Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1879-07-03
Trees and Grating Money.

The lightning rod man has been
around again This time he is
CRATER. A chapter in "Struck a
Lead" tells how mineral holes are
grated. Everybody knows how
trees are grated. Our lightning rod
men have invented way to graft
money at the same time they graft
trees. They put in FIVE dollar scions
in March, for the farmers, that come
out one hundred and fifty dollar fruit
bearers in June for the lightning
men How 1t is done, the reader will.
want to know. The way is the old
way. The methods are all so similar
that we are surprised first that there
is not enough versatility of genus
among this class Of swindlers to in
vent something new, and, second,
that farmers are from year to year
bitten in the same way. The graft
man came through this county last |
Spring. He doesn't belong in this
county. Such men never operate
near home. They can't. People |
cannot be persuaded by any neigh.
bor-by any man they know any
thing about-to sign deceptive con-
tracts. A prophet does not find hon.
or in his own country. A hofsethief
from the Lord knows where, could
come into Grant County and sell
fifty lightning rods, fifty patent
rights, fifty county aliases or fifty
hundred gratis to one that could be
sold ny the Rev. S. w. Eaton, if he
should engage in any of these bust
nesses in this county. A sewing ma
chine man from an unknown distance
can come into town and dispose Of
twenty machines in two weeks after
a home agent has given up trying to
sell two of the same machines in
year. A STOP shop buggy agent from
a thousand miles off will step in and
sell two buggies in day where one
as much finer as piano is than
four.bin can't be sold in month if
manufactured at home. A Galena
man who years ago swindled scores
of people in this county with fruit
trees now sends cunning agent over
the same territory and gets dozens of
subscribers to trashy newspaper,
the bait being "chromos" he calls
worth dollar but which are really
worth about seven cents. The pa.
per will prove utterly worthless TO
those who take it, but the takers,
hardly one in dozen of them could
be persuaded to take the county pa
per which they all should have. A
rat printer, if he is only stranger in
the place he is operating, win get
ten jobs in day where one of the
purchasers would call in a year TO
have the work done at home. Far
mers are not the only people who
commit folly.
But we started out to tell about
the graft man. He came across
Blakes Prairie last Spring. He
was smooth, oily-tongued, good
natured, kind, and, with pious peo-
pie probably religious man. They
are all of this description. He is
we'll described in the ballad given
below by viii Carleton. At first
none Of the farmers want any gratis.
After chatting long enough to learn
the character of the farmer he gets
the farmer to go into the orchard
with him. At every tree there is a
pleasant conversation. Finally the
| farmer consents to invest to the
amount OF two, three or five dollars
in gratis, and the graft man gets
him to sign a paper IN which he
agrees to pay eight cents apiece for
all that are found growing 10 June.
By this time the graft mans three
or four skilled laborers are a. work
saving off limbs and sticking in
scions. They are so expert that it
takes them worry little while to
saw off all the stray limbs in an orr
chard and graft them The farmer
is enticed away by the willy graft
man and thinks no more about it.
He thinks be has agreed to pay two,
three or five dollars in June, provi
ded the worth OF the sum is grow
ing 10 June, and he knows he can
easily do that. 1t ia June now. In
fact June has passed /; the graft man
is on his second visit. He goes
through the orchards with the far.
mers and they fad from 200 to g..
600 gratis growing in each orchard.
One man thought he had contracted
for one dollars worth of scions. He
is shown by the graft man that 200
are growing and at s cents apiece
he is called on to pay SIG Ool An
other who thought he could stand
$500 worth, is shown that 700
CRAFTS are growing and his DILL
mounts up &c $4,000. But we cite
a few real cases. Mr.. G. w. Stone
one Of our active, wide-awabe far
mers of Blakos prairie, after leng-
thy conversation and visiting thro'
the orchard with Mr.. Graft, conclu-
ded to let the gentleman scion him
to the amount of $500 Mr.. Graft |
called on him the other day. They
went second time through tho or
chard together. They found that
Graft had scioned the trees to the
amount of about $4,000, but enough !
had died to reduce the bill to S43 76i