66 
The  RURAL  NEW-YORKER 
January  13,  1923 
PUBLISHER’S  DESK 
Fraud  orders  have  been  issued  by  the 
Post  Office  Department  against  the 
American  Protective  Association  and  its 
officers  and  agents  as  such  at  Montreal, 
Canada,  and  the  Tableware  Manufactur¬ 
ing  Company,  also  at  Montreal. 
I  have  never  received  any  returns  or 
letters  from  the  Big  Four  Syndicate  in 
regard  to  the  rabbits  shipped.  One  thing 
sure,  they  have  had  plenty  of  time  to  do 
so  if  they  were  going  to.  You  may  as 
well  publish  them  and  save  other  sub¬ 
scribers  from  being  trapped.  M.  B. 
New  Jersey. 
The  above  refers  to  a  shipment  of  rab¬ 
bits  on  August  22  last.  This  is  another 
case  where  the  “treasurer  was  instructed 
to  send  check”  for  the  shipment.  He  is 
the  most  disobedient  treasurer  we  ever 
heard  about.  As  previously  explained, 
the  Big  Four  Syndicate  is  only  another 
name  for  the  Standard  Food  and  Fur 
Association.  Under  the  latter  name  “buy 
back”  contracts  are  issued  with  the  sale 
of  pet  stock.  The  “buy  back”  feature  is 
a  neat  delusion  to  sell  the  original  stock 
at  a  fancy  price. 
I  am  enclosing  lettei's  I  received  for 
investments  in  these  two  companies.  I 
would  like  to  know  if  the  companies  are 
reliable  and  safe  to  invest  a  little  money 
in.  I  will  thank  you  very  much  for  any 
information  you  can  give  on  this. 
Pennsylvania.  F.  w.  J. 
Letter  No.  1  from  H.  L.  Barber  &  Co., 
Chicago,  promoting  the  stock  of  Poudera 
Milk  Products  Company  of  Montana. 
This  is  such  a  notorious  promoter  of 
worthless  stocks  that  discussion  of  the 
proposition  is  superfluous — leave  it  alone. 
Letter  No.  2  is  from  our  old  friend  Gard¬ 
ner  Nursery  Company,  Osage,  Iowa,  the 
methods  of  which  have  been  frequently 
held  up  to  the  light  in  this  department. 
Mr.  Gardner  apparently  hasn’t  been  get¬ 
ting  rich  fast  enough  by  his  fake  schemes 
selling  plants,  and  now  he  is  asking  the 
public  to  send  him  money  and  Liberty 
bonds,  for  which  he  will  issue  a  “profit- 
sharing  note,”  on  which  is  guaranteed  7 
per  cent  interest  and  a  probability  of  10 
per  cent.  Wonderful  how  generous  the 
Gardner  Nursery  Company  is  to  divide 
such  profits  with  the  public !  We  regard 
the  company  as  unworthy  of  confidence 
in  any  respect. 
Will  you  inform  us  as  to  the  reliability 
of  the  Angola  Automobile  Club,  Buffalo, 
N.  Y.,  which  has  sent  us  the  enclosed 
literature?  B.  L.  K. 
New  York. 
Fake  promoters  seem  to  have  as  many 
lives  as  the  proverbial  cat.  This  Angola 
Automobile  Club  is  a  promotion  of  A.  C. 
Bidwell.  He  organized  a  similar  club 
some  10  or  12  years  ago.  in  connection 
with  which  he  was  charged  with  fraudu¬ 
lent  use  of  the  mails  and  pleaded  guilty. 
As  far  as  a  layman  can  judge  the  present 
scheme  is  essentially  no  different  from 
the  former.  Yon  pay  $15  per  year  mem¬ 
bership,  which  gives  you  the  privilege  of 
buying  automobile  tires  and  other  acces¬ 
sories  from  the  “club.”  You  cannot  buy 
any  of  the  standard  makes,  and  whether 
the  tires  you  can  buy  at  the  price  ore 
any  bargain  can  only  be  determined  when 
the  tire  is  tested  by  sex’vice.  The  R. 
N.-Y.  denounced  Bidwell’s  former  club  as 
a  fake  and  a  fraud,  and  we  have  yet  to 
encounter  any  “membership  scheme”  that 
had  merit. 
The  Publisher’s  Desk  is  the  greatest 
thing  ever  conducted  by  any  farm  paper, 
and  I  would  like  to  use  it  now  for  ixiyself. 
What  can  you  tell  me  of  Berry’s  Golden 
Rule  Poultry  Farm,  Clorinda,  Iowa?  I 
received  their  catalogue  the  other  day, 
and  after  reading  it  wonder  if  it  is  as 
substantial  as  the  A.  A.  Berry  Seed  Com¬ 
pany.  He  seems  to  be  the  same  man, 
though  Mrs.  Berry  seems  to  be  the  “boss.” 
I  know  of  Berry  through  the  columns  of 
your  paper,  the  Farm  Bureau  and  from 
a  friend’s  experience  a  few  years  ago. 
Would  like  to  know  if  it  would  be  safe 
to  order  anything  from  them.  s.  F.  W. 
New  York. 
The  poultry  business  is  conducted  by 
the  same  family  as  the  seed  company. 
Perhaps  Mrs.  Berry  manages  the  poultry 
business  as  represented,  but  we  suspect  the 
lady’s  name  is  used  merely  as  a  ruse  to 
inspire  confidence.  According  to  our  re¬ 
ports  from  customers,  the  “Golden  Rule" 
part  of  the  poultry  farm  has  strayed  from 
the  straight,  and  narrow  path.  It  will  be 
remembered  that  the  Federal  Trade  Com¬ 
mission  brought  charges  against  the  A. 
A.  Beri’y  Seed  Company  a  few  years  ago, 
accusing  the  firm  of  pretty  nearly  every 
sin  known  to  the  seed  trade,  confirming 
The  R.  N.-Yr.’s  exposures  of  its  methods. 
Neither  the  seed  nor  poultry  advertising 
of  the  Berry  concerns  is  accepted  for  our 
columns. 
In  answer  to  their  letter,  I  sent  the 
American  Agricultural  Corporation,  452 
Fifth  Ave.,  New  York  City,  their  card, 
stating  that  I  am  not  interested;  it 
sounds  too  “fishy.”  Would  be  pleased 
to  know  what  you  have  to  say  about  them. 
New  Jersey.  E.  v.  d. 
“Fishy”  describes  the  proposition  very 
well.  The  circulars  start  off  with  some 
well-known  facts  about  food  production 
and  the  comparatively  small  portion  of 
the  consumer’s  dollar  received  by  the  pro¬ 
ducer.  Then  the  American  Agricultural 
Corporation  in  a  vague  way  suggests 
that  it  has  a  solution  of  the  problem,  or 
at  least  a  plan  to  offset  the  high  costs 
of  food  to  the  consumer.  You  are  to  be 
given  an  opportunity  to  become  a  part¬ 
ner  in  the  food  business,  or  loan  money 
to  the  company,  to  be  secured  by  mort¬ 
gage  on  land.  The  location  of  the  land 
is  not  stated,  but  it  would  seem  that  a 
gigantic  farming  project  rs  to  be  launched, 
which  will  land  the  food  on  the  con¬ 
sumer’s  table  without  the  service  of  mid¬ 
dlemen  of  any  sort.  We  hope  these 
things  may  be  accomplished,  but  we  ad 
vise  our  readers  to  allow  the  pi'omoters 
of  the  project  to  finance  the  undertaking 
without  farmers’  assistance. 
Invest  in  a 
McCormick-Deering 
Manure  Spreader  for 
More  Profitable  Farming 
The  basis  of  profitable  farming  is  a  fertile  soil.  In 
farming,  as  in  other  businesses,  there  are  poor  years  and 
good  ones,  but  the  farmer  who  keeps  up  the  productive 
ity  of  his  soil  will  forge  ahead. 
What  do  you  think  of  the  enclosed  cir¬ 
cular  of  Los  Angeles  Vineyard  Associa¬ 
tion  of  California?  Do  you  think  it  is  a 
reliable  proposition?  If  you  think  it  is 
a  fraud  I  would  like  you  to  warn  your 
readers.  h.  w.  a. 
Ohio. 
This  association  is  developing  vine¬ 
yards  on  very  much  the  same  plan  as  the 
“unit  orchard”  schemes  of  the  South, 
which  were  so  popular  a  few  years  ago. 
You  can  buy  from  one-half  acre  to  five 
acres  of  land  under  contract  on  the  in¬ 
stallment  plan,  and  the  association  agrees 
to  do  all  the  work  in  planting  and  caring 
for  the  vineyard  for  three  years.  The 
orchards  developed  in  the  South  on  a 
similar  plan  proved  disastrous,  and  we 
can  see  no  prospect  for  any  other  result 
in  the  California  project.  The  overhead 
and  cost  of  development  under  such  a 
plan  is  too  expensive  to  make  it  feasible. 
No  method  of  maintaining  soil  fertility  has  proved  so 
efficient  as  the  proper  application  of  barnyard  manure. 
It  is  a  foresighted  policy  to  build  up  crop  yields  with 
a  McCormick-Deering  Manure  Spreader.  Put  manure 
on  your  fields  finely,  evenly,  uniformly,  and  economi¬ 
cally;  the  extra  fertility  will  in  a  short  time  pay  for  the 
McCormick-Deering  spreader. 
Note  again  these  features  in  McCormick-Deering 
construction:  i.  Power  delivered  from  both  wheels. 
i.  Double  ratchet  drive  with  six  feed  speeds.  3.  Short- 
turn  front  axle— no  pole  whipping.  4.  Rear  wheels 
track  with  front  wheels.  5.  Tight  bottom.  6.  Two 
beaters  and  wide-spread  spiral.  7.  All-steel  main  frame. 
International  Harvester  Company 
Chicago 
of  America 
[Incorporated] 
USA 
I  send  you  a  clipping  taken  from  the 
Grand  Rapids  Press  of  December  29,  re- 
garding  the  United  Buyei's’  Union.  If 
I  remember  rightly,  you  have  mentioned 
this  United  Buyers’  Union  in  your  Pub¬ 
lisher’s  Desk  once  or  twice,  and  the  out¬ 
come  of  this  scheme  might  be  of  interest 
to  your  readers.  c.  b.  k. 
Michigan. 
Here  is  the  story,  which  is  only  the 
logical  end  of  all  such  “membership” 
schemes : 
Steubenville,  O.,  Dec.  28. — Charged 
with  using  the  United  States  mails  to 
defraud.  H.  Evans,  alias  Martin,  aged  40, 
was  arrested  at  his  suite  of  offices  in  a 
local  bank  building  at  noon  today  by 
James  LaForge,  post  office  inspector,  and 
will  be  taken  back  to  Grand  Rapids,  Mich 
Under  the  name  of  Martin,  the  ac¬ 
cused  is  alleged  to  have  made  a  rich 
clean-up  in  an  alleged  mail  order  brok¬ 
erage  swindle  at  Grand  Rapids  some 
months  ago  and  then  disappeared. 
At  the  time  of  his  aiTest.  Evans,  police 
say,  was  closing  a  deal  whereby  he  was 
selling  a  half  interest  in  a  mail  order 
brokerage  business  here  for  several  thou¬ 
sand  dollars.  Authorities  say  the  busi¬ 
ness  he  was  selling  did  not  exist. 
Evans’  real  name,  according  to  Post- 
office  Inspector  Swain  McSwain,  is  either 
Goegle  or  Goeble,  but  he  was  known  in 
this  city  as  Harry  Martin. 
The  man  is  said  to  have  opened  a  con¬ 
cern  in  Grand  Rapids  in  the  Fall  of  1921, 
known  as  the  United  Buyers’  Association. 
He  is  alleged  to  have  advertised  through 
the  mails  that  persons  buying  one-year 
memberships  in  the  concern  at  $2  each 
would  be  privileged  to  buy  groceries  at 
wholesale  prices  by  means  of  special  ar¬ 
rangements  made  by  him  with  certain 
wlioleesale  grocery  concerns. 
The  prisoner  is  alleged  to  have  sold 
blank  membership  cards  to  agents  in 
’Western  Michigan  at  reduced  rates,  say 
50  cents  each,  and  the  agents  resold  the 
cards  at  $2  each,  making  a  neat  profit. 
A  small  amount  of  groceries  is  said  to 
have  been  shipped  out,  but  a  majority  of 
the  oi’ders  are  alleged  never  to  have  been 
filled.  The  groceries  shipped  lire  said  to 
have  been  paid  for  with  money  obtained 
from  clients.  The  man  is  alleged  to  have 
swindled  patrons  out  of  thousands  of  dol¬ 
lars. 
The  alleged  author  of  the  so-called  get- 
rich-quick  scheme  will  be  arnxigned  in 
district  court  on  a  charge  of  using  the 
mails  to  defraud. 
93  Branch  Houses  and  15,000  Dealers  in  the  United  States 
O  M  FENC£ 
HOW  SOLD  DIRECT 
I  FACTORY  to  FARM 
I  jTjBr ewPeerlesg direct-f rom-f actory 
\J\0  selling  plan  cuts  prices  on  highest 
"  quality  Fence,  Cates,  Steel  Posts, 
^  Barb  Wire, Paints  and  Rooting.  Prices 
begin  at  17c  per  rod!  Think  of  it!  Peerless 
quality,  famous  for  25  year*,  guarantees  your 
,  satisfaction.  _ 
pppp  Big  104-Dace  book  of  Peerleaa  Factory-to-you 
w  iaaaKi  bargains  is  now  ready.  Don’t  buy  until  you  com¬ 
pare  Peerless  prices  and  duality  with  others.  Seewhat Veer- 
leas  quality  means!  Note  the  enormous  SAVINGS  in  PRICE. 
PEERLESS  WIRE  &  FENCE  CO.  Dept  4309Cle»eland, O. 
Factories  at  Cleveland.  Ohio;  Adrian,  Mich.;  Memphla.Tenn. 
Natco  Silos  save 
in  extra  butter  fat, 
more  milk,  more 
beef  or  mutton. 
They  save  in  up¬ 
keep-no  painting 
or  repairs-no 
hoops  to  tighten 
-air  tight-resist 
.frost  and  damp¬ 
ness.  Easily  and 
quickly  erected. 
Write  for  the  new  Natco 
on  the  Farm  Book,  and 
ask  for  prices,  terms  and 
guarantee. 
■  NATCO  “hSu  TI LE 
NATIONAL’FIREPRGDFING  •  COMPANY 
1139  Fulton  Building  ::  Pittsburgh,  Pa. 
iroif/WGATES,  POSTS, 
r  Ell  VC  ROOFING-PAINTS 
yRight  now  I’m  making  another  SLASH 
in  my  prices — a  slash  that  will  open  your 
eyes.  I’ve  cut  my  usual  low  prices  way 
down  to  enable  my  farmer  friends  every¬ 
where  to  replace  their  fences,  gates,  and 
paint  buildings  that  have  long  been  neglected 
because  of  war-time  prices.  Write  today  for 
104-page  cut  price  catalog  giving  my  low 
—  FREIGHT  PREPAID 
prices.  Everything  slashed  way  down 
[—Fencing,  Barb  Wire,  Steel  Posts, 
ttGatea,  Roofing  and  Paints  at  real  bar- 
Jgain  prices.  Everything  guaranteed. 
|  Write  for  catalog  today.  Jim  Brown 
IbROWN  FENCE  &  WIRE  CO. 
Dept.  4310i  Cleveland,  Ohio 
KITSELMAN  FENCE 
“I  Saved  Over  ♦14”,  says  L.  M.  Bos¬ 
well,  Jamestown,  N.Y.  You,  too,  can  save. 
We  Pay  the  Freight.  Write  for  Free 
Catalog  of  Farm,  Poultry,  Lawn  Fence. 
KITSELMAN  BROS.  Dept.  230MUNCIE,  IND. 
CALIFORNIA  STATE  LANDS.— The  State  Land 
Board  of  California  has  for  sale  87  irrigated 
farms  at  Ballico,  near  Merced,  in  San  Joaquin 
Valley,  on  main  line  Santa  Fe  Railway.  The 
State  makes  it  possible  for  you  to  own  one  of 
these  farms,  only  requiring  5  per  cent  of  pur¬ 
chase  price,  remainder  remaining  in  semi-annual 
installments  extending  over  36^  years  with  5 
per  cent  interest  annually.  Here  is  an  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  become  a  home  owner  on  terms  as 
favorable  as  renting.  It  will  be  a  long  time 
before  any  more  land  will  be  available  under 
such  generous  provisions.  Money  advanced  on 
improvements  and  dairy  stock.  Those  already 
located  very  enthusiastic;  you  can  farm  all  year 
in  California;  all  deciduous  fruits  profitably 
grown;  alfalfa  a  paying  crop,  ideal  condi¬ 
tions  for  stock  and  poultry;  many  persons  long 
some  day  to  make  their  homes  in  California, 
with  its  winterless  climate,  plenty  of  sunshine, 
seashore  and  mountains,  fertile  valleys,  paved 
highways,  very  efficient  marketing,  excellent 
schools.  State  Board’s  pamphlet,  also  Santa  Fe 
folder,  describing  San  Joaquin  Valley,  mailed 
free  on  request.  C.  L.  SEAGRAVES,  General 
Colonization  Agent,  Santa  Fe,  952  Railway  Ex¬ 
change,  Chicago,  Ills. 
