I mentioned the fact that oysters cost from thirty to fifty cents for a half dozen portion, and spoke of the manner in which the shellfish could be crowded along a 2,000-foot front.
"Yes," said E——, aggressively, "but how are you going to get them to market?"
There I had her. "You have forgotten the description," I remarked. "It says the farm is fine for trucking."
But eventually it was a place called Only Nine Hundred Dollars Down to which we turned our attention. It lay up north along the Hudson and a man named George F. Sweetser promised to show it off to purchasers.
In the newspaper advertisement it merely said "George F. Sweetser, Real Estate Agent." Only after his letter came did we realize the sort of man with whom we had to deal. The letter was much more communicative than the advertisement.
The left-hand half of the envelope read: "George F. Sweetser, Storm King on the Hudson, New York. Legalized expert judge of horses, cattle, poultry, fruits, etc.—pomologist and botanist—private scoring and mating poultry—starting judge of races—originator of Buff Brahmas—breeder of prize winning, standard bred poultry, cattle, etc.—superintendent of farm produce and grain at New York State Fair."
I was careful, therefore, to explain my business at the beginning. "I want to see a farm," I said.
"I'm certainly glad to see you coming out this way," said the pomologist. "We want new blood. We want active, hard-working young fellows around here. We got too many amateurs and old fogies. Would you believe it, a lot of fellows around here won't use green fertilizer, even when I tell them about it."
"No?" I said.
"They just want to stick in the old rut and do things the way their grandfathers did before there was a war, Do you know what it is makes things grow?"