The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1908-04-15
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| Inc Ha0C0 mas a SUBSTANTIAL dTClCl0
devoted to the unbusinesslike methods
of the so-called Lumber Trust, in their
efforts to eliminate the mail order
houses who have established a red
hot competition for them. While this
matter is in the minds of The Ranch
readers, the advertising man wants to
slip in a word or two on these mail
order houses in an effort to show that
an honest and fair mail order house
is entitled to a great deal of consid-
Grafton on the part Of the farmer when
he is making purchases in their lines.
l am going to use as foundation
the VIM. Galloway Co., of Waterloo,
Iowa. one of the most prominent mail
order houses in the United States
doing business direct with the farmer
and eliminating the intermediate prof
it's. The first point l wish to make
about this company is the fact that
Mr.. VIM. Galloway, the head of that
institution, was born on a farm, rails
ed on farm, is a farmer today and,
according to his own statements, If he
has good luck, he will be farmer to
the end Of his days.
Because of these facts, he ought to
be pretty familiar with the farm;
what it needs and the temperament of
the man who runs it. The average big
manufacturer of farm implements ex-
poets to get his business in the usual
way; that is, he sells the product of
his factory to jobbers and these job
bers sell to agents and the agents sell
to the farmer.
The mail order house goes after the
matter direct and by SO doing is en-
titled to fair share of the reduction
in price on farm implements. The
mail order man places his advertise
ments in the papers that are read by
the farmer and offers to ship direct
from the factory to the consumer. They
claim that this is less expensive way
of doing business than the other, and
therefore they are enabled to offer as
good a machine at a lower price. In
the case of the Galloway people, one
thing is a certainty; that Mr.. Gallo
way, starting out as a farmer boy and
getting his first job in the manufac-
turing business as salesman selling
windmills to the farmer, made up his
mind that successful business could
be built up by selling direct to the
ness he started in along that line.
The result is today that the VIM.
Galloway Company has an enormous
business in. the manufacturing and
selling of cream separators, manure
spreaders, and almost everything else
that can be used on a farm. They are
selling all direct to the farmer.
They have but recently secured a
large gasoline engine factory and also
large threshing machine factory
building, so that they will have a
much larger factory space than ever
before. In fact, it is said that they
will have nearly four times as much
factory space as before.
do not know whether it ever occurs
to the man on the farm, or the man in
the city or the man in the town, that
when a big concern offers to put out
given piece Of machinery or a given
article of household furniture on trial,
that mail order house is taking
an awfully big chance. They can't
possibly have any way of knowing
the responsibility and honesty Of the
various people who write to them. 1t
would be very easy for some person
who wished to defraud a mail order
house to take advantage of free trial
offer and sell the machine after he had
received it. Then there is the case
where people fail to understand or give
the proper attention to the operation
of whatever article is received on trial.
How many readers are there, of The
Ranch, for instance, in the orchard
districts that would be willing to ad-
vertise 1000 miles from home that
they would ship box of apples to
every person who would answer their
advertisement, to try out; preparing
all the freight or express and simply