The Kimball graphic. (Kimball, Brule County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1905, 1886-09-10
The Careful Farmer.

to 81 barn near farm house to get in
out of the wet. They found the farmer
in the barn sitting on an upturned
half bushel, whiting a cob, waiting for
the rain to cease so he could go out and
kill potato bugs. He bowed to the
men as they came in, and sat their fish
ing tackle down, though he eyed them
pretty closely. He didn't talk much,
but answered their questions politely
They asked all about the farming busi-
ness, and he told them how things were
running. Finally he said
II suppose you are gentlemen from
the city, come out here for recreation,
but didn't know at first but you
might have some scheme to get me to
buy something, or make me agent for
some patent, or that you wanted to get
me to sign some paper that would seem
innocent enough, but which would turn
out to be note that | would have to
pay. There's sharks around here ey-
cry few days trying to pick up farmers.
aud we have to keep our eyes and ears
about us. | am satisfied [ have made
a mistake in you gentlemen, SO apol-
ogiae.'
The gentlemen laughed at his fears,
but accepted his apology, and finally
asked him what course the sharpers
usually took TO beat q farmer.
80. they take every kind of
course" said he, as he took anothe.
cob to whittle. Anything to get
man to sign his name. Once farm
sr's name is on paper, and they get it
on to promissory note. and into the
hands of all innocent party. had a
man come along here two years ago.
with . patent churn, and he left it for
my wife TO try. She tried it, and liked
it. and wanted to buy it, but he
wouldn't sell it. He said he was Just
getting it patented, and he wanted a
few of the best farmers to try it. and
make any suggestions they thought of
to improve it, and he would make the
Improvements and get it patented. He
said when it was patented, and was q
success, he had just as soon make my
wife present of churn, but he
in the hands of some large factory to
build, and he would get a royalty. He
wanted few letters from those who
mad tried the churn, to send to our
member OF congress, who had promised
to go to the patent office for him. He
wrote out letter to our member OF
congress, saying that l believed there
was merit in the churn, and |
signed it. How the deuce he got my
name off of that letter, and put it at
the bottom of note for two hundred
and fifty dollars, l don't know, but 1
had to pay the note, and my wife has
never got the churn. But the slc&cst
! thing that farmers ever got took in on
was Bohemian oats. About ten years
ago . man came along with baking
powder can full of oats without any
/ hulls on--iust the plain meat of the
oats. He said he was an agent of the
German government, and that one
farmer in every township could buy
bllshel of the oats for five dollars, if he
would contract not to sell the crop of
| hull-less oats to anybody but the auth
orized agent. and he was to agree to
pay four dollars a bushel The idea
was to create monopoly in huil-less
oats. He just mentioned it to me, he
said. that | might think it over.
and in the meantime he would make
Well, for II week / dreamed
of nothing but Bohemian oats,
and by the time he came around again
l was rs ripe as the oats. and | wanted
ten bushels. He said he w4nld have to
communicate with the general office
before he could sell me more than one
, bushel, but he didn't know but he could
! arrange it SO | could have county
right, anN be the only man in the coull-
! ty who c6uld raise the oats. He said
4 he hated to let one man have such q
chance to get rich. but he had struck
three or four farmers that had no
standing, and he wouldn't let them
/ have Il kernel of the oats for love or
money, and as lie had got to go to Iowa
| soon Ne might civ. me the county, but
must not say anything about it. He
! would b., back in u week, and hv that
time he would let me know if [ conld
have the county. He might have let
me have the earth. if he had waited an
other week. Well. to make y long
I story short bought fifty bushels OF
oats, signed contract 10 sell to no.
body but him, and got two farmer, to
sign with me as security, and the next
! spring | sowed the oats"
WHAT did you get p asked one of
the fishermen. as he looked out the barn
dool, ouG lpUuu lll;tl une ram nlu
| cleared off.
/ ''Gct?" said the farmer, AS he rose
up and kicked the half bushei measure
across the barn. II got fair crop of
common oats, with hulls on, which
sold from the threshing machine for
twenty cents a bushel. The oats he
/ sold me were common oats, with the
hulls taken of, and paid him five dol
lars bushel for them in cash, and the
contract l signed turned out to be
/ note for five hundred dollars, endorsed
by two Of the best farmers in town,
and ! paid it,
''Well. he spoke the truth when he
said he didn't like to see one man get
too rich, said one of the fishermen,
but should have supposed he would
have come around the next wear and
bought your crop as he promised. Bot
! suppose you violated your contract
by selling the oats to other parties.''
Come around again. said the
farmer. "He would have been lynched.
Why found that he had sold Bolic-
mlan oats to over fifty farmers in this
township. and in the country | don't
know how many took the bait. You
can't amagine how l felt, after hugging
that secret to my heart all summer, and
watching the oats grow, to see them
head out just like ordinary oats. and
| when it came over me that | had been
sold, and was not going to be rich, but
poorer than ever, l was actually sick
for month. The doctor called it nerv-
Gus prostration, but it was bohemian
oat fever, that's what it was.'
"Well," " said one of the fishermen,