Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1906-05-04
FARMERS PATRONIZE
MAIL ORDER HOUSES
Pay OUT Much Cos But Not AL
ways Save Money. is
Their Experience.

Mail order houses do big business
in Josephine county and their cata-
logue and price list book is in nearly
every farm home and occupies place
of honor and is the chief reference book
of the household. And it is not in the
poverty stricken aud uneducated homes
that this bargain book is alone found,
but it is largely in the possession of
farmers who are able to pay the cash
for what they buy, that is they can
pay cash on their mail orders even if
they do sell their produce to the local
merchant and take it out in trad, and
whenlthe balance is in their favor take
brass money and when it is against
them have the account charged and
pay at some future time at their con-
venience. When the bulk of the mail
received at the average country post
Office is mail order packages, and the
express offices and freight depots show
equally as large percentage of this
/ OAoso VI 'ioihS ~ lbuiootco obde buc idr-
mers must profit some by this method
of making their purchases.
Before proceeding further on this
theme the Courier will state that it
will give space to articles bearing on
this menace to local trade conditions
from both farmers and from merchants
each to give their ideas on the subject.
To resume the consideration Of mail
order purchases, it is matter of fact
that the farmers do not get bargain
in every purchase and thereby make
their money go further than it would
if spent with the local merchant. The
following from the Bunker Hill, Illi-
nois, Gazette News gives good arRu-
ment in favor of farmers patronizing
their home merchants and reliable
dealers:
&C. E. Lee Of Champaign. H..
spoke to the farmers Of Macoupin coun-
ty at the Thursday morning session Of
the farmers intsitute on dairying in
terests. He dwelt at length ON the ad-
visibility of farmers buying cream
sep orators, as they secure at least a
third more butter fat from the milk
than by the old fashioned process of
raising cream
"He cited that Iowa has nearly 90. =
600 hand separators in use, and that
Illinois was fast following this pace.
and said that If every butter maker in
this state had separator that product
would increase nearly million dollars
from the same amount of milk now
'pailed.'
"Mr. Lee was asked the name of the
separator he would advise the farmer
to buy, and replied:
i am not at liberty to give pref
erence, for l an. not selling separtors,
If l were to name a separator manu-
fscturer either to you here in public
or in private, would lose my posi-
tion, but there is one thing desire
to warn you farmers against, and that
is Of buying hand seperators from the
mail order houses. Don't do it-you
will regret it. The machines do not
give results, they do not lsst-they fall
all to pieces. Our department receives
hundreds Of inquiries as to What's
the matter with my separator? 1t
doesn't do this or that, and tell you,
gentlemen, that in every instance when
we ask them to name their separator
it is mail order house machine, and
almost worthless when II was new
"Mr. Lee spoke golden truths. It is
the same with everything these houses
sell. know farmer who bought q
c.ear h3mmer-a'mcst as che7p as the