The Columbus journal., 1908-01-29
THE FARMER
'1mproved Seed" Swindle, the %Cholera Cure" Falir
the Finishing" Of Cattle Fraud and Odher Low Schemes
Employed 10 Separate The Asziculturist from
His Hard Earned Cash.
BY w. M HAYS
Assistant Secretary u. S. Department Of Agriculture

l. nA1S
Of Agriculture
letters and circulars - 70 deceive.
Whether the claims Of these sWind.
lers ane made personally or By mail.
- In some Of the most exaggerated
seed catalogues. the intent. and the
result In most cases II the same. The
expectations Of the ambitious and
progressive farmer are raised to the
point Of exaggeration. He II con-
vinced that BY planting or BY sowing
the seed offered By the fAke concern
- will multiply his crop producdoa:
that his richest acres win greatly IN
crease their previous production and
that his poorest land. with pedigreod
SEED. win break the record Of his
choicest fields in corn. oats. barley,
rye or cotton, and the forage crops
from his vet lands viii give him tons
u nutritious fodder.
OF course seed which win perform
such miracles OF production naturally
comes high in price-these swindlers
= too shrewd to charge IN ordinary
price for seed carrying claims % high
- theirs. In some instances the price
Il double that which the farmer would
pay for bonadde. purebred. standard
/ varieties. the yield Of which has been
tested BY experiment stations.
while In other cases four, and
even six. times the normal price
II charged.
Now IS to the results: They are
disappointing. Now and then the
yield IL fair ~ from ordinary seed, but
seldom does 1t exceed that limit. More
frequently 1t falls below that standard.
The reason for this has been discover
ed by . few farmers, Who have had
enough Of the true spirit Of progress
to dig into the history Of the seeds
for which they paid d fancy . price.
Here IL what they found: The great
propasating concern" II without the
acres Of land devoted to the raising Of
seeds % eloquently pictured by the
agent; the scientific specialists"
claimed to be In the employ Of tho
concern dwindle into . corps Of young
men who draw salaries Of $50 to $50
q month and their scientific labors"
consist Of travelling from one place to
another and buying corn. wheat and
other grains direct from the farmers
In remote locations from the region
in which the grains are expected to be
sold for seeding.
These grains may be shipped to .
dummy lrm having the address Of
the warehouses Of the seed company.
There this common product Of an
known fields IL nicely cleaned re-
saeked. into presentable packages and
sold to the farmers as the choicest Of
selected seeds.
There are many good seed mer-
chants, ZONE Of whom grow much Of
their own seeds; or contract for them
before harvest, superintend their har.
vesting. curing, grading and storing.
and send them out only after their vi.
ability or ability to terminate 10 de-
termined BY trial. These men multi
ply the best plant blood n pure bred
I've stock men multiply standard
breeds, that all growers may secure
properly grown seee3 and plants Of
the most profitable varieties. They
are ever ready to take those tested,
and the rewly bred and tested seeds
and plants secured or created BY the
experiment stations and departments
Of agriculture. and rapidly multiply
them for sale ut pure-bred seed prices.
And they = rapidly making Of their
institutions both clearing houses Of
seed Information and places where
originate much Of the new values In
plant blood.
One Of the greatest sources Of profit
to the farmer of the corn belt ID the
fattening Of hogs. Corn converted
into pork on the land of the farmer
Is generally believed to b the most
profitable corn he can raise. But
there is one serious drawback to this
method Of converting corn into an
extra profit. and this il the hog chol-
era. For years the agricultural de-
partments Of the nation and the states
have been patiently and persistentfy
conducting elaborate experiments In
the prevention and the cur Of this
plague. The,results accomplished have
In many instances been most encou
aging and the results Of the expert
ments have been placed before the
farmers Of the country through bull
lettns and other avenues Of publica-
ton. As q result of this educative
work the farmers have grasped the
idea that hog cholera cannot only b
prevented, but also cured. This con-
vtctton Is all the groundwork the
"~cholera-cure" fakir needs for his
business. All the careful and quail
fed work Of honest and scientific spes
cialists in this branch Of agriculture
IL perverted into preparation for the
success Of the swindler when he finds
. man whose knowledge Of facts 10
practically restricted to tho convic-
ton that this swine plague il not BE-
yond the reach Of scientific treatment.
Consequently Swine disease special
lists" swarm like bus1ards In every big
hog raising district whore the cholera
obtains . start-and there are few. II
any. localities largely e1vea to the
raising OF swine where. sooner or
latsr. this plague doss not anpeeH.
This inSornat3on - to whore Tie dls-
.eoser q prevalent ts'sast9 ootnloabje
A.