Omaha daily bee., 1897-05-07

real eotate men should commence CrusaHe
against the bushwhackers and bsckcappers
who are running down the state.
w w. Lowman OF Hastings said that the
eastern real estate men were putting In some
telling points, and the Nebraska men, ne
eaid were glad to have their methods criti-
cised. At the same time. be thought the
eastern men themselves were sometimes at
fault. He said that too often they we're un-
acquainted with the Nebraska land they
were trying to sell and he related an in
cident to show what could be done by In
telligcnt work properly directed.
A. NJ. Webster OF Peoria, ILL.,, formerly
with the Burlington immigration bureau. but
now actively engaged with the Kansas city,
Pittsburg e. Gulf road was called out by
his former associates for little talk. He
told what his company propose ID to do In
the way OF bringing about competition with
eastern l1es, and thus reducing the freight
on farm products.
State Senator L. NJ. Graham OF Stockvlllc,
Frontier county, took the floor to expatiate
upon the advantages offered by his part OF
the state for investment.
Payton Roberts OF Monmouth, ILL.,, advocated
the plan Of advertising one piece Of land at
a time and concentrating all efforts upon that
one tract until 1t was disposed of. He OBJ
jected strongly to the old system OF adyertls-
ing a list covering hundreds OF farms lie
believed more land will be sold in Nebraska
this year than in any previous year In the
history OF the state.
II. r. Clarke OF Omaha spoke Of his ex-
tended experience OF forty-two years in Ne
braska He thought the greatest drawback
to Nebraska in the past was poor farming.
Too many men with no knowledge OF farming
had made failures and attributed their fail
ure, not to their own lack OF experience, but
to the state itself. A better class OF more
experienced farmers were coming now and
with right methods all grumbling and croak-
Ing would subside.
VISITING THE STATE.
In the afternoon the attendance wac
greatly diminished, many of the delegates
being engaged in preparations for visiting
different portions of the state before return
ing TO their homes in the east Since the
convention assembled Wednesday morning
the Nebraska agents had not been idle, and
as a result of their personal work many of
the men from the eastern etates decided to
visit Nebraska towns, study the environ
ments, educational and other facilities, visit
the farms offered for sale and famliarize
themselves generally with the situation in
order that they might be In better posi-
tion to describe their bargains when they
returned home. The discussions of the eev-
eral sessions had awakened the delegates
to the necessity of concentrating efforts to
some particular locality instead of attempt
ing to cover the entire state. AS result,
IL Is believed that more intelligent work Will
be done in the future than in the past
The earlier part of yesterday afternoon'o
session was given up to a short business
session of the Interstate Land association,
at which Judge S. NJ. Knox of Princeton,
ILL.,, president Of the organization, presided.
Secretary o. j. Gibson of Red Oak, Ia, read
the minutes of the last session and they
were approved. Sixteen new members were
added to the rolls of the association and the
secretary directed to print revised list OF
nil members. This completed the business
and the association adjourned. The rest
OF the afternoon was taken UP with informal
discussions along the line of the subjects
suggested at at the morning session.
b. f. Ferguson Of Rensselaer,, Ind, said
there was too much of Nebraska for 1t to
be failure. In his own way, when he de-
sired to interest parties in any particular
section of Nebraska, he first made himself
familiar with that section. If he wanted
to send men to the beet sugar fields he
wrote to agents either at Grand Island or
Norfolk and secured literature which gave
In condensed form the best information as
to the kind of land necessary for the sue
cessful culture of beets, the best methods
of preparing the soil and putting in the seed
Then he takes his information to the men
whom he knows are adapted to that class
Of farming and gets them Interested. He
pursued the same policy with regard to
other sections Of the state. He wac of the
opinion that the Nebraska agents in prepar-
Ing their advertising matter made a mis-
take in attempting TO cover the entire state.
He had received scores of pamphlets from
different portions of the state and every
-orre of them was written along the same
general line. Each agent undertook to de-
scribe the entire state. He believed better
results would be obtained If each agent
doomed his own particular locality. The men
in the vicinity of Norfolk and Grand Island
should lay especial tress upon the sugar
Industry. The men from the parts of the
state where the production of cereals is
attended with the best results should make
a specially of that class of literature, while
the agents who have grazing lands to sell
should Get forth the advantages of their own
locality.
w. S. Chatfeld of Kankakee, ILL.,, reiterated
the opinion that each agent doing business
east of the Missouri river should select a
particular locality of Nebraska for a field
and familiarize himself with that territory
CROP FAILURES EXAGGERATED. -
w. ID. Pruitt of Arapahoe thought that the
western agents had more to contend with
than the eastern men, for when the agent by
dint of hard work brings purchasers TO Ne
braska he too often finds that his customers
are taken away from him by men who dabble
In real estate, not as a regular business. but
only in superficial way. Speaking of crop
failures, he denied that Nebraska was more
unfortunate in this respect than other states,
but men who lived In the east who know of
particular cases of failure In any one locality
arc too apt to believe that the entire state
has had a failure. He produced figures to
show that even with a possible failure OF
crops two years out of every five in Ne
braska, farming in this state was more profit
able than 1t was In Illinois
John Harper Of Fairfield, Ia. said he had
within the past eighteen months sold thirty
five quarter sections of land in Nebraska
He always knew the farm he had to sell
first. He then interested his purchaser in
that particular piece OF ,and, put him on a
train and brought him to Nebraska, tele-
graphed ahead for a carriage to meet him
at the depot, drove his purchaser to the farm
without having TO stop and ask somebody
tho way, sold him the land and went home
He was always careful to tell the exact truth
about the land and rarely missed sale. He
attributed his success to MS practice of first
seeing the farm himself before he tried to
sell 1t.
j. w. Welpton of Grant, Neb., told of the
advantages offered by Perkins county and
cordially invited soma OF his eastern friends
to return home with him.
J. Nj. Bechtol, division passenger agent at
Burlington, urged the eastern agents not
to make the mistake of attempting to cover
tho, entire state of Nebraska Each agent.
he thought, should have his own field
ID. e. Howard of Kearney, Neh., said that
he believed that the convention had been of
much benefit to Nebraska. AS a direct re-
suit OF the meeting he had received cash
Offers for four pieces OF land near Venango
Brief talks were made by G. b. Christie of
Malvern. Ia; w, j. Long of Carlton Neb
]. A. Armheld OF Goodand, H.. and George
i. Work OF Hastings, Neb.. after which the
convention adjourned sine die