The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-23

not get at them.
The three precious ears from the
stalk showing the beginnings Of q
fourth ear. reserved to experiment
with, he slipped each in q quart pre-.
serve jar. clean and dry. and screwed
the top Oh tightly.
There were twelve bushels Of "nub-
bins" These he began to feed to the
pigs. now great, big fellows. He also
gave them the Mexican June nubbins
and the small. unstable sweet pota-
toes left in the field. One could almost
see those hogs putting on fat.
Joe went over his prize corn and
culled out fifty bushels. mostly from
the stalks bearing the two perfect ears
and nubbin. He sold the fifty bushels
for $3.50 a bushel. The ten best ears
he saved to exhibit at the state fair.
The sale Of the seed corn brought in
S125.
A few days after he had disposed of
b fifty bushels q man came to him
wanting some seed corn.
Haven't any MORE" said Joe.
my gracious, Joe, you amt sold all
that $50 bushels already, have your"
"Oh. no: I've saved five bushels for
seed for dad and myself-money could
not buy that. I've sold fifty bushels
of selected seed, and I've culled twelve
bushels of nubbins. No, I've got a hun
dred and eleven bushels of corn yet"
swell. I'll take a bushel for Seed"
"I'" nnf WILLING RI Lot II M Fo~ cool
1t Is not the best: that is gone. Corn
just common, ordinary corn-is worth
20 cents. I'll sell it all to you at that
Amt it good for seedY' queried the
man in establishment. "Ain't it outen
that same patchY
Yes, but that don't make it good
seed corn, or corn that l will. guaran
tee to make what mine did with the
same treatment. The fifty bushels of
selected seed l did guarantee"
"Oh, shucks! The commonest stalk
In that patch of yourn is so much bet
ter than the rest of the corn raised
around here that a Teller is bound to
do better with it. Gimme four bushels
at 20 cents"
"All right-with the understanding
that I'm not putting it out as seed !
can vouch for"
The news was bruited around that
Joe Weston was selling his fine corr
at common corn prices. and in two
weeks he had not a bushel left. To
each buyer he explained the difference
between field selected seed and that
which he could not guarantee. Every
buyer reasoned as the first one did and
bought.
Nov. 1 Joe went to town, taking the
$77.O for the corn. Added to the 1925
he had got for seed, it made a total of
$2O2.O for the prize acre.
He was a bit worried as to whether
he had acted fairly by Mr.. Somerville
in refusing $3.50 a bushel for the corn.
The old merchant heard him through.
then. placing his hands on Joe's shout.
ders and looking him straight in the
eyes, he smiled.
"Son, don't you suppose I've heard of
this long ago? And don't you suppose
l was proud of you for acting with
such s%crupulous honesty and good faith
with your customers? I've got plenty
of money. Joe, in moderation, and Id
rather have had you do just exactly as
you have done than to have some one
give me u check for $1,000"
"Tm-I'm much obliged. sir. 1t just
seemed right, and l was going to pay
you the difference out Of my part if it
was wrong"
"Well, l wouldn't have taken it.
Whenever anything seems right to
you. my boy, you 60 ahead and do 1t.
Your ideas are straight"
Mr.. Somerville had figured up &C.
counts with Joe's father. Mr.. Weston
had also realized well from his cotton
and corn; but, not taking the care Joe
had, his yields were not half as large
per acre. Still they were treble what
he was accustomed to make.
well, I've come in to settle up and
see about that bet you made that you
n Joe'd make more off your four
acres than l would off'n TWENTY-FIVE
he said.
1t was a different Tom Weston that
confidently challenged Mr.. Somerville
from the mOrose. surly, envious, whis-
ky drinking ne'er-do-well of the year
before.
Nov, look here, Tom, l didn't mean
in competition with a brand new Tom
Weston. l meant that no account chap
we used to know"
There you 60 now. trying to craw-
fish! Be a little sport now and stand
the racket!' laughed Tom. who was
enjoying the situation hugely.
Make him stick to it. daddy! ad-
vised Joe.
"Well, wait until that prize money is
decided"-
mo. stree! We weren't talkin' about
no prizes. We were considerin' straight
farmin' an sellin' stuff off the ground"
That's right. daddy. We didn't know
anything about any prizes when he
said that. Don't let him out talk your
well, We'll have a showdown, then.
Joe and l have taken in to date a
total. counting $40 worth of turnips
sold, of 1913 altogether"
Gee whiz, that's farmin' some, |