SOLVED. Children's book. "I promise I'll get to the watermelons in a minute." [s]

[Lorna]

Book I read when I was a kid in the 1970s. First person account, in "hick" dialect, about a family with a lot of kids (the dad was the POV character) buying land from a con artist. It was broad comedy, highly exaggerated.

* During their journey (they had to travel a long way), they stopped somewhere and did a headcount before continuing. One boy was at the head of the line, then skipped to the end and got counted twice.

* The con artist was always laughing up his sleeve. When he took his coat off at home, the laughter would spill out and sometimes keep him awake all night.

* The con was that he sold the family twenty (?) acres...one on top of another.

* The soil was so rich that any seed planted would sprout instantly.

* The narrator repeatedly said "I'll get to the watermelons in a minute." The payoff was that the con artist was standing over a watermelon seed when it sprouted, and hilarity ensued.

* I thought it might have been by John Ciardi, who wrote humorous poems (as well as classical translations!) but I can't find anything listed that sounds like this.

[Rainbowheart]

McBroom Tells the Truth, which is also one of the stories compiled in McBroom's Wonderful One-Acre Farm.

[Lorna]

That's it! Thank you so much!

[Rainbowheart]

Awesome, glad to help out!

[Kris]

Glad you found your book, Lorna.

For future reference, it's mandatory to add genre (e.g., children's book - I added this) and plot details to the topic header.