The enterprise-recorder., March 25, 1909, Image 7

About The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933

Image provided by: University of Florida

                
nii
ill
Score another victim for the writer
0 the vivid land prospectus. A
wealthy old former recently appeared
Vfore a district judge in a western
Kansas county and asked for n Judg
ment against a land firm in Chicago
, because they had swindled him on u
deal in old Mexico. The judge ques
tioned the old man, who, by the way,
had earned a fortune of over $50,000
by honest and hard work on the farm
in his own community.
;How is It you purchased this land
without seeing It?" the Judge In
quired of the farmer.
Well, the wrltln' sent me by this
Arm said I could double my profits
In a year, and that's a whole lot bet
ter than havln'- my money In the
bank. And these fellers said the
banks were not safe, either. That
ii why I bought the land. I bought
It before I saw it, because they said It
might all be gone If I waited a week
longer."
Thus It goes stung, stung, stung.
Farmers and city men, too, for that
matter, fall a prey to the lurid writ
ing of the land prospectus builder.
This new crater, or grafter, in the
world of business Is making hay
while the sun shines. He is reaping
i rich reward for his labor. Bankers
tay hundreds and thousands of dol
lars are leaving their vaults to go
Into the coffers of so-called big land
firms who are selling out large tracts
of wild land In the West. They have
the farmer and Investor believing
land is a better investment than a
bank account. And so It is If the
land Is all that Is said for it.
Fortunes have been made In West
ern land In the last few years. There
ire iarniers u umuy buuuuus ui uie
lddle West who have gone into
TOas, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyom
ing and elsewhere and taken up cheap
land and sold It again for bis profits,
These men talk about it, and the
ever present land booklet writer
takes their story and sends it all
over the country, magnifying and
adding color to suit his particular
lection, of course.
A satisfied customer In Western
lands Is a gold mine to a good "wild
cat" land company. Tbey often sell
tome few responsible men in each
conViunity land at a low price, and
res 1 it for them In a few months
at a profit In order to get their In
dorsement. They can afford to buy
the land in themselves
Land is sold in these modern
times through advertising largely
The old system of having hundreds
of sub-agents scattered over the
country rounding up the purchasers
and taking them West on free rail
road passes has been eliminated by
the railroads cutting off the passes,
and the land is now sold by advertis
ing direct to the purchaser,
It requires clever writers to "fix
the dope." But there are clever
young men In the West who know
how to wield a pen in molding fanci
ful opinion about beautiful tracts
of land open for settlement. These
young men are not graduates of ad
vertising schools; many of them have
never seen the Inside of a college,
but they have been brought up' out
West and they know how to write
about their country so it Interests
others.
A tall, lean young man In Chicago,
known by his friends as "7!op" be
cause Le talks like a man in a co
caine dream came from Texas. At
tender aga he wrote letters to his
cousin and friends in Ohio and other
Eastern States, and his letters were
w filled with news about the Texas
home and the splendid opportunities
to get rich there that many went to
Texas and bought land as a result of
hli booming. As he grew up his let
ters were printed In the local news
Papers and hundreds of them mailed
"ery week by enterprising, real es
tate agents to Eastern folk. -Hop"
tew his writings were worth money,
M he hired out to the biggest firm in
lt home town, and before be was
throue high school was making
Mo a month writing booklets and
Impressions on the coast country of
Teias.
"Hop" was wise and soon engaged
w business for himself. Me optioned
tract of land Just about the time he
wnie of agd and sold It out by ad
vertising. Small tracts of five acres
ach at $3 a month was the burden
' his song. Five acres, be claimed,
a enough to make any man rich,
"ft It didn't. "Hop" paid $5 an acre
r land and sold it for $20.
Of course, he is rich such a fool
'6n que-tion. Hides in autos, wears
w6 diamonds, and acts for all the
or'd like the story-book grafter. He
l'uld never succeed as a direct sales-man-
His methods are too rank,
a:d ho has the bearing of a get-rleh-jUl:k
man. In selling -by mall ho
l3s the advantage of his customers
""y ne.-pr B0B hni( ,n(1 hy hig urid
""piioa of himself and his propo-
a great many of the unwise
?t the Idea be is somcthlnc artat.
'''Is is only one of the many. Lots
' young incn nj, ordinary training
Sot a start iu the laud butlueis
iiii litis.
by writing booklets. They follow the
frame-up" of some older and wiser
head, and then run n a lot of talk
that means nothing, but sounds nw
fully good. The dollars begin to fiow
Into their coffer, of course.
It Is a marvel to a conservative
man to raad tho Incoming mall of
one of the Mg mail-order land con
cerns. The number of peoplo who in
siet upon s .itllng their money to
these firms for land before they have
seen the property is unbelievable.
I can relate nu actual experience
tLat came to my personal attention.
A man living in Mississippi was a
subscriber to a Pacific coast daily.
This Pacific coast daily carried the
two-inch advertisement of a Chicago
land firm selling land3 in New Mexi
co. Tho Mississippi man answered
the ad. nnd got the beautiful Illus
trated booklet and the selling talk.
He at once bought a bank draft for
$6000, the first payment required on
a certain tract of land, and remitted
It to Chicago. I know this transac
tion occurred within a week's time
Just time enough for the malls to
handle the deal. I saw the letters
written by the customer down In
Mississippi and saw the draft. The
Mississippi man had never been in
New Mexico, knew no one there, and
did not know the firm with whom
he was doing business they were
not rated In any mercantile report
and the man who sent the draft was
assistant cashier in a bank.
Such transactions as this travel
quickly the advertising agents hear
about it and they tell other aspiring
land grafters how easy It is to get
money by mall, and so the story In
duces others to "get busy."
The man who can write a lurid
land booklet that will bring in lots
of money and still so represent the
conditions near enough as to "stick"
is the man sought by the near-honest
promoter -who wants to take the peo
ple's money, but has a horror of a
fraud order, a Jail sentence, or hav
ing to reiund any of his Ill-gotten
gains.
It Is the man who writes so near
tho lie and yet keeps within the pale
and at the same time gets results
who Is paid big money for his work.
Frequently writers of such books get
$1000 a month, others work on a
commission. I know a young man
who gets one cent for every acre sold
as a result of his literary efforts: he
is living easy at big hotels, and his
profits are piling up so fast that he
cannot spend them.
Land promotion Is one of the Im
portant fields of endeavor In Chicago,
Kansas City, Denver, St. Louts and
smaller cities surrounding. You will
find all of the big office buildings
crowded with land men they always
have the best suites and the finest
equipment for business. Their of
fices are luxuriously furnished and
they themselves are examples of fit
ness. Their high-salaried prospectus
writers have private offices and only
work when the "muse" hits them.
In writing selling talk they are per
haps the most successful modern ad
vertising writers, but they do not
work along the same principles of
most advertising writers they do
not lose any sleep sticking to the
truth.
The land publicist Is a man created
for the purpose. When the Investor
finds it Is best to investigate where
he buys Western land this creature
of circumstance will pass into ob
livion. Detroit News-Tribune.
The Cheapness of Life.
During last year labor in the Uni
ted States lost nearly 35,000 lives in
the course of employment. There
were also about 2,000,000 accidents.
Most industries involve risks, some
greater than others. The accident
ate of electricians is excessive. That
of coal miners is 3.10 per 1000 in the
United States to 1.2 9 per 1000 In the
United Kingdom. This proportion
holds among the railroad employes.
We lost 2.50 per 1000 to Germany's
,9S per 1000. In Qther words, we
slaughtered on the average 915 more
coal miners than England and 1735
more railroad employes than Ger
many,
Two conditions account for tms ex
cessive death rate that runs through
out all our departments of labor.
First, the reckless indifference ana
carelessness, united with an inherent
dislike to obedience, that characterize
our American workmen. Second, the
unwillingness of employers to install
accident saving devices, and to com
pel military obedience to preventive
orders. ....
Hermanv has a permanent eslilta-
tlon of accident saving devices which
hns been productive of great benefit
to life. This feature England is
copying. Boston Post.
Rural Diplomacy.
Judcln" from the price ye charged
me, neighbor, ye put three gallon uv
m'lnsses In a two-trallon jug. xaow i
ain't b'grudglu' the money, but I
don't ral-lnte ter bev the jus
strobed." Judge.
THE WILD VIOLET
AN AGGRESSOR.
A Ramarkabl lllustrali.:
Nature's Way ot Prstrv
spreading the Plant.
of
The common wild v!olot aiiM:ls
one of the most remarkable illustra
tions of the care and apparent fore
thousht of nature in preserving a
species, says the St. Louis Glo'io Dem
ocrat. As everybody knows, tho vio
let grows In the shade, in pastures,
woods and fields, where the grass is
abundant and long. It comes up ear
ly in the spring, and flowers at a time
when the grass Is most abundant and
succulent. Of course, it Is liable to
be cut down by the scythe when mow
ing is done, but much more likely is
It to be bitten off by grazing animals.
The lolets that come In the spring
either do not seed at all or rery
sparingly, so that If the plant relied
on Its spring flowers for seed, It would
probably perish off the earth In a very
few years.
Eut In the late fall the plant bears
another crop of blossoms, that are
never seen, save by the professional
botanist. They are very small, utter
ly Insignificant In appearance, and
grow either Just at or below the sur
face of the ground. These are the
flowers which produce the seeds for
the next season.
The flowers on long stems bloom
ing in the spring are only for show;
tho hidden flowers are for use, and
the number of seeds they bear may
be Judged from tho ease with which
a wild violet bed spreads in every
direction. When the seeds are ripe
the pod explodes, scattering them to
a considerable distance, often ten to
twelve feet from the parent plant, so
that, In spite of its boasted modesty,
the violet not only takes care of It
self, but because a troublesome ag
gressor. WISE WORDS.
No wise man overshoots his own
moral aim.
The dogmatic are always strong on
barking.
All worthy education is training of
the will.
Counting your blessings discounts
your burdens.
No none was ever left sad by giv
ing happiness away.
The ability to learn marks the lim
its of actual living.
Too many men lay to a gentle
heart the faults of a soft head.
You cannnot Improve tho breed by
polishing the brass on the harness.
No man is master of himself who
cannot control the guests in his
heart.
You do not secure a clean bill for
yourself by Indicting the rest of hu
manity. There never can be sufficient pub
lic virtues lu a life to balance private
Tlces.
The worst failures are those suc
cesses that have come at the cost ot
the soul.
There are many things we can not
afford to get for less than their full
price.
Whether earth shall be like heaven
depends on whether heaven Is in our
hearts.
Practice Is the one preservative of
religion.
Sitting still is always the most try
ing situation in life.
The best evidence of a healthy soul
is its hunger for work to do.
No man can own any more than he
can carry In his own heart.
No man can take Iniquity Into his
creed aud keep It out of his charac
ter. No prayer meeting Is long enough
that does not reach to the market
place,
Tho man who hasn't the vigor to
be vicious usually prides himself on
his virtues.
There never Is room at the top for
the man who thinks It was built only
for one. '
Some of the virtues of our friends
grow out of the graves where we have
burled their faults.
Our example when wo are o pa
rade has no influence at all compared
to the effect of our every living day.
When a man makes a distinction
between his creed and his conduct,
he will discover a breech between his
aspirations nnd his heaven. From
"Sentence Sermons,'.' in the Chicnyo
Tribune.
I'lii'f Conversation.
There U a Government oiTicir.l i:i
Washington to whom an unnecessary
or inane question la as a red rag to a
bull.
Last summer he mado his usual
;rlp to Europe. On the first day out
;om New York he was strolling on
L ne roroenad'3 deck, when suddenly
there r.ppeared before him a niau
whom he bad not seen for years'.
"Why, professor," exclaimed tlia
man. "To meet you, of all men! Are
you going across?"
"Yes," growled the professor. "Are
ou7" Harper's Weekly.
PRACTICAL ADVICE ABOUT
DIVERSIFIED FARMING
ti:tiitiiitnt:iinttutmutnnttu::innttittiitintimtttuntu
Whnt Legumes Would Do.
Attention was called last week to
Ihe fact that cowpens In Michigan
gathered 139 pounds of nitrogen to
tho acre. Now ir these results can
be had up In Michigan how much
greater the amount of nitrogen tho
pea will bring to the soils of the
South in our longer season. A ton
per acre of 2 S 2 fertilizer would
give but forty pounds of ammonia, or
about thirty-four pounds of actual ni
trogen, more than 100 pounds less
than an acre of peas gave In Michigan
and much less in proportion than an
acre in the South will give. Tho
forty pounds In the ton of low grade
fertilizer would cost at the lowest
estimate $C. Two tons of cowpea
hay per acre would have a feeding
value of at least $20, and fully eighty
per cent, of Its manurlal value could
be saved if the manure is rightly
handled, and a profit mado from the
feeding, while the manure would not
only give us the nitrogen, but would
add organic matter and tend to the
restoration of the humus to the soil,
which the 2 S 2 will never do.
And yet in the South men are buy
ing cottonseed hulls to feed, and
keeping no stock but the mules that
have been paid for out of the cotton
crop, and are planting cotton year af
ter year gambling on the chances
with 2 00 pounds per acre of a poor
grade fertilizer. In which they pay
for sacking and freight on 300 pounds
of worthless filler.
And then, for every crop planted,
their, continual inquiry is, "What sort
of fertilizer?" and "How much shall
I use?" never dreaming apparently
that If they farmed right they would
not need to buy any fertilizer except
phosphoric acid and potash for the
peas, making at home through the
peas a fertilizer worth far more in
the permanent Improvement of their
land than all the chemical fertilizers
ever compounded.
Oh, the pity of It all! Professor
Massey, in the Progressive Farmer.
Kind of Cotton to Resist Boll Weevil.
The improvement of cotton by
breeding, or more properly speaking,
by selection, to meet the new condi
tions brought about by the boll wee
vil. Is of the greatest Importance. Es
pecially should the territory hot yet
infested get ready for his appearance
by 'selecting those varieties found
best in the Infested areas and by ac
climating and further Improving
them. It is none too early to be
gin this work, for the weevil does
most damage when It first appears.
In selecting the cotton plant to
save seed from, having a view to boll
weevil conditions, the early fruiting,
best yielding, vigorous plants should
be chosen, and according to Bennett,
In Farmers' Bulletin No. 314, which
we advise every cotton farmer to
send for, should have the following
special characteristics:
"(1) Tho first fruit limb must be
low, not higher than the fifth or
sixth Joint above the seed leaf Joint.
"(2) The wood or primary limbs
must be low, and should not exceed
four In number. The first limb should
not be higher than the fifth or sixth
Joint above the seed leaf joint.
"(3) Tho joints in the main stem,
In the fruit limbs and in the primary
limbs must be short, not exceeding
one to three Inches in the lower part
of the plant.
"(4) Fruit limbs should grow at
the successive joints ot both the main
stem and the wood limbs.
"(5) Fruit limbs should be con
tinuous in growth for continuous
frultins until the plant Is matured."
In addition to these qualities, size
of boll, percentage of lint to seed,
length of fiber and storm resistance
should be well looked to.
To do this, it will be necessary to
at first select only a few stalks that
come nearest to these conditions and
plant the seed of these in a plot from
which the best stalks are to be taken
for the seed plot the next year.
Progressive Farmer.
Asparagus Culture.
For a seed bed break thoroughly a
piece of dark, well drained soil, as
nearly free of grasB as can be had;
make the rows two and one-half feet
apart and sow the seed about one
Inch apart about the middle of Feb
ruary. A crop of pea vines grown the
year before will put the land in fine
condition. A liberal use of high
grade fertilizer Is essential to the
best development of the roots. The
delicate nature of the plants makes
hand picking of grass constantly nec
essary. The plants should be two to
four feet high when killed by fro3t in
the fall.
In February take up the roots and
promptly set In proper soil brlc.ht
sandy loam on six-foot rows, two
feet on the row, at a depth of ten or
twelve inches, according to tho den
sity of the soil, deepest on lightest
soil. Choose best crowns and extend
the roots both ways iu tho track, ore
half each way. Cover not dcopcr
than three inches carefully by hand.
Alter the plants get uu rake in Just
enough soil to cover the fine grass,
and repeat as often as necessary to
prevent grass getting ahead. At the
ond of tho summer there should still
be a valley over the roots. The al
leys must be kept clear of grass. Some
crop of small growth may be grown..
Two crops of cowpeas sown in April
and July work well for the purpose.
T. J. Hamlin.
Advantages of White Treed.
A well known Southern poultry
man who, Is making an enviable rec
ord with market poultry and who la
so well known as fancier that his
name is becoming -Almost a house
hold word, says he raises white fowls
exclusively, not because "white is am
emblem of purity and Innocence."
but because ho has proven them tho
most profitable. He a3ks, "Whoever
saw a commercial poultry farm,
where Clack Leghorns were the lead
ing" breed, or any other colored breed
tho favorite, if depended on for
eggs?"
Every one knows tho record
White Leghorns have as layers; and
their early maturity makes them de
sirable as broilers. But tho large
breeds of white fowls are crowding
close on their records. Of the num
erous egg records kept in the East
duriDg the last year or two, White
Plymouth Rocks stand at the head ot
heavy breeds as layers. Some have
equaled, if not surpassed, White Leg
horns with this in their favor, that
their heaviest egg production is In
winter when prices are highest. A
White Plymouth Rock hen should
weigh seven and a half pounds and
be worth seventy-five cents on the
market when no longer valuable as
a layer. Nothing can surpass a
White Rock, either for frying, roast
ing or the good old time chicken plo,
Mrs. C. S. Everts.
Tripod Hay Fork Derrick.
Three poles thirty-five feet long
nre required to make the buy derrick
shown In the illustration. They are
Tripod Derrick For Hay Fork.
fastened together at the top in the
manner indicated at A and can bo
raised with a team, fastening a rope
to the end of the single pole and
passing it out between the two polea
on the opposite side, which have been
placed in holes. Draw steadily until
the desired height is reached. Al
most any size or shape of stack can
be built under these poles. ,.,
Don't Plant Honeysuckles.
I saw In the Progressive Farmer
some time ago some one recommend
ing the planting of honeysuckle to
stop gullies. My advice is "don't."
If you do you will surely regret It,
for tho honeysuckle Is harder to get
rid of than the gully. When it once
gets a start it is almost impossible
to get rid of it. Some of my neigh
bors would give a good sum to get
rid of what they have. G. R. Gra
ham. Mr. Graham is perfectly right la
his advice so far as cultivated fields
are concerned, the editor of that pub
lication admits. The honeysuckle Is
fine to cover banks or trellises about
the house or other buildings, but In
the fli-lds'is an unmitigated nuisance.
Devise a System of Rotation.
Think out and lay down a system
of rotation of crops adapted to your
farm, and which will work in well
with one another, so that you may,
be able to get them all planted, culti
vated and harvested on time, and aim
not so much to have the greatest
area as that area which ran bp most
thoroughly prepared and fertilized,
and thus secure maximum crops. It
will pay much better to make fifty
b'.tshe!s ot corn on ore acre than oil
four. Southern Planter.
Rcttcr Than Tcrrncrs.
Cattle and sod with deep plowing
and Eubsollinu on our red hills will
do more to prevent washing tban all
the trrac:s ever mala. W. F. Massey.