The Russellville Democrat., 1884-01-17
CORRESPOND ENCE.

JAN. IA, 1884 - my last article
believe 1 proposed TO pay my res.
poets to the tree agent, but am NJ
most sorry ! did, as upon reflection
/ am pursuatled it will do but little
/ il any good He viii make bis az.
pearance again, a new one thol
! about the time the peach trees are
in boom, and thu he comes early,
he will not early depart. As usual
ne viii be an honest {! man, will
listen with sympathetic ear To Your
4 tale OF the number Of times YOU have
] been swindIed in your efforts TO get
] good orchard, and as he listens. he
'lquietly takes your dimensions, for
tho knavc he is nofool )becoines sat
4 isfied he has sucker" in hand, as
4 indeed he generally has, and ends
the interview by taking your order
for new orchard, and you get a
i larger dose than ever before. How
can you refuse TO give it? He repre-
SCENTS one OF the largest nurseries In
Tenn, New Sesk, Ohio or some other
distant point, covering from 800 to
1000 acres closely planted, with the
choicest varieties of fruit and orna
mental trees they have exclusive
control OF certain kinds Of trees,
which can be obtained no where else.
Among which is the .Gcn'l Robt. +.
Lee and Stonewail jackson peach,
/ which ii you are a good ex Cunfed-
crate, you ought to buy, at vi each,
or If you are northern man and
f"trulv loyap and desire to make it SO
appear, you must take few Gan'l
Grant crab apple. and few Presi-
dent Lincoln or Mrs. Garfield straw
berry. He has his specimens Tin
magnifying jars) finely .colored
"picture book" showing what he is
selling, and he is ready to pledge his
honor { y that il it does not produce
as he represents he will forfeit Il fab
uloDs amount.
| have been familiar with the' modns
operandi'' Of these men for thirty
years. Arkansas is not the only
state that has suffered by this spe-
cies Of swindli2g, ..sey kayc been in
every state, and are to certain ex-
tent yet, but Arkansas is their rich
est field and they are working it for
all its worth
| For ten years past there has been
carried out Of this state not less
than 100000 annually, or for the
ten years 1000, 900 of dollars, { am
quite sure / do not over estimate the
amount and taking into considsra-
i ton the extortionatc prices charged,
the large number of trees that never
lived, and the utter worthlessness
of the most of them that did live, it
| is liberal estimate to say that
100000 ought to pay for all the
trees that have been of any benefit
to the planter. This shows total
loss to the buyers of 100000 cash
paid at sundry times, to say nothing
of the labor and expense bestowed
upon what did live, to find after
II years of impatient waiting that you
could have gotten better seedlings
out Of your own or neighbors fence
corners, suppose that this worse than
wasted 100000 had been expended
with DR.. Thruston, DIR. Gregory,
Mathews, STRAWBERRY, Wightman,
Upton, Mnrrell, and other nursery
men growing trees. and trying to
sell them 10 yop. Whose interest
were so closely identified with yours
as to be sufficient guarantee OF
honest treatment. 1t is safe to say
that our orchard products in place
of being SS67000 would have been
several times that amount-and IN
addition you would have had nurse
ries of which the citizens might have
bean justly proud. Look at the sit
uation now. DR.. Thruston in utter
7, disgust at his treatment by his
friends and neighbors, men who,
while he is growing his trees, hop.
ing and expecting to supply them,
give their orders to these ltinerating
pedlars, at three or four times the
: prices he could have purchased
them for, and better trees too, better
/ varieties and better grown and dug,
+ better in every way--digs up his en-
g tire stock and sends it to Fl. Smith
f to be sold at auction for what ii
would bring and retires forever from
the Improbable and--I had almost
; said disreputable business. think
9 most nurserymen sometimes feel So
r when he finds himself compelled te
d compete with notorious swIndlers-
almost without an exception-and
that too at disadvantage. 1t il
= said that ga prophet is not without
a honor, except in his own country
a You approach one of Your neighbors
and solicit an order, almost invaria
bly, you are told "Oh l don't know
what / want yet, Tie come to the
nursery and get them" Alas! mar
9 proposes, but the tree agent disposes
J. for while you are working to grow
Q the stock they have Jumped the
territory and are taking orders, and
when the season comes for digging
: and delivering, you look around fol
J. those who were "coming to the
j nursery" and you find that the or,
ders have been taken, and man
could laugh, if he did not feel more
like swearing, to hear the "gulls''
tell what magnificent things they
t had ordered from Nashville, or some