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DesMoins Iowa April 16. 59
J. A. Kennicott
Your kind
letter is at hand. I regret to
say that at the present, I would
not be justifiable in purchasing
of you, and agreeing to pay at any
definite time, for really there
is very little money here for [strikethrough: illegible]
the merchant, and none for the
nurseryman. When I promise to
pay I will pay if possible, [strikethrough: but] I
am not in the habit of making
promises [strikethrough: whe] with out knowing how
they are to be filled.
I will not sell
enough trees this spring to pay for
the hired help. I will be [illegible] to
have the present season, but
times must change I shall want
to lay us a supply the coming
fall and will then be able to
say when I can pay. I intend to
have one of the best gardens in the
state but at present I have ab-
solutely nothing in the shape of a
garden.
I send to day the "pioneers"
with my report but not much more
correct than that of the citizen - a
few omissions I supplied with pen
sil. I regret now that the last part of