Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1881-09-15
Stories Of Amateur Partners.

n ului Nilbtbu al AEtlyhlbuIdt WHTt-
house the other day, and bought rake,
a wedding hoe, lawn-mower, . seythe
and pickax. An improved harrow
struck his fancy, and he seemed dis
posed to buy it; but friend who was
with him persuaded him that the rake
would answer his purpose, After the
customer aud his friend had gone out
the merchant in agricultural imple-
ments said: THAT young man has re-
cea.ly bought Fefy -srAsy country
place in New Jersey. His land is a
quarter of an acre OF sloping lawn.
" 1t is a puzzle 10 some folks,n the
dealer went on, "how such stores as
this, situated remotely from the farm
ing districts, do q profitable business,
especially since there are in all such dis
tricts centers in which agricultural inn
plements are retailed to the farmers
But il we depended on farmers for our
custom we would starve. l made my
first business venture with the late
Prof Mapes, who was then interested
in the best-appointed agricultural inn
plement warehouse in the country, and
| cannot call TO mind that we had
among our many customers a bona fide
farmer. We had plenty of market gar
deners and lots OF amateurs, but the
bulk of our trade was with gentlemen
who had places out of town, and the
mania they had for labor-saving and
improved Implements was astonishing
They would call daily on; their way
home to see II we had anything new.
and il we had they would buy it, even
if it was of no more use to them than a
trombone.
"The professor had among his friends
n large number OF prominent actors,
many of whom were experimental
farmers Among the most enthusiastic
were Burton. Blake, j. w. Wallack,
Jefferson, Chanfrau, Adams and Harry
Placide. They were as innocent as
children, and when one of them came
into the store he would act likes a little
boy in q toy shop, and want TO buy ev-
erything we had, from :. sausage-stuffer
TO llour-mill. We were cautioned not
to sell them anything without submit
ting it TO the judgment of the professor.
Wallack was particularly irascible when
his Judgment was questioned. He
once threatened to throw us overheard
because we advised him against pur-
chasing an eight-horse power threshing
machine, which he could never, by any
possible chance have the slightestuse for.
"These actor farmers frequently
brought in samples OF soil to be ana
lyzed, and asked for advice as TO the
kind of crops it was adapted to bear.
l remember Mr.. Blake brought in
very small sample one time, and the
professor asked him why he didn' bring
more. He replied that that was all he
could spare, and / believed him.
''One day when the salesmen were at
lunch aud | was alone, an old gentle
man came in. He told me that the lot
back of his barn held moisture for
weeks after rain, and asked me what
he had better do. advised subsoiling.
and showed him plows for the pur-
pose. They We're of various sizes, from
No. 6 to No. o-from one-horse to
eight-oxen. He said they were just
the thing, but we differed as to the
size. Ho insisted upon q No. 8, while
positively argued that No, 6 would
answer his purpose. In rebuttal he
made the argument that one couldn't
have too much of good thing. He
decided, however, on a No. 6, and then
told me that he had considerable diff
Guilty in having his grass sown evenly;
that in some places it would come out
in tufts, and in others would show bare
spots. recommended a patent seed
sower, and showed him how il worked.
His eyes sparkled with delight. He
told me to ship the plow, but the seed
sOwer he would carry home, because,
he said, Then its merits were fully ex-
planned there would be such devil OF
a run on them that they couldn't be had
anywhere for love or money
when the Professor returned and
looked over the sales, saw that he was
startled.
=" Tom said he, did you sell these
things to Blaisdellp"
- Yes, SIR said |.
" He bought subsoil plow, iindp'
80 Yes, sir; he wanted to subsoil
some marshy land back of his barn, and
Irecommended plow. He wanted a
No. 8. but persuaded him that No.
6 would do. told him, however, il 1t
was not large enough that we would
eX-
I" Look here interrupted the Pro
fessor, you sold him a seed-sower; did
you also recommend thatp
:" Yes. sir, l replied, becoming
slightly nervous; you see, the grass ON
most OF his meadows grows unovenly,
in tufts in some places and leaves bare
spots in others. 50 when / explained
how the sower worked, he said II was
just the thing he wanted
Z" AS saw lire ilashing from the Pro-
fessor's spectacles, became alarmed.
and, in order TO appease him, told him
that all was paid for.
:" Paid forl he howled, with indig-
nation. Why, didn't you know that
he is my old friend Blaisdell, OF the
Museum? lie has an acre and a quarter
of scrub oak out in Jersey. He hasn't
swamp enough in his back lot TO water