The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1877-09-13
w. w. ICOOOo01j
Worthy Master Pomona Grange.

crS, auu NTduSeIS particularly, Y" ou0
advancing strides lately taken in the
business of fruit culture, and having
shown, I trust, that the means of propa-
eating fine fruits are within easy reach
of all progressive farmers of our country,
I now propose to suggest a plan by which
all these fine fruits may be placed in just
as convenient reach at comparatively
small cost.
Our country has been considerably i'm
posed on by set of persons known as
stree peddlers," representing themselves
as agents of respectable nurseries, who
tramp up and down the country with
books, in which they exhibit the pictures
of fine fruits, coarsely drawn and glaring-
ly colored, by which the unwary are en-
trapped, and their trees are disposed of
at extravagant prices. A lively writer
in the Weekly Ne,us, of the first of Au-
gust last, over the name of "Bennet
Springs" referring to this mode of OBJ
tanning fruit trees, says: "Avoid these
swindling tramps; their real stock in
trade nearly always consists of natural
seedlings, or old stunted nursery stock,
picked up cheaply somewhere, and sell
dom true to name, for which they often
ask double the regular price" In this
traffic it is very evident that the pur-
chaser is entirely at the mercy of the
salesman, for he cannot distinguish one
tree from another until years afterward,
when the trees begin to bear fruit. Add
to this that these agents seldom meet
their customers about that time, they
having made it convenient to employ
their progressive talents in some other
uncultivated fields.
The writer once subscribed for small
lot of fruit trees, at the earnest solicita-
tion of one of those "tree peddlers," at
seventy-fve cents each. The trees, infe-
rior in appearance, came, but not one OF
them proved true to name. Many other
similar transactions could be published.
But while they are not reliable as a
class, it cannot be denied that they
have introduced some genuine improved
fruits into our country, for which we
must allow them full credit. We hope
our readers will have the charity to be-
lieve that we have introduced the stree
peddler" here not so much to vent little
spite against class of absent professional
characters, as to show in the strongest
light the uncertainty of obtaining the
goods ordered through this channel, and
the superior advantages, certainty and
economy claimed for the system herein
after proposed. Every Grange in the
County will probably meet in the next
thirty days, and let every member make
out and bring to the meeting bill OF
fruit trees he desires to cultivate, and
place them in the hands of the Secretary,
or other persons, to be handed to our
purchasing agent at Anderson. When
he finds that he has orders in his hands
that will command the attention of nur-
sery men, let him open correspondence
with some responsible company, and
having obtained the lowest wholesale
price, make his order for the bills on
hand, to be delivered at certain place
on certain day, of which each Grange
can be duly notified. By this means the
finest fruits can be purchased at whole
sale prices from responsible merchants
at the lowest living rates, with reasoua-
BILE certainty of receiving the goods or
dered. And should any of these prove
untrue to name, or otherwise defective,
then we have recourse on responsible
party. These ought to be bought for
fifteen or twenty cents each, instead of
paying "tree peddlers" three or four
times that amount.
And if any Subordinate Grange desires
to introduce a more extended economy,
that will be easily accomplished by as
certaining in the Grange meeting what
members want particular kinds of fruit,
and having obtained that information let
one member order certain named trees,
with the understanding that certain
other one shall order like number of a
different kind, and that they two shall
exchange buds. This would give each
of these parties possession of the whole
lot of trees purchased by paying for one
lot. And the same plan will apply to
three or any number Of parties. Some
thing of this sort would exhibit practi-
cal illustration of the cooperative prin-
ciples of the Grange. Or, when Grange
has funds in its treasury, it might order a
small bill of choice fruit, when received