 
when I go to feed them early in the 
morning. They sit around and will not 
eat or drink, and die. They are not 
lousy and when I shut them up at night 
they were feeling all right. They have 
a nice dry place to stay at night, and 
have free X’ange through the day. I 
feed them corn bread soaked in sweet 
milk with a little green feed chopped in 
occasionally and plenty fresh water to 
drink. Are they old enough to eat raw 
feed.? A. s. 
Michigan. 
As has been repeatedly stated in these 
columns, overfeeding on concentrated 
grain rations with too little green food, 
is responsible for much of the trouble 
amateurs have in getting ducklings be¬ 
yond three or four weeks of age. In¬ 
stead of feeding corn bread soaked in 
milk, with a little green food occasionally, 
make the bulk of their grain ration from 
wheat bran and give finely cut green 
food all the time. They should have 
grit, charcoal and sifted beef scrap also. 
A good feeding formula for youngsters 
is as follows: Wheat bran, four parts; 
wheat middlings, one part; cornmeal, 
one part; fine cut green stuff, two parts; 
five per cent, chick grit, and five per 
cent, sifted beef scrap. As they grow 
older the proportion of green stuff may 
be increased to one-half of the total 
ration, and at six or seven weeks of 
age, cracked corn and wheat may be 
fed for the night ration. For green 
stuff, use cut clover, young oats, Alfalfa, 
lettuce, etc. m. b. d. 
I FIND the great thing in this world is, 
not so much where we stand, as in what 
direction we are moving. To reach the 
port of heaven we must sail sometimes 
with the wind and sometimes against it 
—but we must sail and not drift nor lie 
at anchor.—Oliver Wendell Holmes. 
JLttlLi XV. . 
U 
and a “square deal, 
editorial page. 
See guarantee 
“BIDWELL” 
BEAN and PEA Threshers 
M ADE in three sizes. 
Capacity: 50, 100 and 
150 bushels per hour. Thirty 
years’ experience. 
In Use wherever Beans and 
Peas are Grown 
Write for description of our 
half-size thresher. The Bidwell 
Jr., for use of individuals and in 
localities where large expensive 
machines are not necessary. 
BATAVIA MACHINE CO. 
Batavia, New York, U. S. A. 
;;; 
< 
ptej tfcH 
’ FARM ] 
k/r HOMtiA/liSFS 
yW . v... . aid 
Phrr^l/| 
■'i 
(paa mum woqo pslsuw cty] 
rr- 
4 
-^- MUt - Jj. _1 
HAS A HUNDRED USES 
Avenarius Carbolineum has a hundred uses 
about the farm as a wood preservative, insect¬ 
icide, disinfectant, wash, spray and paint. It 
will lengthen the life of 
the silo, the barn, posts 
and other woodwork. 
Keeps lice, mites and 
vermin from poultry and 
stock. The ideal pre¬ 
servative for shingles, 
floors, silos, troughs, etc. 
Waterproofs tarpaulins, 
ropes, covers, tool hand¬ 
les, hose, wheels, etc. 
Avenarius Carbolineum 
is non-poisonous, non- 
inflammable, and is eas¬ 
ily and quickly applied 
as paint, spray or dip. 
Writefor Bulletin 33,de¬ 
scribing its many uses. 
If your dealer hasn’t it 
—order direct from us. Carbolineum Wood 
Preserving Company, igj Franklin St., N. Y. 
Unadilla Silos J 
are the best f* 
I 
Give superior silage. Possess best con-1 
struction and greatest convenience. Get [ 
free catalogue. Agents wanted. 
Unadilla Silo Co.. Box C. Unadilla. N. Y. 
Dirip Silos 
Are Manufactured Not Assembled Silos 
Highest grade material—air 
tight doors—permanent ladder 
—genuine wood preservative- 
easy to erect—built for long, 
continued service and sold 
direct. Send for catalog, prices 
and freight to your station. 
Discount for early orders. 
Stevens Tank & Tower Co., Auburn, Me. 
EXCELSIOR SWING STANCHIOB 
30 Days’ Triai,—Stationary When Open 
NOISELESS SIMPLE SANITARY DURABLE 
The Wasson Stanchion Co., 
Box 60, Cuba. N. Y. 
ROOFING 
$ 3.30 per square. 
11) squares or more. 
__Ask for now Catalog. 
GRIFFIN LUMBER CO., Box C, Hudson Falls,N. Y. 
GALVANIZED 
<m 
_ 
0 ,-v^^Where the use of Rock Phosphate has paid: At Pennsylvania 
t ta te College $ 1.05 invested In Rock Phosphate gave in- 
D a y b r ealt^Mi crease d yields valued at $ 5 . 85 —over 500 %. At the 
Rock Phosphat^^jggy^^ Maryland Experiment Station $ 1 . 96 ^ worth of 
contains a minimun^^jjO’^^^s^^Rock Phosphate gave increased crop yield- 
of 260 pounds of valued at $ 22 . 11 —over 1 , 000 %. At 
phorus; sufficient to Ohio Agricultural Experiment 
an acre of land with this element^^itRi/''S^^^ Station each dollar invested 
for the production of 15 one hundred-^gjLl JP,in Rock Phosphate paid 
bushel crops of corn. Since most soils^^^a^^^^^ f or itself and 
in the Central and Eastern states are already^^^PW^^^^ gave $c ;.68 
deficient in Phosphorus we advise the use of 1 ° * , r profit, 
pounds of Rock Phosphate per acre once in each ‘ ^ 
years. The cost of this application will be about $ 1.00 per 
acre per year. Write us for further information and for prices. 
Mention this pap er. 
c oLu mbiAvTenn 
