The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1886-09-02
The Careful Farmer.

Gently, and rain coming up suddenly
they pulled their boat ashore and went
to 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 cob, waiting for
the rain to cease SO he could 60 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 l 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 l would have to
pay. There's sharks around here ev-
cry few days trying to pick up farmers,
and we have to keep our eyes and ears
about us. am satisfied L have made
mistake in you gentlemen, SO apol-
ogize.'
The gentlemen laughed at his fears,
but accepted his apology, and finally
asked him what course the sharpers
usually took to beat farmer.
20, they take every kind of a
course" said he, as he took another
cob to whittle. Anything to get a
man to sign his name. Once a farm
sr's name is on paper, and they get it
on to promissory note, and into the
hands of an innocent party. 1 had
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 lust
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 a
success, he had just as soon make nv
wife present of churn, but he
shouldn't sell any, as he should put it
in the hands of some large factory to
build, and he would get royalty ffe
wanted a few letters from those who
had 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 I believed there
was merit in the churn, and I
signed it. How the deuce he got nv
name off of that letter, and put it at
the bottom of note for two hundred
and fifty dollars, don't know, but |
had to pay the note, and my wife has
never got the churn. But the slickast
thing that farmers ever got took in ON
was Bohemian oats. About ten wears
ago a man came along with a baking
powder can full of oats without any
hulls on-just 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 a
ha.sianl af tho II ne
would contract not to sell the crop of
hull-less oats to anybody but the auth,
orizcd agent, and he was to agree to
pay four dollars bushel. Tho idea
was to create monopoly in hnll-less
oats. He just mentioned 1t TO me, he
said. that I might think it over.
and in the meantime he would make
some inquiries as to my standing.
Well, for week l dreamed
of nothing but Bohemian oats,
and by tho time he came around again
l was as ripe as the oats, and wanted
ten bushels. He said he would have to
communicate with the general office
before he could sell me more than one
bushel, but he didn't know bat he could
arrange it SO l could have a county
right, and be the only man in the coun-
ty who could raise the oats. He said
he hated to let one man have such a
chance to get rich. but he had struck
three or four farmers that had no
standing, and he wouldn't 9eett them
have kernel of the oats for love Or
money. and as he had got to 60 to Iowa
soon he might give me the county. but
must not say anything about it. He
would be back In a week. and by that
time he would let me know if 1 could
have the county. He might have let
me have the earth, if he had waited an
other week. Well, to make a lonc
story short, I bought fifty bushels Of
oats, signed CONTRACT 70 sell to no.
body but him. and go. two farmers to
sign with me So security, and the next
spring sowed the oats.''
sWhat did you get - asked one of
the fishermen, as he looked out the barn
door. and found that the rain had
cleared of.
''Get?" said the farmer, as h. rose
up and kicked the half bushai measure
across the barn. II got fair crop of
common oats, with hulis on, which 1
sold from the threShing machine for
twenty cents bushel. The oats he
sold me were common oats, with the
bulls taken off. and 1 paid him five dol
lars bushel for them in cash, and the
contract l signed turned out to be a
note for five hundred dollars, endorsed
by two of the best farmers in town.
and paid it.
SWELL he spoke the truth Wien he
said he didn't like to see one man oct
too rich," said one of the fishermen.
put | should have Supposed he would
have come around the next year and
bought your crop, as he promised. But
| 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 Bohc-
milan oats to over fifty farmers in this
township, and in the country / don't
know how many took the bait You
can't amagine howl 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, hat
poorer than ever, | 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.
'the rain is over, and we win go out
and see if the fish will bite as well as
the farmers" and they went off, while
the farmer was mixing some paris
green in pan, and looking as though
he had rather feed it to the man who
sold him the oats than to thc potato