The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1875-05-08
The Futures that Prey Upon the

Il
During tue Indictment sea son of winte recently
past, the country was filed with class Of poor
devils whose improvident habits, in majority of
cases, ssntthsm begging from door to door for
the means which kept lives, scarcely WORTH pre-
serving, rom parting company with the wretch
ed bodies 4 required such painful exer,ions to
sustain tp@e poor creatures all passed under
the popular name OF 'tramps," and their misery,
fsHeyer 83i1eless it may have been, always ex-
le'ea the sempassion OF people enjoying more for
y sase ccndiAons of life.
- snclement win Ter weather and the
acthtr, and totally different
g i'll appearance on the
stage, or Is. b .,,aas. Tie s6lttless vagabend,
accompanied by driving storms Of snow and
slsst, has given place to the sleek, assuming ras
cal who is now met with on every road, and seen
visiting every farm house. These are the patent
rights agents, and tree peddlers nursery agents.
They do not come like their cousins OF the win
ter's day as suppliants in rags but make their
appearance as well dressed gentlemen protesting
to be benfactors OF the farmer and his very best
friend The paent-rights men have valuable in
yeutioL5 which, if taken hold of and properly
pushed, are sure to make the fortune of the lucky
farmer whose lot they fall to. Such labor-saving
Inventions will not be dispensed with a single
day after their utility becomes known. No cash
is wanted, which always suits the horn handed
denizen of the farm simply a negou he note
falling due months in the future, the a Mount Of
which will be paid many times before the note
natures. Some .vend rights, while others sell
very valuable machines and implements, which
no farmer can afford to do without in this pro-
gressive age. The farmer who dabbles in these
patent-righi machines is sure to come to grief. -
Our advice is TO give all strGlng vendors OF TOOLS
machines and other jim-cracks wide Lerth.
The tree peddlers are a still more dangerous
class Of trsmps than the former Their arts in
beguing farmers TO give orders for trees vines
and plants are most insnuating, and the damage
they dc is far greater than it at FIRST seems For
ty years ago and earlier there were in Cecil coun
ty, many of the most productive apple orchards
ihsl could be met with any where. They were
% us I6g-Irees were hardy, and many Of
the varieties were most excellent, and their keep
ing qualities unsurpassed. But where do we find
such orchards now2 They have almos, wholly
disappeared. The tree pedder came nrung So
Letting orders for some foreign nurs~ ~, with
lists OF fruit with fancy names, and unapproach-
able excellence, according TO catalogue descrip-
ton, and ia few Years after their appearance,
the county was filled with thriftless sickly race
OF trees, whose scauty crop of fruit, was only
equaied by its worthiessness, in the majority ui
instances. The trade grew from apple trees t"
pears-dwarf and standard, and grape-vines of
hundred varieties-as far as names were concern
ed at least. All kinds of trash were frequently
pained on upon the purchaser, who discovered
years after, how fearfully he hai been cheated,
not alone cut of the first cost, but the Labor amt
expense OF years of attention. whose only reward
was crop of wretched trash. These same tree
and vine agents are still indnstrously plying
their Refarious trade, and thu skill disple ed 10
swlnoling the farmers has bes reduced almost
TO line art. These rascsls carry with them
printed forms Of contracts which they induce the
person, who has been beguled into giving them
an order for the painted fruits they so tempting
ly display III their catalogues, 30 sign. We have
two OF these cunningly devised forms OF contract
before u.s. both purporting to De from New York
arms, whose agents are now securing the county
in all directions, seeking whom they enirap.
After st1tfag the locality of the iiurse Y, the
contract specifics the time and place Of delivery,
and then proceeds to gay the fruit trees etc, are
to be grated or budded, to be delivered in a
thrifty condition, of certain heights aud sizes,
and then fellows the hidden snake "Ifany OF the
varieties ordered should be exhausted ia tue nur-
sery, you may supply others ripening al or near
the same time.'
The other contract is still more dangerous in
its wording. The crafty clause in the latter reads
thus: "ln case you cannot furnish all the speci-
lied varieties you can substitute others considered
by you equally desirable"
All ehtlre strangers 10 our people, win suc0
sneaking contracts as these pushed at every man
an unknown slippery agent can cajole into Civ
ing an order for trees or vines. Such contracts
once signed, any kind OF tree vines Can DE put
upon You at The option OF the nursery men And
if, by any means, they ara caught forwarding
different article from what has been ordered, they
can fall back upon the contract, and escape. The
latter is more audacious ia its designs than the
former, and stipulates that the order, under no
conditions, Can be counermanded Will our
farmers still submit to be the victims Of unknown
dealers or purchase their trees and other nursery
stuff from nurseries near homer Cecil Wing