One Thousand Ways to Make a Living; or, An Encyclopædia of Plans to Make Money

The contents of this book have taken years to gather. They have been collected from every corner of this vast continent, and in some cases from Europe. The literary style, no doubt, from the reviewer’s point of view, will leave much to be desired. This, from the very start, was pointed out to the editor, Mr. H. M. Dunphy, who, however, determined that his object was to give a plain, unvarnished story of how to make a livelihood, and not to produce a book of a high literary character. His exact words every time were: “My position as editor of this work is simply to take the matter as handed in to me from time to time, see that nothing objectionable or prohibited by the States laws is allowed to be published. So far as the literary style is concerned, it would not be difficult for me, a lawyer of long practice, to fall into line with the orthodox. But I prefer to give the different information just as sent in to me, with certain exceptions I have mentioned.

“I did not arrive at this decision in haste, but after due deliberation. It was a choice of altering—and placing almost every experience I received—into literary phraseology, or allowing same to pass for publication in the language of the people. I choose the latter.” We think Mr. Dunphy is right. This book’s aim is the people rather than the classes; although we have no doubt it will appeal to many people of high education with slender means.

However, the language in every case is understandable by the people, so, while no excuse is offered, we think the reviewers and the higher educated public should be given an explanation.

Not only from a business point of view, but for the betterment of the conditions of the people, we desire this work to have a wide circulation. There is no need for people to call aloud about lack of employment if they will not consult this book.

One way to make a livelihood has been omitted in the edition of this work, and we feel sure he will excuse us for drawing attention to the fact. We want agents in every part of the country—and we don’t want those agents to handle the work without proper compensation.

Write us for terms.

The title of this book speaks for itself and should require no foreword from me. However, the able compiler and editor thinks otherwise, so I gladly fall in with his wishes.

I grasp the opportunity, because I think when doing so, I can benefit a great number of my fellow-countrymen and country-women, who to-day have the constant shadow of unemployment confronting them.

This is not a “get-rich-quick” book. It is a work to teach people how to get a livelihood. Of course, a great many people who commence in business through reading this book, and adopting one or more of the plans, will naturally push ahead and accumulate wealth. That, however, is not the object of the book. If it were, I certainly should not sponsor its sale. I maintain, as all decent citizens must believe, that every soul on this planet has a right to a decent existence. But it grieves me to see so many people, young and old, foot-sick, walking about looking for a “job,” which employers of labor are unable to offer. If these people would only look around and try to help themselves a little, the world would be a happier place in which to live.

There is work everywhere to be done, and this book tells how to go about it. It is a book that should be in every public reference library in the country, for the use of those who are unable to buy it.

The various plans for making a living are set forth in such detail that they can be understood by all. They do not cater only to the person who is out of employment, but they are also valuable to the man in business, who through competition may find he is not doing as well as he should. They are a great storehouse of general business knowledge. I, myself, am what people would call a “successful business man.” Yet the book is invaluable to me from the point of view of an investor. If I had had in my possession “Protection against Fraud and Wildcat Schemes” only three years ago—and acted upon it, I should have saved myself from entering into a bad speculation. This chapter is undoubtedly worth ten times the price asked for the whole book.

Out-of-door folk such as farmers and market gardeners, are firm believers in the theory of luck. I suppose it is because there is no more speculative occupation than the cultivation of the soil. Well, I don’t grudge them their theory, but I will say this: If they will only consult this book and act upon its plans, they will find their “luck” has been increased considerably.

But to come back to the unemployed; to the man or woman who is looking for work. It is these people I personally wish to benefit, and it is to them I would particularly address myself. Of the sincerity of their desire for work, there is no shadow of doubt; and since the only remedy for unemployment is employment, its discovery is the duty of man.

Well, here in this book we have it, of that I am convinced. Only co-operation must come from the unemployed. Let them select one of the plans at once and get to business. I’m sure they will succeed if only they put their heart and soul into it. After a little effort, if everything does not prosper at once, they must not lapse like Watts’ sluggard did: “’Tis the voice of the sluggard, I hear him complain. You’ve waked me too soon—I must slumber again.”

That won’t do. In this life, whatever it may be in the next, if we wish to live, we must work. There will be plenty of time for slumber later on.

And now, a final word. If there should be one person who reads this foreword and who does not believe every word I have written, I ask one favor: Let him individually select one of the plans set forth, and give it a fair trial. I give this advice, knowing full well that all I have written will be found to be true.

This book has my very best wishes for a large sale.

The following article, “The Way to Wealth” was published by one of the greatest of Americans, Benjamin Franklin, in his famous “Poor Richard’s Almanac,” in the year 1757. This article is especially strong, as it represents the observations of Benjamin Franklin after twenty-five years of publishing “Poor Richard’s Almanac.” There is, perhaps, no other of Franklin’s writing that won for him more reputation than the following:

“The Way to Wealth” is run in the same form as it was originally written. “The Way to Wealth” should be regarded as the constitution of this book and should be read and followed with each and every plan.

I have heard that nothing gives an author so great a pleasure as to find his work respectfully quoted by others. Just, then, how much I must have been gratified by an incident I am going to relate to you. I stopped my horse lately where a great number of people were collected at an auction of merchant goods. The hour of the sale not being come they were conversing on the badness of the times; and one of the company called to a plain, clean, old man, with white locks: “Pray, Father Abraham, what think you of the times? Will not these heavy taxes quite ruin the country? How shall we ever be able to pay them? What would you advise us to do?” Father Abraham stood up and replied: “If you would have my advice, I will give it to you in short; for a word to the wise is enough, as Poor Richard says.” They joined in desiring him to speak his mind, and gathering around him he proceeded as follows:

“Friends,” said he, “the taxes are indeed very heavy, and if those laid on by the government were the only ones we had to pay, we might more easily discharge them, but we have many others and much more grievous to some of us. We are taxed twice as much by our idleness, three times as much by our pride, and four times as much by our folly, and from these taxes the commissioners cannot ease or deliver us by allowing an abatement. However, let us hearken to good advice and something may be done for us: ‘God helps those who help themselves,’ as Poor Richard says.

“I. It would be thought a hard Government that would tax its people one-tenth part of their time to be employed in its service, but idleness taxes many of us much more; sloth by bringing on disease, absolutely shortens life. ‘Sloth, like rust, consumes faster than labor wear, while the used key is always bright,’ as Poor Richard says. ‘But dost thou love life? if so then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of,’ as Poor Richard says. How much more than is necessary do we spend in sleep, forgetting that the ‘sleeping fox catches no poultry,’ and that ‘there will be sleeping enough in the grave,’ as Poor Richard says.

“‘If time be of all things the most precious, wasting time must be,’ as Poor Richard says, ‘the greatest prodigality,’ since, as he elsewhere tells us, ‘lost time is never found again, and what we call time enough always proves little enough.’ Let us then be up and doing, and doing to the purpose; so by diligence shall we do more with less perplexity. ‘Sloth makes all things difficult, but industry all things easy; and he that rises late, must trot all day, and shall scarce overtake his business at night: while laziness travels so slowly that poverty soon overtakes him. Drive thy business, let not thy business drive thee; and early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise,’ as Poor Richard says.

“So what signifies wishing and hoping for better times? We may make these times better if we but bestir ourselves. ‘Industry need not wish, and he that lives upon hope will die fasting. There are no gains without pains; then help, hands, for I have no lands; or if I have they are smartly taxed. He that hath a trade hath an estate, and he that hath a calling hath an office of profit and honor,’ as Poor Richard says. But then the trade must be worked at and the calling followed, or neither the estate nor the office will enable us to pay our taxes. If we are industrious we shall never starve, for ‘at the working man’s house hunger looks in but dares not enter.’ Nor will the bailiff nor the constable enter, for industry pays debts, while despair increases them. What, though you have found no treasure, nor have any rich relations left you a legacy, ‘diligence is the mother of good luck, and God gives all things to industry. Then plow deep while sluggards sleep, and you shall have corn to sell and to keep.’ Work while it is called today, for you know not how much you may be hindered tomorrow. ‘One today is worth two tomorrows,’ as Poor Richard says; and further, ‘never leave that till tomorrow which you can do today.’ If you were a servant would you not be ashamed that the good master should catch you idle? Are you then your own master? Be ashamed to catch yourself idle when there is so much to be done for yourself, your family, your country and your king. Handle your tools without mittens; remember that ‘the cat in gloves catches no mice,’ as Poor Richard says. It is true that there is much to be done, and perhaps you are too weak-handed, but stick to it steadily and you will see great effects; for ‘constant dropping wears away stones; and by diligence and patience the mouse ate in two the cable; and little strokes fell great oaks.’

“Methinks I hear some of you say: ‘Must a man afford himself no leisure?’ I will tell thee, my friends, what Poor Richard says: ‘Employ thy time well, if thou meanest to gain leisure, and since thou art not sure of a minute, throw not away an hour.’ Leisure is time for doing something useful; thus, leisure the diligent man will obtain, but the lazy man never; for ‘a life of leisure and a life of laziness are two things. Many, without labor would live by their wits only, but they break for want of stock’; whereas industry gives comfort and plenty and respect. ‘Fly pleasures, and they will follow you. The diligent spinner has a large shift; and now I have a sheep and a cow, everybody bids me good morrow.’

“II. But with our industry we must likewise be steady, settled and careful, and oversee our own affairs with our own eyes, and not trust too much to others; for, as Poor Richard says:

“And again, ‘three removes are as bad as a fire.’ And again, ‘keep thy shop and thy shop will keep thee.’ And again, ‘if you would have your business done, go; if not, send.’ And again, ‘He that by the plow would thrive, himself must either hold or drive.’ And again, ‘the eye of the master will do more work than both his hands.’ And again, ‘want of care does us more damage than want of knowledge.’ And again, ‘not to oversee workmen is to leave them your purse open. Trusting too much to others is the ruin of many; for in the affairs of this world men are saved, not by faith, but by want of it.’ But a man’s own care is profitable; for, ‘if you would have a faithful servant, and one that you like, serve yourself. A little neglect may breed great mischief; for want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy; all for want of a little care about a horseshoe nail.’

“III. So much for industry, my friends, and attention to one’s own business; but to these we must add frugality, if we would make our industry more certainly successful. A man may, if he knows not how to save as he gets, keep his nose all his life to the grindstone and die not worth a groat at last. ‘A fat kitchen makes a lean will; and many estates are spent in the getting. Some women for tea forsook spinning and knitting. And men for punch, forsook hewing and splitting. If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting. The Indies have not made Spain rich, because her outgoes are greater than her incomes.’ Away then with your expensive follies, and you will not have so much cause to complain of hard times, heavy taxes and chargeable families; for, ‘Women and wine, game and deceit, make the wealth small and the wants great.’ And further, ‘What maintains one vice would bring up two children.’ You may think, perhaps, that a little tea, or punch now and then, diet a little more costly, clothes a little finer, and a little entertainment now and then, can be of no great matter; but, remember, ‘Many a little makes a mickle.’ Beware of little expenses. ‘A small leak will sink a great ship,’ as Poor Richard says; and again, ‘who dainties love, shall beggars prove;’ and moreover, ‘Fools make feasts, and wise men eat them.’ Here you are all got together at this sale of finery and nicks-nacks. You call them goods; but if you do not take care, they will prove evils to some of you. You expect they will be sold cheap, and perhaps it may be less than they cost; but if you have no occasions for them, they must be dear to you. Remember what Poor Richard says: ‘Buy what thou hast no need of, and ere long thou shalt sell thy necessaries.’ And again, ‘At a great pennyworth, pause awhile.’ He means, that perhaps the cheapness is apparent only, and not real; or the bargain, by straightening thee in thy business, may do thee more harm than good. For in another place he says, ‘Many have been ruined by buying good pennyworths.’ Again, ‘it is foolish to lay out money in a purchase of repentence,’ and yet this folly is practiced every day at auctions for want of minding the Almanac. Many a one for the sake of finery on the back, has gone with a hungry belly and half starved his family. ‘Silks and satins and scarlets and velvets put out the kitchen fire,’ as Poor Richard says.

“These are not the necessaries of life; they can scarcely be called the conveniences; and yet, only because they look pretty, how many want to have them! By these and other extravagances, the genteel are reduced to poverty and forced to borrow from those whom they formerly despised, but who, through industry and frugality, have maintained their standing; in which case it appears plainly that: ‘A plowman on his legs is higher than a gentleman on his knees,’ as Poor Richard says. Perhaps they had a small estate left them, which they knew not the getting of; they think, ‘it is day, and will never be night;’ that a little to be spent out of so much is not worth minding; but ‘always taking out of the meal-tub, and never putting in, soon comes to the bottom,’ as Poor Richard says; and then, ‘when the well is dry, they know the worth of water.’ But this they would have known before, had they taken his advice. ‘If you would know the value of money, go and try to borrow some;’ for ‘he that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing,’ as Poor Richard says. And indeed so does he that lends to such people, when he goes to get it again. Poor Dick further advises and says: ‘Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse; ere fancy you consult, first consult your purse.’ And again, ‘Pride is as loud a beggar as want, and a great deal more saucy.’ When you have bought one fine thing, you must buy ten more, that your appearance may be all of a piece; but poor Dick says, ‘It is easier to suppress the first desire than to satisfy all that follow it. And it is as truly folly for the poor to ape the rich, as for the frog to swell in order to equal the ox.’

“It is, however, a folly soon punished; for, as Poor Richard says, ‘Pride that dines on vanity, sups on contempt. Pride breakfasted with plenty, dined with poverty, and supped with infamy.’ And after all, of what use is this pride of appearance, for which so much is risked, so much suffered? It cannot promote health, nor ease pain; it makes no increase of merit in the person; it creates envy; it hastens misfortune.

“But what madness must it be to run in debt for these superfluities? We are offered by the terms of this sale six months’ credit; and that perhaps, has induced some of us to attend it, because we cannot spare the ready money, and hope now to be fine without it. But ah! think what you do when you run in debt; you give to another power over your liberty. If you cannot pay at the time, you will be ashamed to see your creditor; you will be in fear when you speak to him; you will make poor, pitiful, sneaking excuses, and by degrees come to lose your veracity and sink into base, downright lying; for ‘the second vice is lying, the first is running into debt,’ as Poor Richard says; and again, to the same purpose, ‘Lying rides upon Debts back;’ whereas a free-born Englishman ought not to be ashamed nor afraid to see or speak to any man living. But poverty often deprives a man of all spirit and virtue. ‘It is hard for an empty bag to stand upright.’

“What would you think of that prince or government who should issue an edict forbidding you to dress like a gentleman or gentlewoman, on pain of imprisonment and servitude? Would you not say that you were free and had the right to dress as you please; that such an edict would be a breach of your privileges, and such a government tyrannical? And yet you are about to put yourselves under such tyranny when you run in debt for such dress! Your creditor has authority, at his pleasure to deprive you of your liberty by confining you in gaol till you shall be able to pay him. When you have got your bargain, you may perhaps think little of payment; but, as Poor Richard says, ‘Creditors have better memories than debtors; creditors are a superstitious sect—great observers of set days and times.’ The days come around before you are aware, and the demand is made before you are prepared to satisfy it; or, if you bear your debt in mind, the term which at first seems so long will, as it lessens, seem extremely short. Time will seem to have added wings to his heels as well as to his shoulders. ‘Those have a short Lent who owe money to be paid at Easter.’ At present, perhaps, you may think yourselves in thriving circumstances, and that you can spare a little extravagance without injury, but, ‘for age and want save while you may—no morning sun lasts a whole day.’ Gain may be temporary and uncertain, but ever, while you live, expense is constant and certain; and ‘it is easier to build two chimneys than to keep one in fuel,’ as Poor Richard says; so, ‘rather go to bed supperless than rise in debt.’ ‘Get what you can, and what you get, hold; ’Tis the stone that will turn all your lead into gold.’ And when you have got the philosopher’s stone, surely you will no longer complain of bad times, or the difficulty of paying taxes.

“IV. This doctrine, my friends, is reason and wisdom, but, after all, do not depend too much on your own industry and frugality and prudence, though excellent things, for they all may be blasted, without the blessing of heaven; and therefore ask that blessing humbly, and be not uncharitable to those that at present seem to want it, but comfort and help them. Remember Job suffered and afterwards was prosperous.

“And now, to conclude, ‘Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other,’ as Poor Richard says, and ‘scarce in that, for it is true we may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.’ However, remember this, ‘They that will not be counseled cannot be helped,’ and further, that ‘if you will not hear reason, she will surely rap your knuckles,’ as Poor Richard says.”

Thus the Old Gentleman ended his harangue. The people heard it and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the opposite, just as if it had been a common sermon; for the auction opened and they began to buy extravagantly. I found the good man had thoroughly studied my Almanac, and digested all I had dropped on these topics during the course of twenty-five years. The frequent mention he made of me, must have tired anyone else, but my vanity was wonderfully delighted with it, though I was conscious that not a tenth part of the wisdom was my own which he ascribed to me, but rather the gleaning I had made of the sense of all ages and nations. However, I resolved to be the better for the echo of it, and though I had at first determined to buy stuff for a new coat, I went away, resolved to wear my old one a little longer. Reader, if thou wilt do the same, thy profit will be as great as mine. I am, as ever, thine, to serve thee.

Richard Saunders.

Thousands of men and women, who have lost their savings of years through the skillfully manipulated schemes of men who make a profession of robbing the unwary, might still be in comfortable circumstances had they been forewarned and forearmed against these people by the timely advice of some one who knew the crooks and turns by which they approach their victims with honeyed words and roseate pictures of fortunes quickly and easily made.

Women who have come into the possession of considerable sums of money, through inheritance, or as beneficiaries of husbands, fathers or brothers, are the special objects of exploitation. It is estimated that fully 90 per cent of the women thus provided for, lose the entire amounts within three to six months.

Many of these women succumb to flatteries accompanying offers of marriage, and willingly turn over every dollar that some loyal and devoted husband and father has made untold sacrifices to provide. Once in possession of the money, however, these villains usually disappear, to seek new fields and swindle other women by the same contemptible methods.

The greater part of the fraudulent schemes through which women with little savings are swindled, consists of plausible plans for making “profitable” investments. The writer of this chapter is reliably informed that in a certain city of over 100,000 inhabitants, more than sixty-five men engage in this business.

Women, however, are not the only victims, for men are also easily persuaded to part with their savings.

The man or woman known to have acquired any considerable sum of money, or even a few hundred dollars, is skillfully approached and asked to make an investment that is “sure to double your money in six months,” or guaranteed to pay 1,000 per cent dividends within a year, and every year thereafter, and the alluring picture thus held out is usually a veritable gem of literary and artistic skill.

Perhaps it is a choice piece of real estate, which the owner will sell at a “great sacrifice,” as his health requires a removal to a “milder climate.” Or it may be a block of mining or industrial stock, represented by a gorgeously engraved certificate, embellished with an elaborate seal and is advertised as a “real snap,” as only a few dollars of additional capital will start the enterprise to grinding out dividends. Whatever it is, there is a dazzling certainty about its future that is perfectly bewildering to the poor investor, who is made to see him- or herself soon very wealthy. And how easy it is to make an inexperienced woman—or man, either—believe that her or his few hundred dollars can so easily be turned into a channel that will bring a swift and sure reward.

The bait may be a first mortgage on a piece of farm land, “worth many times the small indebtedness it represents,” bears a high interest rate, and which, if foreclosed by the holder, would make him well to do.

Oftentimes these seductive offerings come through a friend, who offers—for a commission—to guide the faltering steps of the investor to certain wealth, as a personal favor.

The valuable farm land is found to be upon a mountain top or in the middle of a swamp, where no one could live or nothing can grow. It is worthless. But the mortgage, which showed some one had loaned a large sum of money on it? Oh, that was a mortgage made for the purpose. No real money was ever loaned on it.

And the stock in that wonderful mine, almost ready to pay dividends? Why, that consists principally of a set of location stakes, with perhaps a 10-foot hole in the ground, representing the first year’s assessment work on a very poor “prospect.” Anybody can see that it never will make a mine.

But the industrial enterprise—that surely must have a bright and promising future. Well, maybe, but as yet it has no equipment, no raw material, no franchise, no location—nothing but a certificate of incorporation, authorizing a few comparatively unknown men, with no capital whatsoever, to do a certain kind of manufacturing or other business—if they can raise a little money with which to make a start. At last, when the money is gone and it is too late, the poor investor begins to realize what has happened. His money is lost.

It is bad enough for the one who has been thus defrauded, but it is many times worse when little children are made to suffer. It may be that the widow should pay the penalty of her foolishness but the innocent, helpless little children are the ones who suffer most.

How to guard against the depredations of these people, and protect one’s self, is the object of this chapter. By following the plan here outlined, any man or woman can be assured of comparative safety. It has been successfully employed, and has saved thousands of dollars.

First of all, you must learn to do your own thinking, instead of becoming confused by the advice that is offered you, for no two of your friends or acquaintances will advise you alike. Use your own judgment, and carefully weigh every suggestion.

Suppose you are approached with a proposition to invest your money. No matter how attractive the prospect may look, adopt this as a slogan: “Investigate before investing,” and do this thoroughly, because the “snap” will not be gone if you delay a little while. Make sure that your investigation is as complete as possible. This will not only protect you from fraudulent and wild-cat schemes but will enable you to find a really meritorious proposition. It may cost you from $25 to $50 as expense for investigation purposes, but this is far better than losing $5,000 to $10,000. Make it a rule to test all propositions on which you are solicited—to never act until you have full information before you. When approached by the person desiring you to invest tell him before going into a discussion as to the investment you wish to be informed about his company. Copy all the following questions and submit them to him, requesting that each question be carefully answered, and that after the answers are made they shall be signed by the corporation, individual, company or partnership. If his proposition is all right, and he believes in it, he will gladly co-operate; but if he is doubtful whether or not it will stand the test, he will endeavor to persuade you not to put the company to the trouble of answering so many unnecessary questions. Adhere to your resolution to have the information first. These questions alone will eliminate nine-tenths of the fraudulent investments and all weak propositions.

 1. Give full name of corporation, partnership or association.

 2. If partnership, has your firm name been properly filed of record?

 3. If corporation, when were you incorporated?

 4. Have you paid your last annual license fee to the state?

 5. What is your capitalization?

 6. In how many shares is the company divided?

 7. Is the stock assessable or non-assessable?

 8. Do you have common or preferred stock?

 9. If you have common or preferred stock, how much common and how much preferred stock have you?

10. State the object of the company in issuing these two kinds of stock.

11. What advantage has the preferred over the common?

12. What is the preferred stock selling for? Also the common? How much have you sold to date of each?

13. What are the names of the present stockholders and their addresses and how much cash have they paid for the stock they hold?

14. If they have not paid cash—what did they give for their stock?

15. Has any stock or interest in the company been given for the promotion of the company? If so, how much or what interest?

16. Give the names, addresses and businesses, also amount of stock held by each of the officers, trustees or directors of said corporation or company, also did they pay cash for their stock—if so, how much? If service was rendered for stock, what was the service?

17. Is the stock of the company paid for in full? If so, state how or in what manner it was paid for.

18. When and where do you hold your annual meetings?

19. Do your trustees meet regularly and transact their business and have they done so from the inception of the corporation?

20. Have you a list of articles of incorporation and by-laws printed? If so, please furnish me with a copy of them.

21. Please state where I can see the minutes of your meeting.

22. Will you allow my attorney to go over the minutes of your meetings?

23. Have you real estate? If you answer yes, set forth the legal descriptions of all the real estate now owned by you, whether in this state or in other states.

24. Is the above described property free and clear of all incumbrances?

25. If you answer no, state in detail the kind of incumbrance, amount, and date it is due.

26. Please state the present value of each piece of property and state whether or not it is improved.

27. If you answer that the land is improved, state clearly how and in what manner it is improved and set forth clearly what the improvements are on said land.

28. What income has said lands and what is the gross expense of the property?

29. What net profit is made from land each year by your company?

30. What other assets has the company? And if there are other assets, where are they kept? Please set forth these assets in full, their present value and whether or not they are free and clear of all incumbrances.

31. What bank or trust company do you bank with? How long have you banked with it.

32. How much have you now on hand with said bank or trust company?

33. Please give the name and address of your lawyer and how long he has represented you.

34. What salaries are paid to officers of the company?

35. What are the total debts of the company at the present time? Please state to whom they are due and how long they have been owing.

36. Are there any judgments now on record or in existence against your company?

37. Are there any lawsuits now pending? If you answer yes, please give case number, name and address of plaintiff’s attorney and amount involved.

38. Is there any contemplated suit against the company which you have any knowledge of? If you answer yes, state the facts concerning it.

39. Please furnish me with a detailed statement of the affairs of the company. Showing the present income and expense and net profit or loss made to date.

40. Have you as yet paid dividends on your stock?

41. Please furnish me with a complete statement in writing as to what your company plans to do this year and the immediate future and what profits are reasonably possible from such operations.

42. If I invest $——, please state to what use my money will be put.

43. If it is to be used for a certain purpose, state how much of my money will go to the company and how much will go out on commissions.

44. Will the money I have subscribed be sufficient or will other money be necessary for the company successfully to carry out its plans? If you answer no, how much more will be necessary?

In the event of the above list of questions being answered in full, inform the salesman that you will familiarize yourself with the report and will later call upon him to go over the matter.

First look into the reputation of the men connected with the company. Also the reputation of the trustees and officers. Also obtain the financial standing of the large stockholders. This can be done in cities of over 50,000 by consulting reporting companies. See some prominent merchant and find out the best reporting company in the city. Call or write the reporting company and ascertain from them whether the above parties are good pay and whether they are the kind of men that are successful in carrying out plans. This report is important; it will cost you so much per name but it is well worth the fee to you. If the majority of these men are unknown—or have a poor reputation and are bad pay—it would be unnecessary to go further in your investigations as your chances would be very poor in such a company. Oftentimes this investigation alone will show the promotors have suits pending against them and even judgments on record.

However, if these investigations show the above-referred-to men O. K., submit the signed report to a banker not named as the company banker and obtain as complete a report as possible in writing from the bank and pay for the trouble; if the bank will not give a written report obtain a verbal report and write it down later yourself. If their advice is for or against the investment, obtain their reasons, and if none is given do not give it any thought.

Now see a lawyer and have him give you an exhaustive written report on your signed report, and pay him for it. Remember that it is far better to pay $25 to $50 and know where your investment is to go, than take a chance of losing all you possess. These last two reports will be very valuable to you. I suggest that they be put in writing so that when you are alone in your home you will be able to consider more carefully their report and advice.

Now make a copy of the real property and write the assessors of the county in which the land lies for a report concerning this land and its improvements. This information will be furnished you free of charge. If it be farm property, they can inform you quite well the kind of land and its value and also give you what improvements, if any, are on the land and their nature. And the same is true of city property. While the assessor’s estimate may be a little below the real value of the land it is far better to have the land at too conservative a figure than an excessive figure.

In the event that the company is in possession of mortgages, have a detailed report from the county assessor’s office as to the mortgaged property. This will give you the character of the mortgage security.

The writer in the last two years has saved more than $5,000 to his clients by checking up the property used as a security for the mortgage.

In one case my client requested me to prepare a deed and have it ready for him at three o’clock, the time of request being about 1:30 P. M., that he had decided to accept a $1,500 mortgage. The mortgage ran for three years—two years having elapsed—and the interest had been paid to date. He permitted me, by way of caution, to call the county assessor’s office, some hundred miles away, by long distance, which revealed that the land securing the mortgage was above the snow line up in a mountain region and worthless.

Armed with the above information you are prepared to talk and question the salesman. If he is sincere he will endeavor to answer fully your questions. After you talk with the salesman do not give your answer at once but inform him that you will give him your final answer in two or three days.

With the various reports before you—and the salesman’s answers to your questions which you should jot down—as judge of your own affairs decide your course of action. If your decision is to invest your money you will be an asset to the company as you will be familiar with its workings. Oftentimes ignorant investors in a company will destroy a good proposition.

If your decision is favorable, put away the signed report of the company, along with all the data, you have secured, and in case the future develops that the facts stated in the company’s report is untrue, you can lay the representation made, before an attorney and your case will be clear.

ONE THOUSAND WAYS TO MAKE A LIVING

In presenting these one thousand tried and tested plans for making a living, the author hopes and believes that he will be the means of helping many people to better methods of earning money; by pointing out to them the occupations to which they are better adapted, and in which their chances of success may be greatly increased.

Especially will the opportunities thus presented be welcomed by the families of those who have sacrificed their lives for their country, and those who return from the war wounded, or otherwise incapacitated from following their former callings.

They will find in this book many valuable suggestions for the taking up of other lines of work, and profiting by the experiences of those who have successfully worked the various plans herein set forth.

It should be borne in mind, however, that those adopting any of the plans herein outlined must combine in the execution of the same the elementary essentials of earnestness, honesty and perseverance, coupled with a strong will power and a determination to win success. Let them make this their one definite aim, and they will find that what others have done, they can do, and thereby bring to themselves and their families that much desired end—prosperity and happiness.

It was the clever idea of a woman that prompted her to dig ferns out of the woods of her native state, and put them in attractive raffia baskets woven by herself. The florists of her neighboring city gladly pay good prices for all of these she can bring in. In the winter she fills these same baskets with holly, attaches a bow of red ribbon to the side of each basket, and sells them as fast as she can turn them out. Other plants can be used to the same advantage in other localities.

A young girl who possessed a pleasing personality, but had no capital, created a profitable profession for herself by announcing to the young mothers of her neighborhood that she would take charge of children’s parties at the low price of two dollars for an afternoon. She arranged the menu and planned the entertainment for the youngsters, and did it so well that she soon had all the orders she could fill.

From this small beginning, she enlarged her activities by planning parties for grown people as well, at a much higher remuneration, and she is now receiving orders for conducting all kinds of entertainment, and it pays her well.

One of the teachers of a Seattle school was obliged by ill-health temporarily to suspend teaching, and, for outdoor exercise, engaged to run an auto carrying children from a distance to and from the school. She soon found this work so healthful and pleasant that she bought a machine, carried passengers for a while at a good profit, and finally, in partnership with her brother, an expert mechanic, went into the automobile business as a regular occupation.

Plan No. 3. A School Teacher’s Way

She makes considerable money by giving lessons to women in the management of a car.

Just after the panic of 1893, when jobs were not to be had, an advertising man made a contract with a Denver daily newspaper to conduct a column of small reading notices, on a commission of forty per cent. He went among the small merchants who were not advertising in the display columns, and found they were willing to spend a little money each month in that sort of publicity, though not able to advertise extensively.

He wrote attractive items for each one, and had them set up in the form of news matter. By keeping his column free from display lines and other indications of advertising, he soon built up a very handsome column, which many merchants were willing to patronize, as the cost was small and the results extremely satisfactory.

He also wrote special articles that looked and read exactly like news items, and even secured columns of interviews, at regular rates, with leading business men concerning general trade conditions, thereby aiding in restoring public confidence following that panicky period. His commissions during that year of hard times averaged forty dollars per week, and he had made many thousands of dollars for the paper besides.

This plan is not so easy to work as it was then, as all paid articles must now be followed by the word “adv,” meaning advertisement; and yet, even with that handicap, reading notices are still regarded by many people as more effective than display advertisements, and the man who has a talent for writing that class of matter can still make good money by doing so.

Here is the case of a woman who, though having only a few hundred dollars, had a lot of foresight and energy, and these qualities enabled her to originate a plan that paid.

Thousands of vacant lots in her city were covered with weeds that were an eyesore to their respective neighborhoods, and detracted from their appearance when shown to prospective purchasers. She went to the agents for these lots, made contracts with them under which she was to keep them clean of weeds the entire season for $3 per one hundred feet frontage, bought a mowing machine with her $100, and went to work. She also contracted to mow the lawns of a large number of people, hiring thirty men at $1.50 per day to do the work, and charging $2 per day for the work done by each man. The profits of her first month’s work paid for her mowers and her advertising, but after that all the profit was hers. The summer’s work, after paying all expenses, including her own board and clothes, netted her $1,200. The next season she contracted to keep the weeds from city lots that aggregated 2,000 acres, at $3 per one hundred feet frontage, plowed those lots all up, sowed them in wheat, kept fifty men employed, mowed more lawns, cut and threshed her wheat, and found she had made $11,000, with good prospects of making a great deal more the next year.

And all she had to start on was a few hundred dollars and a plan.

No capital, and but little space, is required for growing mint on a profitable scale. One woman, who is making and saving money for the education of her children, goes at it in a very methodical manner. She lays out her ground in beds with walks between, and each variety is given a separate bed. Each bed has a border of sage or other herb plants that find a ready sale. The soil should be loose and fine, and well fertilized, to obtain the best results. She not only supplies customers in her nearest town, but, as her business increases, is shipping a great deal of it to the city markets, where it is in constant demand from hotels, cafes, druggists, candy makers, etc. What she does not sell, she utilizes at home in the making of candy, delicious sweets and aromatic vinegars. Crystallized and candied mint leaves, mint sprays, mint vinegar and other products of this herb are much sought after, and to the resourceful person who has a taste for this class of work there is a mint of money in mint.

The woman who has a taste for literary or club work can turn many an honest penny by starting a small clipping bureau of her own.

One lady who made a success of this, both socially and financially, procured some large envelopes, and put all the clippings she made from magazines, newspapers, etc., on any one subject, into one envelope, duly labeled, until she had accumulated an extensive variety. Realizing that material for papers to be read at the meetings of women’s clubs are always eagerly sought for, she specialized on those subjects that engrossed the attention of club women, particularly biographical sketches, entertainments, plans for special holidays, and table decorations, place cards, games, amusements, etc. Then she let it be known that for a small fee, she would furnish the material for properly entertaining the club, and found her clippings in constant demand.

This is a good plan, that can be carried out with considerable profit, and one that requires no capital to start or operate it.

Here is how a lady who knew her business made a lot of pin money from what she called her “One-Cow Dairy.” There were three in the family and their available capital consisted of an excellent cow, with an average butter production of one pound per day the year round, besides supplying the family with plenty of milk and cream. They also had a small cream separator, which cost considerable to begin with, but more than paid for itself, even with the output of a single cow, as it insured clean milk, more and better cream, and required less work as well as but little space.

For a butter worker, they had a ten-gallon V-shaped barrel churn, also a four-gallon stone jar for holding the cream, and a good pair of balance scales. Her husband built a dairy, 8x12 feet, with cemented floor, on the shady side of the house, covering it with vines, thus assuring a cool place always. She bought an iceless cooler, made entirely of galvanized iron, which is placed outside for holding the cream, and in which, the night before churning, she puts two pails of water, to preserve an even temperature. She sells her butter the year around, to regular customers, at forty cents per pound, and has demands for more than she can produce.

When the cow is about to go dry, she puts away, in brine, strong enough to float an egg, all the butter the family will need for that period, and having tied the pieces of butter up in muslin thoroughly sterilized, it keeps as fresh and sweet as the day it was made.

The total cost of establishing her dairy, exclusive of the separator, was $26.25, and with the present equipment she is ready to add one or two more cows to her dairy, whenever she finds those that are as good as the one she already has. She will thus be at but little additional expense, while greatly increasing her revenue.

Many good business men write very poor business letters, and anyone having a taste and a talent for this class of work can make the writing of such letters a permanent and profitable profession. A former newspaper man in a western city took it up, and found in it a much larger income than even the liberal salary he had formerly received.

Living in a town of about 50,000 inhabitants, and having a rather extensive acquaintance, he called upon a number of the leading merchants and offered to come at a certain hour each day and dictate the answers to all letters received from out-of-town customers. As most of these firms did a large mail order business, and the heads of the concerns in many cases lacked either the time or the ability to give the correspondence the attention it deserved, they were glad to turn it over to a man who could handle it in a thorough manner.

This man found that he could easily dictate one hundred or more letters per day, among the various firms engaging his services, and could well afford to do the work for five cents per letter, thus making at least thirty dollars per week, with but little effort. He also prepared form letters for many of his patrons, for which he charged from five to ten dollars each, and thus increased his income to over fifty dollars per week. It is readily seen, therefore, that this is not only a very genteel profession for anyone adapted to it, but one that also pays well, besides being a good thing for the merchants who have their letters written by someone who knows how.

An Illinois woman tells an interesting story of how she helped her husband rise from a $20-a-week clerk to proprietor of a fine office business netting them $5000 a year, but she furnished the plan.

Both were employed in an advertising agency, and patronized a nearby delicatessen store kept by a German woman who prepared palatable foods, but never had used any form of publicity concerning them.

The lady with the idea was fond of the home-baked beans and the salads sold at this place, but had no means of knowing on what days they were to be had. So, instead of asking the German lady what days she had these on sale, she suggested the idea of furnishing her with attractive window-cards and appropriate decorations showing each day’s specialties in a way that drew favorable attention—and an increased volume of trade. Later she asked her patron to allow her to write and place in the local papers notices regarding her specialties, and this greatly added to the incomes of all concerned. But it was the results of those display cards in the window, “Today is Baked-Bean Day,” and “If You Like Potato Salad, You’ll Like Ours,” that turned the trick and got things going.

Soon after this, the husband and wife joined forces and made a “drive” for other lines of business, with the result that in six years they were occupying a handsome four-room suite of offices, with two large national advertisers and twenty-seven smaller ones for a clientele, were employing a rather extensive corps of assistants, and clearing up $5,000 per year net profits.

It was a woman’s plan that made this a success.

From a position as a small-salaried clerk in a Missouri wholesale dry-goods store to the ownership of a good-paying store of their own, is told by a wife, who first conceived the idea of the enterprise.

Needing some ginghams for her little girls’ school dresses, she learned that gingham stocks in all the retail stores were extremely limited, the clerks telling her that the firms purchased cheap wash goods only once a year, and they were practically out.

On her way home, she passed an attractive storeroom in a good location, and suddenly she formulated a plan by which she and her husband would start something new—A GINGHAM STORE!

She talked the matter over with her husband that night, and he was very favorably impressed with the idea. The firm by which he was employed also thought it would be a splendid thing and offered him very liberal terms on whatever purchases of stock he might desire from them. What money they had they invested in stocks, improvements, rent, advertising, etc., the wife selecting every piece of gingham that went into the store, putting herself in the place of the woman who would want to buy ginghams for any purpose.

A handsome electric sign announced “The Gingham Shop”; as did the lettering on the windows, the bill-boards and in the street cars, and ads. in all the papers told the story of “The Gingham Shop.” They advertised a dolly’s gingham apron free to every little girl who came to their opening accompanied by her mother. That brought the mothers, and they kept coming, more and more of them every day, for they managed to keep the gingham idea before all the people all the time, in a thousand different ways, until every one who thought of ginghams at all thought of “The Gingham Shop.” Their store became the fad, so that they had practically all the gingham trade of the town and for many miles around. They sold strictly for cash, and thereby eliminated bookkeeping, collecting and bad debts.

Noticing a very pretty doll’s crocheted sack in a store, and hearing the proprietor say he feared he could get no more like it, as the lady who made those things for him had not been in the store for some time, a young lady who had ideas of her own decided to take up the work herself.

She bought some worsted, went home and proceeded to make a number of dolls’ sacks, hoods, capes, booties, caps, slippers, muffs, etc., put some baby ribbon on most of them, and, after figuring up the cost, put a price on each article and returned to the store. The proprietor was so well pleased that he gave her a large order, as did also several others in that and nearby towns. Then she learned where she could buy the worsted and ribbon at wholesale prices, and until after the holidays her spare time was all spent in crocheting dainty things for dolly, when she found she had made a profit of nearly $100 in odd moments. Later she began taking orders for crocheted scarfs, shawls, fascinators, etc., and made it a regular business for it continued to pay well. And it required very little time, capital or labor to make it a success.

Making and selling ready-to-wear aprons is the means a woman may employ to earn a good many extra dollars, without interfering very much with her regular household duties. She can turn her parlor into a work- and sales-room, where she can exhibit every description of aprons, in sizes and patterns, and offer them at attractive prices. A woman we know, now has a large list of regular patrons and has found it necessary to employ help in doing her housework, so that she can devote the larger portion of her time to this new enterprise.

Making canvas gloves would not seem to be a very good way to earn money, but a woman who lived near a small mining town, where the demand for canvas gloves was much greater than the supply, found she could live very comfortably on it.

She had a sewing machine, and having ripped an old pair of gloves open to get the pattern, found that it was merely a matter of sewing seams on the machine, so she turned them out very rapidly, and earned many dollars by doing so.

One need not live in a mining town to find a demand for canvas gloves, for they are used by thousands of other people—railroad men, mechanics, teamsters, lumber workers, gardeners—indeed, nearly everybody who works needs them, so why should not other women of slender means also improve this humble but better-than-nothing means of making a living?

A college girl with a limited allowance had just enough spare cash to pay for a new blue-gray tailor-made suit, but not enough more to pay for a pair of spats to match, which the tailor offered to make for $2. However, she had a small piece of the goods left over when the suit was finished, and by ripping an old pair of spats to note the pattern, she proceeded to make a pair of new ones herself; silk-lined, but with the old buttons. They were so well made, and presented so neat an appearance, that all the other girls in the college implored her to make spats to match their suits. She did so and earned sufficient to pay her college expenses.

It was the sound of children’s voices raised in shouts of glee, as they reveled in the delights of a six-passenger, hand-propelled merry-go-round in the back yard of a friend, that gave to a young man, temporarily out of a position, an idea which he promptly enlarged to the dignity of a community affair, and imparted a world of pleasure to hundreds of children, while adding very largely to his own bank account.

The small merry-go-round in the private grounds of his friend was operated upon strictly business principles by the hopeful scions of the household, and every other youthful pleasure seeker was obliged to contribute some toy or other article of small value in return for the privilege of a few dizzy whirls in the small-sized machine, while being regaled with music from a miniature organ that played certain lively tunes while the machine was in motion. The “admission fee” was a book, pencil, knife, rubber ball, or anything that represented value to the young proprietors, but it had to be something, and everybody was happy.

The young man who was a witness of the performance began at once to enlarge upon the idea of entertaining children for a merely nominal sum, but which in the aggregate would amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars; and, having a little available capital, he rented a vacant corner containing several lots, in a central location, and began systematically to equip it. He bought a 12-seated merry-go-round, three swings, four see-saws, three “Irish Mails”, two tricycles, two velocipedes, and $100 worth of awnings to cover the entire scene of gaiety, and protect the little guests from both sunshine and rain.

He constructed a sand pit, installed rag-doll games, etc., and built a board walk around it all for the racing of the tricycles, velocipedes and “Irish Mails.”

He hired a carpenter to build a fence around the property, with an arch over the entrance for the name of the play-ground, and considered a few booths for the sale of candy, soda water and other soft drinks. His entire expense, including advertising and incidentals, was $382, and he placed the price of admission, which entitled the visitor to all the attractions of the place at five cents.

From the day the gates were opened the place was filled with children, for parents were glad to have their little ones participate in the clean and healthful entertainment it afforded. Within the first three months the enterprising proprietor had taken in enough to pay all the expense of establishing and conducting the play-ground, and noted that he had earned a net profit of $210 besides. When winter came, he turned the place into a skating rink, and made a profit several times larger than it had brought as a summer play-ground for children.

The daily drudgery of cooking is a nightmare; the horror and the despair of the ordinary housewife. And no wonder; for no other member of the family would ever stand for it. Therefore, any reasonable and economical plan that will free the wife and mother from this thraldom, and at the same time assure equally satisfactory service in the matter of food, at possibly less cost, is sure of a cordial welcome.

The co-operative kitchen not only solves this vexed problem for the housewife in general, but at the same time it affords a comfortable living to the two or three or half-dozen women who have the energy to give it a start in almost any community, and the culinary skill to keep it going good after it is started.

If women have sufficient capital to establish such a business in the right way, so much the better, but if they have not, they may incorporate for that purpose, and thus secure the necessary equipment for making it a going concern.

As a private enterprise it would produce a handsome and permanent income for its originators, while as an incorporated concern it would greatly reduce the household expenses of its members.

What is known as the Montclair plan provides for the serving of hot meals at any time desired, in the homes of the patrons or members, and according to the menu sent in by each individual in each family. Thermos bottles for the liquids, and Swedish containers for the meats, solve the problem of keeping food either hot or cold for an indefinite period, and the plan, if properly worked, is certain to grow in popular favor wherever it is tried. There’s money in it for somebody. During the war England learned its practicability and great advantage.

To start a tea room, and start it right, will require an amount of capital ranging all the way from $500 to $1,000, according to the locality and the amount of competition, either of other tea rooms, or of the service offered by various larger enterprises that use this as a side line.

A lady in Denver gives her experience in the following condensed statement:

She was fortunate in securing a location where the advent of a tea room was joyously hailed as a much desired innovation, and where the conditions obviated the necessity for an extensive publicity campaign, so that her little capital of $500 was sufficient to launch the enterprise in fairly good shape.

She started with a limited menu, fully intending to extend it as she gained experience and patronage. To begin with, she served tea, coffee, chocolate, broths, toasts, muffins, sandwiches, salads, fresh eggs, cake, cold meats, together with simple desserts, such as rice pudding, tarts, baked apples and stewed prunes, with whipped cream. She made it a special point to see that every item was of the best quality, properly prepared, and served with delicacy and tact, while cleanliness pervaded every nook and corner of her dainty little establishment. At the same time she guarded zealously against waste, and showed excellent judgment in providing just the exact amount of each material that could be utilized to advantage. She hired a neat, pretty and attractively attired maid as waitress, who was tactful in her demeanor towards guests. The prompt, courteous and refined service of this maid proved a valuable asset, as she soon became a general favorite with the patrons of the place, through her earnest endeavor to please.

The taking and filling of large orders for outside affairs—such as sandwiches, salads, etc., as well as the renting of her china, table silver and other accessories, also proved a source of considerable revenue. Sometimes the tea-room itself would be rented out for social functions, such as card parties, church and lodge affairs or wedding feasts. On such occasions the proprietress did practically all of the catering, and was well paid for her services and accommodations.

During the first year she kept on display and for sale a line of antiques, art novelties, embroideries, confectionary, fine stationery, and other articles that commanded a ready sale, and thereby added considerably to her income during that trying period of making a beginning. As her regular patronage increased, however, she gradually discarded these side-lines, and concentrated all her efforts upon steadily and permanently increasing the scope of her trade.

She showed decided originality and talent in the preparation of her menu cards, and gave them an artistic effect which was at once striking and vastly different from the ordinary. Her prices, while extremely reasonable, afforded a satisfactory profit on every item, and at the end of the first year she had not only paid all expenses, but had a comfortable balance left over with which to begin the second year on a much more extensive scale.

Many men lose their positions, from one cause or another, but it isn’t every one of them who has a resourceful, skilful and determined wife to help him out. Here is one who had:

This man who had been a salesman was “let out” because his firm could no longer manufacture the goods he had been selling, and, as times were hard, another position could not be obtained. The family had never saved anything, and, their grocer changing suddenly to the cash system, left them with only half a dozen potatoes, a few pounds of flour, half a pound of lard, a cup of sugar, a little salt—and three hungry boys, to say nothing of the parents.

It was then that the plucky wife and mother rose to the occasion and saved the day. But it required a lot of grit and hard work. She peeled, sliced and boiled three of the six precious potatoes, adding water as the boiling went on. Then she put into a pan three tablespoonfuls of flour, one of sugar, and one of salt, scalding them with the hot water in which the potatoes had been boiled, and adding two quarts of cold water, making the mixture lukewarm.

Five cents from the small hoard of the family bought yeast one-half of which was saved for the next time, after moistening it with water and pouring it into the mixture. Covering the pan tightly, she set it aside until morning while the family went supperless to bed.

The hustling little woman was up at five o’clock the next morning and put twelve pounds of flour into a large pan, mixed in two heaping tablespoonfuls of lard, two of sugar and two of salt, then added the yeast mixture, which made an ordinary bread dough, and set it in a warm place to rise.

At eight a. m. she molded the dough into rolls, twelve rolls to each pound, two and one-half inches across and pressed down to an inch in thickness. These she put into a greased pan, not allowing them to quite touch each other, as they sell better when baked separately. By ten o’clock her eldest boy, who rode a wheel, had been excused from school, came home to do the selling. With five dozen light brown rolls in a basket, he started out to sell them at 10 cents a dozen.

In less than half an hour he was back for three dozen more, and returned in a short time with an order for the remainder, which the mother refused to accept, as she was keeping those for her own hungry family.

Plan No. 19. God helps those who help themselves

The next day she went through with the same program, except on a larger scale, and still was unable to supply the demand for her beautifully browned hot rolls that were ready for delivery just before meal time, and looked so tempting.

Her boy being out of school on Saturday, she mixed two pans of cake dough, one white and one brown, and spread them into a large bread pan so as to marble brown and white, and making a cake one and one-half inches thick, when baked.

Iced thinly, in plain white, and cut into two and one-half-inch squares, these sold readily for 20 cents a dozen, and were delicious. At the end of four days the little woman had made $10, and Monday morning her husband, still out of a position, offered to do the selling and delivering—greatly to her delight and the profit of both—for the sales increased until they had more demands for their products than they could supply.

She also began to bake delicious bread and pies, as well as rolls and cakes, and sold every article at a good price, that meant a handsome profit. This was the beginning of a successful bakery business for this family.

The teacher who finds the sharpening of pencils for her pupils a large and disagreeable part of her daily duties, will welcome this plan as a perfect godsend: that the plan, when properly operated by a live man, is a money-maker, is demonstrated by the fact that a Chicago man made big profits out of it.

He bought a large number of that botanical wonder known as the Resurrection Plant, or Anasta-tica, which can be obtained at a cost of 2 cents each, or less, when ordered in large quantities, and even when retailed at as low a price as 10 cents each, yield an enormous profit. To those not familiar with this remarkable plant, it may be well to explain that, altho it stays green while kept in water changed often enough to prevent it becoming stagnant or rancid, when taken out of the water it dries and curls up and goes to sleep, remaining in this state for years, and re-awakening or being “resurrected” immediately upon being placed in water again, when it will open up and commence to grow in half an hour or less. When tired of seeing it grow, you simply take it out of the water, let it “go to sleep” again, and re-awaken or resurrect it at any time you desire. Many people would gladly pay several dollars for a simple plant, but in the operation of this plan you can well afford to sell them at 10 cents each, as you realize a profit of 8 cents apiece, and one in every schoolroom in the land will prove a constant source of delight, as well as of educational value.

This is the way the Chicago man works the plan to the pleasure of teachers and pupils, and his own profit of something like $300 per week: he not only buys thousands of these Resurrection Plants, at, say, 2 cents each, but also a number of the best pencil sharpening machines, which cost him about 90 cents each. He consigns one of these machines and thirty of the Resurrection Plants to each teacher in a public school and requests her to announce that the pencil sharpener will belong to that particular room, for the full use of all of them, if each pupil will take home one of the plants and bring 10 cents back to her the next morning, explaining to them the peculiar characteristics of the plant. Of course, every child gladly performs this small service, and the teacher then remits to the consigner, the $3.00 collected, and he has exactly doubled his money, as both the pencil sharpener and the thirty plants cost him but $1.50. If there are over thirty pupils in the room, that simply means more plants and more profits, for with the second consignment of thirty plants it is not necessary to send the pencil sharpener, and the Chicago man’s profit on that transaction is therefore $2.40 instead of $1.50.

As there are many thousands of public schools in this country, and nearly all of them have a number of rooms, anyone who is good at figures can easily make a reasonable calculation as to the probable profits.

“The touch of a woman’s hand” is what turned eight and one-half acres of unattractive, idle land on the shores of Long Island Sound into a productive little farm that is now netting it’s owner a profit of over $5,000 a year! Don’t believe it? Listen!

To be sure, she had a few hundred dollars—just enough to buy it and improve it with a cheap little cottage, a small barn and some poultry sheds, and plant it to fruit trees, besides every sort of vegetable that enjoyed the greatest demand. She now has an orchard containing the best varieties of fruit trees, 1,000 apple, 500 peach, 100 pear, 100 quince, 100 cherry—besides one-fourth acre in grapes, one-half acre in raspberries, blackberries, etc., and still has plenty of room left for vegetables, planting them between the rows of fruit trees, thus affording ample cultivation for all. She employs one man regularly at $40 per month, and hires extra help in the busy seasons of the year.

To supply the immediate demand for the less common garden products she grew okra, French finochio, endive, chicory, etc., getting many ideas from seed catalogues, Government publications that are sent for the postage. She plants large quantities of all vegetables, and cultivates every foot of the ground, fertilizers are freely used, and crops changed from year to year. She finds early asparagus and peaches the most profitable of all the things she raises, and while her first garden was growing she wrote letters to her friends in the city, asking them if they would not like a few samples of her fresh vegetables. They did and said so, and each one became a regular customer. As she produced more, she kept increasing her list of patrons by the same means, and to these she ships her products in “knock-down” crates that cost her 2¹⁄₂ cents each, and, unless otherwise ordered, she fills these crates half with fruit and half with vegetables. The crates each hold six great basketfuls of produce, and cost the customer $1.50, besides 25 cents each for expressage.

By picking her products early in the morning, she has them delivered in the city for dinner, while they are fresh and much preferred to those bought at corner groceries. Having her own horse and wagon, the cost and labor involved in shipping is very small, and 500 crates easily net her $750.

Realizing from her own experience, the longing of city women for a quiet, rural spot in which to spend the week-ends, she informed a limited number of her lady friends in town that for $1.50 per day she would give them room, board and transportation, to and from the station, and so many of them gladly accepted her invitation that the capacity of her small cottage was soon taxed to the utmost. But she will not take regular boarders, and thus has the greater portion of her time to herself, to be devoted to such activities as best suit her. Those women who are given the privilege of spending the week-end on the farm not only cheerfully pay the moderate charges, but many of them render valuable assistance by working in her garden, as a pleasant means of relaxation and an agreeable change from the exacting requirements of city life.

The little 8¹⁄₂ acre farm wasn’t much to look at when she first took it over, but she has made it a veritable bower of beauty, a haven of rest, and a revenue producer to the extent of $5,000 a year, all set down in the column marked “net profits.”

Politics is always an interesting subject, particularly to politicians, whether of large or small calibre, and the man who can formulate a plan by which to “aid the party,” and at the same time insure an income for himself has certainly “picked a winner.” We know of a man who did this, most successfully, and this is the way he did it:

His city, like all others, had political organizations of varying degrees of efficiency and influence, and desiring to assist in placing his own political party in the lead, while devising a good revenue from his activities at the same time, he hit upon the plan of a manual giving a resume of the main issues of the campaign, his party’s position regarding the same, the various ward and precinct boundaries, the names and addresses of all precinct committeemen, as well as those of the chairman and secretary of the central committee, the location of each polling place, dates of registration, of primaries and general election, and data of every character which would be interesting to voters.

Instead of leaving it to the secretary to compile and issue this manual, and having it printed and distributed at the expense of the committee, this man sought and obtained the authority of the committee for the publication of the same without cost to them, had them indorse it as the official publication, and proceeded to have it issued in attractive form. Most of the candidates for office on his party ticket were glad to give him half tone portraits of themselves, with a declaration of the principles for which they stood and pay him from $25 to $50 each for the publicity thus obtained. Besides, practically all the merchants belonging to that particular party also gave him large advertisements, as the manual reached all the voters of the ward or county, regardless of party affiliations, and proved an excellent advertising medium.

Finding the plan so successful in his own county, he extended it to other counties, and finally to the entire state.

In many cities the theatrical managers arrange in some way to compile a list of theatre goers, and send them, by mail, neatly printed postal cards announcing the attractions billed for their houses several days in advance of their appearance. This plan has proved successful in most cases, but a man in one city of the middle west improved greatly upon it by publishing a weekly that embraced all the theatres and amusement places, and gave them all very much wider publicity, at no cost to any of them.

He arranged with the manager of each theatre and motion picture house in his city to furnish him with all the data concerning engagements for a week or two in advance, obtaining details of coming attractions, with portrait cuts and personal sketches of the most prominent actors and actresses billed for appearance at each house, a synopsis of the play, or any other feature that would naturally create a desire to see it. Write-ups and notes of local interest were also an excellent feature in this weekly, and it was so well edited and printed that nearly all copies were carefully preserved by those receiving them.

Instead of going to the trouble and expense of mailing, these weeklies were distributed at all the theatres and movie houses at every performance, and thus afforded each patron an opportunity to plan his amusement program ahead.

Having saved the theatre managers the expense of a program for each house, they were glad to allow him all the profits of the extensive advertising he secured, and he soon built up a business that netted several thousand dollars a year.

Every orchardist stands in mortal terror of the multitude of pests that infest both fruit and shade trees in practically all parts of the country, and as but few really understand how to prevent or destroy these persistent plagues, or have the time to do it properly, it affords some one in each community an excellent opportunity to make a good living by doing it for them. All he needs is to know exactly how.

An enterprising young man in one of the irrigated fruit districts of the Northwest thought of a good plan along this line and proceeded to put it into execution, with entire satisfaction to the fruit growers, and a corresponding profit to himself.

The leading hardware merchant in his town was not only a good friend of the young man, but was thoroughly familiar with all the really effective methods of destroying tree pests through the spraying process. He sold him one of the best makes of spraying machine, gave him accurate instructions as to its use, as well as the various materials for spraying, and advised him to get busy at once.

He visited the principal fruit growers of that section and found most of them glad to turn the protection of their trees over to him, as he quickly demonstrated that he knew his business, and his charges were reasonable. In a short time he had contracts to keep him busy during the entire season, and found it was paying him at the rate of $175 a month. The next year he took more contracts, hired boys to operate several spraying machines, and is now clearing over $1,000 for a few months work each year. So can you.

Plan No. 24. Spraying Fruit in Spokane Valley

A Michigan young lady, who had an invalid mother and a little brother to support, hit upon the novel plan of supplying the families of her neighborhood, as well as nearby cafes, lunch rooms, business offices, stores, and soda fountains, with tempting lunches consisting mainly of nut sandwiches made of shredded wheat biscuit, or bread, or buns, baked by herself.

Buying all the materials in large quantities, she secured everything necessary at greatly reduced prices, purchasing English walnuts at so much per hundred pounds, and removing the shells with a nut cracker.

Slicing a moistened shredded wheat biscuit in two with a sharp knife, she spread it with peanut butter and finished with a layer of crushed walnuts, or made the sandwiches from slices of bread in the usual way.

Having distributed cards throughout the neighborhood, announcing the form of service she was prepared to render, she kept a list of her regular patrons, with the day and hour when deliveries were required, and sent her little brother to fill the orders. Each sandwich was wrapped in wax paper, and sold readily at 5 cents. However, when a more extensive lunch was required, she supplied two ham sandwiches, one cheese sandwich with pie or cake all neatly packed in a small paper box, with paper napkin and tooth pick, which was not only cheaper, but also much better, than the same articles bought at a restaurant.

And still there was a fair profit on each item included in this service. Of course, the increased cost of materials, now makes it necessary to charge higher prices for the lunches thus delivered, her patronage has grown to such proportions that she now hires boys on bicycles to make the deliveries.

Can you repair a lawn mower that is out of order? If not, you can soon learn, and if you have any mechanical ability at all, you can put it to a practical use and make a good business out of it.

An elderly man in a western city, who was regarded as “too old” to be given a salaried position, but who “needed the money,” turned his knowledge of lawn mowers to good account, and to-day has a profitable business that renders it unnecessary for him to ask anybody for a “job.” He made his own job.

Of course, he had no capital, but he needed none, except a few dollars for the purchase of certain small tools and lawn mower parts and a friend of his in a hardware store sold him those on time.

Starting out he was surprised to find how many lawn mowers in any given neighborhood were slightly out of order, the main trouble with most of them being that they merely needed sharpening, while a rusty bolt here, a missing nut there or a broken part almost anywhere about the machine was quickly replaced, and the mower put in fine working shape.

A charge of 50 to 75 cents an hour, or a flat rate for the job, netted him a profit of several dollars a day, and by doing good, honest work, he was usually called upon when anything else went wrong, as he left his card at every house he visited. After a couple of years he was able to open a little shop of his own, and had the work come to him, instead of being obliged to go after it.

He is making a comfortable living for himself and his family and doesn’t feel any longer that he is “too old” to be useful and self-supporting.

Never heard of an inkless pen? Well, you can make one, or a thousand, so easily, and sell them so fast, at a splendid profit, that you will wish you had known how a long time ago. A down-east girl learned how it was done, and she has made a lot of money out of it, just as anyone else can by trying.

She got some of the very best quality of violet aniline, and reduced it with water, to a thick paste. She added about half as much mucilage as there was of the aniline and water, and mixed it thoroly. Then she applied it with a toothpick to the inside hollow of several ordinary steel pens, above the split, and laid them aside for ten hours to dry.

Either a fine-pointed, ordinary or stub pen can be used, but as an advertising leader a fine-pointed pen is best, and to give it a neat appearance, the pen should be inclosed in a very small envelope, with directions for use printed thereon, as follows: “The Wonderful Inkless Pen. Put in a penholder, and dip it in water up to the split, when ink will flow from the pen. When flow ceases, dip in water again.”

She then placed a small ad in the paper, saying, “Boys and girls, send ten cents for three of our wonderful inkless pens. Write by dipping in water. No ink necessary. Better than a fountain pen.”

This brought hundreds of answers, all containing dimes, and the business thus launched in a small way, with practically no capital, finally grew into an enterprise netting nearly $1,000 a year.

How a plucky woman, with an invalid husband and two small children, utilized a rickety old barn on a run-down farm eleven miles from a city, is best told in her own words:

“The old barn had not been used for years, and was in a dilapidated condition indeed. I paid $1.25 for new shingles and 5 cents for nails, and fixed the roof so it would not leak. I found some old hinges around the place, and put on the doors in good shape. There were six windows, and I bought $1.80 worth of cheese cloth and made curtains for these, and paid $7.00 for a crex matting to put on the floor.

“From some old furniture we were not using, I selected some chairs, beds, a table, old cupboard, and other articles needed. The three stalls I converted into a kitchen, dining room and den, and paid $2.75 for an old oil stove, $1.30 for cooking utensils, and $2 for crockery ware.

“I converted the loft into two sleeping rooms, using cretonne curtains for partitions, made a dresser from an old packing box, and above it I placed a cheap mirror, 18x12 inches. I also purchased two hammocks for $3, and was ready to let “apartments” at $20 per month, the tenants to furnish their own bedding and silver.

“I planted morning glories all around this “house,” and put in several beds of California poppies, costing 65 cents, so that the total expenses renovating the barn and making it fit for human habitation were just $19.80.

“A small ad. in the paper quickly brought me a renter for the remodeled “apartments” at $20 per month for six months, and then I began to supply my tenants with home-grown produce, at good prices, such as berries, fresh vegetables, fresh bread, pies and cakes, cottage cheese, cream, milk, eggs, poultry, homemade soap, jellies, jams, etc., besides doing laundry work, renting horse and cart, making dresses and bonnets for tenants, neighbors and others. And all this without interfering with my regular work of growing and marketing my poultry, dairy and garden products, which I took to the city on the weekly market days, and sold for good prices.

“The first year on this place netted me over $500, the second year $600, and it will be more this year. My first tenant has re-rented the old barn from me every year since I started, and wants it again next year, so I am no longer worrying as to where the next meal is coming from.

“Besides, the country air and home-grown foods have restored my husband to perfect health, and my children are getting big enough to help me.”

Who doesn’t love fruit cake? And yet how few can make it as it should be made. A lady who really knew how, found that she could make a fruit cake at a cost of about 10 cents a pound, and make it so good that anybody would be glad to buy it at more than three times its cost. She used the following receipt. Two cups of flour, 1 cup of raisins, 1 cup of currants, one-half cup of lard, 1 cup of sugar, 1 teaspoonful cinnamon, 1 teaspoonful of cloves, 1 teaspoonful of soda, ¹⁄₄ teaspoonful of salt; flavor with lemon extract. These, with the exception of the flour, the soda and the extract, she boiled for a few minutes in an agate-ware sauce-pan, then took it off the fire, and when lukewarm mixed in the flour and soda and added the lemon extract. This, baked one hour in a moderate oven, will make a 2¹⁄₂-pound loaf, and, requiring no eggs or butter, is not expensive.

She found her first customers were steady customers, and tho she had very limited baking facilities, she cleared from $25 to $30 a month. With greater baking capacity, added from time to time, and with the aid of a few small ads, she increased her profits gradually, until now she is realizing a net profit of over $100 a month, and expects soon to do even better than that. Just a simple plan, intelligently carried out, and the result was—success.

In nearly all cities of 75,000 to 150,000 population, there are usually many thousands of dollars due the municipality in old claims, unpaid assessments, and all sorts of overlooked accounts in practically all departments. These have been allowed to accumulate until they amount to a sum large enough to materially reduce the tax levy for several years, but incoming administrations, having all the difficulties incident to their own tenures of office to meet, and having no disposition to overcome the shortcoming of their predecessors, pay no attention to these delinquencies, and the city’s debtors are thus allowed to escape payment of bills they justly owe.

It was under such conditions in a well known city of the Pacific Northwest that a young lawyer, just admitted to practice, discovered a field of activity that promised to bring him prominently into public notice, and at the same time to secure him a revenue that but few young attorneys are able to command in several of the earlier years of their practice.

He had previously examined the records in most of the departments, and thereby gained a close estimate of the enormous amounts still due the city on old accounts, which no effort had been made to collect for so long that many of them were outlawed and not legally collectable.

He then interviewed a number of city officials and submitted a proposition to collect these accounts, on a basis of commission dependent upon the relative difficulty of getting the money. His proposition was accepted.

A closer examination of the records showed that the amounts still due the various departments ranged from $13,000 to $60,000 in each, the aggregate being $200,000.

Having carefully laid his plans, his first step was to have himself interviewed by the city hall reporters of all the daily papers, in which he made it clear that he would bring suit against every one of those who owed the city anything on old accounts. This caused considerable uneasiness among the delinquents, many of whom came to the treasurer’s office and made settlements in full. Many of them, however, hung back, awaiting developments, and thereupon the young attorney brought a number of suits in the city’s name, in all of which he secured judgments against the defendants, and nearly all of them were paid.

In some special cases, where the debtors felt that they were safe, since the claims against them had been barred by the statute of limitations, the attorney, called upon the parties in person and gave them so fair an outline of the entire situation, laying special emphasis upon their moral obligation to pay even an outlawed claim, that more than half of those old claims were paid into the city treasury.

There are hundreds of cities in which other young attorneys can follow the same plan, with equally good results.

Plan No. 31. Lawyer puts Dictaphone to Profitable Use

A far-sighted young attorney in a large city, desiring to extend his acquaintance among the older members of the bar, and at the same time add materially to his rather limited income, figured that he could do both by writing the briefs of those lawyers interested in cases taken to the higher courts on appeal. He purchased a dictaphone and, having familiarized himself with a case, by reference to the files, and otherwise, he found it an easy matter to get the attorney’s consent to brief it in proper form, especially when he could do it for considerably less than it would cost the attorney to do it himself.

This plan brought him an immediate financial return, gave him a large acquaintance among leading lawyers, and vastly increased his knowledge of law, through frequent references to supreme court reports and other authorities. It also aided him in building up a practice which has become both permanent and profitable.

For more than three years a man in a western city realized a net profit of $225 a month, through the very simple plan of renting water filters, and then sold out his business for $5,000. Having a little spare money he bought filters by the gross from the manufacturers, at $12.50 per gross, or a fraction over 12 cents apiece. They were the reversible kind, filled with powdered charcoal and crushed granite, were nickel plated, easily kept clean, and caught all the impurities in the water leaving it clean and pure. He bought the filtering material, charcoal and crushed granite, by the barrel, at a cost of about $6.00 a barrel. These materials he mixed in equal parts, placed them in the filters and was ready for business.

Plan No. 32. Pure Water his First Thought

An epidemic of typhoid fever broke out in his city about that time, the cause of which was found to be in the water supply, and the means of excluding the disease germs from the water that came from the faucets assumed the form of an imperative demand. This man had some circulars printed, calling attention to the efficiency of his filters, and sent boys to distribute them all over the city.

Then agents were sent out to the houses to show the filters and offer them for rent at 10 cents each a month, a fresh filter to be installed every month. The agents were given one-half of all the money they collected, and as nine in every ten households gave them contracts, both agents and originator of the plan realized a steady and handsome income.

At the end of the month the agent would call at each house, take off the old filter, attach the other end to the faucet, set a clean glass under it, turn on the water and show the lady a glass filled with impurities. That would settle it. She would at once hand over another 10 cents for a fresh filter, and the agent would proceed to the next house.

Between 5,000 and 6,000 filters were thus kept rented, the old ones refilled with fresh material, and the man who used this plan and a little money not only saved hundreds of lives, but cleared up over $13,000 for himself in three years’ time.

Not the big press clipping bureau, with its elaborately furnished offices and scores of employes, but one which any energetic young man or woman may start in a small way, and earn more than a comfortable living, while increasing the scope and revenues of the business. Here is how a bright young fellow did it:

Realizing the pride and vanity many people feel in seeing their names in print, and calculating on their curiosity as well, he subscribed for a number of papers in near-by cities and towns, and pays particular attention to the personal paragraph columns of them all.

He carefully notes the name and address of any person named in these paragraphs and sends him or her a letter stating that their name was mentioned in a newspaper on a certain day, adding that it might be of interest to the person named, and that he will send the clipping for 25 cents.

Curiosity alone will impel most people to send the small amount required to obtain the article in question and this young man received seven orders and remittances from every ten letters he mails out. To mail fifty letters per day would cost him $1 for postage, and to fill the thirty-five orders received, $1.05 more, or a total expense of $2.05. He would receive $8.75, and his profit would be $6.70 a day.

There are cook books and cook books, but we know of only one in which thousands of housewives, who contributed recipes to it, took that deep personal interest which made them feel that each one positively must buy a copy of it.

This one was thought out by a young man in a middle western state, and literally “takes the cake”—and the cash.

If there is any place where the ordinary woman likes to see her name in print, outside of the society columns of a Sunday newspaper, it is in a book, and especially in a cook book.

This young man was aware of this fact, and out of his knowledge he evolved a plan that paid him many thousands of dollars. First, he obtained from directories and mailing lists the names of several thousand women, and mailed to each one a letter, stating that he was about to publish a cook book, and asking them to send in such recipes as they personally knew to be exceptionally good. He told them that each woman so contributing would be paid a royalty, based upon actual sales of the book, and also have her name and address printed in it. The price of the book was to be $2.00 per copy, but those contributors willing to waive all claims to royalty would be supplied at $1.00 per copy.

He also offered each contributor a commission of 50 cents on every sale of the book she made. The letter was carefully written, and brought answers and recipes in a perfect avalanche, practically all the letters contained orders for a book, so that he knew it would require 10,000 copies to fill all the orders.

Then he got busy with the national advertisers, manufacturers of, and dealers in, kitchen specialties, household supplies, flour and yeast dealers, etc., and, having proved to them that his first edition would be 10,000 copies, he secured advertising enough to pay the entire cost of publishing the book.

You know, as does everybody else, that $5.00 is too much for any safety razor ever made. A western man who found himself a cripple for life, and had to earn his living or starve, perfected a plan for supplying the best kind of a safety razor for 25 cents, and made a permanent income for himself and family. He wrote a good circular letter, in which he asked the reader to send in his old safety razor, no matter what its make or condition, together with 25 cents, and said that upon its receipt, with 4 cents in stamps to prepay postage, he would send a new safety razor that would give excellent service and be durable, the handle triple-silver plated and highly polished and one Swedish steel blade, well tempered and hand-honed, while extra blades would be supplied at 15 cents for three, postpaid.

He bought safety razors of the kind described, for about 7¹⁄₂ cents each, and made a profit of 17¹⁄₂ cents on each one. A set of these blades cost him, with postage, about 7 cents, and his profit on them was 8 cents.

Supplying reliable lists of names to magazine advertisers and others would not at first be regarded as a very profitable business, but here is the experience of an Illinois man who made it pay well:

Studying the advertisements in the magazines, he thought of how much these advertisers could save if they were only brought into direct contact with the class of people each one was trying to reach at so great an outlay as magazine space involves.

He thought of a way in which it could be done. He had learned that he could buy the 400-page edition of Webster’s dictionary for 11 cents each with postage of 4 cents each, or a total of 15 cents, in quantities. Then he inserted, through an agency, an ad. in all the country papers for quite a distance around, offering to send a handsome dictionary free in return for a little information which anyone could easily give.

The answers came so fast that he was obliged to send mimeographed letters to those who replied, in which he asked for the names and addresses of all those in the community who were suffering from rheumatism, deafness, or any chronic ailment; also the names of property owners, horse and cattle owners, people with lawns, fruit trees, porches; the names of mothers, prospective mothers, newly married couples, etc., and stated if the information so given proved authentic, he would later arrange to pay them on a cash basis for other names, though the dictionary would be sent for the first lists.

Thousands of names were obtained in this way, and he proceeded to typewrite them, making ten carbon copies of each list, fifty names to the sheet.

He then wrote to each of the advertisers to whom the lists would be valuable, stating that he had obtained the names through his own correspondents in various communities, and offering to send them 1,000 names of those who would be interested in the advertiser’s line, for $5, or 500 names for $3.50.

He invited a trial order first, in order that they might test his service, and nearly all of them responded. In fact, he received more orders than he could well take care of, and the usual result of one day’s work was a net profit of $70. He then branched out on a larger scale, using various articles as premiums.

And this man who had been a clerk on a small salary for years, had only enough money when he started to pay for his advertisement, buy postage stamps, and purchase a typewriter on the instalment plan. He “used his plan”—and won. He never sold the same list to two concerns in the same line.

Plan No. 37. Auto Inspector at Work

“I was a fair auto mechanic, familiar with the mechanism of every machine on the market,” said a man who is now a prosperous dealer in a western city. “But I was out of work, and could not get the kind of job I wanted, so I decided to make one for myself. And I did.

“I called upon some twenty well-to-do owners of cars who did their own driving, but who were not able to locate or remedy many of the little troubles that are certain to happen to all machines, and told them that for $1 per week I would spend an hour each week in their garages, inspecting their autos, adjusting such parts as were even slightly out of order, and doing all small repairs, but furnishing none of the materials required; that I would do square, honest work, and thereby save them many dollars. All but two of these men accepted my offer, and were so well pleased with the results that I soon had a list of fifty regular patrons, and was easily making my $50 a week and more, without the investment of a single cent, except what I had paid for my kit of tools.

“Of course, for extra work I made a reasonable additional charge, and later I arranged with a supply house to furnish me with extra parts of equipment, which netted me a nice little profit besides my regular income as auto inspector.”

Of course, everybody knows all about the 5- and 10-cent notion stores that have made millionaires of their owners, but who ever heard, until now, of a 5- and 10-cent grocery store?

One man, who lives in a good-sized western city, had never heard of such a thing, but one day the idea came to him, and he tried it out—and made it win.

He rented a small but neat store room in a good location, on a well traveled street, put up shelves on both sides and set a nice show case in the center. There were no counters. Then he went to the head of a leading wholesale grocery house and had them put up a special line of all their goods that were not perishable, in handsomely printed cartons, in quantities that could be retailed at 5 and 10 cents each, and still pay both the wholesaler and the retailer a small but fixed margin of profit.

He made a similar arrangement with a well known and popular packing company to handle its products in the same manner, while a local cannery was only too glad to obtain the publicity this method afforded.

Inside and on top of the showcase were displayed bottled goods, preserves, jellies, flavoring extracts, candies, toilet specialities, soaps, etc., while the shelves were used for a convenient arrangement of cereals, rice, hominy, beans, teas, coffee, and most of the canned goods.

As soon as his doors were opened, he discovered that he had “picked a winner,” for the neat and tasty display of the various articles and the fact that they could be had in the small quantities many people desired, made a hit with the women of the neighborhood, and the enterprising originator of this novel plan came out at the end of the year with a net profit of several thousand dollars.

It would hardly seem that the mere storing of door and window screens during the winter season, when they are not needed and are in the way, would prove profitable, but an old gentleman in a West Virginia town earns many good dollars through that plan, and others might follow his example with profit.

Plan No. 39. Work that Anyone can do

A spare room, or a barn loft, where there is no leakage from the roof, is all that is required to get into the business.

This man has about 300 customers, for whom he removes the screens in the fall and stores them carefully away, properly ticketed, so as not to get them mixed up with other people’s screens. In the spring he takes them back to their respective owners and replaces them. His charge for the season is about $2.00 for the average house but where the screens are to be repainted, he of course makes an extra charge for that service.

To be sure, this income is small, but it is $600 or more every spring or fall, and six hundred dollars extra often means a great addition to the comfort of an old man.

A lady living in a city of the Middle West had by long practice become an expert button-hole maker, and so great was her skill that she had more calls for her special work than she could fill.

Dressmakers, tailors, department stores, housewives who made their own dresses, all were anxious to secure her services in this particular line, and she derived a very comfortable income from this specialty.

Recently she has organized several classes of young ladies to whom she is teaching the art, as she realizes that she cannot continue to make all the good button-holes required in her community, and is anxious to give others a chance to do some of this work. In these days of specializing, why not a button-hole specialist—especially if it pays?

A young lady typist who was obliged to give up her position, in order to take care of her invalid mother, arranged with a business man to write his letters in payment for the use of his type-writing machine.

Then she addressed letters to a number of other business men, offering to do their stenographic work and typewriting at her home, and in a short time had work that brought her better returns than her former salary had been, besides being able to look after her sick mother.

An ambitious mother, who very much desired to send her daughter to college, decided upon cat culture as a source of raising the necessary funds. She paid $25 for a pair of pure-bred Angora kittens, gave them the best of care and in three years these kittens and their progeny have netted her more than $1,000. But her resourcefulness in providing charming surroundings assists her greatly in the important matter of sales.

She enclosed the back yard of her home with chicken wire, and divided it into two sections—one for colored cats and the other for white cats—with low buildings on each side for comfortably housing the mother cats and kittens.

The yard was then planted with roses and other flowers, and when the well-kept cats and kittens are seen by prospective purchasers in those delightful environments, the effect is so appealing to their sense of the beautiful that the buyers freely pay almost any price. A few small ads in the local papers bring her customers for all the cats she can raise. Just a little plan, but it has brought remarkably pleasing results.

A young lady who found herself dependent upon a married sister, decided that she would create a profession of her own and be under no obligations to anyone.

She distributed a number of her business cards among the society leaders of her town, announcing that she would take complete charge of parties and other social events, whether for grown people or children, and relieve the hostess of all anxiety concerning the success of the affair, besides saving considerable sums in the outlay for the occasion.

She was given a number of engagements, and succeeded so well that her services were soon in constant and ever-increasing demand.

She superintended the decorations, arranged the menu, looked after the comfort of each guest, and saw that all were served in a manner to meet their hearty approval. She also planned all the details of the entertainment, in whatever form, and became a positive necessity, as the various hostesses soon learned that she could not only provide a better program than they, but actually saved more in the matter of expenditure than her services cost, which varied all the way from $5.00 to $15.00 for an afternoon or evening.

A young lady in Ohio, who recently graduated from a music school, has originated a novel and profitable method of selling sheet music. Realizing from her own experience that the surest way to cause anyone to want a particular piece of music is to let them hear it properly played, so she arranged with a leading music dealer to allow her a rather liberal commission on all sales she might make.

She then selects a number of the best pieces, and ringing the bell at the first house she approaches, and asks if there is a piano or an organ in the house. If the answer is yes, she asks if she may come in and play a piece of music. In most cases permission is freely given, and seating herself at the instrument proceeds to play two or three of the selections. She has chosen so well, and plays so beautifully, that in nearly every house where she is accorded the privilege of playing, she sells from one to half a dozen or more of the sheets, and goes on to the next house.

She has often made as high as $50 a week by employing this plan.

Here is a plan which is good for a town where there are a large number of offices. A young woman who lived in a town of this kind made it pay.

She visited the various offices in the place and contracted to furnish each one with a clean, fresh towel every day for $1.50 a month, or two towels per day for $2.50 a month, two deliveries to be made each week. She secured contracts enough to bring in $47.00 a month.

She then bought $25.00 worth of good towels, hired a colored woman to come twice a week to wash and iron the towels, and paid a little boy to deliver the fresh towels and collect the soiled ones. The service proved satisfactory, and, although the enterprise netted the young lady only a little over $30 per month, she found it sufficient to support herself and her invalid mother, as they owned their home and were economical in their expenditures. It left the young lady with her entire time at her own disposal to be devoted to other work.

Plan No. 46. Baby’s First Picture

Getting the children interested, and working on your side of a proposition, is the surest way to reach the pocketbooks of the parents. An Iowa man, who was out of work and money, evolved a plan that worked so well that he has been at it ever since.

He owned a good camera, and understood how to use it, and having tried soliciting orders from house to house, without success, he hit upon the plan of borrowing a team of goats and a small cart from a boy friend, and started out.

Whenever he saw a child, he would stop and tell it that he would give it a free ride, and take its picture in the cart, if it would get the consent of its mother. Of course, all the children got busy right away, and called their mothers to come and see how “cute” they looked in the cart drawn by the goats. The result was that nearly every mother was glad to give an order for a dozen or more pictures to be delivered in three days, and the enterprising artist soon found that he had all the business he could attend to, at good prices, and now owns a complete outfit.

A young lady in a city who was quite expert in the use of a camera called at the homes which had children and took their pictures, usually with the mother and baby in some natural position. She obtained the birth records and forwarded a card each month congratulating her, also called attention to the service she was rendering by taking the pictures of children, stating that she would call in a few days—also said the mother took no obligation because of her call. She then called as early as possible to get the first picture of the new baby.

Most people have hair troubles of some kind, and most of them have used the widely advertised hair tonics, restorers, etc., with but little appreciable benefit, as some simple home preparation usually produces the best results.

Now, you have read in scores of household magazines, and elsewhere of ways without number in which the hair can be beautified and its growth and lustre wonderfully promoted, without the risk of injuring it in any way.

A widow lady in an eastern city collected all the formulas of this kind she could find anywhere for making dry, brittle hair soft and glossy, for preventing and stopping the hair from falling out, for making the hair thicker and longer, for the removal of dandruff, and correcting all other forms of hair trouble. These she had printed, each on a separate slip of good paper, and also provided herself with neat stationery.

She then advertised in a number of newspapers that covered the territory for 200 or 300 miles in every direction, stating that she had formulas for every conceivable form of hair trouble, and that particulars would be sent upon request. She received thousands of answers, and in reply to these she sent a circular letter saying she had a formula for the particular difficulty named in the inquiry, which she would send upon receipt of 50 cents, and the person to whom it was sent could have it put up under her own personal direction, thus knowing exactly what it contained. As many of these preparations can be put up from ingredients to be found in most homes, they are not expensive and the lady built up a very profitable business through this method.

Every farmer will buy a good, reliable waterproof harness dressing, and if you know how to make it, you can sell it rapidly.

A young man who had spent most of his life on the farm found himself stranded in the city, and when a friend gave him the recipe for such a dressing, he bought the materials with his last few pennies and began selling it to the farmers. He realized such a good profit from his first sales that he was soon able to make it on a much more extensive scale, and started on a trip through the country, where he sold it to farmers he called upon. Here is the formula:

Petrolatum, 4 pounds; Burgundy pitch, 4 ounces; rosin, 2 ounces; ivory black (dry), 60 ounces; beeswax, 4 ounces.

He melted the rosin, pitch and beeswax together, then added the petrolatum, and when melted, he stirred in the ivory black, stirring it until cold, when he put it up in tin boxes and pasted a printed label on it. This preparation is applied with the fingers or a soft cloth, and rubbed well into the leather, on both sides and edges, after thoroughly washing the leather with softsoap and water, and letting it dry. It imparts a nice black appearance to the leather, but not a high polish, and renders the leather soft and pliable. Used as a shoe dressing, it makes shoes waterproof, so that one does not need rubbers.

To test it, he would, after applying it, soak the leather in water for a few hours, weighing it both before and after soaking, and thus prove that no water had been absorbed.

This man clothed an old idea in a new dress, greatly improved upon it, and made it a permanent, paying business.

He got twenty merchants, in different lines, to pay him $5.00 each for a page ad. in a book, and spent the $100 thus received in having 2,000 copies of it printed. Then he sold the 2,000 copies for 98 cents each, or a total of $1,960. But who is going to buy a book with nothing in it except twenty pages of ads, do you ask? Answer: 2,000 people. Why?

Every advertiser in that book has agreed to give a certain discount on every item he sells to the person who has bought that book—the furniture man giving 10 per cent off, the hardware man 5 or 10 per cent, the dry goods man 12 or 15 per cent, the grocer 2¹⁄₂ per cent, and so on—every one offering a discount that in the aggregate means a saving of $100 or more a year—to the buyer of the book. And the book that entitles these people to so great a saving on their purchases costs only 98 cents! Will people buy the book? Does 98 cents look bigger to most people than $100, or possibly $200? Of course the books sell, every last one of them, and the enterprising publisher gets nearly $2,000 net out of it, the merchants get a whole year’s splendid advertising among people who want to buy from them, for $5.00 each, and the printer gets $100 for putting out the book.

In these days of an ever-increasing demand for short stories by hundreds of old and new magazines, when thousands of aspiring young authors are reaching out for fame and fortune, it is but natural to assume that but few of them are familiar with the form in which manuscripts are required to be submitted.

In practically all cases manuscripts must be typewritten, and young people all over the country who do not own typewriters, and could not use them if they did, are always glad to have this done for them.

A young lady who was a skilled typist realized this fact, and at once inserted a few ads. in a small number of papers reaching this class of people, to the effect that she would do this work for them at reasonable prices, and turn out her work in the high class manner required by publishers.

She excelled in spelling, punctuation, paragraphing, etc., and felt certain of her ability to do satisfactory work.

She received many replies to her advertisements, and in a few months had established a pleasant and profitable business of her own besides having placed many ambitious young authors in a position to present their manuscripts to publishers in acceptable form, thereby greatly increasing the chances of acceptance.

Any young person, man or woman, who possesses the ability of this young lady, can do equally well by following the same plan of doing satisfactory work at fair prices.

A widow, who was left with some very good furnishings and about $200 in cash, resolved to make an opportunity of her own and improved it to such excellent advantage that she made a satisfactory living by following a definite plan and the exercise of an unusual amount of good taste.

Renting a small but attractive down-town store room, she fitted it up with the furnishings of her home, imparting to the place a decidedly cozy effect, and she printed some 500 cards, which she sent out by mail, paying regular letter postage on each. These contained an invitation to visit her “Many Happy Returns Shop,” where rare gifts, suitable for all occasions, could be purchased at prices ranging from 10 cents to $10 each. She further intimated that an inspection of her wares would prove extremely interesting even to those who did not come in to buy.

Living only a short distance from New York, she went to the city and, visiting the Italian and Syrian districts, she purchased many pieces of old brass, trays, pots, lanterns, etc., while in the Japanese quarters she bought odd bits of china and lacquer, in all fifty articles, costing her $30.

She also asked her friends to bring in odd or rare articles for her to sell on commission, and arranged everything very tastefully for her opening day, when large numbers of people visited her store and many of the novelties were sold at good prices. Her first day’s sales netted her $7.66, and by constantly adding to her stock of rarities and other attractions, she enjoyed a steady and substantial income.

“A friend of mine,” said a successful merchant, not long ago, “was making and selling—or trying to sell—three preparations of great merit, but with such indifferent success that he decided to give it up.

“I knew the value of his preparations, and concluded that his failure was due to himself rather than to them. I, therefore, outlined a plan for him that I thought would bring success, and loaned him the money with which to make another try at it.

“I had 1,000 circulars printed, to each of which were attached twenty coupons of the face value of 5 cents each. I then got ten merchants to agree to accept one of these 5-cent coupons at its face value on every dollar’s worth of merchandise purchased for cash, and gave the names of these merchants on the circular, with their agreement to accept the coupons as above stated.

“The regular price of my friend’s preparations was 50 cents each, but I told him to offer the three for $1.00, and give each purchaser $1.00 worth of the coupons besides.

“The way the buyers went for those preparations, when offered in this way, was simply amazing, as they got the three preparations for nothing, since the various merchants gave them back the dollar they had paid for the coupons, and the merchants themselves were well pleased with the effective advertising the plan had given them, since it brought each of them many new patrons.

“But the best part of it was that my friend not only sold this first $1,000 worth of coupons, but a good many thousand more, and gladly repaid my loan in a day or two. Besides, it established his remedies permanently, as people had found out in this way how good they were.”

A woman left totally unprovided for by her husband, a commercial traveler who died suddenly, had to provide for herself and family.

Discussing with her friends what she could do to make a living, one suggested that she pack trunks for people who did not know how. She had always packed her husband’s trunks.

She acted on this suggestion, and made arrangements with a large hotel to pack trunks for its guests. She furnished bonds to amply protect guests against loss.

Plan No. 53. Her Husband was a Traveling Man

There are many hotels and travelers throughout the country that would be glad to avail themselves of such assistance.

Our friend the suburban gardener, lives several miles from the city, where he has about three acres of ground in cultivation, and knows how to make it pay—via parcel post.

He knows that the city man likes nice, fresh, crisp vegetables, right from the soil the day he gets them, and that he will pay a good price for them, besides saving the unwilling tribute he pays the city middleman for dried up, shriveled and often spoiled market stuff, that may be a week old. And the gardener gets more for his produce when he sells it direct to the city consumer. So he runs a small ad. in the city papers, stating what he has for sale, that they are strictly fresh, and the prices he asks.

From one or two regular customers at first, he gradually increases his list of patrons, until he has more than a hundred upon whom he can depend as steady buyers of his products. He plays fair with them, gives them exactly what he advertised, with prompt delivery that assured their arrival in fine condition—so he builds up a business.

Three times a week he sends postal cards to his customers advising them that tomorrow it will be fresh, crisp radishes, or sweet, juicy young onions or tender, luscious asparagus or rhubarb, or any other of a dozen or more delightfully appetizing things grown in the garden, with the price of whatever it is, to be sent by parcel post so as to reach the city customer the same day. Who wouldn’t buy from a man who did business in that way, and rendered the service that everyone appreciates.

But the supply of the suburban gardens is never greater than the demand, and thousands more can find health, plenty and happiness in this pleasant and profitable occupation. Why not be one of them yourself?

This young man lived in a city of about 7,000 inhabitants, where there were several wholesale houses, as well as a large number of up-to-date retail stores. The town was in the midst of a prosperous farming community, where the farmers were kept busy at home looking after their crops, and had but little time for coming to town.

One day this enterprising young man had an idea, which proved to be a good one, for it enabled him to make a good living.

He secured the name of every farmer living on every rural route running out of the city, and sent him a well printed circular letter, offering to make purchases for him of anything he might need in town, and send it out to him by parcel post the very day the order was received. He added that no charge would be made for this service, but that the farmer would get exactly what he desired, at the same price he would pay if he came to the city himself.

He then arranged with wholesale and retail merchants to pay him a commission on all articles sold for them in this way, besides paying the postage, and inside of three months he had one hundred well-to-do farmers on his list who, instead of coming to town for what they wanted, phoned their orders to him, and they were filled so promptly and satisfactorily that the farmers placed absolute confidence in him and allowed him to make practically all their purchases for them. He proved a good shopper, and built up a profitable business by just thinking out a feasible and legitimate plan.

The very best table relish it is possible to make is prepared from the following formula by a woman living in the country, who has created for it a demand far greater than she can supply. Here are the ingredients:

Ripe tomatoes, 9 pounds; onions, 2 pounds; cider vinegar, 3 pints; cayenne pepper, 2 teaspoonfuls; black pepper, 4 ounces; brown sugar, 6 ounces.

She mashes the tomatoes thoroughly, peels and grinds the onions in a vegetable grinder, then places all the ingredients in a porcelain vessel and boils them briskly for about two hours. Then she places them in short half pint water bottles, costing about half a cent each, cuts off the corks close to the bottles and seals with sealing wax.

One taste of this relish invariably creates a demand for more, and she can sell it as fast as she can put it up, and have many calls for more. There is a fine margin of profit in it, as she raises practically all the materials herself, and by making use of the parcel post she has been able to come out over $1,000 ahead each season since she began operations. Lately she has been enlarging the scope of her activities, with the assurance of a much larger income from year to year.

Just try this yourselves, you mothers who want to make some money with very little outlay.

A newly married couple decided to spend their honeymoon in a small Ohio town surrounded by beautiful scenery, and having a stereoscopic camera among their possessions, took it along, as it might come in handy. And it did.

They happened to know that they could obtain from a Chicago firm, for 80 cents per hundred, any number of the colored views shown in stereoscopes, and which agents usually sell for $1.50 to $2.00 per dozen, and they ordered twenty sets of 100 each, paying $16.00 for the lot.

Then they used their stereoscopic camera in taking a number of views in that vicinity, together with pictures of noted persons, groups of children, grounds and residences of leading citizens, and other objects of local interest.

When all was completed, they made a personal canvas of the town exhibiting the colored views to the people, through an ordinary stereoscope, and in this way created a most favorable impression as to the superior character of the work.

The sets of 100 colored views were offered at $5.00 each, and, as a premium, six of the local views were added, but they made an extra charge when views of some subject of special interest to the families were ordered taken; and where people had no stereoscope, they ordered one, which made them a good profit.

Their work became a popular fad in the town, and they received and filled so many orders that in two months there they cleared over $500.

It is not necessary to buy a stereo-camera—an ordinary camera will do. Print two pictures from negative, paste these two on cardboard cut down to proper size, and your picture is complete.

A young man made use of the following plan to get started in business:

Living in a western town of about 10,000 inhabitants, he noted the various cards of “For Sale,” “For Rent,” “Furnished rooms,” “Board and Rooms,” etc., and decided he could help these people get what they wanted, and at the same time make a little sum for himself.

He called at each of the places where cards were displayed, explained that he was about to begin the publication of a renting and business bulletin, and would insert an ad. under the proper heading, to remain until the particular want was supplied, and distribute free a certain number of these bulletins all over town each week, all for $1.00 for each of such notices, to be paid in advance.

As most of those he approached knew him to be reliable, he had no difficulty in securing a little over 100 subscriptions of the kind desired; then he went among the merchants of the town and contracted for a sufficient amount of advertising to pay the cost of printing the bulletin, leaving him the entire amount received for publication of the “for rent” and other notices as clear profit.

He faithfully distributed the bulletins from house to house, in hotels, reading rooms, and barber shops. This gave him a start. He continued to solicit advertisements and worked faithfully at his little publication which gave returns sufficient to make his living.

That grasshoppers, which have been the scourge of many sections of the country for many years, can really be made to serve a useful purpose, and so utilized as to pay at least a part of the damage they do, was proven by the experience of a Kansan woman who had found great difficulty in making her hens lay during the winter months.

The grasshopper pest had been unusually active in her part of the country that year, having destroyed practically every growing thing within reach, and her hens were about the only available source of revenue that remained. But how to feed them was the problem she could not solve.

Suddenly she became impressed with the fact that the hated grasshopper was an ideal chicken food and tonic, and as other foods and tonics were too expensive for her slender purse, she decided upon laying in a good supply of grasshoppers—but how? They must first be caught.

She bought a piece of screen wire 4 feet wide by 20 feet long, bent it lengthwise in a circular form, and fastened the edges with large-size hooks and eyes, with circular doors, working on a single hinge, at each end, fitting the edges closely. She then constructed a frame of 4-inch pine sheathing, 4 feet high and 20 feet long, back of the trap, and covered it with white oilcloth, slanting it in such a position that when the grasshoppers struck the oilcloth they would slip down into the trap. These they carried out into the wheat field one evening in August, placed them in position, and started driving the swarms of grasshoppers toward the pitfall thus prepared for them. The white oilcloth shield proved a great attraction for the hoppers, and in forty-five minutes they had driven four bushels of the insects into the trap. Beneath this they placed a formaldehyde generator, covered the trap with muslin made to fit over it, and soon had it full of dead grasshoppers. These they carried to the barn loft, spread them out to dry, and put them away in sacks. Altogether they got over eighty bushels of dried hoppers, and those hens laid that winter as they had never laid before.

A polishing cloth would seem an insignificant thing in itself, and it is, but often it is the little things that make good profit and a man in a western city, who understood this fact, made thousands of dollars by giving it practical application.

He bought a bolt of outing flannel of the cheaper grade, and from this he cut a few hundred small pieces of the proper size for samples. These he immersed in a solution which he had made, as follows: One-half pound of castile soap, shaved fine and melted to a jelly. When thoroughly dissolved, he added a gallon of soft water and 4 ounces of powdered pumice stone, coloring it with tincture of red analine. This gave him a polishing cloth that worked wonders with silverware, brass and other bright metals, imparting to them a lustre that but few of the high-priced polishes can give, and doing away with the mussy method of using a powder with an ordinary cloth.

Securing a number of good canvassers, he gave each of them 100 of the small samples, 100 full sized polishing cloths, and 100 imitation type-written letters addressed to “The Lady of the House,” asking her to use the small free sample which the agent would leave with her, and note its many points of superiority over polishing powders, etc.

Nearly every housewife would use the sample, and be so well pleased with it that when the agent called a couple of days later, with the full-sized cloths, at 25 cents each, it meant a sale in almost every case. The man who made the cloths gave the agents half the proceeds of all sales, and the other half he retained for himself which was practically all profit. By extending his sale to other towns, he developed a big business.

We know of a man who averaged $40.00 per day through the sale of mailing lists to advertisers all over the country. But they were good, reliable lists of live people, who for years had not been flooded with a tidal wave of advertising circulars.

These names he procured from county, town, and other officials, from certain directories, and from private individuals in different parts of the country. In some cases he advertised in country papers, asking for replies from those willing to furnish lists of bonafide names, usually offering some small inducement to secure this service, and the lists thus obtained consisted largely of well-to-do farmers, which proved the most salable of the lists.

The various magazines and metropolitan dailies gave him the names of advertisers anxious to reach the class of consumers who comprised his lists, and he sold them for prices ranging from $2.00 to $10.00 per thousand, though in some special cases his charges would be considerably more. Indeed, in one case, where he had secured the names of 5,000 speculators and investors, patrons of the stock exchanges, he asked, and received, $80 for the list, and sold it to many advertisers in various lines. He had his lists typewritten with as many as ten carbon copies to each page, and the expense of supplying them to numerous customers was very trivial, while his receipts netted him a good living each year.

An elderly man who lived in a small eastern town had formerly been a merchant in the city, but had failed through the dishonesty of a partner, and was obliged to make a humble living by any legitimate means.

Being familiar with all the details of buying and selling, as well as with the quality of various kinds of merchandise, he decided to become a professional shopper, and succeeded beyond his expectations.

He distributed cards throughout the little town and its vicinity announcing that he would make daily trips to the city, and for a small charge would purchase such articles as might be desired by local people from the big city stores, particularly those advertising “bargain sales.”

As most people in a small place know of these bargains, through the columns of the city dailies reaching their places, and would like to take advantage of many of them, yet cannot afford the time and expense of making these frequent trips themselves, they were very glad to have this service so promptly and satisfactorily performed for them by one they knew to be reliable. The elderly shopper soon had all he could attend to. Outside of his fare, his expenses were nothing, and while his charges were so reasonable that it saved his patrons many dollars in railroad fare, as well as a great deal of valuable time, it made him a very comfortable living. He not only received a small sum for his service to each customer, but he received a special discount from the store that filled the order.

The vagaries of the weather have never been regarded as affording a living for anyone except the “local forecaster,” but here is the experience of a man in Iowa who thought otherwise, and made money out of the plan.

He paid $40 for a large thermometer, all complete, the same being about six feet high, mounted on a frame 3x8 feet, and containing space for fourteen advertisements. These he readily sold to merchants of the town, at $15 for each space, bringing his receipts up to $210, or $170 after paying for the thermometer, and many times he sold the entire fourteen spaces in one day’s work. To be sure, he was obliged to buy the thermometers in quantities, in order to get them for $40 apiece, but as long as he could realize a profit of $170 on each, he could well afford that. As his business increased, his orders for thermometers grew larger and their cost correspondingly smaller, so that he soon found himself on the road to success. He did not give this advertising service in towns of less than 5,000 people, and even if he only sold three thermometers in a week, his income was very good.

Some ten years ago two brothers went to a North Carolina town, in the fall of the year, rented a piece of ground near the outskirts, carefully laid it out in large beds, and planted it in lettuce, to be sold to northern markets during the winter months.

The inhabitants of the town ridiculed the idea, declaring that the lettuce would freeze when the weather got cold, and even if it grew, it could not be sold at a profit, but the brothers said nothing, for they knew what they were doing.

The lettuce, after planting, came up nicely and made a rapid growth, but it wasn’t allowed to be touched by frost. Covers to fit over all the beds were made from coarse cotton sheeting, and held in place by hooks fastened to rings in small stakes driven at the corners and edges of the beds. These covers were taken off when the sun was shining and replaced over the beds at night, when there was frost in the air.

Soon the people of the town went out to see how the lettuce crop was growing, and were so astonished at its marvelous growth, and the fabulous prices it brought in the northern cities, that large numbers of the people took up lettuce growing as a regular business. It was not long before the receipts from the lettuce in that town were $100,000 a year, and everybody was growing it; the men in the fields, the women in their gardens, and all making money at it, for the variety was of the best, the soil just right, and all conditions were adapted to its culture.

Usually two crops were grown each year, one in the late fall, the other in the early spring, and it was shipped up north in board baskets, where it brought from $1.25 to $3.50 per basket, according to its grade and the condition of the market at the time of its arrival. The people in that town do not laugh any more when lettuce growing in the winter is mentioned, for winter time is harvest time down there.

An enterprising woman in a western state has made money in home-made salad dressing and peanut butter. She started demonstrating the superior quality of her products in a little corner grocery. She now owns a large building on a prominent street in a city, and sells her produce all over the Northwest.

She not only knows all about making the very best salad dressing and peanut butter that anyone could possibly imagine or wish for, but she insists upon a high degree of cleanliness and care in the preparation of her products. Her corps of assistants and employes are selected with a view to maintaining the excellent standard which formed the basis of her own success in the beginning.

Other women have excellent recipes for making good things to eat, and, though all of them may not make large incomes from the knowledge and skill they possess, yet they may at least add largely to the family income by making such articles to sell at a good profit, and, at the same time, benefit the consumers as well.

A young newspaper man perfected a plan under which he took over the advertising of all the weekly papers published within a radius of 100 miles or more from his home town, including those having “patent insides” supplied by the branch of a prominent newspaper union in his town.

Arranging these various publications in groups of forty or more, he established a rate for each group that not only offered the advertiser a very great reduction from what it would cost him to deal with all these papers separately, but still left him a good margin of profit. He soon became the head of a prosperous business which yielded a net income of $600 a month.

This plan can be worked to good advantage by capable men in other localities, as it requires but little capital to start it.

It isn’t every girl who feels competent to work her way through college, when her people are not able to pay the expenses of her course, but this one did, and proved it by paying all her bills and having something left besides.

Being very proficient in embroidery work, she organized a class of fifty of her fellow-students, to whom she gave a course of twenty embroidery lessons, at $5.00 each for the course, while several of the girls who wished instruction in difficult stitches were each charged $1.00 a lesson. She also took subscriptions for a periodical devoted largely to embroidery and needle work, and received a commission of 25 cents on each subscription she secured.

The faculty gave her shopping privileges two afternoons each week, and she improved these occasions by executing commissions at the various stores for the other girl students. She had excellent taste in the matter of selections, and her purchases were not only highly pleasing to those for whom they were made, but she received a discount from each of the merchants thus patronized, and this netted her a neat little sum, her commissions alone in nine months amounting to $260.

She also added $90 to her income through the sale of copies of articles contributed to the college journal, and her total earnings for the year were $662.50.

The income she derived from these various activities not only relieved her parents of all expense for her education, but gave her a valuable insight into practical business principles and methods, while developing a spirit of confidence in her own abilities, as well as a feeling of independence.

The old saying that “pigs is pigs,” might with equal propriety be applied to calves, particularly if they are of Holstein-Friesian stock, if one is to judge from the experience of a breeder of blooded stock in New York state.

From one cow, nine years old, this man has sold five calves for $4,800, has another for which he has refused $500, and still another of her progeny is owned by a man who wouldn’t sell it at any price.

This man started as a poor boy, who was obliged to work as a hired hand on a farm, at $10 per month. But the farmer employer did not always have the $10 when the month was up, and really couldn’t afford to keep a hired man, or a boy, though he needed one.

However, he did own a pure-bred Holstein calf and the farmer offered this calf to the boy for two months’ work on the farm. The boy had a keen eye for good points of an animal, and accepted the offer, keeping the calf in a small pasture on his employer’s farm until fall when he took it with him to his own humble home and gave it the best of care.

Well, that calf was the mother of the nine-year-old cow that was the mother, of the five calves which the “boy” has sold for $4,800, and still has a calf worth more than $500.

A husky young Irishman, who lived in a town too small to maintain a regular police officer, and too large to be entirely without protection from hold-ups, burglars and fires, especially at night, called upon the principal merchants of the place and arranged to give such service as was needed, on a basis of 25 cents a night from each one.

Fifteen merchants readily agreed to these terms, and, by remaining on duty every night including Sundays, he was able to earn $26.25 a week.

The third night he was on duty he captured a man in the act of stealing. Needless to say, that after this, the other merchants in the town quickly added their names to the young Irishman’s list of protected firms, and his weekly pay-check soon became much larger.

A small farmer, living a few miles from a city, derived a very handsome income from the raising of ducks and geese.

From a long and careful study of various domestic fowls, he had learned that, while ducks and geese are much more rare than chickens, and that many people prefer them as table birds, they eat much less than hens, and the feathers of the geese are always in demand, at top prices.

Both ducks and geese are much more hardy than chickens, and not nearly so liable to disease, therefore the losses are not so great. By keeping “Indian Runner” ducks, he got an almost unlimited supply of eggs, which always brought good prices, while during the holiday season the demand for ducks and geese was second only to the demand for turkeys, which are expensive to raise.

When he figured up his receipts at the end of the year, he found that each goose had brought him a net profit of $5.75, while the ducks averaged considerably higher, owing to their greater egg-laying capacity. Both classes of birds, when fattened just before Thanksgiving, brought fancy prices, and involved a great deal less labor and expense in their raising than would be required in the case of hens.

That a smile, a pleasant word and a liberal amount of good humor will succeed better in the collection of accounts than the bullying method, was the idea of a young friend of ours who decided to make Collections a regular business.

About all he had with which to make a beginning was a desk, three chairs, a small rug, a second-hand typewriter, and $50 for some printed matter and a month’s office rent.

He had arranged with a young lawyer friend of his to attend to whatever litigation might be necessary, and the attorney’s name appear on his letter heads as counsel for the agency.

Then he called upon the leading merchants and solicited their accounts, on a basis of 5 per cent on the fairly good ones, and from 24 to 50 per cent on others.

In every case where it was possible, he called upon the debtor personally, and possessing a most pleasing and sympathetic manner with which to meet the usual “hard luck” stories he encountered, he was able not only to impress the fact that he was the debtor’s friend but to compel a recognition of the creditor’s rights and equities in the matter.

As a result of this method he collected many old accounts that were regarded as hopeless, and made his business pay.

In those cases, however, where the debtor was defiant and inclined to not to care he dealt with them judiciously.

You probably have no idea how many people would pay for rag rugs, to be used in their bathrooms, bedrooms, dining rooms and elsewhere if only some one would make them and sell them from house to house.

An old lady in Illinois, who knew all about making rag rugs, as well as rag carpets, and who needed a little money very badly, concluded to use her knowledge of rug making and make a few dollars in the only way she could think of.

Her only available resources were a quantity of clean bits of cloth of various hues and textures, some needles and thread. The pieces of cloth she tore into strips of the proper width, and sewed them together, so as to form combinations of blue and white, brown and white, red and black, grey and old rose, etc. and, having no loom with which to weave them, she made them into three-strand braids and sewed them together in oval shape, until she had completed a mat about 2¹⁄₂x3¹⁄₂ feet.

Some of these she sold from house to house, at very good prices, while others she displayed in a department store window, where they sold rapidly, though she was obliged to pay the storekeeper a small commission for selling them.

She made a very good living at it.

It seemed impossible, but here’s the story of a man who did it, and made a good living out of it, also kept four men on the road working at this novel but legitimate plan:

He had been a traveling salesman for several years, and on one of his trips had gone into a grocery store, but found another traveling man ahead of him.

This man was showing the grocer the details of a plan whereby he could have a photo enlarged for anyone buying a $5 punch-ticket, good for that amount in merchandise, and paying $1.25 additional.

Our enterprising friend saw it was a good plan, but believed he could improve upon it, and proceeded to do so.

After a long search he finally found a photographer who would make copies of any photograph for 50 cents per dozen, when a large number of orders was given. Then he had several thousand punch-tickets printed, calling for $5 worth of merchandise, and these he sold to merchants at $5 for 500, while the merchant, in turn, would sell the $5 punch-ticket to a customer.

Later the originator of the plan opened a small studio of his own, and thus reduced the cost of the photos to 39 cents per dozen, leaving him a profit of 11 cents per dozen, and it was then that he quit the road himself and put four good men on as many routes, while he remained at home and managed his business.

Everybody loves the aroma of fresh roasted coffee, but it is so seldom they have an opportunity to inhale it when it is fresh, that, when they do, it comes as a most delightful sensation, and makes them want coffee—real, genuine, fresh roasted coffee.

A coffee-roasting machine, almost automatic in its action, has been perfected to such a degree that it retains all the aroma and flavor of the coffee, and places it, freshly roasted, in the hands of the consumer, who thus “gets all the good out of it.”

A young man purchased one of these machines, rented a small corner in a meat and vegetable market, where no groceries were kept for sale, bought a few pounds of the best green coffee, and started his machine, which was run by electricity, and gas for fuel. In the window he placed a neatly painted card, saying: “Fresh Coffee, Right Out of the Roaster,” and awaited results. Soon the delicious aroma pervaded the entire establishment and was wafted to the crowds on the sidewalk.

The smell of good coffee is an excellent advertisement and brings customers. But this enterprising vender of fresh roasted coffee realized that even the best brands of coffee would prove a failure if not properly made, so he put every pound he sold into a paper sack containing the following directions, plainly printed, and urged every purchaser to pay particular attention to it.

“Use one heaping tablespoonful of the ground coffee to each cup of cold water, not warm or hot, and let it steep in the cold water for five minutes or more, as this greatly improves the flavor. Then put over a slow fire and slowly bring it to the boiling point, boiling it for just three minutes, but no longer. Take off the fire and let it stand for four or five minutes before serving, and you’ll find you have the finest flavored cup of coffee you ever drank. But always use fresh coffee, never using the grounds more than once.”

The plan was successful.

A young man, attending college in a small town, secured the agency for a leading laundry in a near-by city, and in that way made enough to pay for his entire course. The laundry company paid him 40 percent for all the work he sent in, and one-half of the express charges besides, so that he was at practically no expense in conducting the business.

He soon demonstrated that he was representing a laundry that did good work and made prompt deliveries, and it was an easy matter to secure orders from all the students. The city laundry did better work than the local concern, and the prices were also lower, so most of the students, and many residents of the town as well, were glad to have their work done where satisfactory service was assured. In order to overcome the feeble competition offered by local barber shops and store agencies, the young man further strengthened his claim to patronage by offering a premium for each $10 worth of laundry work sent in through him, and by that means came out ahead in the volume of paying business secured.

It took but little of his spare time and did not interfere with his studies, and at the same time gave him a good income.

A former merchant in a small town, who had lost his entire stock by fire, and had been unable to collect the insurance, conceived the idea of starting a co-operative store, without capital, and the plan worked so well that in a few years he was in a better condition financially than before the fire.

Fully realizing that the average store in the small town charges higher prices for inferior goods than the city stores ask for the better grades, and knowing the people of his community would be glad to be better served at a lower cost, he visited a wholesale house in the city, made arrangements for purchasing groceries and kindred lines at wholesale prices, when taken in considerable quantities. He then formed a sort of club or co-operative society of from 75 to 100 members, among his acquaintances and former patrons, agreeing to supply them with the better grades of goods at prices considerably less than those charged by the local stores.

He opened a little store room in the town for the distribution of these goods, each member paying cash for every item purchased, and, there being no necessity for bookkeeping or collections, he made a good profit on everything sold in this manner, suffered no losses, and in a short time controlled practically all the grocery trade in his town and the surrounding country. He often remarked that the fire which destroyed his former store was the best thing that could have happened to him, besides the benefit it brought to those in the community who co-operated with him in his enterprise, while he started on nothing.

It was a doctor’s wife who, with a husband broken in health and purse, originated a plan that was successful and put the couple financially “on their feet”.

The husband, an able physician and surgeon, in a western city, with failing health, decided to move to a country town. His finances were at a low ebb, it soon became necessary for him to resume his practice in this rural community. But he was not physically able to make calls at long distances from town, especially at night and in bad weather, and his wife decided to carry out her long-cherished plan of opening a hospital, even if it had to be done on a small scale.

The house next door being vacant, the doctor’s wife engaged it at a low rental, paying for the first month in advance. Then, when a telephone call came for the doctor from a farmer whose wife was ill, the wife told him the doctor was not able to go, but suggested that the farmer bring his wife to town, where his wife would have a pleasant room, the care of an experienced nurse, and the medical services of the doctor.

The doctor himself was astonished when he overheard this conversation, and entered a vigorous protest, but the wife told him not to worry.

Having engaged the only nurse in the town, which was herself, with the assistance of a couple of farmer’s boys she moved the furniture from the three upper rooms of her own residence into the next house, where she fixed up three rooms very comfortably, and awaited the coming of results.

Early in the afternoon the farmer brought his wife and she was installed in one of the rooms, under the care of the nurse. Later others came, and it soon became known all over the community that the “new doctor,” having more patients than he could visit, had fitted up a nice place in town where his patients could come to him, and where women from the country could “stay over night,” or as many days and nights as were necessary, and where they could be nursed and “doctored” in a proper manner. It was not long until further rooms had been tastefully fitted up, another nurse engaged, and the doctor was kept busy with his patients every minute of the day.

With the assistance of a maid, the doctor’s wife served meals to the patients in their own rooms, and the charges for all these accommodations, room, board, nursing and treatment, were very reasonable. The people of the town and vicinity soon saw the advantages afforded by this plan, and the patronage increased until there was a long waiting list. The reception or social room that had been fitted up was supplied with magazines, newspapers, and other means of entertainment for the patients and their friends who called upon them, and was a much appreciated resting place for country women who came to town with their husbands.

The rent of the building was $15 a month, the nurses were paid $1.00 a day and board, $3 for taking care of a patient at night, and farm produce was purchased at very low prices, or taken as part payment for services.

At the end of the first year these people had cleared $5,000 over all expenses, and on the fourth anniversary of the launching of the plan, the doctor, now restored to health, handed his wife a check for $8,000, to repay her, as he said, for “thinking of such a splendid plan.”

She was a druggist’s wife, and had some excellent ideas of her own, besides, she knew how to put them to practical use.

While the prescription business of the store was large and profitable, the soda fountain, a fine large one with every modern feature of equipment, was not making good, and there were seven other soda fountains in the town of some 2,000 inhabitants. Here was the wife’s opportunity.

The drug store was a large and attractive place and she decided upon the following plan of action: She installed four private booths, covering the partitions with green burlap, with burlap curtains on the outside. Putting wire over the top of each booth, she covered them with paper flowers, which she made herself. The covering of one booth was of yellow roses, one of American beauty roses, one of pumpkin blossoms and one of lilies. In the center of each booth she placed an electric light, with a shade to match the flowers of the ceiling, also an electric bell.

This novel and attractive arrangement proved very popular, and rapidly brought a large number of patrons who preferred to have sodas and ice cream served in the privacy of the tastefully decorated booths rather than to sit at tables in the open store. However, she was continually planning on some new feature to make the place talked about, and she turned her attention to the fountain itself. She built a large canopy over the fountain, and covered it with 300 crepe-paper oranges and 3,000 leaves, which produced a very striking and pleasing effect. To still further stimulate interest, she issued neatly designed and printed circulars, particularly when she had some novelty to give away, and thus kept it constantly before the public.

That the idea was a good one, is shown by the fact that, whereas, the receipts from the soda fountain had formerly ranged from $6 to $10 a day, the carrying out of her new plan increased its revenue from $18 to $30 a day, and placed the store far in the lead of all the other drug stores in the town.

A husband and wife had lost their money and all they had left was $500 in cash, a moving-picture camera, and a good supply of courage.

Selecting a location in a prosperous residence district they opened a moving-picture theater with a seating capacity of 400 people.

The city every year had a local fiesta or carnival, lasting about two weeks, and the wife suggested the idea of taking daily motion pictures of the parades and showing them on the screen as an additional attraction. This greatly increased the attendance for a time, but when the fiesta was over there was a “slump” in the receipts. The wife then suggested that the husband present films of local interest.

Whenever such a picture was taken, they would advertise: “Come and see yourself and your friends in the movies,” and it brought good returns. In fact, this plan proved so popular that they were obliged to enlarge their hall, all of which was due to the working out of an original idea—that everyone wants to see himself or herself on the screen.

Every man who is a clerk would be very glad to be promoted to superintendent. But it isn’t every clerk who has a wife with the energy and the initiative to assist him.

With the arrival of the second baby, the husband began to realize that he must have more money, but how to obtain it was the question. He could not ask for more salary, because he was already the best-paid shipping clerk in the establishment.

Although without practical experience in the conduct of a large business, his wife intuitively realized that the difference between employer and employe was not because the employer did more work, but because he knew more about the business itself and how to direct others to do it to the best advantage of the employer.

It was a hard thing to do, but after long and earnest reasoning with her husband she maintained that if he left more of the details of the work to his assistants, and devoted more of his time to planning improved methods, it would mean the recognition of his ability and his consequent advancement.

He accepted his wife’s suggestion, acted upon it at once, and greatly profited by it, for he began to see the work through his employer’s eyes. Gradually the idea grew upon him, until he evolved a plan for the complete reorganization of his department in such a manner as to entail less cost and labor and yet bring better returns.

In a dispute with the man next in authority over him, he won the approval of the general manager, because he was right. From that time on his advancement was rapid, and today he is superintendent of the entire business, due largely to his wife’s forethought.

A lawyer in a western city had only a small practice but his wife possessed good business judgment. They had just cash enough to purchase a small house, with a good-sized lot, in a modest side street occupied mainly by the homes of working men. This lady possessed good taste in the matter of furnishings and decorations, and exercised her talent in this direction by turning this property into an attractive little home. By a most skillful arrangement of the furniture, and not having too much of it, she gave all the rooms the appearance of being much larger than they really were, while dotted Swiss curtains admitted sufficient light to impart a most cheerful atmosphere. Everything was made to contribute to the coziness of the place, and give it a homelike air that was very inviting. In a few months they were offered $350 more than the property cost them, and they accepted the offer.

Plan No. 82. Industry has its rewards

They next bought an older house, that was badly in need of repairs, gave it two coats of white paint, added green shutters, and the wife improved the interior with home-made book-cases, window seats and kitchen conveniences of many kinds, and put blue and white lace paper on the pantry shelves. A retired farmer and his wife, who wanted to move to town, was greatly impressed with the pattern of that paper as well as with the large back yard, where quantities of garden products could be raised, and readily paid them $500 more than the cost of the place.

They then bought a nine-room house, converted it into two apartments, that rented for $45 a month each, and a little later sold it at a profit of $1,150, making their total profits in two years $2,000.

Thousands of men and women who complain of “hard times” and bemoan the fact that they “can’t get anything to do,” could live comfortably by following the plan which an almost invalid husband and his wife so successfully carried out, at a time when everything looked very dark.

They were in debt, through the illness of the husband, a mill worker, whom the doctors had told to get into some line of work that would give him plenty of outdoor exercise.

In the residential section of the city, near by, were many back yards either sown in grass or covered with weeds, and utterly neglected and uncared for.

The wife visited many of the homes where these conditions prevailed, and offered to give their back yards thorough cultivation during the season, for one-half of what might be grown on them. Some of the people refused the offer but enough agreed to the proposition to keep both the wife and her husband constantly employed.

They raised a great deal more of all kinds of garden produce than both the families of the owners and the renters could use, and one-half of the excess they sold at good prices in the city, even selling some of it to the people who had refused them the use of their ground.

The next year they had offers of more back yards than they could cultivate, but their three boys helped them with the work, and together they succeeded so well that they not only lived better than they ever had before, but were entirely out of debt and had a bank account besides.

The husband in this case was a combination of stock-keeper and shipping clerk in a large machinery house, knew the details of the business thoroughly, and uncomplainingly shouldered the constantly increasing burdens and responsibilities that were placed upon him, with no intimation of a corresponding increase in salary. Finally he rebelled, and said to his wife that if he had a certain amount of capital he would go into business for himself.

His wife remarked that he did not need any capital, if he would write to a number of manufacturers of the lines with which he was familiar, detailing his experience, and giving other important data, he would no doubt be appointed manufacturer’s agent in that part of the country; and being of good presence and pleasing personality, he could soon create a volume of sales that would pay him well.

He acted upon the suggestion immediately, wrote several manufacturers, and was appointed resident agent by a number of them, on liberal commission basis. He resigned his position and went to work with not a dollar of capital invested. For a time he made his home his office, where his wife, having learned typewriting, proved a willing and valuable assistant.

That was seven years ago. Today the husband has a big office, with plenty of help, in a down-town office building, and is recognized as one of the best hydraulic engineers in the state.

A man who had considerable experience in theatre-program advertising decided that if some money could be made from publishing one program a great deal more could be made with several programs. The following experience proved his reasoning was right:

Visiting the managers of five leading motion-picture houses, he offered to furnish each with an attractive program twice a week, free of charge, provided he could have the bill three or four days in advance. He was to have all the money received from advertisements in the programs. They all accepted his proposition, and he called upon the printer, who usually set up his matter. He explained that there would be two editions of each program every week, those containing the bill for Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday to be distributed at the various theatres on Wednesday, while that for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday was to be distributed on Sunday, that all ads. were to stand for at least one month, while the bill was to be changed twice a week, and this, of course, enabled the printer to name a very low rate for the printing.

He gave each theater twice as many programs for each day as there were seats in the house, so as to reach both the afternoon and evening crowds, and added 200 or 300 to that number for distribution on Sunday, the big day of the week.

He selected the five theatres as near each other as possible, as most of the advertisers were in that vicinity.

He usually ran about sixteen pages of ads., though during the holidays he would have as much as twenty-four pages most of the time; and as he printed about 20,000 programs a week, he had no difficulty in securing good prices for the ads. The advertisers soon found it was well worth all it cost, and the originator of the plan realized many thousands of dollars from it.

It was a woman who originated the plan of establishing a messenger service to meet the needs of a large number of people who are not regular patrons of the larger messenger agencies and who often have special messages or articles requiring prompt and trustworthy delivery.

At a total cost of less than $30, she fitted up her kitchen as an office and as headquarters for the boys whom she engaged for this service, circulated a few hundreds cards, with her address and telephone number, among the class of business people she wished to reach, had blanks printed for the names and addresses of those to whom messages were sent, with space for their acknowledgement of the receipt of whatever was delivered, and inserted a few ads. in the local paper, announcing the beginning of her new enterprise.

She adopted a schedule of prices a little lower than those charged by the larger companies, and engaged the services of two good reliable boys of her acquaintance to make deliveries.

Patrons soon found the service satisfactory and her business grew with amazing rapidity. Within a year she was enjoying an income far in excess of what she anticipated. She is now more than pleased with the success of her novel plan for making a comfortable living.

Selling watch fobs for 5 cents each, and yet realizing a profit of $1.50 from the sale yourself, looks like one of those things that “can’t be done” and yet it is easily accomplished. This plan helped pay part of his college expenses.

He procures a quantity of ribbon representing the colors of the local football or baseball team and bearing a small nickel or silver-plated ornament, such as a horseshoe or football, and the one who gets the fob was entitled to have his name or any design engraved upon it free of charge.

The plan is usually worked in a cigar store, or pool hall as follows: Two fobs are attached to a card with the label “Win a Watch Fob for 5 cents,” and the game is played with dice in a set of five. Three throws for 5 cents is the charge, and the spots are counted and recorded with each throw. The highest possible throw in three shakes is 90, the lowest 15. The limit of entries of 60, and the highest and lowest scores in the series each receives a fob.

Sixty entries at 5 cents each is $3.00, and as the cost of the fobs do not exceed 25 cents each, the profit is $2.50. After settling with the clerk who keeps the tally and the middleman who placed the outfit, the originator of the plan realizes at least $1.50 on each transaction, and his profits are limited only by the number of games played.

A man who was state agent for a concern that failed, was left without money, and there were no positions open for him. In earlier life he had been a stenographer, while his wife had taught school for a number of years before their marriage. As a traveling man he had noted the incompetency of many stenographers, especially their ignorance of business principles, and often commented on this to his wife.

In their dilemma, the wife suggested the establishment of a shorthand and business school combined, but they had no capital as a basis upon which to begin operations. The husband still had the small office he had used as state agent, in which were two desks, a few tables, chairs, etc., and the wife suggested that these could be used to begin with in a small way. She at once began taking shorthand lessons from her husband, took up typewriting at which she made rapid progress.

They secured two or three students by personal solicitation, and the wife began teaching them shorthand and typewriting, though she was only one lesson ahead of them, a fact of which the students remained blissfully ignorant. The husband took charge of the practical business course of instruction, and the pupils made rapid progress, for they were being taught along right lines.

In the meantime, the wife did her own housework, took care of the children, sewed, cooked, and performed all the household duties, while looking after the progress of her pupils, attending to her husband’s correspondence, etc. By using practical methods of instruction, they turned out very competent classes, and soon found it necessary to increase their facilities by moving to larger quarters and adding to their equipment, besides hiring additional teachers in the various departments. Today they have a prosperous business and shorthand school.

A young woman in an eastern city, being in poor health and having an invalid mother to support, decided to open a shop for mending and fine sewing, as she was very skillful in the use of the needle.

She rented a small ground floor apartment in a good location, and put out a neat sign announcing the opening of a “Mending and Darning Shop. Fine sewing of all kinds.” She made a specialty of fine damask, hemming table cloths and napkins and darning old ones, and did her work so neatly that her services soon became in great demand among the housewives of the community. She distributed her business cards throughout the neighborhood, and these brought her in a great many orders.

Finally a large department store offered to add a mending and darning department to its activities, and place her in charge at a good salary. She accepted the offer, and has made such a success that she is now the head of this department, with several girls doing the greater part of the work under her personal direction. Just a little plan of her own, but it brought her independence.

A California man who had formerly been in the wall-paper business and found himself entirely wiped out by a fire, decided to make another start by using his home as the basis of operations for supplying his patrons with wall paper at very much less than the usual prices, the profit in that community being sufficiently large to permit great reductions in even the best grades.

A large manufacturer gladly sent him a book of samples of all kinds of wall paper, and with this he visited hundreds of homes, where he exhibited the various styles. The prices he named were far below those of the down-town stores, as he had no rent or clerk to pay. He took a surprisingly large number of orders, and realized a handsome profit on each sale. Many of his customers felt they could put on the paper themselves, but in those cases where he did this work for them, he charged a fair price, and soon found he had all the work he could possibly do. As his patronage increased, he found it necessary to employ a young man to do the papering in those cases where it was required, while his entire time was devoted to the taking of orders. He had excellent taste in the matter of harmonious decorations, and made many sales through showing the housewives the artistic effects that could be produced by selecting the design best adapted to the furnishings of the home.

At the end of the first year, he found his profits were much greater than those of any year he had conducted his store, and this without the investment of a single dollar.

A young woman living in a town of a few thousand inhabitants, where there were many fraternal societies, all having large memberships, found she had an opportunity to make a good income by catering to these societies.

She was not only a very skillful cook, but had excellent taste in the preparation and arrangement of repasts, and at the same time possessed an exceptionally pleasing personality.

She distributed among the officers and members of all the lodges in her town a number of handsomely designed and printed cards announcing she was prepared to serve light luncheons for their social meetings, at a certain price per plate, and would assume full charge of the entire entertainment.

Her first engagement was for a large gathering of lodge people, on the occasion of a visit from one of the supreme officers of the order, and so well did she carry out the elaborate program, and so exquisite was the luncheon and its service, that this gave her a good reputation for this work. After that no social affair of the fraternalists was considered without first engaging her to take charge, and the income she derived from this source made her a good living each year.

If you have a cellar that is not in use, you have the foundation for a good living in the growing of mushrooms.

Dig up the space you desire to use for this purpose, digging it deep, and pulverize the earth thoroughly. Then add a quantity of fine, black dirt, rich in phosphates, with a liberal amount of some good fertilizer. Then water the prepared bed thoroughly, and put in the spawn, which you can buy very cheaply almost anywhere. Your mushrooms, when well started, will produce a crop every month, but from September to May is the season when they bring the highest prices, ranging from 75 cents to $1.50 per pound, at hotels, cafes, etc. Give them considerable attention, especially at first, keeping them well watered and giving them plenty of air, but not too much light, and keep the temperature at from 60 to 70 degrees the entire time.

One person we know of, from a bed of 4 feet long by 3 feet wide, and three bricks of spawn, eight weeks after starting, produced two and one-half pounds of mushrooms every two days, or about nine pounds a week. At an average price of $1.00 per pound, this brought an addition of $9.00 a week to his regular income, and required but a few hours of his spare time in the growth of the product. By doubling his space, he could have doubled his profits from this source, and $18 a week from a “side line” is a sum not to be despised, especially when it involves so little labor and time, requires no capital and carries with it no risk of any kind.

Basket making is one of these simple, easily-learned, easily-operated and profitable occupations, so well adapted to women, that it is a wonder more of them do not engage in it.

The country women at Aitken, S. C., make thousands of pretty and useful baskets from pine needles, and sell them at good prices.

A lady who was visiting there learned the art of making these baskets, and later her sister moved out west, where she learned how the Indians made the baskets for which they are so famous. Some of the materials used, including certain kinds of grasses, she sent back to her sister at home, and these were made into baskets of various pretty patterns, which sold readily, at good prices, to florists and others. In fact, her basket-making business grew into such proportions that she was obliged to employ a number of girls to assist her in turning them out as fast as they could be sold.

The beauty of it is that her expenses are next to nothing, as her home is her factory, the material is not expensive, no advertising or printing of literature is necessary, and the proceeds of the output, aside from the wages of the girls, are practically all profit.

As this lady lives in a city, she also derives a very neat income from teaching the basket-making art to other women, and these in turn, make a good living from their work, without glutting the market, for as long as florists have calls for flowers, they need these pretty baskets to put them in—and that means an additional profit on the flowers.

With a husband who was sick and without money, a new England woman, living in a small city, found it incumbent upon herself to do some planning to supply the family with food.

Having an intimate knowledge and special aptitude for making exceptionally fine potato chips and doughnuts, she decided that if she could once succeed in getting people to try her products she would be assured of a ready sale for them, and immediately went to work to prepare a small quantity of each, put up in her own style. Packing them neatly in a clean, new basket, she called at a number of well-to-do homes and asked the lady of the house to try a sample order. Nearly all these ladies were willing to do so, and were so greatly delighted with the superior manner in which they were made that upon her next call she was given a large number of orders to supply families regularly with what they regarded as positive delicacies.

In nine weeks she had made a net profit of $80 on her potato chips and $90 on her doughnuts, and from that time on she was so busy filling orders that she was obliged to employ a boy with a bicycle to make her deliveries.

There are thousands of other women who can do just what this woman did, and rise from a condition of actual want to one of plenty, and without asking favors of anyone. If they will make it a matter of strict business, they may succeed as she did.

Plan No. 94. A Happy Group

As a means of educating a boy regarding business principles, and teaching him practical ways of making money, nothing is better than the raising of poultry in a small way, but according to correct methods.

A man in Ogden, Utah, gave his 10-year-old boy $5.00 and told him to invest it in whatever enterprise best suited him, and what promised the best returns upon the investment.

The boy, who was healthy, energetic and enthusiastic, bought a young rooster and two pullets, all pure-bred fowls, and turned them into the back yard of his home.

During February, the two pullets laid twenty-nine eggs, which he put into an incubator, and on March 22nd, he had twenty lively young chicks. He kept these until August, taking the best of care of them, when he sold four pullets for $1.50 each, and four roosters at $2.00 each, making him already $9.00 ahead of his original investment, with five pullets and three cockerels left, besides the three he started with.

His first two pullets laid thirty-two eggs in March, and these he sold for hatching purposes, at 15 cents each. In the next month he got only twenty-three more eggs, as one of the pullets had become broody, and those that were laid in April and May he put under scrub hens for hatching, while his two blooded pullets were kept laying. The boy was learning, and his father was giving him valuable advice in business methods.

On December 1st, the boy figured up the results of the season’s operations, and found that his expenses had been $30.73, of which $19.25 was for feed, and that his cash receipts and stock of chickens on hand amounted to $141.15, so that he had made a net profit of $110.42 on an investment of $5.00 a few months before.

And where is the boy, if he is of the right sort, and tries, who cannot equal this record?

You may think you have heard of all kinds of insurance, but have you ever heard of watch insurance? This Pittsburgh man never had, but he figured out a plan of insuring watches against breakage, loss or theft, and thought it out with such perfect precision and detail, that he soon had a profitable and permanent business of his own.

In the policy he issues he agrees that in case the watch insured is broken, he makes complete repairs by sending it to some jeweler, to be selected by the assured, upon receipt of a full statement of the nature and extent of the breakage, and to pay all the costs of such repairs.

In case of the loss of the watch, he is to pay the assured, or owner of the watch, one-half its value, as stated in the policy if the watch is not found again, and the same amount if the watch is stolen and not recovered.

The policy holder is required in all cases to send full details concerning the breakage, loss or theft of the watch, and if upon investigation it appears that the watch is not, or cannot be found or recovered, he sends his check for one-half of its value as above stated.

His charges for insuring watches vary from $1.00 to $5.00 per year, according to the value of the watch, the greater the value the higher the premium; and, being a man of good standing in his community, he finds most people willing to pay the small amount required to guard them against the damage, loss or theft of their favorite timepieces. He has made it a good-paying business, and many others can follow the same plan with profit.

In the office of clerks of the court in the United States are thousands of dollars in unclaimed witness fees, and this offers an opportunity for thousands of men all over the country to collect them for the parties on a large percentage basis——say, one-half the amounts collected.

A man living in a county seat in a western state made a small fortune in this manner, because he hit upon the right plan.

All public records are open to the inspection of any person, and his method was to make a thorough examination of these records and obtain a list of all witness fees paid in but not called for by the parties, who had probably forgotten all about them, or, after calling for them several times, found the records were not completed, so that their witness fees could not be paid. He noted the title of each case, the date of the trial, the name and address of the witnesses, the number of days of attendance and the amount of the fees due him.

Then he would call upon or write to the former witnesses, stating that a certain amount was due him, which he had failed or forgotten to call for, and that he would collect the same on a 50 per cent basis, as he was in a position to make the collection. He enclosed, or handed to the party if seen personally, an order on the court clerk as follows: “You are hereby authorized to pay to (collector’s name here) the sum of ——— dollars and ——— cents, the same being due me as witness for ——— days attendance in the case of ————— vs. —————” with blank for signature of the witness. His letter bore the names of several well known men in his town as references, and in most cases the paper came back duly signed, the money was collected, one-half sent to the former witness, and the balance belonged to the man who thought out the plan.

A young man who owned a small printing office, had a reputation for the skillful and artistic manner in which he did the work that came to him, dropped into a hotel that ran a café in connection, and said to the proprietor: “Would you like to have me double your business for you, at but very little cost?” “I certainly would,” replied the hotel man, “and if you can do that you are the very man I am looking for.”

“All right,” said the printer, “I am ready to show you.”

He went into the café, secured the menu for the various meals of the following day, together with the general or short-order menu, and hurried back to his printing office. There he proceeded to work out an attractive design in border and type effects that would draw attention anywhere, and took them to the hotel, where he submitted them to the proprietor.

The hotel man was delighted with the artistic appearance of the cards, and suggested that they be taken into the café at once.

“No,” said the printer, “only enough of these to be placed at each table are to go into the café. The others are to be put up in the guest rooms, one of each to every room in the house, and see how it works.”

The proprietor had never thought of that, but realized at once the value of the plan, and right there gave the printer a standing order to print all the menu cards the house could use in the manner suggested, willingly paying a good round sum for the service. The young man extended the plan to the other hotels of the town, and was soon the busiest printer in the town, for it really doubled the business of each house.

That churches, as well as commercial and other enterprises, could derive great benefits from the publication of a weekly paper devoted to the interests of all the churches in a community, was the firm conviction of a young man living in a western city, and having had considerable newspaper experience, he concluded to try it and see if it would prove a success.

He attended a meeting of the ministerial association and submitted the plan to them. Every one of the ministers, representing all the various denominations, at once became very much interested in the proposition, and each promised it his hearty endorsement and support.

Each pastor in the city agreed to furnish the news, as well as the various announcements of his particular church each week, so there was comparatively little in the way of editorial work for the young man to do.

Having made arrangements to have the paper printed in an attractive form, on a good quality of paper, the young publisher called upon a large number of business men, particularly those belonging to the various churches of the city, and soon had enough subscriptions and advertisements to more than pay the cost of printing the paper.

The Y. M. C. A., the Y. W. C. A., the W. C. T. U., and other religious organizations, all contributed to its columns and helped to increase its circulation, while pictures of the churches and portraits of the pastors and leaders in religious work gave it a most attractive appearance.

Plan No. 99. Now I have a Cow—Everybody Bids Me Good Morrow

Next to having a prospective purchaser come to your place to see any animal you may have for sale, the best means of giving him a good idea of it is to take a good photograph of the animal, properly posed, and send it to him by mail, or use it in advertising.

A farmer’s wife, who had bought a camera for pleasure, soon learned to adapt it to business purposes and made many sales of valuable animals through this means alone.

This lady had three pure-bred collie dogs, from which she sold about $400 worth of puppies every year, and she found that a majority of those sales were made to persons to whom she had sent photographs which she made easily and cheaply with her camera.

She knew the secret of having an animal correctly posed in order to show it to best advantage in a picture, and knew exactly how best to attract its attention at the critical moment of opening and closing the shutter. The result was that the fine points of the animal were made very prominent.

Her husband was so impressed with the results of her skill in this respect that he asked her to take the pictures of some pure-bred Berkshire hogs he had for sale, and readily disposed of them by this means. Horses and cows were also photographed with equal success, while many of the best animal photos were sent to agricultural papers, and were in most cases accepted at good prices.

The use of the camera in this way not only paid its first cost many times over, but brought in a good revenue each year, besides the pleasure it afforded the family when used for other purposes.

A lady living in a small western town was the mother of two boys to whom she wished to give a good start in life. She had very little money, but many original yet practical ideas, and from these she formulated some excellent plans for earning the money she needed for her boys and herself.

One after another she adopted a number of good plans, made a success of them, and was thus enabled to bring up her boys in the manner she desired. Her plans are here given in separate detail, and it should be noted that each and every one of these plans could be used with great profit by any other woman who wishes to use either one or all of them, as she chooses.

Well knowing the predilection of most people for sweet things, her first efforts were directed toward making and selling a very superior grade of stick candy, according to the following formula: Over a hot fire place a kettle containing a quart of water, ten pounds of white sugar and one teaspoonful cream tartar. Let it boil until it will snap, then put it into cold water and pour out on marble slab or tin cooler, well greased. As it cools, turn outer edge to center, and when cool enough to handle, pull it until it is white as snow. Leave a small piece unpulled, and color this red by adding a few drops of cochineal. Now roll your batch of candy into a ball, pull the red candy into a long strip, cut in three or four pieces, lay them on top of the white and roll it out, commencing at one end, pulling and rolling it at the same time, which throws the stripes in a twist around the stick. Keep rolling until hard enough to prevent sticks from flattening out, then tap the sticks lightly with the edge of a knife, and break them into any lengths desired.

In making this, as in all her products, she used only the purest ingredients, so that the candy was perfectly safe for children, and she sold great quantities of it, because it was “so good.”

This taffy candy, which proved an excellent seller, yielding large profits, she made as follows:

White sugar, 10 pounds; water, 3 pints; cream tartar, one teaspoonful, and when nearly cooked add one-fourth pound of butter. Add any kind of flavor preferred, by pouring it on while rolling. This candy should be cooked to the snapping point, but do not stir while cooking, or the sugar will granulate.

This was one of her most popular products, and was made as follows: white sugar, 5 pounds; best maple syrup, one pint; water, one pint; butter, 1 tablespoonful; cream tartar, ¹⁄₄ teaspoonful. Cook same as in making above described taffy candy, and put in one teaspoonful extract of vanilla while pulling.

This was also a great favorite with the children, and she sold a great deal of it, as well as her other candies, by visiting the different schools during the noon hour or at recess, on certain days of each week. The peanut crisp she made as follows: White sugar, 5 pounds; water, 1¹⁄₂ pints; cream tartar, one-half teaspoonful. When nearly cooked, add one pound parched, hulled peanuts and one tablespoonful soda. Cook until it will snap.

She employed many ways of selling the above and other specialties. She took pains to learn of approaching anniversaries, such as birthday, wedding, etc., and a few days preceding the event she would send an attractive letter of congratulation, incidentally suggesting a box of her home-made candies for the occasion. This made many sales.

In addition to her candy-making enterprise, this lady likewise engaged in the making of perfumes, and so well did she succeed that her income was more than doubled. She developed a method of extracting the attar of roses and other flowers, which enabled her to make a great variety of the most delightful as well as lasting perfumes, and the ladies soon came to know of their exquisite fragrance.

To extract the attar of any flower she procured a quantity of the petals, which she placed on thin layers of cotton, afterwards dipping them into the finest Florence or Lucca oil, then sprinkled a small quantity of fine salt on the flowers alternately, until an earthen vessel or wide-mouthed bottle was filled with them. Then she tied the top of the vessel closely with a piece of parchment or rubber cloth, and laid it in the heat of the sun for fifteen days, when a fragrant oil, equal to the highest-priced essences, and very valuable in the making of various kinds of perfumes, could be squeezed from the contents thus treated.

Many people who cannot afford the high-priced perfumes are very well satisfied with some cheaper kind, and to meet this demand, the lady put up a home-made cologne that gave very good satisfaction. This she made as follows:

To one gallon spirits of wine, add a teaspoonful each of the oils of lemon, orange and bergamot; with 40 drops of extract of vanilla. Shake until the oils are well cut, then add one and one-half pints of soft water.

This made a very fair grade of perfume, and, though it could be sold at a low price, it yielded a fair profit to the lady who produced it.

Very few are the boudoir accessories that are dearer to the feminine heart than a rose jar, properly made, and most women will pay almost any price for one of that kind. This lady knew exactly how to make a perfect rose jar, and added this to the already long list of her profitable industries.

She dried rose petals in salt for two weeks, then cleansed the salt from the petals and put them in a jar. She would leave the jar open for a few days, then put in 2 tablespoonfuls each of cloves, allspice and cinnamon, and added 10 grains of powdered musk, letting it stand a few hours. She then added 5 cents worth of oil of lemon verbena, and 5 cents worth of oil of lavender. This she let stand three days, added 15 cents worth of oil of rose geranium, and had a rose jar that would sell for just about any price she had the temerity to ask.

This preparation she found in great demand by the ladies, as it proved a wonderful beautifier of the complexion, and a fine remedy for chapped hands, rough skin, etc. This is the formula she used for preparing it:

To 4 ounces of blanched almonds she added the white of one egg, after beating the almonds to a smooth paste in a mortar, then add enough rose water, mixed with its weight in alcohol, to give it the proper consistency. She put it up in 2-ounce jars, pasted on a fancy label, and sold it at 25 cents a jar. Its actual cost to her, jar, label and all, was less than 7 cents.

Having suffered her full share of the losses and disappointments that fall to the lot of so many victims of the fraudulent “home-work” schemes through which many become well-to-do at the expense of poor women who are seeking to make an honest living a California woman perfected a really meritorious as well as profitable plan that can be carried out by other women with as great profit as it brought to her.

Instead of dealing with that class of utility articles which can be purchased ready made for less than the ordinary woman can buy the materials, she decided to specialize in something that appealed to the vanity of women who could afford to gratify individual taste, and chose as her particular specialty those dainty ribboned sachet puffies for the handkerchief case, shirt-waist box or bureau drawer, also those made in heart shape with beauty pin attached, which girls wear inside their waists, presenting a beautiful appearance, yet easy and inexpensive to make, and affording a nice profit at 10 cents each. In fact, the entire cost of the material, including the beauty pin, is only one and one-half cents each and the making is but a minute’s work.

Few people really know how to use sachet powder. They generally use entirely too much, and the scent is too strong, or it is adulterated with something like orris root and the scent is uneven. But this lady did know, and she placed fluffy cotton, or wadding, inside the bag, and sprinkled it lightly with the sachet, which gave an even, delicate and lasting perfume. She made up the bags of silkalene of various colors, using baby ribbon of colors to match for “drawing” the puffie. The silkalene will cost 10 cents per yard and one yard will make twenty-eight of the bags. Less material is required for the corsage puffie, but the beauty pin evens up the cost. Any woman who can sew can make one hundred of the puffies a day, at a cost of $1.50, and she can readily sell them for $10, and even more, thus making a profit of $8.50 a day for very light, pleasant work.

Having made up several hundreds of the puffies, in various styles and colors—the larger ones are round or oblong and the corsage puffies heart-shaped—she decided upon the “trust” plan as the best means of selling them. She sent out a number of boys and girls to sell them at 10 cents each, paying them $2.00 for each one hundred sold, and even at this figure she made a profit of $6.50 on each one hundred puffies. And they sold, too, for almost every woman or girl who saw them bought at least one and in some cases as many as half a dozen, so the sales were easy and rapid.

Having made so great a success in her home town, this lady extended it to other towns, and after covering the territory thoroughly she offered to sell complete instructions, with patterns for making them, for $1.00. To those purchasing this information she supplied the materials, which she bought at wholesale, and made a good profit in that way, so that in a few months she was enjoying a steady income equal to that of many other merchants in her town, yet she had only a few dollars—and a good plan—to start with.

An enterprising young man in San Francisco, who knew that the saw blades used by butchers require frequent sharpening and also knew that it costs the average butcher about $3.00 a month to keep them sharpened, figured out a way to save more than half that expense, and make a good thing for himself at the same time.

He heard of a firm in New York that manufactured a machine for automatically sharpening hand- and meat-saws, at the rate of two hundred and fifty blades a day.

He ordered one of these machines at a cost of $60 and set it up in the family woodshed. He also bought 600 new saw blades at 20 cents each, or $120 more, a total investment of $180. Then he started out to round up the butchers of the city, and when he showed them that he could supply each of them with twelve sharp blades a month, at 10 cents each, or $1.20, instead of the $3.00 a month they had been paying, everyone of them gave him an order.

At the shop of each patron he left twelve sharp blades, taking twelve dull ones in their place and collecting $1.20, so that his first month’s receipts from fifty shops amounted to $60. In three months he had his entire investment back, and after that his $60 a month was all profit, but by doubling the number of his patrons he doubled his net income, and so on in proportion to the increase in the number of his orders. All the dull blades collected were re-sharpened and taken to his customers in exchange for more dull ones each month.

He also made considerable money through supplying his customers with new saw frames, knives, steels, etc., and in a few months had built up a profitable business of his own.

A patriotic young lady in the East, realizing that many people do not have a flag, when every home should possess one or more of these emblems of liberty, decided upon a plan by which she believed she could supply this need, and do so at a neat profit to herself, especially as there are national holidays requiring the flying of the colors almost every month in the year.

She wrote an eastern manufacturer, asking the lowest wholesale prices on flags of all sizes and materials, together with collapsible flag-poles that can be sent by parcel post, rope holder, etc., all packed in a neat box and shipped direct from the factory to such patrons as she might secure in her city and neighborhood, leaving her nothing to do but to get the orders.

The prices quoted being satisfactory, she prepared a circular letter, to be sent to those who answered a small ad. in the local paper offering flags for sale at extremely moderate prices, and several hundred of these, tactfully written in a patriotic vein, were mailed out all over the country, giving full description, quoting prices, etc. In response many orders for flags were received, and these she sent, with the wholesale price of each, to the manufacturer, who shipped the complete outfit direct to the customer, under the young lady’s own label. This plan was successful, not only in furthering a good and patriotic cause, but brought her a neat sum in the way of profits.

Nothing else you can offer a child appeals so strongly as does a free ticket to a motion picture theatre, and when you offer a dozen or more of these free tickets for a few hours’ work children will almost go through fire and water to get them.

A Portland man who had been a boy himself—long before the day of the movies—having made up a large amount of an exceptionally good silver polish, for which he had not found a very ready sale, concluded to let the boys and girls of the smaller towns sell it for him, and believed that free tickets to the motion-picture theatres would prove the most acceptable of all premiums to offer them for their activities.

He advertised in a number of small-town papers, asking for the names of all children who would like to see the movies free of charge, and received so many names that it was only a matter of selection from the great number replying.

To each of these he sent twenty packages of the silver polish with instructions to sell them at 10 cents each and remit the money to him, when he would send each boy or girl an order on the theatre manager for twelve tickets to a 5 cent house or six to a 10 cent house. He had previously sent the manager a draft sufficient to cover the cost of all the tickets, and in most cases it made it easy for him thereafter to secure tickets in quantities at great reductions, thus adding considerably to his net profits.

His sales under this plan netted him over $5,000 the first year.

A young man in Salt Lake City made money by giving away live alligators.

A certain man in Florida where alligators of a hardy and harmless kind are numerous captures these young alligators by the hundreds and sells them at 40 cents each, in lots of a dozen or more.

This young fellow was making and selling—or trying to sell—a number of small articles, such as sheet bluing, silver polish, and some other things, but his sales were slow, and he realized that he must do something to boost his business.

He sent for twenty-five of these little alligators, and advertised in a number of country weeklies that any boy who would sell a certain number of his specialties, at 10 cents each, and remit the entire receipts to him, would receive free a real live alligator as a premium for his work. In a week he received many inquires, and as fast as the names of boys came in he sent packages of his goods to them to be sold. The boys must have been good salesmen or unusually enthusiastic, for inside of two weeks more the remittances began to arrive and to each boy so remitting a live young alligator was sent by express, charges collect; and, as they made very interesting little pets, absolutely safe to play with, every boy who received one became the envy of the neighborhood, so that every other boy wanted one too, and a little effort soon brought him one of his own.

A New York man who had a nicely equipped office was asked one day by a western customer how much he would charge for the privilege of having some of his mail come to his address, as he wished to place on his stationery the words, “New York office, No . . . . Building.” He thought it would add prestige to his business standing.

The New York man named a small amount, and then this idea came to him: Why not make the same arrangement with a lot of other out-of-town people, none of whom would be in the office more than once or twice a year, and all he would have to do would be to forward any mail that came for any of these various parties?

Afterwards he bought small, cheap desks at auction, installed them in his office and advertised desk room for rent at $1.00 to $5.00 a month. Many people called, to whom he explained that $1.00 a month would entitle a man to call once a day for his mail, while those who transacted any amount of business there each day would be charged $5.00 a month.

He also advertised in leading western dailies that persons could have their New York address at his office for a certain amount, and the plan worked so well that the rentals so obtained much more than paid his own rent and all his other office expenses besides. But he insisted upon references in every case, and never let anyone have this privilege unless he proved to be honest and reliable.

Other men in various eastern cities have since adopted this plan with success.

“Knock-down” furniture and picture frames are an old story, but “knock-down,” or ready-to-make wearing apparel is “a new one” to most people.

A Chicago woman who was an expert cutter, and who knew that most women and girls would like to make their own clothes if they could only be assured of a perfect fit, saw an opportunity here to not only save these women at least half on the cost of their apparel, but to make money as well, out of the business of supplying their needs.

She arranged with a popular pattern house for the loan of current illustrations with which to publish a monthly fashion bulletin, featuring those particular patterns, and with a wholesale dry goods house for the regular discounts on dress materials, trimmings, etc., securing a line of small samples of each piece of goods in most demand.

Then she began advertising that for $6.50 she would furnish all the material for a certain dress, ready cut, ready to sew together, that would cost, made up, at the stores, $15, and other goods in the same proportion.

To women answering these ads. and asking for particulars, she would send a small sample of the goods desired, together with a copy of her bulletin, illustrating each pattern, and showing the difference in the price when cut to fit by her, as compared with the same dress bought at a store, and usually requiring extensive alterations. She was soon obliged to employ a number of skilled assistants, in order to turn out the work that came to her.

The pattern selected by the customer was used for cutting the garment, then sent to her with the material and it was an easy matter to complete a perfect fitting dress, at a great saving in cost.

Being a secretary by mail is a man’s-size job, and few there are who can fill a position so exacting and often so delicate in the performance of its manifold duties. However, a Denver young man, of literary tastes and a lot of good business sense, felt that he could do it, and found that he could.

He began by catering to the mail-order merchants who wish to keep posted on new advertisements and schemes, and answered all such ads. for his clients, sending them the replies received. He wrote attractive business-getting letters for mail-order and other people who were poor letter writers themselves, but who knew the value of good ones. He attended to business matters in his city for his clients, occasionally made collections for them, and performed many delicate forms of service that proved of great value. In short, he did the work of a regular secretary, but did it better than most of them are capable of doing, the main difference being that he was secretary for some 200 men or firms, instead of for only one; and, though his charges in each case were very small, they amounted to a good deal in the aggregate, and brought him a nice income for comparatively little effort.

It was a successful combination of the right man and the right plan.

A Seattle man worked out the following plan.

He called upon the managers of half a dozen or more of the 5 cent motion-picture houses and told them if they would sell him tickets at one-half the regular price, to be paid for in cash, in lots of 500 or more, he could greatly increase the attendance at their theatres, as the tickets would not cost the holders anything, and everybody who had free tickets would be sure to come.

Practically all of those approached accepted this offer, and then he had several thousand coupons printed, at a cost of 50 cents per 1,000, and used a special tint of paper to prevent counterfeiting.

Thus armed, he next called upon a number of merchants with a proposition that, for $1.25, he would give them 100 of these coupons, twenty-five of the 5 cent admission tickets, and an attractive show-card calling attention to the fact that he was offering his cash customers free motion-picture tickets. The twenty-five tickets alone, at their face value, were worth the amount he asked for the entire outfit.

Most merchants were glad to give a discount of 5 cents on each $1.00 cash purchase, as it had a tendency to convert many credit customers into cash buyers, and the favorable publicity it gave was worth a good deal. He gave one coupon with each 25-cent cash purchase, four for a $1.00 purchase, and these four coupons entitled their holder to a free 5-cent theatre ticket. He gave out, on an average, 100 of these coupons and twenty-five tickets each day, with cash purchases amounting in all to $25.

The young man’s profit on each 100 coupons, accompanied by twenty-five of the 5 cent tickets, was 40 cents, or $2.40 a week for each merchant giving out 100 coupons a day. This amounted to $124.80 a year. Twenty-five merchants therefore netted him $3,120 a year, while fifty merchants as regular customers would net him $6,240, and 100 merchants, $12,480.

“I had always believed that only a resident of a big city could engage in mail order business,” said a successful Eastern Washington farmer, the other day, “but I have learned from my own experience that this is not true.

“Last spring I began to realize what a great demand there is for sweet potato slips, and believed there would be money in supplying this need, so, in February, I bought and “bedded” 100 bushels of sweet potatoes, and in May the first lot of slips was ready for the market. Between that time and July 1st I disposed of 500,000 slips, at an average price of $1.50 per 1,000, and then realized that if I had specialized on a certain brand of potatoes, besides the regular line, my profits would have been much larger. When it is considered that only a few months’ work was involved, I regard the returns as very satisfactory, for my net profits on the entire transaction were $540. By enlarging my scope of operations next year, I expect to do very much better, and then have the greater part of the year left, to devote to other purposes. I believe thousands of other men can become successful mail order operators by specializing on some similar line.”

A mail-order man back east hit upon a new plan of making money, and received $321 during the first three weeks.

From an electrotype company he purchased 200 mounted electrotypes of different subjects, all suitable for advertising in weekly newspapers, for 10 cents each.

Then he had printed 2,500 circulars, 24x36, showing the 200 cuts, and mailed the circulars to that number of country merchants whose names he had obtained by sending for sample copies of weekly newspapers within a radius of 250 miles from the city in which he lived.

Now, country merchants are always glad to use cuts in their ads., if they can only get them at low rates, and when they were offered to them at 20 cents each by express, or 22 cents if sent by mail, postage paid, they were very glad to get them, and the orders came in rapidly.

As the orders were received, this man forwarded them to the electrotyping company to be filled, enclosing 10 cents for each cut ordered, and retaining the other 10 cents as his profit. Some merchants ordered from five to fifty of the cuts, and after the mail-order man had had several thousand more circulars printed, he used the 200 cuts he had bought in filling orders, and thereafter all orders were filled direct by the company making the electrotype cuts.

Extending his field of operations to cover more territory, the mail-order man found it so profitable that he made it a regular business.

A young Denver widow, whose husband had been a druggist, but had left her practically destitute at his death, decided that a formula she had successfully used herself for quickly removing grease, paint and oil spots from wearing apparel, carpets, silks, laces, woodwork, etc., besides being an unequaled shampoo for the hair, could be made a source of considerable revenue if properly presented to the public.

The formula for making this magic annihilator is as follows:

For making one gross of 8-ounce bottles, take aqua ammonia, one gallon; soft water, 8 gallons; best white soap, 4 pounds; saltpetre, 8 ounces. Shave the soap fine, add the water, boil until the soap is dissolved, let it get cold, then add the saltpetre, stirring until dissolved. Now strain, let the suds settle, skim off the dry suds, add the ammonia, bottle and cork at once.

This will not injure the finest texture, and its chemical action is such that it turns any oil or grease into soap, which is easily washed out with clear, cold water. It is excellent for cleaning silver, brass and copper, and is certain death to bedbugs, if applied to the places frequented by them. Used as a shampoo, with an equal amount of water and a stiff brush, it produces a lather that removes grease and dandruff, while a cloth wet with it will remove grease from doorknobs, window sills, etc. To remove grease from clothing, pour on a quantity of it, rubbing with a clean sponge, on both sides of the article to be cleaned. For carpets and coarse goods, use a stiff brush and wash out with clear, cold water. One application is sufficient for fresh grease spots, but where old and dry, apply again, if necessary. For cleaning silverware, etc., mix with an equal amount of whitening, and rub briskly with a rag.

Pasting a neat label, containing the directions, upon each of the 144 bottles, she started in business by selling it from house to house, but as the demand increased, she employed canvassers, placed it on sale at the various drug stores in the city, and later advertised it with excellent results.

Although the cost was a mere trifle, she found a ready sale for it at 50 cents per bottle, and it has proved so profitable that she has greatly increased her facilities and is to-day enjoying an income considerably larger than her late husband ever derived from his drug store.

A man who had held a good position in the city decided to move to the country and raise chickens. He bought a small home, besides a number of hens, and started in business. But the hen project was a failure, and he was about to return to his old place in the city. But he had a bright, enterprising wife, who had some ideas of her own, and she vetoed the plan of going back to the old drudgery of a clerk’s position, which had almost ruined her husband’s health.

Having read a good deal concerning the value to farmers of the parcel post, she decided upon a plan of action. She wrote a catchy ad. offering to furnish dinners to city people; everything, even to the floral decorations, being complete, and delivered by parcel post on the day desired. This ad. she sent to each of the city papers, and in a day or two the first order arrived.

The dinner she sent consisted of one pint of shelled peas, a few young potatoes, one broiler, a pint of strawberry preserves, a pint of cottage cheese, a quart box of cherries, fresh from the tree, a loaf of home-made bread, an angel food cake, one-half pound of fresh, sweet butter, and a number of sweet, old-fashioned roses. All were neatly packed in a strong container and the postage prepaid. It was sent in the morning, and arrived that afternoon.

For a dinner like that she charged $2.00, which was considerably less than it would have cost in the market for stale stuff, but which cost so little to produce that it yielded a very good margin of profit.

The family to whom the first dinner was sent promptly placed an order for two dinners each week, to be varied according to the season, and their example was followed by so many others that both husband and wife were kept busy as bees in putting up parcel-post dinners. But they were making money—more than the husband had ever earned before.

A widow lady who lived near a large factory, and who had done some sewing for the wife and daughters of the superintendent, was told by that official that she could make considerable money by bringing small box lunches to the factory doors at noon every day, and that if she cared to try out the plan she could have the exclusive privilege of doing so.

She thought the matter over carefully and decided there might be something in it, so she procured a hundred small, cheap, paper boxes, and filled them with light, simple lunches which she could sell at a profit for 5, 10 and 15 cents each, and from the very first she found a ready demand for them. Many of the operators, especially the young women who had previously brought their lunches from home, preferred to buy these, as they afforded a variety which, though limited, was something of a change, and the lady found her time fully occupied in planning and preparing them for service while the net profits amounted to something over $2.50 each day.

An Indiana farmer devoted six acres of his land to currant culture and in a year or two began to realize that he had quite an undertaking on his hands.

From these six acres he usually picks 1,000 crates which sell at $1.35 per crate, and it is necessary for him to hire a large number of boys and girls to do the picking. To these he pays good prices, and after all expenses are paid, he generally comes out about $600 ahead. As this is much more than can be produced by any other crop, he has about decided to plant his entire farm of 160 acres in currants, and thus clear $16,000 a year from a crop that requires but a few months each season to look after.

By using a two-horse cultivator, he need spend but little time or labor in raising the currants, while no planting is required after the first year, and the picking can be let out so as to furnish employment to a large number of boys and girls, as well as those men and women who are not otherwise engaged and are looking for work.

Many women dread the shopping it is necessary for them to do every little while, for to them it is the hardest kind of work, and most of these women would be glad to pay someone to do it for them. But here was a woman who positively delighted in shopping. She loved it for the variety, the excitement and the adventure it afforded.

She called first at the homes of a number of the women whom she knew could not afford to spend much time in shopping, being thoroughly occupied with the numerous duties and responsibilities of their own households. Besides, they did not like to shop anyway.

To these women she made a proposition to attend not only to all their local shopping, but to help them make selections from the catalogs of big mail-order houses, and order whatever goods they wanted from those sources, as well.

For these services she named a rate of compensation that seemed surprisingly low to those for whom they were rendered, but when these small sums were multiplied by 100 or more, they amounted to considerable in the aggregate, so that the arrangement was eminently satisfactory to all parties concerned. Besides, it gave the woman who loved shopping an opportunity to do so without any limitations to her favorite pastime, and it made her a good living.

Ever since the dawn of civilization many men and women have endured various forms of stomach trouble, usually as a result of abusing that delicate and sensitive organ, yet often arising from causes over which the sufferer has no control. And in practically all these cases every known means has been employed in an effort to find a remedy for this distressing affliction.

All sorts of “cures” have been foisted upon these people from time to time, and fortunes have been made from the miseries of the human race, for nowhere else are there such fertile fields for heartless exploitation as among the hosts of the afflicted, who would gladly give all they possess to be restored to that robust health so easily promised by those who profit upon the sick.

It has remained, however, for Father Kneipp, a well known scientist, to discover and perfect a method of curing stomach trouble that, for its simplicity and effectiveness, has never been equaled, and which is now being used with great success in this country and Europe. Several large sanatoriums have been established in various European countries, where this treatment, which is nothing more nor less than a perfect milk diet, is administered with astonishing results.

A young American, who had been a patient at one of these sanatoriums, succeeded in obtaining the exact method or formula for giving this treatment, and believing he could bring untold benefit to thousands of stomach sufferers in this country, and at the same time derive a good income himself from sending them full printed instructions for taking the treatment in the proper manner, devised the following admirable method of procedure:

Through an advertising agency, he inserted the following advertisement in a list of newspapers within a few hundred miles of his home town:

“The world’s most successful treatment for the regeneration of shattered, weak and disordered stomachs and for all chronic ailments of the digestive apparatus, that make life miserable for those so affected. Builds up thin, ill-nourished people, and reduces the superfluous weight of fat people. Relieves and heals disorders of the liver, kidneys, bladder, the circulation, etc. Restores rheumatic sufferers to health, strength and happiness. Milk, which you can take in your own home, is nature’s own sanative, but you must know how to take this diet. Obtain complete instructions, fully describing the method of taking it, by writing us today for the great two-course treatment, and learn how, if you would be well.”

A surprisingly large number of inquiries were received in answer to the above ad., and to every inquirer he sent a circular letter substantially as follows:

“Dear Friend: I have your inquiry relative to the principles of rejuvenation through the Milk Diet, and take pleasure in referring to the really wonderful work it has accomplished for those suffering from ailments of the stomach.

“That famous scientist, Father Kneipp, who recently discovered certain priceless principles of bodily rehabilitation through the medium of the Milk Diet, was so greatly impressed with the marvelous results obtained, that he opened a sanatorium in the Tyrol mountains, to which thousands of wealthy Europeans suffering from stomach or other intestinal disorders are flocking every year, and from which in from two to six weeks they emerge rejoicing in regained health and a new lease on life, the result of a simple and delightful course of treatment. Indeed, patients who are able to pay the expenses of so long a journey are going there from all parts of the world.

“But there are unnumbered thousands everywhere who are suffering equal tortures from disordered stomachs, yet who cannot afford so expensive a trip, and it is now made possible for these people to obtain the same wonderful benefits right in their own homes, through being given the proper instructions for taking this simple yet powerfully effective treatment. Even so great a boon as is the Milk Diet would avail but little unless taken according to the established method adopted by Father Kneipp as the result of years’ of experiment and research. Every good result depends upon knowing how to take the Milk Diet, and those instructions I am prepared to supply for the merely nominal payment of one dollar, which but little more than defrays the cost of printing and mailing. I am offering the two complete courses for this small amount, and am willing to refund even this if you are not more than satisfied with the results of the treatment, when taken according to the instructions I furnish.”

In case this letter failed to bring an order, one or two “follow-up” letters were sent, emphasizing the need of the treatment in all forms of stomach derangement, and again calling attention to the curative qualities of milk when used as a diet in the proper way. He referred to the fact that Americans are particularly subject to stomach difficulties, as a result of improper food, especially hot bread, pies and pastry, and reminded the recipient of the letter that the Milk Diet was easy and pleasant to take; that it was the first natural food of mankind, gives the stomach a much needed rest, and enables it to rebuild under Nature’s beneficent ways; that his course showed anyone exactly how the treatment should be taken, to obtain the desired results and regenerate the entire digestive system, and offered to leave the decision of the case to the party’s own family physician, provided he was a good doctor, and an honest man.

In his third letter he offered to send the course on approval, if desired, expressing full confidence that the patient would remit the $1.00 promptly after having thoroughly tested the merits of the treatment.

The first letter usually brought an order, accompanied by the $1.00 asked, and so uniform was the success of the treatment that not one person ever asked to have his money refunded. On the contrary, dozens of others sent in their dollars after seeing the wonderful results the treatment accomplished.

In the meantime he had had the instructions governing the taking of the treatment neatly printed in an attractive little booklet, the cover containing the words, “The Milk Diet, Nature’s Greatest Remedy for the Relief of Those Suffering from Stomach Troubles, Indigestion, Dyspepsia, Constipation and all Intestinal Ills,” and below this was the picture of a fine cow of high-class stock, contentedly browsing in a green, shady pasture, with trees and a running stream. In this booklet were printed complete instructions, as follows:

“In order to restore the digestive and assimilating processes to a condition whereby they can perform their functions properly, the first requisite is to give the stomach a complete rest, by providing it with food that will not tax the stomach and digestive organs, yet will nourish the body.

“Scientists have discovered that Buttermilk, used to the exclusion of all other foods for a stated time, is the ideal food for that purpose as it contains all the elements of nourishment, and is free from indigestible butter fat; that it thoroughly cleans out the system, eliminating all the toxic poisons and fermented contents of the stomach, which having entered the circulation, upset the whole system and produce disease. It expels the bile, mucus and acids produced by incorrect digestive action, cleanses the stomach and intestines, the liver, pancreas, kidneys and blood, enabling the system to throw off every trace of toxic poisons, and bring a speedy return of the normal appetite and renewed energy.

“The element in buttermilk scientifically known as lecithin, acts on the system as a tonic, which clears the complexion, brightens the eyes, and imparts the glow of perfect health to the entire body.

“But one fact must be kept constantly in mind while taking the Milk Diet, if success is to be assured: A strict adherence to the rules as herein laid down. To take it in a haphazard fashion, on and off as the notion strikes one, will do no good, and a lapse from the regular program will set you back to where you were at the beginning. Therefore, do exactly as the course prescribes, without the deviation of a hair’s breadth from its positive and plainly-stated rules.

“Before taking this course, give the system a thorough purging, with castor oil or saline laxatives, to carry off the contents of the intestines and prepare the stomach for the beneficent action of the buttermilk.

“The Buttermilk Diet Course is divided into three periods: the first two of four days each, and the third until a satisfactory condition is obtained, which should be in from four to ten days.

“During the first four-day period, take one-half pint of fresh, pure buttermilk every two hours during the waking hours, beginning at 7 A. M. and continuing until 9 P. M., or 11 P. M., if preferred. This amounts to from 2 to 2¹⁄₂ quarts of buttermilk a day for the first four days. Should this produce vomiting, as it may in a few cases, do not be alarmed, for it simply indicates that the system is taking notice of what is being done for it, and is trying to expel some of the poisons it is unable to get rid of through the intestines. Keep on taking the buttermilk, even increasing the quantity, until the vomiting ceases and the stomach accepts it without protest.

“In the second four-day period, the amount of buttermilk taken should be increased to one-half pint every hour and a half during the waking hours, or nearly three quarts of buttermilk a day.

“After the eighth day, take half a pint of buttermilk every hour, and continue this until you feel that you have been restored to a healthy condition. This feeling will be manifested by a sensation of complete ease, bodily and mentally, and an active desire for solid food—a desire which will have disappeared almost entirely after the second or third day of the first period, and does not return until the system is once more balanced and healthy.

“If unable to get absolutely pure, fresh buttermilk take pure, fresh milk, draw off the cream or butter fat which rises to the top of the bottle, and add buttermilk tablets, which can be procured at all drug stores and many grocery stores, with directions for use on the package. Buttermilk made in this way is far better than poor grades of real buttermilk that is not fresh.

“The buttermilk should be taken lukewarm—not iced, chilled or hot—and sipped slowly, not gulped down.

“If, while taking the course, you suffer from hunger or thirst, do not allow yourself to either eat or drink anything—not even water—but always take some more of the buttermilk, as this will relieve the hunger and satisfy the thirst.

“While taking the treatment, always keep the bowels open, and enemas, or internal bathing, are advised for this. In taking the enema, or rectal injection, use a two-quart bag with syringe, having the water blood-warm, or just so you can hold your hand in it. To a two-quart bag of this warm water, add half a cupful of pure glycerine, shaking it up thoroughly, and, lying on the floor on one side, with the legs doubled up, inject the entire contents of the bag into the rectum. Hold this in for ten minutes, then evacuate it naturally and thoroughly. This internal bath should be taken every day during the first four-day period, then every other day during the second period, and after that twice a week, until you are having two natural passages every day. Make an effort at these times, whether the desire exists or not.

“In taking the enema, regulate the flow so that it will not be too violent. Hanging the bag of the syringe from 2¹⁄₂ to 3 feet above the floor will give the correct impetus to the flow. These internal flushings remove the secretions from the lower intestine, where they are prone to lie and ferment, and are a great aid in preserving the general health, as they assist nature in eliminating waste and poisonous matter.

“After completing the Buttermilk Diet, as directed herein, use caution in taking solid nourishment for awhile. For a few days reduce the supply of buttermilk, and substitute light, easily digested foods, such as eggs, boiled, poached, or creamed; chicken, broiled lamb chops, small quantities of rare roast beef, broiled steak rare, boiled fresh fish, rice, macaroni cooked in milk until tender, fresh vegetables that do not contain starchy elements, and ripe, wholesome fruit. Also eat dry toast, or whole wheat bread in place of fresh bread made from white wheat flour. This course has, no doubt, broken you of the coffee habit, so avoid coffee in future, and use milk or buttermilk instead, as it will be much better for you. Resume the eating of solid foods by eating only one meal a day, about noon, taking the milk or buttermilk for your morning and evening meals, as well as during the day when hungry or thirsty.

“Thoroughly chew your food after returning to a solid diet, and thus avoid many stomach troubles, while obtaining more nourishment from your food. Besides, by eating slowly, you will eat much less, and feel all the better for it.”

“Because people are inclined to eat more for the pleasure it affords them than for the necessary nourishment of the body, they usually eat too much, and suffer from stomach disorders and derangements in consequence. Especially is this true in the United States, where high living is the rule, rather than the exception, and it is here that so many thousands are suffering untold agonies from various forms of stomach and intestinal complaints.

“But Nature herself has placed within easy reach of all a safe, certain and pleasant remedy for the myriad maladies caused by improper eating, as well as sufferers through inherited tendencies. And that supreme and sovereign remedy is—milk.

“The efficacy of the Milk Diet is now so thoroughly and firmly established that thousands have been the beneficiaries of its marvelous healing power, while still unnumbered thousands are earnestly longing for the blessings it will bring them when properly brought to their attention.

“Milk possesses certain properties that heal and anoint those organs of the body which digest and assimilate the sources of nourishment, and pure milk will counteract many ailments which no other seems able to reach. The systematic drinking of milk, under certain well established rules, if persistently adhered to, will practically restore the shattered and disordered stomach to that condition of health and strength which is its natural birthright and inheritance.

“The first requisite in the use of milk as a remedy for stomach ailments is that it be absolutely pure and fresh. It must not be taken cold, but cool enough to be palatable, though preferably blood-warm, as it is then easier to digest and is more quickly assimilated. It must be taken from healthy cows, must not be skimmed, and must be sipped slowly, not gulped down.

“In taking up the Milk Diet, you must give up all kinds of food and drink—except milk—and it is best to rest the body as much as possible during the period of the treatment, so as to conserve all your energies for renovating and rejuvenating your system. Complete physical relaxation during the first ten days is highly advisable, lying on the back as much as possible, and making no unnecessary effort along the line of physical activity. Afterwards, however, light work or moderate exercise is desirable.

“Taking into consideration the rich elements of milk, it is best at first to take only small quantities, and repeat often. Half a glass every half-hour will do to begin with, and the quantity can be increased gradually, until the stomach will retain a full glass every half-hour. Keep this up during the first ten days, keeping your body relaxed meanwhile, and after that a half pint should be taken every hour during the working hours, and a pitcher of milk be kept within reach to drink during the night. In a thoroughly well ventilated room the milk will keep sweet all night except in the hottest weather, and is good in case of sleeplessness.

“Some people become bilious when taking nothing but milk, the biliousness being evidenced by the regurgitation of the milk, by acid eruptions from the stomach to the mouth, and even by vomiting. But do not be discouraged. Keep on drinking the milk, for these manifestations are merely nature’s protest against the condition of the stomach, and not against the milk. Soon the vomiting will clear out the accumulations of bile and mucus from the stomach, the milk will cease to distress you and will be easily and quickly digested. If milk does not lie quietly on the stomach, it is because the stomach is not in a fit condition to receive it, that is all.

“As the milk begins to be absorbed by the circulation, it permeates all parts of the system and cleans them out, for the cleaning power of milk is very great.

“Some persons, after taking the milk for awhile, begin to loath it, and in these cases the juice of a lemon may be substituted for a short time, but only occasionally to overcome the feeling of nausea. A little lemon juice is also advisable following the vomiting incident to the biliousness that sometimes occurs.

“In taking either the milk or buttermilk treatment, the patient will experience, at first, great hunger, and a longing for solid food. In all such cases, drink milk, plenty of it, and it will be both food and drink for you. After the third day, the craving for solid food generally disappears, though it is best to keep away from food and avoid temptation for a few days and soon you will have no craving.

“Before beginning the Milk Diet, a good dose of castor oil is advisable, though not so essential as in the Buttermilk Diet. But after the course has started, no drugs should be used for keeping the bowels open. If constipation develops, as is likely, flush the rectum with the enemas, as in the case of the Buttermilk Diet, doing this every day for three or four days, then one every other day for the next four days, and after that once or twice a week, so as to keep the bowels moving regularly, assisting nature in having regular passages every morning and evening. Always add half a cup of glycerine to the two quarts of warm water used as an injection, as this acts as a lubricant and softener of the inner tract, and water alone will dry out the colon, which is dangerous. If the patient is suffering from piles, use a soft catheter or rubber in taking the injections. The internal bath conquers looseness of the bowels and diarrhea, as well as constipation, and when used with glycerine is a sedative to the irritated colon or intestines.

“How much time should be given to taking the Milk Diet? That depends entirely upon the person taking it. Many who know its great benefits advise that it be taken at least once every year, especially by hearty eaters and high livers, who should take it for two or three weeks each spring and fall, as by doing so they can always be perfectly healthy.

“Relief in chronic ailments due to indigestion, stomach or intestinal troubles, and derangement of the kidneys and bladder, varies with the aggravation of the case, and nature itself will show when the regeneration is completed. But the safe rule is to continue the treatment until you know you are well, though your judgment may not always be infallible.

“Fat people who take this treatment to reduce their weight, and thin people who take it to build up their wasted bodies, will know when to stop, and by using proper care in the selection of foods, will be able to maintain a normal condition, but even then it is better to continue it a little longer than to stop too soon, and not resume hearty eating too quickly. Observe the same rules in preparing the system for the taking of solid foods as are prescribed in the Buttermilk Diet, beginning lightly and gradually increasing the quantity taken. A few people are affected strangely by the results of the Milk Diet upon the nervous system, where it has been badly run down by excesses in eating or the ailments that follow them, but this condition is only temporary, and will soon pass away through perservering in the diet, and the nerves will be greatly strengthened and renewed by the rich new blood that is the natural result of the Milk Diet.

“To only one class of persons is there any danger in taking the Milk Diet. People who have organic heart trouble are liable to find the flow of new blood too strong for a weak heart, and should be guided by the advice of a reputable physician before beginning it, so as to avoid serious consequences.

“The Milk Diet should be taken only by adults; as children are rarely to be found suffering from stomach trouble and their strong young systems require solid food for proper development.

“Nor should the Milk Diet be taken by anyone without first flushing the system by the use of the enema, as above set forth.

“Above all things else, take absolutely no food or even a drink of water, while taking the Milk Diet, as this will undo all the good that has been accomplished and make it necessary to begin all over again.

“Fat people usually lose two or three pounds a day when they first begin taking the Milk Diet strictly according to the instructions herein given, while thin people commence to gain in weight, for it brings real health, instead of merely artificial relief, such as is given by drugs. And after the treatment is taken, practice simple living, eating plain but substantial food, and you will find yourself completely restored to perfect health. In the meantime, keep the bowels regular, by an occasional enema if necessary, and your troubles will be over. However, you can bring them all back, by again abusing the delicate organism of the stomach.

“Sleep enough, but not too much, in well ventilated rooms. Exercise moderately and thoroughly masticate your food before swallowing it.”

Within a month after inserting the advertisements, several hundred people had ordered the course, remitting the $1 requisite, and almost without exception those who completed the treatment according to the instructions sent, began sending testimonials to the marvelous effects of the Diet in their individual cases. The enterprising citizen had no capital invested, carried no stock, and had only to mail the printed instructions for taking the treatment, and the patients gladly did the rest. And he not only made a good living for himself but brought health and happiness to a host of suffering people.

A farmer’s wife in Iowa, who wanted to make some money of her own, instead of feeling that she had to ask her husband for every dollar she received, started in a systematic manner to have a bank account of her own.

The family lived within twenty miles of a large city, and the farm contained an extensive orchard, as well as over an acre devoted to gardening purposes, and in these the wife found a broad field for her activities.

She thoroughly understood the many tempting ways in which fruits, vegetables and other orchard and garden products can be put up, and she knew the city people would pay for the products of her skill, so she entered upon an extensive campaign of canning, pickling and preserving, any one of which lines will furnish any energetic woman with a way for making money, even though she may adopt only one of the profitable plans. She could not begin to supply the demands of the city people.

There are few things that have a more delicious taste than pickled peaches or pears, especially when pickled the way this farmer’s wife pickled them.

Take one-half cup of vinegar and one-half pound of sugar to a little over a pound of the fruit. Place the sugar and vinegar over the fire until it comes to a boil. Add a layer of fruit, and cook until soft enough to run fork through it; then remove the fruit and fill the same way until all are done. The syrup needs no more cooking. Stick cloves in the fruit before cooking, and add cinnamon to syrup, if desired.

When she sent these to the city, she soon had calls for more, and the prices they brought were a source of much pride as well as profit to the energetic housewife who put them up.

Apples, especially those of the choicest varieties, are very good without pickling, but a great deal more so when they are pickled the way the farmer’s wife prepared them, as follows:

Take ripe, hard, sweet apples. Peel evenly, and if the apples are perfect, leave them whole, otherwise cut in quarters. To a peck of apples, take about two quarts of vinegar and four pounds of sugar, half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of cloves, and the same amount of allspice, all unground; one teaspoonful of mustard seed, a few pepper grains and a little salt. Heat the vinegar and sugar together to the boiling point, skim well, put the spices in a thin muslin bag and add the vinegar, then put in the apples. Place over the fire, and stew slowly until the apples are soft. Then take out the apples, let the vinegar boil down, and pour in over the fruit. Cover and put away.

Of course, in making large quantities, she increased the amount of the ingredients accordingly, yet maintained the proportions named.

The cherry trees were full that year, and she made good use of cherries by using this recipe:

To every quart of cherries, allow a cupful of vinegar, one-half cupful of sugar, one dozen whole cloves, half a dozen blades of mace. Put the vinegar and sugar on to heat, with the spices, boil five minutes, turn out into a covered stoneware vessel and let it get perfectly cool. Strain out the spices, fill small jar three-fourths full of cherries, then fill up with cold vinegar. Cork or seal tightly. Leave the stems on the cherries.

Besides filling several shelves in her own cellar with these, she sold large quantities to her city customers at “top” prices.

It would hardly seem possible to make a plum any better than it is when ripe and right off the tree, but this Iowa woman did so as follows:

To seven pounds of plums, take four pounds of sugar and two ounces each of stick cinnamon and cloves, one quart of vinegar and a little mace. Put in the jar first a layer of plums, then a layer of spices; scald the vinegar and sugar together, and pour over the plums, and when the jar is full, scald all together. They are then ready for use at once.

But she didn’t use all she put up. She sold to city people who liked her other products so well.

People like cucumber pickles, so this woman catered to their taste as follows:

Take ripe cucumbers, cut in two, scrape out the seeds, cut into strips and soak over night in salt water. To every quart of vinegar add one pound of sugar; boil and skim. Boil the strips in vinegar until tender and quite transparent. Take out the pickles, strain the vinegar, put it over the fire with a small muslin bag of mixed spices, boil two hours, pour over the pickles, cover and put away.

She sold these pickles at a good profit.

This will be something new to many people, but it is so good that almost any woman could derive a good living from making and selling this and nothing else. Here is the way the Iowa lady made it:

Pare, core and chop in small squares pieces half a pound of sour apples, and to them add half a pound each of tomatoes, brown sugar, stoned raisins and salt, a quarter of a pound each of cayenne pepper and powdered ginger, two ounces each of onions and garlic, one quart of lemon juice and three quarts of vinegar. Mix all well together, and put in a closely covered jar. Keep in a warm place, and stir every day for a month, being careful to see that it is kept covered; strain through a sieve at the end of this time and bottle. The liquor may be used as a sauce for fish or meat, and imparts a flavor seldom equaled.

Any one should be able to obtain any quantity of currants desired in their season, and make extra money by spicing them as this Iowa lady did, as follows:

Three pounds of white sugar, five pounds of ripe currants, one tablespoonful each of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and allspice. Boil currants one hour, then add sugar, spices and one-half pint of vinegar and boil one-half hour longer.

This was one of the best sellers she put up.

With tomatoes as plentiful and cheap as they are almost every year, and with so many people who like them, it is a wonder that thousands of women do not make a living by preserving, according to the following recipe, which this lady used:

Peel the tomatoes, and to each pound add a pound of sugar and let stand over night. Take the tomatoes out of the sugar, and boil the syrup, removing the scum. Put in the tomatoes and boil gently twenty minutes. Remove the fruit again, and boil until the syrup thickens. On cooling, put the fruit into jars and pour the syrup over. The round, yellow variety of tomatoes should be used, and as soon as ripe.

It is hard to imagine a more delicious preserve, or one that will bring a better price.

While thousands of bushels of crab apples are allowed to go to waste every year, and cost nothing but the picking, hundreds of women could be earning considerable money by gathering them, as they make the best jelly in the world, and it can be sold at almost any price one may ask. This Iowa lady used her surplus stock of crab apples as follows:

Wash the fruit clean, put in a kettle, cover with water, and boil until thoroughly cooked. Then pour into a sieve and let it drain. Do not press it through. For each pint of this liquor, allow one pound of sugar. Boil from twenty minutes to half an hour. Jellies can also be made from quinces, peaches and Porter apples in the same way.

Even with all of this she could make, the lady was unable to supply the demand.

She secured customers for her products through a few short ads in the city papers.

Nothing affords the housewife more pleasure or pride than to have her glassware, mirrors, window panes, etc., show that brilliancy and lustre so universally admired, but it is difficult to obtain.

A young man in San Diego, California, who had the formula for one of the best of these polishes, but very little else, anchored his hopes of making a living on supplying all the homes he possibly could with the means of keeping their glass surfaces shiny and clean. Therefore he made up as much of the preparation as he could afford for a starter, from the following formula:

Prepared chalk, 9 ounces; jewelers’ rouge, ¹⁄₂ ounce; white bole, ¹⁄₂ ounce; alcohol, 3 ounces; water, 5 ounces. Mix into a stiff paste.

To use, moisten a cloth with alcohol, place a small quantity of the paste, not larger than a pea, on the glass, and rub over the surface with the cloth until dry, and until the powder is completely removed. The result was good.

Not having sufficient capital to advertise his preparation, or to make it in sufficient quantities to employ agents or supply it to the drug stores, he made up a small amount at first, and introduced it into various homes by asking permission to polish up some glassware or a window, and the lustre it left was so brilliant that he sold some of it at most every house in which he demonstrated, and as the profit was very large, he soon had enough capital to make it on a larger scale. Then he placed a crew of agents in the city and surrounding towns and thus created a demand for the product which the druggists were glad to supply from the stocks he had left with them for sale.

In a short time he was able to advertise it thoroughly, and in the course of a couple of years he had built up a business that is today netting him a very good income.

But his success need not exclude others from this field, and there is still room for hundreds of other young men who wish to follow his example.

A young lady in Denver, the possessor of a pleasing manner, neat and attractive, felt the need of making some money to help support her invalid mother. She had been employed in a hair-dressing establishment for some time, and had learned all the secrets of the business, so she put her knowledge of the business into practical form and made a success of it.

She was personally acquainted with a number of women in her section of the city, who, though not regular patrons of the leading hair-dressers, liked to have their hair done up in proper form, and could afford a reasonable price for such service. She therefore had some neat cards printed, announcing that she would do all kinds of hair-dressing for ladies at their homes, at very reasonable rates, and, calling upon these women, she left her cards, with a request that she be allowed to dress the hair of each one as a sort of demonstration of her ability, also asking the ladies interviewed to hand her card to some lady acquaintance.

She was surprised by the large number of “trial orders” she received, and she performed the service so well that practically all the women, after having her dress their hair once, insisted upon paying her rates, which were not considerably less than regular hair-dressers’ prices.

In a short time she had all the permanent patrons she could serve, and the reward of her tact and skill came in the form of a good living.

Plan No. 139. Woman in Business

There are clipping bureaus, big and little, in all the cities and towns in America, but a short time ago there was one town of 6,000 people, in a western state, where there was no clipping bureau, so an enterprising citizen of the place started one.

He was on a friendly basis with the newspaper men of the town and was allowed the use of exchange papers.

Next he interviewed a number of contractors, builders, architects, supply houses, manufacturers, men prominent socially and politically, and many others and arranged to furnish them with all the news items of interest within a radius of 200 miles, for $3.00 a month and up, depending upon the character and number of subjects clipped.

Then he rented a small office in a quiet street, hired a girl for $35 a month to do the reading, clipping, pasting and classifying. He solicited the business. His receipts for the first month were $100, the second month $150, the third month $200, and on up until it reached $300 a month, with no additional expense. He also read, marking the articles to be clipped and mailed by the girl assistant.

His bureau is still running and is making him a good living.

The wife of a young man who had been incapacitated for heavy work by injuries received in an automobile accident assumed the duties of bread-winner for the family by carrying out a number of plans which she had always regarded as “life-savers” in case of emergencies. Each of these in itself would prove a means of earning a livelihood by any one other woman similarly situated.

This couple lived in a small western city of about 25,000 inhabitants, some of whom were well-to-do, and it occurred to her that by utilizing her large front room and opening a little store in which all the articles offered for sale were made at home, she could keep it stocked with many articles which she could make herself, and soon build up a profitable business.

Possessing extraordinary taste and skill, by odd jobs she earned some money to be used as working capital for the store. First, she bought a ham, sliced it thin, laid some sprigs of parsley around it on a number of plates, and set this in her front window. She also made some artificial honey from a recipe she found in an old cook book, and arranged this display so tastefully that her supply was soon sold. Then she displayed a variety of vegetables, fresh from her garden, and these also sold readily, at good prices. To this display she added plants of many kinds, then delicious pastry of her own cooking, preserves, sweetmeats, fresh laid eggs from her own hens, and finally branched out into a complete line of home-made goods, for which she found a steady demand the year round.

With the little help her husband could give, she was soon earning more money than the family ever had before.

Never before had she realized the immense profit to be derived from a well-kept flower bed, but the insistent call for plants and cut flowers of all kinds gave her a new idea, and she turned this also to excellent account. Her own personal care of the flower bed was the only capital she found it necessary to invest, and she was pleased to learn that the large returns she received from this source represented just that much clear profit.

The more common plants, such as pansies, geraniums, etc., were always in demand by those who had failed to plant flowers of their own, while the rarer kinds, such as orchids, etc., were wanted, at fancy prices.

She possessed the artistic taste necessary to arrange her flowers and plants to the best possible advantage, and this arrangement no doubt brought many patrons.

To keep her flowers fresh, she wet them thoroughly, put them in a damp box and covered them with wet raw cotton or wet newspapers, then placed them in a cool place. To preserve bouquets, she put a little saltpetre in the water.

During her spare time she made a great variety of Christmas presents, such as sofa pillows, pin cushions and trays, jewel trays, lamp shades, chair cushions, tidies, book-marks, catch-bags, and work-baskets. The latter she made of a few cents’ worth of light drilling covered with ruffled net, and when made they were fully equipped with the necessary needles, thread, etc. Some cheap yet substantial material was used as a base for these baskets, and when tastefully adorned, as she so well knew how, they, as well as all the other holiday articles she made, sold quickly.

The prices which home-made lace commands in the cities would surprise those not familiar with this rare industry, but when it is known that $15 is considered cheap for a simple point lace handkerchief, some idea may be gained as to its possibilities. Of course, many cheaper articles can be made of lace, and sold readily at good profits, and procuring a book that gave complete instructions for the making of lace of all kinds, this lady devoted considerable time to making many things which she sold at good prices.

As her little home store was near a school, she decided to make up a number of needed articles for the use of the pupils, and had no trouble in selling them. These articles consisted mainly of school-book bags made of stout linen, with fancy stitching and a strong linen strap; also pen-wipers, sleeve-protectors, school aprons, etc. These she made in pretty colors, with neat stitching, and they were very handsome as well as useful.

Sometimes she arranged with a bright boy or girl to sell these in school, paying a small commission for such services, either in cash or goods selected from her store.

That she made a success of her venture may be judged when it is stated that her profits are larger each year than those of some of the regular merchants of her city.

The following plan was adopted by a farmers’ grocer who had located in a southern state for his wife’s health and it proved more profitable than had his former big store in a northern city. His plan was the making of artificial maple syrup, a healthful staple product that cost but little and brought excellent returns. He made the syrup as follows:

Take one bushel of clean, fresh corn-cobs, place them in a large kettle, pour in five gallons of clear water and boil for two hours, or until it boils down to about two gallons. Then remove the cobs and strain the water. Then add five pounds of New Orleans sugar and boil for thirty minutes, and strain and seal in glass or tin cans, with proper labels. The corn-cobs give it the maple flavor, which makes it very palatable, though it can be sold at very much less than the genuine article.

By increasing the quantities of the ingredients, he was soon able to make forty to fifty gallons a day, at a cost of about 12 cents per gallon. The cans cost him 20 to 30 cents per dozen, and the labels about $2 per 1,000, the entire cost of one dozen gallon cans being about $1.75, while he retailed it at $1.00 per gallon. At first he sold it through agents, paying a commission of 25 per cent, and his net profit on one dozen gallon cans was therefore $7.25. Later, however, he wholesaled it to grocers at 50 cents per gallon, and this netted him $4.25 per dozen cans.

It was so good an imitation that it could not be detected from genuine maple syrup, and those who bought it once insisted upon having it again, and the maker soon had a long list of regular customers which insured him a good living.

A young woman in Vancouver, B. C., who had noticed that most ladies gladly pay from 25 cents to $1.50 for a two-ounce jar or bottle of widely-heralded “face cream,” decided that she could make some just as good as the best of these, and realize a profit of 700 per cent. She took ten pounds of oatmeal and boiled it thoroughly in clear water, afterward straining it through a cheese cloth, squeezing the meal through the cloth with a motion like that of milking a cow. When well strained, she diluted three ounces of carbolic acid with a quart of water, then mixed it well with the meal, adding enough water, where it was too thick, to make the consistency of cream. She put this in two-ounce jars, attractively, and sold it readily at 25 cents per jar.

This made enough to fill 500 jars of the cream, which sold for $125, while the total cost of the same, including materials, jars and labels, was not over $15, so that from this one “batch” of cream her profits were $110.

It became a very popular product, as the oatmeal softens the skin and the carbolic acid removes blemishes, and these results, coupled with a fancy name on an artistic label, sold the cream as fast as she could make it.

The directions for use were as follows: After bathing the face thoroughly in tepid water, dry well, dip tips of fingers in cream, and rub on face until dry, which helps to efface all impurities of the skin. Bathe the face again, and dry with a soft towel.

How much money do you suppose that girl made out of this simple face cream during the first year? Exactly $2,500.

A preacher’s daughter, thrown upon her own resources, and feeling that she could not enter any of the ordinary occupations, owing to the unreasonable opposition of her late father’s parishioners, decided to adopt the novel profession of toilet adviser to her lady friends.

Having excellent taste in such matters, and having long been looked to for counsel in the matter of dress, she had no difficulty in securing a very considerable list of permanent patrons, who paid her reasonably well for the services she rendered.

She opened a little “office” in her home, and those who came for consultation concerning matters of dress or personal adornment she charged $1.00 an hour, while her rate for accompanying her patrons on shopping expeditions was 50 cents an hour.

She advised her customers how to dress their hair becomingly, the colors they could wear to the best advantage, the style of gown appropriate to each occasion, the propriety of neckwear, hat, bonnet, etc., and as her taste in these matters was faultless, her services were so thoroughly appreciated that her time was taken up with these duties. She had the firmness to insist upon her decision being accepted as final, and yet possessed the delicacy to do so without injuring their feelings, and made a much better living for the family than had her father.

It isn’t every girl who is qualified to render this service, but every town and city offers a great field for its performance.

A middle-aged widow in St. Louis, who owned a large house and grounds in a good residential district, but who was short of ready money, evolved a plan for establishing a nurses’ bureau in her own home.

From physicians, hospitals, city directories and friends, she obtained the names of nearly two hundred nurses, and from the greater part of these she secured permission to place their names upon her list, with their addresses, telephone numbers, wages asked per week, etc., and with the understanding that they were to pay her a certain amount as commission for obtaining positions for them at any time they were not engaged. They were to keep her informed when they were engaged, with the length of time so employed, and the means of reaching them quickly when necessary.

She then advertised in the classified columns of the city papers to the effect that she was prepared at all times to supply nurses at any time, and notified the doctors and the hospitals of this fact.

She further utilized several of the unoccupied rooms in her home, as well as the aid of one servant, by taking a number of the nurses to board with her, so as to have them ready for sudden calls, and in this way offered facilities not theretofore enjoyed by either the nurses or those needing their services. Within a few months she was enjoying a living income from her novel venture, and rendered excellent service to nurses and patients alike.

Almost any woman who wants to learn dress-cutting can do so by using one of the numerous systems now on the market, and it is an easy matter to get one of the charts that give complete instructions.

Some women learn quickly, while others are slow. But here is one who made a good living out of it. Having thoroughly mastered the chart, and being naturally gifted in matters pertaining to the fitting of garments, she proceeded to open a school for teaching the dress-cutting art to others who wished to learn.

To each pupil one of the charts is supplied, together with personal instructions needed in most cases, and for these services and supplies she makes a moderate charge. The first lesson she gives is on garments belonging to the pupils themselves, and as others come in with dresses to make she names a reasonable charge for making these, and even then her prices are much less than those of regular dress-makers. The pupils do the main part of the work on these dresses, as part of their instructions, while the lady gets the pay for the finished dress.

She not only gets paid for the tuition of the girls and the dresses they make but also a commission on each chart sold to her pupils, and in this way makes a very comfortable living. After she became well established, she also gave employment to some of the more apt and dextrous of her finished pupils, and thus enabled them to make good wages for themselves.

A young society woman in a western city had recently been reduced to comparative poverty by sudden reverses which overtook her father, and being of an energetic and resourceful nature, she started a class in dancing and deportment, to earn something with which to assist her now almost dependent father and mother.

She sent out circulars to a long list of her acquaintances, announcing that her class would begin on a certain evening, and invited their patronage. She was so well known that she had no difficulty in securing a large class from the very beginning, as even those mothers who did not favor dancing were anxious to have their daughters properly instructed in social laws and customs from so competent and trustworthy a teacher.

She also gave private lessons in both dancing and deportment for the benefit of a number of families whose early advantages had not been such as to fit them for the places in society to which they now aspired. These lessons paid well.

Women’s exchanges, as usually conducted, consist of a number of women who form a sort of syndicate, have a board of managers, rent a suitable building, employ the necessary help to carry on the work, and pay annual dues of a stated amount each.

But an Omaha woman, who had only a very few dollars, and had a taste for that kind of work, concluded to start one all her own, and she made it a success.

Lacking the capital with which to rent a store room she used her parlor for that purpose, and succeeded so well that in a short time she was able to move to larger quarters, more centrally located.

She issued some neat circulars, inviting the women of her own and other neighborhoods to bring any articles they had for sale, and she would make an effort to dispose of them, or exchange them for other articles they desired, on the basis of a 10 per cent commission on all sales or exchanges made. As nearly every woman has certain belongings which she wishes to sell, or exchange for something else, there was a hearty response to the invitation, and her parlor was soon filled with a motley array of miscellaneous merchandise.

Every article was labeled with the name, address and telephone number of the owner, the price asked for it, or the goods for which it would be exchanged, and the parlor was thronged every day and evening with women patrons, who nearly always found something they were glad to buy at the marked price, so that the lady’s commissions began almost at once to assume very good proportions. Later she served lunches in her dining room, and these also were liberally patronized, so that she made a very good living from her exchange idea, and finally became the owner of a regular store.

A San Francisco woman who had excellent taste and judgment, and large experience in buying, decided to adopt shopping as a regular profession, and found it a most pleasant and profitable occupation.

After making arrangements with several large stores in the city, carrying different lines of goods, for a straight commission of 10 per cent on all purchases she should make, she asked and obtained the consent of a number of well-known business men of her acquaintance to use their names as references in launching her enterprise.

She had several thousand circulars printed, stating that she would carefully and satisfactorily attend to orders she received from outside parties for doing all kinds of shopping, and that she would make no charge whatever for the services so rendered. These circulars contained the names of her references, and stated the experience she had had in buying merchandise of various kinds.

Then she advertised in a number of papers that circulated largely throughout the rural districts and country towns, asking inquiries regarding her method of free shopping. These ads. brought hundreds of letters asking for complete information, and in answer to these she sent her circulars. She also obtained many names of people in small communities from seed dealers, agricultural implement men, and others having a large country trade, and sent circulars to these also.

The fairness of the offer, and the standing of the lady herself, as evidenced by her references, brought many orders, and, as she had announced that where cash did not accompany the order the goods would be sent C. O. D., she sustained no losses. The idea of having a competent and reliable person do all their shopping, without charge, appealed to them and they became her permanent patrons.

A western man who was strongly opposed to the use of drugs, and who had cured himself of prolonged constipation by a process of self-massaging of the abdomen, was anxious that other sufferers might also receive the benefit of his experience, and felt that the information given them was worth paying for. He therefore had some circular letters printed, fully explaining the method, and advertised in a large number of papers, offering this drugless treatment upon receipt of 50 cents.

The advertisements seemed to have created a decidedly favorable impression, for hundreds of answers, with enclosures, were received, and to each of these he sent a copy of his circular letter, as follows:

“The causes of constipation are many. Often it is an insufficient supply of bile, or may be due to digestive troubles, and always follows sedentary habits.

“Cathartics are injurious, and make the bowels dependent upon artificial means for their movement, and this in time may lead to paralysis, with consequent loss of control.

“To teach the muscles of the abdomen to bring on a natural peristaltic movement, at least twice a day, is the purpose of these instructions.

“Once each day or night always at the same hour stand erect and place the palms of both hands directly over your intestines. Then, with no clothing over the abdomen, with a circular motion from right to left, begin gently to massage the same, not rapidly, but slowly and with a gentle pressure, giving your hands a rotary motion over the flesh. Continue this for five or ten minutes.

“Starting in at the right side of your abdomen, work your hands in a circling motion, from right to left, gradually taking in all parts of the abdomen, but do not pound or strike yourself.

“If satisfactory results do not come the first day, or even the first week, do not give up, but keep at it until they do, and go through with it at the same hour each day or night, as you choose.

“Within a few days you will find your bowels beginning to move more regularly and freely, but do not stop the massaging, though you may reduce the time given to it. In a few weeks the massage will require but one minute a day.

“Many kinds of food tend to produce constipation. Crackers, cheese and too much white bread are particularly bad, so that less rich food, but more coarse foods, as meats, potatoes, vegetables, light puddings, etc., are necessary. A raw apple once a day is highly beneficial and so are oranges. Eat regularly, and take plenty of time to thoroughly chew your food before swallowing.

“Constipation causes the waste to ferment in the intestines, producing dangerous poisons that are absorbed in the blood, and waste gas in the stomach and bowels.

“Give the abdominal muscles plenty of exercise, especially through deep breathing while lying on your back, also by bending over, swinging from side to side, and other simple exercises that give stamina to the muscles of the abdominal tract. Take no cathartics, but where artificial aid is needed, use an enema of a quart of warm water, in which you have placed at least an ounce of glycerine. But even this will not be necessary after you have established regular habits through the continued use of this natural, drugless treatment, which costs you nothing, no matter how long you keep it up.”

This course of treatment produced the best results, and thousands of them were mailed out to persons remitting the 50 cents each required for the instructions. Many of these people afterwards sent in unsolicited testimonials as to the benefits they had received from it, and these, as well as the financial returns brought by this plan, afforded its originator a great deal of satisfaction and profit.

A city man who had inherited a 40-acre tract of pasture land from his father’s estate, and whose failing health rendered it necessary for him to get out into the country, concluded that about the only use he could make of this land was to raise a few sheep.

He therefore built a cabin on the tract, together with a shed for sheltering the sheep, and bought twenty head of well-bred animals, which he placed in the pasture. This pasture was well seeded in grass, was all fenced and had a fine stream of water running through it from a spring that came out of a small hill upon which the cabin was built. It also contained several shade trees.

He had a few hundred dollars in cash, but the living expenses of himself and wife were light, so that his small savings were sufficient for a year or two, especially as they had planted a fine garden with berry bushes, besides plants and shrubs of various kinds, and had also bought a cow and a few dozen chickens, so that the greater part of their living was taken care of.

In the meantime their flock of sheep increased rapidly, and the cost of raising them was small in money and labor. This man and his wife were agreeably surprised at the end of the third year to find that their little flock had earned for them over $1,500. That amount has been greatly increased with each succeeding year, and has brought them a larger yearly income than would the highest salaried position in the city. And their health has also been completely restored through the out-door life they have led.

Not one woman in ten thousand would ever have thought of the plan which this talented woman living in an eastern city thought out and adopted as a means of earning a very comfortable living, when confronted with the necessity for doing so.

Possessing artistic tastes and tendencies, she began by arranging delightful cozy corners for people who were able to pay good prices for the charming effects she designed and produced, yet who lacked the originality to plan them with the delicacy and harmony that characterized her designs.

Many of these she originated, while others were taken from the homes of her friends.

These she photographed, arranged them in a large album, and carried them from house to house. In most of the homes visited, these designs created a profound impression, owing to their originality and beauty, and when she submitted estimates of the cost of duplicating these, or where desired, of making a special design, which of course included her own services, she usually received an order at once, and soon found she had all the work she could possibly do, at prices that in the aggregate brought her a revenue of several thousand dollars a year.

When the cozy corner was finished, she would impress upon the lady of the house the satisfaction it would afford her to have the same photographed, so she could send pictures of it to her friends, and as she was herself an expert with the camera, she earned many extra dollars by making these photos.

A middle-aged man in a western city, who had practiced law for some years in the middle west, but later drifted into the newspaper business, for the double reason that he liked it better and was more adapted to it, finally took up general publicity work as a profession and soon became recognized as a leader in his line.

Although he wrote a great many advertisements for commercial houses, medical specialists, dentists, etc., all of which were rendered usually attractive through their originality of design and their concise and forceful style, he later began to specialize on booklets, prospectuses, etc. He was engaged to prepare the matter for a number of books about to be published, in which field his ability to extract all the salient points from subjects that are often laboriously and voluminously treated, and to condense a long tiresome story into a short and interesting one, found full scope.

One day a lawyer friend of his suggested to him that he could find a fertile field for his talents in re-writing the long and tedious briefs which most attorneys submit to the supreme court for review when taking cases before that tribunal on appeal; that lawyers, as a rule, are poor writers and waste much time and effort in the preparation of their briefs, with the result that they are not apt to receive the consideration from supreme court justices that would be accorded a condensed yet accurate statement of the facts, with properly arranged citations of authorities, etc.

Profiting by this suggestion, the publicity man called upon many of the lawyers in the city and, after explaining why he believed he could greatly improve their briefs, was given a number to remodel and prepare according to his own ideas both as a lawyer and as a newspaper man. These proved so satisfactory, that he was given much work in that line by several of the leading law firms, and found his time profitably occupied.

Several rising young lawyers with political aspirations also engaged his services in the writing of newspaper articles through which their names were brought and kept prominently before the public, with the result that their progress toward a coveted goal was rendered much more rapid, and a number of them are now holding important public positions as a consequence of this well-directed publicity.

A lady in a western state who had considerable literary ability, yet who had not been successful in having very many of her magazine articles accepted for publication on a cash basis, concluded to try another way of making a little money out of these same periodicals.

She offered several of her manuscripts to various publishers in payment for subscription to their magazines, and these offers were as a rule gladly accepted, so that she was constantly in receipt of the latest publications. She had many neighbors who also liked to read magazines, but did not feel able to subscribe for as many as they wanted, and most of them would not borrow them from her.

This afforded her an opening to launch her pet scheme of starting a circulating library with her surplus stock of magazines. So she had a number of circular letters typewritten, announcing that for a small monthly rate she would loan all her periodicals to the members, rotating them so that each would have an opportunity to read them all during the month. As the charge was very reasonable, and the benefits to be derived from the plan so great, practically every family within a radius of twenty miles promptly subscribed.

The enterprising originator of the plan was thus able not only to bring pleasure to her neighbors, but considerable profit to herself as well, besides the satisfaction of having her neighbors read her own contribution to a number of magazines.

Capable seamstresses suffering for the lack of work are to be found almost anywhere, yet if they would do as these four western girls did, they could have all the work they wanted, and be well paid for it, too.

Plan No. 158. A Stitch in Time Saves Nine

All these girls were fine needlewomen, who could do all kinds of sewing and mending, on all classes of wearing apparel, yet each of them specialized in some particular line. One made a specialty of putting new facings and bindings on dress skirts; another did the mending on underwear; another coats, suits, cloaks, dresses and men’s wear, while the fourth mended laces, gloves, fine table linen and dainty things that women usually throw away when torn, because no one seems able to mend them.

The girls roomed together, and they had cards printed, setting forth the class of work they did, and these they took turns in distributing in various parts of the city, often bringing back considerable work as a result of these expeditions. They were not only polite, pleasant and obliging in their manner, but they did the mending so skillfully, and yet so reasonably, that work came to them quite rapidly, so that they soon had all they could do, and in time they set up a regular dressmaking and mending establishment, which grew into such proportions that they were obliged to hire other girls to help them do their work.

A lady who knew how to make a simple, cheap yet very effective beauty bag, advertised in a number of papers that for 25 cents she would send complete information for making the same, and also send one of the beauty bags free. She received hundreds of answers, enclosing 25 cents each, and to these people she sent the following formula, together with one of the bags complete:

Get a package of Quaker oats and a yard of cheesecloth; cut the cloth into pieces, 2¹⁄₂x5 inches, and with each of these make a little flat pad, by doubling, once, and overcasting or loosely button-holing two of the three open sides. Fill with the Quaker oats, then overcast the remaining side. On going to bed, fill a basin with warm water and allow the bag to soak a few seconds, or until you see a little milky substance ooze forth. Then use this beauty bag, thus made, as a wash cloth, thoroughly rubbing the face and into every little crevice or wrinkle. Keep moistening the bag as you use it. The effect produced will be surprising, as it leaves the skin soft and clear. But do not use soap, unless you wish to ruin your complexion. The bag will cleanse your face much quicker and much better.

The orders continued to come, and the enterprising lady was many hundreds of dollars ahead at the end of the first three months. And still the orders came, for the offer is one that appeals to every woman who wants to improve her looks—and where is the woman who doesn’t?

A Seattle young woman built up a business of her own by making and selling dustless dusters, in two different styles both made of cheesecloth, as follows:

One formula: White paraffin oil, 4 pints; cottonseed oil, 1 pint; a little oil of citronella to give it an agreeable odor. Saturate the cloths in this solution, and pass through a clothes wringer to take out the excess of the oil. Put in envelopes to fit.

The other formula: One quart of gasoline; 8 ounces of whiting, or, what is better, cilica, 8 ounces; oxalic acid, ¹⁄₈ of an ounce. Thoroughly mix and immerse the cloths, and hang up out doors to dry. Then place in envelope for mailing.

Dusters made in this way do not soil the hands, and the dust will stick to the cloth instead of flying everywhere. They do not have to be washed out, but simply shaken.

Use the dustless duster the same way as any other duster. It does not injure the finest surface.

A few small ads. in the city and other papers offering to send the dustless duster complete for 25 cents, brought answers, and as they gave satisfaction, almost every one sent out brought in from two to half a dozen orders, so that in a short time the young lady was doing a splendid business.

The following directions for making a copying pad were sent out for 10 cents each by a young man in Chicago, to those remitting that amount to him, in answer to an ad. he inserted in a number of newspapers covering wide territory:

Take white gelatine, 4 ounces; glycerine 20 ounces. Melt the gelatine in water, then add the glycerine, after warming it, and stir until well mixed. Pour into a pan 10x12 inches square and ¹⁄₂ inch deep. Write your copy on a sheet of paper with ink made of methyl violet, 1 ounce; water, 7 ounces. Put on the stove and heat until dissolved, stirring often. Add hot water, to replace that which evaporates. When dissolved, add 2 ounces of glycerine. Use a new pen in writing. Lay copy face down on the pad, and let it remain two minutes, then take it off. From 50 to 100 copies may be taken by laying blank paper on the impression, and repeating the operation until as many copies as desired have been made. Clean the pad with a wet sponge as soon as you are through copying, and keep it in a dry place.

He sold several thousand copies of these instructions, at 10 cents each, and most of this, of course, was clear profit.

A compound that will thoroughly clean clothing, gloves, carpets, etc., and that can be sold at a profit for 10 cents a package, is something that everyone wants and that anyone can sell.

A young man in Spokane, Washington, who had an excellent formula for a compound of this kind, tried it and found it successful. He put it up with the following ingredients, when making a small amount, and simply increased the amounts of each in proportion as larger quantities were required:

Powdered castile soap, 2 pounds; borax powder, 2 ounces; powdered saltpetre, 4 ounces. Mix thoroughly and put up dry in small envelopes, holding about one teaspoonful each.

Directions for use: Dissolve the contents of package in hot water, leave stand until cool, and apply a small quantity to affected spot, whether of dirt or grease, then clean with a dry cloth. This compound will not explode, but is harmless and safe to use.

Placing a rubber band around either twelve or twenty-four of the packages, he put 500 packages in a small hand-bag, and made a house to house canvass. At each house he would ask the lady if she had any boys or girls. If so, wouldn’t they like to make some money or earn a valuable premium? The answer usually was yes, and he would then leave with the lady as many of the packages as she thought her children could sell at 10 cents each, taking her receipt therefor. He would then go on to the next house, and make the same arrangement. In less than half a day he placed the entire 500 packages in homes for sale, and a week later called and collected for those sold, allowing a cash commission of 2 cents a package, or giving some small, inexpensive premium, whichever was preferred. In most cases the mother would have tried the compound herself, and finding it excellent for cleaning goods of all kinds, she would usually order several more packages.

He also placed considerable quantities of the compound in general stores, where it sold readily, and later made it a mail order proposition by advertising it in a list of good papers.

Why shouldn’t the little girls begin to learn dressmaking as soon as they are able to use a needle and thread? That is what a Seattle lady thought, and she advertises in the daily papers that she will teach dressmaking to children on certain afternoons of each week for 25 cents a lesson.

She already has a large number of pupils, is rapidly enrolling more, and says it is surprising the way the little misses show an interest in the work.

A young Irishman, who had a wife and two children, was working as a motorman, at $2.00 a day, and his entire future seemed to be limited to that $14 a week, with no holidays or Sundays off, to allow him to get acquainted with his family.

One particular locality on his route impressed him as an ideal place for raising cucumbers to supply the market a few miles away. The prospect looked good to him, but as he had only about $500 in cash, and it would require at least $1,000 to build a greenhouse, the outlook was not especially inviting.

Finally, after many efforts, he succeeded in borrowing $1,000, built a greenhouse, and began the culture of cucumbers. He was apt at the business, and the first year he made enough to pay back the $1,000, live well, and have a neat little sum saved besides.

Then he borrowed $1,700 more, built another greenhouse, leased more land and at the end of eighteen months was again free from debt.

He increased his acreage, enlarged his greenhouses, and began to grow two crops a year, instead of one.

He now has thirteen acres of ground all under glass, and owns an establishment free from debt, conservatively valued at $50,000.

He made a specialty of cucumber and the marketing of this crop.

There are thousands of people who don’t believe—or at least pretend they don’t—in palmistry as a means of learning what the future has in store, but almost anyone is willing to pay for having the palm of the hand read, either through confidence or curiosity, for “there may be something in it, after all.”

Anyway, a lady in a southern city decided it was worth trying, so she sent 50 cents to a New York publisher for a book that revealed about all there is to be known of that science, and made a careful study of this book.

She first obtained an electrotype of a very pretty woman’s head,—not her own—and used it on her letter heads, which also bore an assumed but rather fancy name suggestive of the mysterious. She inserted an ad. in several papers, offering to read people’s palms for 50 cents each, and received many answers to this.

She had provided herself with a box of carbon impression paper, and to each person replying she mailed a piece of this about 4x8 inches, with instructions to lay the carbon paper on a sheet of plain white paper, on a hard, smooth surface, such as a table, the carbon side next to the white paper, and press the hand firmly down on the back of the carbon paper, so as to get a clean impression of the palm on the white paper, and, when this was done to send the impression, with 50 cents for a reading.

She was surprised at the large proportion of those who sent the money, but she gave a very good reading of each palm, and no one seemed to be dissatisfied, for she received no complaints. She had previously sent each one a letter, explaining how the ancient philosophers and others had recognized palmistry as a well established science, and this no doubt had impressed the recipients with the fact that it had much value as a means forecasting the future, as well as relating the past.

The journalistic graveyards are full of monuments to the misdirected energy and zeal of aspiring “newspaper men” who had plenty of enthusiasm but lacked experience, or resourcefulness in the matter of ideas.

The young fellow, however, of whom we are going to speak had ideas and knew how to put them to practical use. He knew very well that a new weekly newspaper that did not have something besides its own merits to amuse and keep up a local interest would be but a short-lived affair in any community, so he devised a method which he felt sure would create that interest.

He employed a thoroughly competent publicity specialist to write him a small book with a catchy title, which he could offer as a premium with each subscription to his paper. The publicity man turned out an interesting piece of work, which he completed in four days, and for which he charged the prospective young publisher $75.

A printer charged him $250 for 5,000 copies of these little books, and after giving one of each to 500 new subscribers of his paper, he advertised them in his own and other papers, and sold the remainder at 10 cents each. When the supply was exhausted, he had more of the books printed and continued to sell them until he had realized a profit of $2,000 from them.

By this time his weekly newspaper had grown in circulation and advertising value so that it was bringing in a good revenue every year, but he kept on advertising and selling books with good titles, as he found this source of income was well worth the additional effort.

By a carefully considered plan of furnishing a number of drug stores with free wrappers for their bottles, boxes, combs, brushes, and a host of other articles which every druggist sells, an enterprising young man who had the formula for a preparation of unusual merit, but with no money with which to push the sale of it, succeeded in getting it so thoroughly advertised in his home city that he was soon able to open a handsomely furnished office and employ a number of assistants to put it up. The preparation was exceptionally good or it would not have brought the “repeat” orders it did.

He began his plan by offering free to each druggist 1,000 circulars setting forth the superior qualities of his preparation, these circulars being the proper size for wrapping all ordinary packages that come from drug stores, that is, about 9x9 inches, but with the printed matter set in a space 5¹⁄₂x7¹⁄₂ inches, and at the bottom of each set of circulars the words, “For Sale by,” followed by the name of the druggist using the wrappers and having the preparation for sale. The man who owned the formula thus got his preparation well advertised at practically no expense, while the druggists realized much benefit from it.

You would hardly think that cracking various kinds of nuts and selling the meats would be much of a business, yet a young lady found that it paid her very well, and brought in many dollars during certain seasons of the year.

She lived in a section of country where nuts of all varieties were very plentiful, and had noticed the waste in shipping unshelled nuts in bulk to the market. She believed it would save considerable in the way of transportation costs if only the meats were shipped. Besides, the difference in the prices would mean a neat profit to anyone doing the work.

Walnuts and hickory nuts were the principal kinds growing in her neighborhood, and these she gathered in great quantities when ripe, removing the outside hulls by pounding them lightly with a stout stick.

Providing herself with a good nut cracker and set of picks, besides a dozen or so glass jars, she began cracking the nuts, aiming to extract the meats in halves or as large pieces as possible, and placing them in the jars which, when full, she covered tightly with tops so as to exclude air and dampness, and found that in this way they brought the highest prices in the market.

She previously had arranged with a number of bakers and confectioners in the city to take all the nut meats she could supply, and could have sold many more had they been available. To help meet the demand, however, she purchased a few barrels of English walnuts with the shells cracked and packed them as she had done with the others and sold them at profit over their original cost.

Living near a large motion picture studio, a young married woman originated what she called a luncheon club for the purpose of serving the members of the company with a dainty luncheon every day at a moderate cost, yet one that yielded a fair profit to herself.

Having obtained the names of the various players from the manager of the studio, she wrote a note to each of them, announcing her plans and inviting them to join her club. The members were to pay a stated price as weekly dues payable in advance, and each could bring a friend at so much per luncheon.

Having a good supply of linen, silver, and all the little accessories for personal comfort, she made her purchases with much care, selecting only such materials as were necessary, and writing out a menu each week, which was varied by many combinations that prevented any appearance of sameness from day to day. She soon learned the little whims and preferences of each guest, and made it a point to serve each one with what she liked best.

A large number of the girls from the studio joined her club at the very beginning, and each of these members she greeted personally, as a guest, upon her arrival thereby creating a feeling of home-coming that had an excellent effect.

She did all the cooking herself, setting out the lunches on small tables intended to accommodate only two guests at a time, and everything about the place she kept scrupulously neat, clean and inviting.

Her club became very popular and she soon had all the members she could serve during the luncheon hour.

Though she could have charged more, she maintained the reasonable charges established at the beginning and found that the venture paid her a very satisfactory profit.

Two sisters, both stenographers in down-town offices, were having their vacation, and being desirous of making some money at the same time they were resting from their regular work, they were induced, through the advice of a well-informed friend, to take up the selling of spectacles, especially after he had assured them that this was a line in which the receipts were practically all profit.

Their friend informed them where they could buy spectacles for about 18 cents a pair, which they could readily sell for $1.00 per pair, and they bought several gross of these, of different magnifying strength, and various styles of frames, together with a black carrying case and a few testing cards, all of which came with the spectacles. These they set upon a high tripod for making an attractive display of their wares, while one of the girls sat upon a high stool behind the tastefully arranged stock of goods. They had secured a good street location, on the inside of a well shaded sidewalk, and began explaining the merits of their spectacles in a quiet, ladylike way, to all who stopped to inquire about them. Their sales averaged about ten pairs a day, or $8.20 clear profit.

“Even $50 to $90 seems a rather big price to pay for a single brood sow,” said an old farmer who had made a success of hog raising, “but let me tell you a little story:

“One spring two of my sows farrowed twelve pigs each, and we raised twenty-three of the twenty-four. When they were eight months old, those shoats brought $494.71, but at war-time prices they would have brought a very large sum.

“Suppose a young sow produces seventy-five pigs during her life-time, and she may do even better than that. If this sow were owned by a small farmer, he could raise the pigs for almost nothing, and after he has saved out twelve of the best ones as the foundation of a superior herd, he can sell the remaining sixty-three, when they are eight or ten months old, for enough to make a good-sized payment on his farm, and to pay the cost of raising 500 more pigs, besides.

“The good breeder must be a good feeder, and he will find that, with ordinary intelligence in the selection and care of his pure-bred stock, he can make more money, and have better meat products, many times over, then he can ever hope for from the ordinary scrub stock.

“If farmers will pay more attention to the raising of pure-bred hogs, they will be better off, and be at much less labor and expense, than from any other branch of farming. Let every farmer encourage his boy to have a few blooded pigs of his own, so that he may have the benefit of all the profit they will bring, and boys will not be so anxious to leave the farm as they are now.

“I’ve tried it, and I know.”

Unlike most farmers’ wives, this woman had plenty of time to devote to various ways of making money, and put a dozen plans into practice, all of which proved productive of good results.

Her first plan was to pick arbutus, which she sent to the store of a friend in the city, fresh each day, where it sold readily for 5 or 10 cents a bunch, nearly all profit.

Early in December she made up a lot of nice candy at home, which sold as fast as she could make it for 25 cents a pound, delivered. She made many kinds, and realized a good profit on all of them.

This she found to be a profitable source of income. She raised the plants from seed, starting to plant about the middle of March, and each 4-cent package of seed produced plants that sold for $4.00.

Most farm women are very busy, and often find it convenient to have some one do their baking, especially when they have company. This lady would either go to different houses, and do the baking for the families, who furnished their own material, for which she charged 35 cents per hour, or would do the baking at home, using her own materials, and sell the bread, cakes and pies she baked, at good prices to those too busy to do their own baking.

She arranged with reliable firms in the city to send her samples of all the new dress goods they received each season, and she showed these to the various women in the neighborhood, taking a great many orders for different patterns, on all of which she was paid a commission that amounted to a considerable sum each year.

She makes considerable money each year taking orders for various kinds of extracts, as well as for a popular summer drink, which comes in boxes selling at 25 cents each. The drink is made by dissolving the preparation in water and adding a little sugar. It is a delicious drink, made in a minute.

As she lives in the country where cranberries grow in great quantities, she earns many dollars each season by picking cranberries on shares, and her share always sells readily at good prices.

In the fall of the year she gathers chestnuts, which are plentiful in that vicinity, and these she sells at surprisingly high prices, for everybody wants them.

Along with her other accomplishments she is a good pianist. She plays for dances and other gatherings, and gives music lessons to a number of pupils.

Flagroot preserves bring high prices in the cities, and she adds many dollars to her income by gathering, preserving and selling this.

Although May Day “comes but once a year,” she manages to turn this anniversary to good account by making and selling the baskets that are a requisite for its observance.

But her greatest source of pleasure and profit is poultry raising, her selection and care of birds enabling her to keep only those that produce the most money.

The wife of a farmer living in the middle west has worked out several plans for making money at home, and finds that they all pay her very well.

One plan is to make shades for lamps and electric light globes, of rice and crepe paper, decorating them with water colors, pressed leaves, flowers, holly, etc., and these she sells to her neighbors for 10 cents each as they are very pretty and quite durable, with care.

She designs pretty patterns in crochet edgings, insertions, medallions and initials, and these she sells at six for 50 cents, through ads. in the local and city papers, delivering them by mail in most cases.

These she makes with rolled hem and crochet edge, and sells them at 25 cents to $1 each. Pop-corn balls rolled in clear syrup she sells at two for 5 cents, while her potato chips bring 5 cents for a small bag. She makes braided or woven rag rugs, white or in colors, with woven or stenciled borders, and sells them for $1.25 and up, while hand-made place cards, favors, etc., bring $1 per dozen.

Every year she holds sales in her front room and large hall, and sells pies, cakes, rolls, bread, cookies, doughnuts, plum puddings, fruit cakes, jams, jellies, canned fruits, vegetables, etc., besides her needle-work products, and always clears a handsome sum from these sales. She also takes orders for roast ducks, geese, turkeys, chickens and squabs, and finds a ready sale for all these from all classes of people, at special prices. Many of these are delivered by parcel post, and prove a good source of revenue.

A talented young woman, living in a small western city, wanted to open a beauty parlor, but realizing that she was not familiar with the necessary details of the business, went to a city some distance away and took a course of lessons from a dermatologist in the approved methods of removing wrinkles, moles, birthmarks, freckles, tan, superfluous hair, etc. The course cost her $25.

Before leaving the city, however, she also paid $15 for instructions in manicuring, and $10 for the necessary instruments with which to do this class of work in a satisfactory manner.

Arriving at her home town she sent personal letters to all the prominent women of the place, inviting them to visit the neat and attractively-fitted-up parlors she had opened in her home, and stating her qualifications for doing the work required.

Responses to these letters were numerous, and as the lady did exceptionally good work, her reputation spread rapidly throughout the community, and inside of the first year the net profits she realized from her small-town parlors were greater than those of many similar institutions in the large city. She was both capable and careful in the treatment of her patrons, who became permanent customers and made her plan an unqualified success.

A man who had some experience in a steam laundry in a city moved to a small town of 2,500 inhabitants and established a hand laundry that in a short time became a paying concern.

He had but a few hundred dollars in cash, but found he did not need a great deal. Before leaving the city, he had bought a light collar-and-cuff ironing machine that cost him $50, while $25 more paid for a few little accessories he knew he would need.

He rented a store room some distance from the business center, hired a couple of experienced women, and advertised that he would do better work than the steam laundries of the city could do, and at lower prices, calling particular attention to the fact that the machinery in the big laundries tear the clothes to pieces. He also offered to do mending of men’s articles free, and by turning out high-class work from the very first he soon had all the business he could handle.

Everybody uses ink, and most people need mucilage at one time or another, so that the making and selling of these necessary articles afforded a man in a small western town a very good money-making opportunity, which he improved with considerable profit.

Books of formulas for making these things can be procured from a number of sources, but the formula for preparing indelible marking ink proved to be one of the most profitable of them all. This ink is made by taking equal parts of green vitriol and cinnabar, powdered as finely as possible, and mixing them with unboiled linseed oil. When strained through a cloth this makes a fine indelible ink, and he found a good demand for it from laundries, department stores and various other places.

He employed salesmen to canvass near-by towns, and in a few months had established a permanent and profitable business of his own. The ingredients for these articles cost but little, the labels and bottles being the principal items of expense, and the margin was sufficiently large to justify him in paying a liberal commission to agents.

In every town, large or small, there are always news items of more or less interest, mainly local, but often of national importance, and the man or woman who can collect these items, put them in readable shape, and send them to the newspapers in the neighborhood cities, or larger towns, can always derive something of an income from this source. The editor of one of the largest and most influential of western dailies thus relates how he began his newspaper career in this manner:

“I lived in a town of about 1,000 inhabitants, which did not boast of a weekly newspaper, and yet there were many local happenings that would have been of great interest if published in the city paper, which had a rather extensive circulation in the town.

“I wrote to the editor of this paper and offered my services as correspondent from my town. He was glad to secure my services, and offered me a very fair rate of compensation, based upon a certain amount per column.

“I made it a point to write only actual and dependable items of news, to clothe them in proper and dignified language, with an occasional dash of humor in those cases where it was not only permissible but added to the force and interest of the article, and my letters were all published just as they were written.

“I added other daily newspapers to my list from time to time, and, as these were all sent to me free, I began to absorb the world’s news and soon became well informed on current events. Besides, my income grew until I was doing very well indeed, but when I was offered a position as reporter on this paper I accepted the offer, and have risen steadily until I am now managing editor, a position assured to me as long as I care to hold it.”

How a man with original ideas established an “exchange mart”—something he had never heard of before—and built up a good business along a novel line, is told by himself as follows:

“Knowing the tendency of people to sell what they have and buy or trade for something they haven’t, it occurred to me that I could supply the wants of both classes, and make some money for myself at the same time.

“I rented a store room and bought two blank books, one of which I marked “buyers” and the other one “sellers,” and then inserted an ad. in the local paper, asking those who had anything they wanted to sell to come and see me. I ran another ad., to the effect that it would pay those who wanted to buy anything, no matter what, to call upon me.

“Before long I had on hand a large assortment of articles of every kind that were for sale—books, furniture, tools, musical instruments—almost everything—and each of these I carefully listed in my sellers’ book, with the name and address of the owner, and the very lowest price at which it could be sold. A number of people also called to ask for certain articles, and if I did not have them I made a note of what was wanted, in my buyers’ book, with the name, address and phone number of the person wishing it, together with the highest price he would pay. Then I advertised for those things to be brought in, and when they came I bought them as cheaply as possible. Next I notified the prospective buyer, who would generally respond promptly and pay the price he had named, or a little more if the article particularly pleased him, and the difference between the seller’s lowest price and the buyer’s highest price was my profit. And this profit amounted to over $2,000 at the end of the first year.”

Of the many thousands of automobiles in use a great many of them have the varnish worn off or scratched, through carelessness and hard usage, and this fact gave an enterprising young Portland man an idea.

He made up a considerable quantity of a fine polish from the following formula: Orange shellac, 30 ounces; Venice turpentine, one ounce; castor oil, one ounce; gum sandarac, one ounce; nigrosine, one ounce; wood alcohol, 9 pints and 6 ounces. These he mixed, and shook them until thoroughly dissolved.

This mixture he put up in pint tin cans, with tight-fitting tops, the same as paint cans, pasted an attractive label on each can, gave it a fancy name, and was ready for business.

The directions for using were: Remove all dust and dirt with a clean cloth, and apply the dressing to the body of the auto or carriage with a soft camel hair brush, letting it dry thoroughly.

At first he took orders for applying the polish to autos himself, but he later decided he could make more money by employing agents to sell it for him. Each can cost but a trifle, and sold readily for $1, so that, after paying the agents liberal commission, he still had a net profit of over 50 cents per can. Later he began to advertise it throughout the country, and in a few months he had built up a mail order business, that netted him a good living.

With a strong, melodious voice, a megaphone, a hand organ in a covered wagon, and a few hundred copies of a popular song, a young man in New York City earned a good living.

This young man, standing up in the front part of the wagon, would stop the horse at a crowded corner, place the megaphone to his mouth and, giving a sign to the man manipulating the hand organ in the covered wagon, would commence to sing one of the latest songs of the day.

When the crowd became interested, as it always did, he would stop singing, offer the copies of the song, words and music, for 10 cents each.

The song sold rapidly, and when the ten minute limit for stopping in one place expired he would start up the horse, move on to another location, probably in the same block, and repeat the performance.

Most magazines, as well as daily and weekly newspapers, are always glad to pay a liberal commission for subscriptions, and some of them offer bonuses besides for good lists of subscribers.

A young man in an inland city of the Pacific Northwest, who had a few hundred dollars, fitted up a neat little down-town office—after securing a subscription agency for a number of leading periodicals, made a list of the same in alphabetical order, with columns for the regular price and the price at which he could supply them. If his commission was $1 on a year’s subscriptions, he advertised to send a $4 magazine for $3.60. Where his commission was 80 cents, he deducted 25 cents to his subscribers; if his discount was 40 cents, he would deduct 15 cents from the rate and so on.

He issued an attractive circular showing the various discounts he would allow on each subscription to any of the magazines or other publications listed, and sent these circulars to those answering his ads. in a number of papers covering his territory, and was surprised at the number of subscriptions he received through this system of discounts. While each subscription thus saved 10 per cent or more from regular subscription prices, it still left him a neat profit on each, and as the lists he was thus able to send in were quite large, he received enough in bonuses besides the discounts to himself as agent, to make a very comfortable income.

There is always more or less money to be made in a good advertising plan, and here is one way an elderly newspaper man turned his knowledge of printers ink to good account.

Whenever a church or social organization in his town proposed to give an affair or other form of entertainment he would offer to get out a good program for it free of cost to the parties planning the affair, and this offer was always gladly accepted. Sometimes he even offered a percentage of the proceeds for the privilege, and this too, was acceptable.

He would get the best figures possible from a number of printers, and let the contract to the one who could do good work for the lowest price.

Then he divided the program into small spaces for advertising, which he could easily fill at fair rates, and usually came out with at least 50 per cent profit on the undertaking.

There were so many of these programs to be obtained in his town, that he continued this as a regular business, and made an excellent living out of it.

Any plan that will help to raise money for a church is always gladly welcomed, but a plan that will do this, and at the same time make a fair profit for the originator, must be a “good one.”

A young printer in an eastern city inserted the following ad. in a number of religious papers all over the country:

“To raise money for your church, send us a photograph of your church or your pastor, and we will send you 500 high-grade post cards, with photo on each card. Sell these at 10 cents each, send us $20, and keep the balance. This is easy, and can be done in a week or less.”

The answers came in, the cuts were made from the photos, and the printed cards sent out. The post cards, printed, cost $7, the electro of the photo $3, and the other $10 for each set was net profit.

As from two to ten of these were received each day, one may judge as to the profits of the plan, while hundreds of churches were better off to the extent of $25 to $30 for each 500 cards sold.

A young lady, who wanted to make some money to help pay for a college course, proceeded to make the money by making sachet powder, her first “batch” amounting to fifty pounds. As a basis for the formula, she used, at various times, powdered starch, fine sawdust, oatmeal, and corn meal, and colored the completed preparation with a small quantity of analine. The powder itself she made as follows:

Wheat starch, 6 parts; orris root, 2 parts. Reduce starch to a very fine powder, and mix well with the orris root, then perfume with attar of lemon, attar of bergamot and attar of cloves, using twice as much of the lemon as of the others. This is really a violet sachet powder, but she gave it a fancy, high-sounding name, which added greatly to its selling qualities.

By advertising it in a small way, she created a demand for it that required help in making up the powder and filling the orders, and by placing it in a number of drug stores, she succeeded in providing herself with an income far in excess of the cost of a thorough course in the college of her choice.

After her graduation, she continued to make these sachet powders, which were mostly profit, and as they were of unquestioned quality, she received a revenue from their sales that paid all her expenses and gave her a nice bank account besides.

A married man, who had endured the horrors of house-cleaning time so often that he knew how that ordeal was dreaded by housewives and husbands alike, felt that he could bring a feeling of peace to thousands of homes, and also bring himself a good income as well, by removing the most formidable of the house-cleaning nightmare, the taking up and cleaning of carpets.

Therefore, having a very fair idea of what would be a good thing to use for the purpose, he proceeded to make a carpet cleaning compound, as follows: Powdered Fullers earth, 4 pounds; common salt, 3 pounds; turpentine, ¹⁄₂ pint. These he mixed well, passed through a sieve, and packed in half-pound packages. The entire cost was but a few cents, and the paper boxes and labels added but little to the expense of making it.

He used this preparation by sprinkling over a square yard of the carpet at a time, rubbing it with a stiff, dry scrubbing brush, and going over it a second time with a softer brush, after the dirt was removed. The same powder can be used for several squares, until it is too dirty to use.

He placed an ad. in the local papers, offering to send a free sample of the cleaner to anyone desiring it, and received many requests asking for samples. The assurance that carpets would not have to be taken up to be cleaned, clinched the argument, and as there was enough of the sample to show what it could do, he received calls for more.

Then he employed agents, on a good commission basis, to sell it from house to house, and soon had a demand for it that extended over several states.

Owing to the failing health of the husband, a man and his wife went camping in the mountains, just about the time berries were ripe and plentiful, and seeing an opportunity for healthful exercise as well as considerable financial profit, they began an extensive berry-picking campaign.

They had taken their bedding, some canvas cots, a stove, and a small tent to use in case of bad weather. They camped near several cool springs, and a mountain stream, from which they caught a great many trout.

Impressed with the immense quantities of berries all around them, they went to the nearest town and bought a supply of jars, cans, and glasses, 200 pounds of sugar and had 1,000 labels printed. Then they began their berry picking, canning, preserving and making jams and jellies of the berries at the same time, and sending them to the city hotels. Their products were carefully packed in apple boxes, and went through in fine shape.

When they figured up their receipts they amounted to $132, while their total expenses were $40, leaving them a net profit of $92, besides an enjoyable vacation. This proved the possibilities to this work, and this couple continued to put up more berries and received in return for their work a good living.

A former newspaper man, living in a western town of 10,000 people, became impressed with the importance of a well written church history, and suggested the idea to the pastors of several of the local churches. They approved the plan and promised him their support and co-operation.

Selecting one of the leading churches he interviewed the members, and from them obtained information concerning the history of the organization, past and present, with a complete list of the membership, as well as the names of those who had died since the church’s organization. Many interesting personal sketches of the older members were obtained and a review of the early struggles through which the society had passed in its infancy.

Usually a photograph of the church itself, as well as those of the pastor and a number of the more prominent members, were included in the book, while all the auxiliary organizations of the church were given considerable prominence. The book was well printed, and sold readily to the members and friends of the church, at a price which netted the author a good profit.

Having succeeded so well with this church, he proceeded to write histories of other churches in the town, and later extended his work to other communities. It paid him so well that he has made it his business.

He was a $10-a-week drug clerk, in a small Nebraska town, but he had ideas and formulas of much merit, and one of the latter was that for making a superior liquid glycerine soap, as follows:

Best soft soap, 7¹⁄₂ ounces; tincture of soap bark, 3¹⁄₂ ounces; glycerine, 1 ounce. Put into a vessel and warm gently until dissolved, then add a dash of some selected perfume. Then strain and make up to 12 fluid ounces by adding the necessary amount of warm distilled water. The soap used in compounding this should be the best transparent kind.

A trip to the nearest city revealed the fact that the agents of office buildings, large factories, department stores, etc., were greatly in need of this product, to be used in their sanitary toilet equipment, and would pay good prices for it.

In the course of a week, he took orders for several hundred dollars worth and then placed it on sale in the drug stores, at the same time notifying his patrons and the public in general to that effect.

That was ten years ago, and today that former cheap drug clerk is the owner of one of the best pharmacies in the city.

Air-pencils used in writing show cards and for other purposes can be made at home very cheaply, and sold at considerably less than the kind one buys at paint stores, and elsewhere, at the same time yielding a good profit, and a young man, who did card-writing for a Minneapolis department store, figured out a way to make them.

At a drug store he bought a white rubber syringe bulb, No. 3 size, open at one end only, and cut off the neck down to the bulb part. Then he got a small oil can, of the size used for sewing machines, etc., and cut off the screw or thread part of this. He inserted this in the bulb of the syringe, and secured it with a fine wire twisted about the neck of the bulb. He then screwed the nozzle of the oil can into the neck, and the air-pencil was complete.

To fill the air-pencil, he unscrewed the nozzle from the neck of the bulb, pressed the bulb partly together, placed the neck or mouth of the bulb in the lettering mixture, and released his hold on the bulb, thus filling it by suction. Then he inserted the nozzle in the bulb, and was ready to begin lettering.

Whenever he was through using the air-pencil, he rinsed the bulb out thoroughly, with water, as the lettering mixture, if left in, would soon harden and render the pencil useless.

This home-made pencil worked so perfectly that he decided to make a number of them for sale, and did so, getting good price concessions on both bulbs and cans when buying a good many at a time. Having made up about 200 of the air-pencils, he advertised them in a journal devoted to department stores, and sold the entire lot from the first ad. Receiving calls for more, he made them up in larger quantities, and, offering them at about three-fourths the regular prices, sold several thousand of them at a very good profit.

A young card writer in Los Angeles, who had bought an air-pencil for doing his work, after becoming thoroughly familiar with its use, concluded to take orders for various kinds of work from the city merchants, and follow this as a special line.

Aside from lettering show cards and the like, he also did considerable work in objects, done in relief with leaves, flowers, scrolls and other designs. He also did considerable work in home decorations, such as vases, flower pots, panels, picture frames, and other made designs, such as “Merry Christmas,” “Home, Sweet Home,” “Happy New Year,” and other placards, for which he found a ready sale.

The materials used were alabastine, bronze, flitters, diamond dust and analine coloring powders; white and colored cardboard of all sizes; white wood, glass, and metal ware, used to some extent for expensive pieces of work. He utilized many new and original ideas in his work, and showed remarkable taste and talent in execution.

An idea of his profits may be gained from the statement that plain lettered card signs that cost him from 1 to 8 cents to produce, he sold for 15 to 20 cents, while those more elaborately made with diamond dust, flitters, gold and silver lettering, costing 2 to 6 cents each, brought him from 20 to 50 cents each. Mottoes, finely executed, sold for 75 cents to $1 each. In many cases he gave instructions in lettering and sold outfits for doing the work at $2 to $3 each, and made considerable from that source.

For making his lettering waterproof, he used two parts alabastine, 1 part flour, 1 part linseed oil, stirring them well, then quickly adding cold water. For the work thus treated he made an additional charge that paid its cost many times over.

An old gentleman living in a western town of 5,000 people, unable to do hard work, but obliged to earn his own living, hit upon a plan that brought him a small income upon which he could live with comfort. His plan was to make a simple water filter; and, as the local water supply was not of the best, he sold all he could make.

Taking a small wooden pail, not painted on the inside, he bored a hole in the bottom and covered the bottom of the pail with flannel. Then he put in a layer of coarsely powdered charcoal to a depth of 2 inches, then a 8-inch layer of coarse sand, and on top of this a 8-inch layer of coarse powdered limestone. Setting the pail over a jar, he allowed the water from the faucet to drip slowly into the pail, where it was thoroughly filtered before going into the jar, and was therefore perfectly safe for drinking.

This first filter he sold for 75 cents, and with the profits on this sale he bought several more of the pails and a quantity of the charcoal, with a few yards of flannel, and made these up as before. The people of his town were glad to get so good a filter for that price and he supplied several hundred families, and his net profits were sufficient to maintain him. He is now making filters for other towns.

A poor widow, living in a small southern city, was practically dependent upon a splendid cow, which gave more milk than she and her few customers could use.

She therefore conceived the idea of converting this surplus into condensed milk that would keep for an indefinite period, and bring good prices when shipped to city customers by parcel post.

Taking 10,000 parts of fresh milk, 50 parts of white sugar, and 2 parts of carbonate of soda, she placed all in a porcelain vessel, and with constant stirring evaporated by heat of vapor bath at 140 to 160 degrees to the consistence of a thick paste.

Placing this paste in small glass jars, she sold it readily at fair prices, and realized a good profit from its sale. One pint of this paste is equal to ten pints of fresh milk, and being a distinctively country product of assured purity and cleanliness brought a good living to this woman.

He published a weekly newspaper in a field that was covered by one of the papers of a large city about thirty miles away, and he was very desirous of showing a special service to the people in his community. He made it a point to find out the people who came into the city, and to ascertain this early. So each morning he went to the Water Department of his city and obtained the names and addresses of parties who had water turned on, and from this information, made a statement in his paper concerning each person’s arrival. When the paper was published, he sent a boy around to get the newcomer’s subscription. When there was a refusal, the boy was instructed to say: “Well, the editor desired you to have a copy anyway, so I will leave this copy.” The new arrival, upon reading over the paper, found his name mentioned, and on his next call the boy easily secured a subscriber.

This is an excellent way for a person running a small paper close to a large city to build up his subscription list. This man succeeded to the extent of seven or eight hundred dollars a year.

The delights of the bath are increased 100 per cent by the use of a perfumed bath bag, which a druggist friend made up as follows:

Fine oatmeal, 4 pounds; bran, 1 pound; powdered castile soap, 1 pound; powdered orris, ¹⁄₂ pound. Mix well together and tie up in muslin bags, of any desired tint, and fasten with ribbon or silk. Each bag contained about one pound of the mixture, and sold readily at 25 cents each. Anyone can make considerable money by making and selling these.

Thoroughly mash a quantity of ripe strawberries into a paste, and let stand for 24 hours. Then press out the juice and let it stand for a few days, to ferment and to allow the slimy contents to separate. Then filter the juice and put into clean, well-closed bottles, and put in a cool place, where it will keep a long time. Added to good cider vinegar, when ready to use, it makes an excellent flavoring.

It was cheap and easy to make, and profitable to sell.

While Mr. Farmer devoted his time and attention to the larger operations of general farming, his wife made a profitable side issue of such subsidiary lines as the orchard, the garden and the poultry yard, in all of which the products were of the highest order.

Buying Mason jars in large quantities, at a practically wholesale price, she utilized these in the canning of fruits, berries and vegetables, as they keep longer and look better when put up in this way, and bring much higher prices.

While her specialty was tomatoes, she also canned peas, beans, carrots, beets, turnips, parsnips, sweet potatoes, squash, pumpkins, sweet corn, shredded cabbage, brussels sprouts, and many other products of that kind, and they retained their original flavor and appearance throughout the entire year, if kept beyond the winter season. Of fruits, she canned peaches, pears, apples, cherries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and strawberries, put up in their syrup for making pies and puddings as well as for general table uses.

Hundreds of city people gladly purchased these canned fruits and vegetables, and though she sold them at prices lower those asked for inferior grades in the market, she still netted a good profit from all her products.

She made immense quantities of the most delicious pickles and relishes. She made these from the very best recipes she could procure anywhere, and the product was so excellent that she was proud to have it known that it was due to her own skill in making everything just right.

The pickles and relishes she made of green tomatoes, and the profit on them even at her reasonable prices were great. Pickled cucumbers, cabbage, celery, onions, cauliflower, beets, beans, and a score of other garden growths, took up a large portion of her time and brought large returns, while chow-chow, pickalillie, and other appetizing relishes were in demand.

Like the famous “Pin-Money Pickles” of a southern woman who started on nothing, Snider’s Catsup, which was launched in a small way by a wife, and Heinz’s fifty-seven varieties, this farm lady’s articles were popular because she turned out only good products.

An Ohio farm woman had learned, through experience, that there is no profit in scrubby poultry; that these birds eat as much as the high grade, and bring only the lowest prices in the market. She therefore weeded out the mongrels and substituted pure-breds. Instead of selling common eggs at the corner grocery for 20 cents a dozen, she was soon selling settings at $2.50 to $6, and had a fine lot of high-grade cockerels which not only matured early but showed greater size and bulk, and brought more per pound than the common ones. She also dealt in the best strains of ducks, geese, turkeys, etc., and these were very productive of cash returns, also.

A few ads. in farm and poultry journals brought many orders for pure-bred poultry and eggs.

This enterprising woman would never plant a seed of any kind except the very choicest variety, and the result was seen in the superior products of her orchard and garden. Not content with even this showing, she was continually experimenting in the cross-breeding of the most select specimens of plants, flowers, vegetables and fruits. For instance, through these methods she developed a climbing tomato vine. This vine was a thing of beauty and a wonderful producer, and she received big prices for a few seeds, as everyone who saw it was anxious to have some of the same kind in their own garden. Her sales from garden seeds alone often brought her as high as $500 in a single year.

One would think this farmer’s wife would be busy enough without adding to her long list of home industries, but she realized that real honey is a luxury, for which people will pay good prices, so she installed a few colonies of bees and, with her usual thoroughness in all matters pertaining to the productiveness of the farm, she gave them that degree of care which is necessary in order to secure the best results. That orchard and garden proved a veritable paradise for the bees, and they well repaid their favorable surroundings with a yield of choice honey that not only supplied all the family needs but furnished several hundred pounds for sale at high prices every fall. As the colonies increased, so did the revenue they brought, and as but little labor or expense was involved in their keep, they returned very large profits.

Having a number of plum trees in the orchard that were loaded with fruit, she sold 800 or 1,000 pounds of them at good prices, and still having more of them than she could use, she pickled them, as follows: To every 7 pounds of plums, add 4 pounds of sugar and 2 ounces each of cinnamon stick and cloves, 1 quart vinegar and a little mace. Scald the vinegar and sugar together and pour over the plums. When the jar is full, scald all together, and they are then ready for use. One taste of these always made people want more.

Only those who have used fireless cookers can have any adequate conception of their practical value, or realize the manifold advantages their use affords. But fireless cookers, as they are made and sold today, are prohibitive in price to many people, costing, as they do, from $12 to $30 each, according to the number of “burners,” and thousands who would be glad to have them are obliged to go without.

It was an intimate knowledge of this condition that prompted an enterprising citizen in California to supply these people with fireless cookers which he could make in his own woodshed, and supply them at less than one-third the prices asked for the “boughten” ones. Anyway, he decided to make a few and see what could be done in the matter of sales.

He purchased a quantity of lumber one inch thick, and this he cut up into sufficient lengths to make wooden boxes 18 inches wide, 16 inches deep, and 18, 30 and 40 inches in length, with a hinged cover of the same materials as the sides, ends and bottoms of the boxes. The 18-inch boxes were for one burner, the 30-inch for two burners, and the 40-inch for 3-burner cookers.

He placed a thick layer of excelsior all around the inside of the box, holding this in place with burlap, long, slender nails being driven through the burlap and excelsior into the wood of the sides and ends, while a thick cushion of burlap and excelsior was made to fit over the tops of the kettles, and cushions of the same kind, made in circular form, to fit closely around each kettle as it set in the box. The bottom of the box was also fitted with a thick cushion of the same material. On this bottom cushion was laid a thick piece of soapstone, upon which the kettles rested, and this, when heated on top of the stove or range upon which the food in the kettles had been partially cooked, completed the cooking and retained the heat for an indefinite period. The air spaces left in the corners next to the circular cushions, he filled with excelsior.

He made arrangements with a wholesale hardware house for a special price on granite kettles of the proper size, in lots of 100 or more, so as to avoid the misfits that would result when housewives attempted to fit their own kettles into the circular spaces made to hold them, and he was thus able to make them uniform in size.

In order to first test the merits of his product, he made one of the 3-burner cookers and gave it a thorough trial in his own home. The demonstration was most convincing, and proved that the fireless cooker which he could turn out at a cost of not to exceed $3, was just as practical and effective as those made by the large manufacturers.

The 1-burner cookers, which cost him $2 to make, he decided to sell for $5; the 2-burner kind, costing him $2.50, at $7, and the 3-burner ones, that cost him $3, including the kettles, at $8.

He began by thoroughly canvassing his own town, and was surprised at the large number of orders received. The income from this work afforded him a very good living.

The adoption of a career is always a matter of great importance. To the discharged soldier, sailor, or marine who, through force of circumstances, must “begin again,” the particular place he will fill in the great army of the world’s workers is probably his chief concern. The purpose of this little pamphlet is to inform, in a general way, the men who made sacrifices in order that the world might remain a decent place to live in, as to what the United States Government has to offer in the civil branch in the way of employment for those who seek it, and the conditions under which it may be obtained.

Our government is the largest employer in the world. The limits of its activities are those of the field of human endeavor. Before the United States entered the war nearly 500,000 persons were employed in the Federal civil service, about 300,000 of whom occupied positions classified under the civil-service law and rules. Of course the service was greatly expanded to meet the demands of war conditions. In a normal year about 40,000 appointments are made in the classified civil service. About one-tenth of the positions in the Federal civil service are in Washington, D. C., the balance being distributed throughout the country.

On January 16, 1883, Congress passed what is known as the civil service law. This act created the United States Civil Service Commission. The fundamental purpose of the law is to establish in the parts of the service covered by its provisions a merit system whereby selection for appointment shall be made upon the basis of demonstrated relative fitness without regard to political, religious, or other such considerations. To carry out this purpose a plan of competitive examinations is prescribed.

The term “classified service” indicates the parts of the service within the provisions of the civil service law and rules requiring appointments therein to be made upon examination and certification by the Civil Service Commission unless especially excepted from competition; the term “unclassified service” indicates the parts of the service which are not within those provisions and therefore in which appointments may be made without examination and certification by the commission. Under the law, positions of mere unskilled laborer and positions to which appointment is made by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate, are in the unclassified service. Unskilled laborers in all branches of the service in some localities and in certain branches of the service in all localities are filled through competitive examination under regulations promulgated by the President.

Included in the classified service are positions in or under the departments and offices at Washington, D. C., the Custodian Service, the Customs Service, the Engineer Department at large, the Freedman’s Hospital, the Forest Service, the Government Printing Office, the Immigration Service, the Indian Irrigation and Allotment Service, the Indian Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Land Office Service, the Lighthouse Service, the Mint and Assay Service, the National Military Park Service, the Navy Yard Service, the Ordnance Department at large, the Panama Canal Service, the Post Office Service, the Public Health Service, the Quartermaster Corps, the Reclamation Service, the Rural Delivery Service, the Railway Mail Service, St. Elizabeths Hospital, the Steamboat Inspection Service, the Subtreasury Service, the United States Penitentiary Service; and the position of fourth-class postmaster, except in Alaska, Canal Zone, Guam, Hawaii, Philippine Islands, Porto Rico and Samoa.

Where, in the opinion of the Civil Service Commission, such an examination is practicable and desirable, applicants are assembled in examination rooms in certain specified places, conveniently located throughout the country, for written scholastic tests. In many cases, however, the competitors are not required to assemble for a written examination, but are graded upon their training and experience and, where necessary, upon their physical condition. These so-called nonassembled examinations are given for two general classes of positions, viz: (1) Mechanical trades and similar positions, and (2) high-grade technical, professional, and scientific positions, and administrative positions which can not adequately be filled by promotion and for which the Government requires men whose fitness is demonstrated in a record of successful experience. In such examinations, competitors are rated upon the sworn statements in their applications and upon corroborative evidence gathered by the Civil Service Commission. In some examinations of this character, these, published writings of the applicant, and the like are considered. Applicants for positions of mere unskilled laborer are given a physical examination only.

In all cases the examinations are practical and are designed to test the qualifications of the applicant for the particular kind of work for which he applies. The commission’s system of rating insures a fair and impartial judgment of the relative merits of applicants.

The vast range of the activities of the Government requires employees in many parts of the country and with widely differing qualifications. Examinations are held by the Civil Service Commission for all kinds and classes of positions, from mere unskilled laborer to the highest grades of technical, professional, and scientific positions. It is not practicable to name in this publication all of the hundreds of occupations which exist in the Federal civil service, but the list of positions for which examinations have recently been held by the Civil Service Commission will convey a fair idea of the broad scope of the opportunities offered by the civil service.

There is seldom a time when examinations of less than 100 different kinds are open. Definite information as to the kinds, dates, and places of current examinations may be obtained from any representative of the Civil Service Commission or by writing to “The United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C.” In any request for information made by mail the inquirer should state in general terms his desire and qualifications in order that his inquiry may be answered intelligently.

The organization of the Civil Service Commission consists of approximately 3,000 local boards of examiners in every part of the country, reporting to district secretaries in 12 civil-service districts, all under the supervision and direction of the commission at Washington.

The local boards of examiners have their offices in the post office or customhouse in each city in the country that has house-to-house delivery of mail and in some smaller cities that do not have such delivery.

The district secretaries are located as follows:

Secretary first United States civil service district, customhouse, Boston, Mass.

Secretary second United States civil service district, customhouse, New York, N. Y.

Secretary third United States civil service district, post office, Philadelphia, Pa.

Secretary fourth United States civil service district, Sixth and G Streets NW., Washington, D. C.

Secretary fifth United States civil service district, post office, Atlanta, Ga.

Secretary sixth United States civil service district, post office, Cincinnati, Ohio.

Secretary seventh United States civil service district, post office, Chicago, Ill.

Secretary eighth United States civil service district, post office, St. Paul, Minn.

Secretary ninth United States civil service district, old customhouse, St. Louis, Mo.

Secretary tenth United States civil service district, customhouse, New Orleans, La.

Secretary eleventh United States civil service district, post office, Seattle, Wash.

Secretary twelfth United States civil service district, post office, San Francisco, Calif.

All district and local boards of examiners are supplied currently with announcements of examinations and are fully informed concerning civil service matters generally. Discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, as well as all other citizens, are advised to keep in touch with the boards of examiners in their respective communities in order that they may be informed as to opportunities for employment. Those who live in communities in which the Civil Service Commission is not represented may obtain information at any time by writing to the nearest district secretary or to the commission at Washington.

Local boards of examiners for certain branches of the service receive applications for some positions, principally mechanical trades and similar positions and positions of unskilled laborer. Local boards of this class are located at navy yards and naval stations, at ordnance plants, at district headquarters of the Engineer Department of the Army, at headquarters of lighthouse districts, at projects of the Indian Irrigation and Allotment Service, and at projects of the Reclamation Service. Information relative to position which are open in any particular establishment may be obtained by communicating with the secretary of the local board of civil service examiners at the establishment. The locations of the various establishments of the services named will be furnished upon request by any district secretary or by the commission at Washington.

The civil service regulations specify certain physical defects which will debar from all examinations and other defects which will debar from certain examinations. These regulations are based upon the requirements of the service as established by the several departmental heads.

The general regulations provide that the following defects will debar persons from any examination: Insanity, tuberculosis; paralysis; epilepsy; seriously defective sight of both eyes which can not be corrected by glasses; loss of both arms or both legs; loss of arm and leg; badly crippled or deformed hands, arms, feet or legs; uncompensated valvular disease of the heart; locomotor ataxia; cancer; Bright’s disease; diabetes. Defective hearing will also debar from examination if the duties of the position are such that the defective hearing of the employee would be likely to result in injury to himself or his fellow workers or would otherwise impair his efficiency. Other physical defects may debar persons from certain examinations. Announcements of examinations specify the additional physical requirements if any are provided.

On April 16, 1919, the President authorized, on the recommendation of the Civil Service Commission, an amendment to the civil-service rules which permits the Commission to exempt from physical requirements established for any position a disabled and honorably discharged soldier, sailor, or marine upon the certification of the Federal Board for Vocational Education that he has been specially trained for and has passed a practical test demonstrating his physical ability to perform the duties of the class of positions in which employment is sought.

An act of Congress, approved March 3, 1919, provides as follows:

“That hereafter in making appointments to clerical and other positions in the executive departments and independent governmental establishments preference shall be given to honorably discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines, and widows of such, if they are qualified to hold such positions.”

The foregoing provision applies only to appointments in the departmental service at Washington, D. C.

Section 1754 of the Revised Statutes provides that persons honorably discharged from the military or naval service by reason of disability resulting from wounds or sickness incurred in the line of duty shall be preferred for appointments to the civil offices, provided they are found to possess the business capacity necessary for the proper discharge of the duties of such offices.

Section 1754 applies to all branches of the service, in Washington, D. C., and in the country at large. It does not authorize the waiving of physical requirements.

Persons who are entitled to preference under the statutes must qualify for appointment by passing the usual entrance examinations.

An act of Congress, approved March 1, 1919, provides as follows:

“That the period of time during which soldiers, sailors, and marines, both enlisted and drafted men, who, prior to entering the service of their country, had a civil service status, and whose names appear upon the eligible list of the Civil Service Commission, shall not be counted against them in the determination of their eligibility for appointment under the law, rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission now in effect, and at the time of demobilization their civil service status shall be the same as when they entered the service.”

An Executive order of July 18, 1918, provides as follows:

“A person leaving the classified civil service to engage in the military or naval service of the Government during the present war with Germany and who has been honorably discharged, may be reinstated in the civil service at any time within five years after his discharge, provided that at the time of reinstatement he has the required fitness to perform the duties of the position to which reinstatement is sought.”

An act of Congress, approved February 25, 1919, provides as follows:

“That all former Government employees who have been drafted or enlisted in the military service of the United States in the war with Germany shall be reinstated on application to their former positions, if they have received an honorable discharge and are qualified to perform the duties of the position.”

In the Government service, as in private employ, unusual ability is rewarded by more rapid promotion. As indicating that opportunity is not lacking in Government offices for those who possess brains and ambition, a few examples, selected from a large number of similar cases, may be mentioned:

In the Department of Labor an employee now receiving a salary of $3,000 a year entered the Government service as a compositor in the Government Printing Office at $3.20 a day. Another, in the same department and receiving the same salary, started as a clerk at $1,000. An assistant to the Secretary of Labor, who is paid $5,000 a year, entered the service in 1906 as a stenographer at $900. This employee, as well as one who was appointed at $1,000 and who now receives $4,000, studied law while in the service, attending the evening classes held by one of the several universities in Washington. A former Chinese inspector, appointed at $1,440 in 1903, also studied law and by successive promotions has attained a salary of $4,500 a year.

The present Solicitor for the Department of State entered that department as a law clerk at $1,600 a year in 1909. His present salary is $5,000 a year.

The Department of the Interior pays $4,000 a year to one of its employees who entered the service as a copyist at $900.

A messenger boy in the Post Office Department, appointed in 1903, now holds a position in another department which pays $5,000 a year.

An employee of the Department of Agriculture now receiving $4,000 a year started in 1904 as a clerk-stenographer-typist at $1,000. In the same department there is an instance of a rise from assistant messenger at $480 a year in 1906 to assistant to the Secretary at $3,300 a year at the present time.

In the Treasury Department are two employees who rose, one from $720 and the other from $1,800 a year, to positions in that department paying $6,000 a year.

The Interstate Commerce Commission has afforded the opportunity to a number of civil-service employees to secure advancement to positions paying $5,000 a year.

These instances could be multiplied many times. No attempt has been made to cover all the departments and bureaus; the selections have been made from large numbers of equally interesting cases. Aside from the excellent opportunities for advancement in the Government service, many men have received training in Government establishments which has qualified them to hold positions paying as high as $12,000 a year, and even more, in private employ.

It is human to measure success by standards of money, but, of course, pecuniary reward represents only a certain kind of success. Achievement, work well done, whatever it may be, is success. The civil service of the United States offers a wide field of opportunity where individual tastes may be developed and where real constructive work may be done. Its offices, laboratories, and workshops are equipped with modern appliances. Its libraries receive currently the books and periodicals needed by the worker in his effort to keep abreast of his fellows. Its working hours and vacation periods permit the worker to live while he works, and he works better in consequence. The civil service has much to commend it to the discharged soldier, sailor, or marine, or any other citizen who seeks work.

The following list of positions for which examinations have recently been held by the Civil Service Commission will serve to illustrate the great number and variety of the occupations existing in the Federal civil service. No attempt has been made to give a complete list, for it would not be feasible to do so in this publication. Practically every occupation is represented in the offices, laboratories, and workshops of the Government.

It should not be understood that examinations are now open for all of the positions included in the list. Definite information relative to current examinations may be obtained from the secretary of the local board of civil-service examiners at the post office or customhouse in any of 3,000 cities or from the United States Civil Service Commission, Washington, D. C.

The entrance salaries named are those which were offered when the examinations were announced. Higher or lower salaries may be offered when the examinations are announced again.

A young woman, living in a big city, wished to live in the country, and induced her parents to buy a farm of thirty acres some distance away. But the farm didn’t pay, and the question of making a living became a serious one.

Several young people of the neighborhood had remarked to the young lady in question upon the large number of motorists who had stopped at their house and inquired for refreshments, or for overnight accommodations. This gave the young lady from the city her idea.

She had a lot of bird houses put up among the trees surrounding the house, put up a sign, “Bird House Inn,” had the place all lighted by electricity, increased the kitchen equipment, and awaited results. They came, and have been coming ever since, for the fame of “Bird House Inn,” with its daintily cooked yet generous meals, its superior sleeping accommodations and its home-like restfulness, has spread all over the land, and the enterprising young lady is reaping a harvest as a result of her foresight in grasping the opportunity that came to her unbidden.

The rickety old place has become a bower of beauty, a veritable haven of refuge for the weary traveler, and the young lady who preferred the country to the city is rejoicing in the happiness she has been the means of bringing to thousands of other people and to herself.

In the selection of a breed or variety of poultry care should be taken to obtain healthy, vigorous stock.

Beginners are urged to keep but one variety of a breed of fowls. There is no best breed of poultry. Select the breed that suits your purpose best.

Mongrel male.

Standard-bred male.

 

Be sure that the male bird at the head of the flock is standard-bred.

A standard-bred male at the head of a mongrel flock will improve the quality of the stock materially. A mongrel male will produce no improvement in quality.

Given the same care and feed, standard-bred fowls will make a greater profit than mongrel fowls.

A standard-bred flock.

Standard-bred fowls produce uniform products which bring higher prices.

Standard-bred stock and eggs, sold for breeding purposes, bring higher prices than market quotations.

Standard-bred fowls can be exhibited and thus compete for prizes.

A mixed or mongrel flock.

The products from mongrel fowls are not uniform and do not always bring the highest prices.

Eggs and stock from mongrel fowls are not sold for breeding purposes.

Mongrel fowls are not exhibited in poultry shows or exhibits.

The general-purpose breeds are best suited to most farms where the production of both eggs and meat is desired. The four most popular representatives of this class are the Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Orpington and Rhode Island Red.

Plymouth Rock.

Wyandotte.

Orpington.

Rhode Island Red.

 

All these breeds, with the exception of the Orpington, are of American origin. They are characterized by having yellow skin and legs, and lay brown-shelled eggs. The Orpington is of English origin, has a white skin, and also lays brown-shelled eggs.

For detailed discussion of the various breeds of fowls of American origin request Farmers’ Bulletin 806 on “Standard Varieties of Chickens. I. The American Class,” which may be had on application to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

The Mediterranean or egg breeds are best suited for the production of white-shelled eggs. Representatives of this class are bred largely for the production of eggs rather than for meat production. Among the popular breeds of this class are: Leghorn, Minorca, Ancona, and Andalusian.

Leghorn.

Minorca.

Ancona.

Andalusian.

 

One of the outstanding characteristics of the egg breeds is the fact that they are classed as nonsitters; that is, as a rule they do not become broody and hatch their eggs. When fowls of this class are kept, artificial incubation and brooding are usually employed.

For detailed discussion of the various breeds of this class request Farmers’ Bulletin 898 on “Standard Varieties of Chickens. II. The Mediterranean Class,” which may be obtained on application to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

The meat breeds of poultry are primarily kept for the production of meat rather than for the production of eggs in large quantities. Representatives of this class are: Langshan, Brahma, Cochin, and Cornish.

Langshan.

Brahma.

Cochin.

Cornish.

 

Although classed as meat breeds representatives of this class are sometimes kept as general-purpose fowls. Each of these breeds is heavier and larger in size than the egg breeds or those of the general-purpose class, and lay brown-shelled eggs.

For further information on the various breeds of this class, request Farmers’ Bulletin on “Standard Varieties of Chickens. III. The Asiatic, English, and French Classes,” which may be obtained on application to the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

Fowls for breeding purposes should be strong, healthy, vigorous birds. The comb, face, and wattles should be of a bright-red color, eyes bright and fairly prominent, head comparatively broad and short and not long or crow-shaped, legs set well apart and straight, plumage clean and smooth.

Females showing high and low vitality. The latter to be avoided when selecting females for breeding.

A knock-kneed fowl. The kind to be avoided as a breeder.

Defects of the kind shown here should be avoided in selecting breeders.

If possible, free range should be provided for the breeding pen.

Usually hens make better breeders than pullets. Cockerels, if well grown and matured, often give better fertility than older birds. However, cock birds that have proved good breeders should be used.

MALE HEADS SHOWING DEFECTIVE COMBS.

1. THUMB MARK	2. LOPPED (SINGLE)	3. HOLLOW CENTER
4. SIDE SPRIG	5. UNEVEN SERRATIONS.	6. TWISTED

MALES WITH DEFECTIVE TAIL CARRIAGE

1. SQUIRREL

2. WRY

When the breeding flock is confined to a yard, the size of the mating should be 1 male to 10 or 12 females. When allowed free range, the number of females can be increased to 20 or 25 with good results.

Matings should be made two weeks before the eggs are saved for hatching.

A well-ventilated cellar of uniform temperature is an excellent place to operate the incubator.

Homemade egg candler. The hole for testing eggs should be directly opposite the flame of the lamp.

Have everything ready beforehand and start your hatching operations early in the year. In sections where the climate is temperate, February, March, and April are the best months for hatching. The early hatched pullet is the one that begins to lay early in the fall and continues to lay when eggs are high in price.

A good hatch.

Dust the hen thoroughly with a good lice powder before placing her on the nest.

Select uniform, fairly large sized eggs for hatching.

Operate the incubator according to the manufacturer’s directions to produce the best results.

Test the eggs for fertility on the seventh and fourteenth days.

Do not open the incubator after the eighteenth day until the chicks are hatched.

Given proper care and attention, the hen is the most valuable incubator for the farmer whose poultry operations are of moderate size.

Do not allow the mother hen to range over the farm with the chicks.

Confine the mother hen to a brood coop until the chicks are weaned.

 

Toe-mark the chicks as soon as they are hatched. This enables one to tell their ages later.

In cool weather place from 10 to 13 eggs under the hen; in warm weather from 13 to 15 eggs.

Chicks should not receive feed until they are 36 hours old.

When artificial incubation is used, start the brooder a day or two before putting in the chicks, to see that the heating apparatus is working properly. Brooder lamps should be cleaned every day.

In the case of hen-hatched broods, the coop for hen and chicks should be well ventilated, easy to clean, and large enough to insure comfort. To allow the hen to range over the farm with the chicks will often be the cause of heavy losses.

For the first three days chicks may be fed a mixture of equal parts of hard-boiled eggs and rolled oats or stale bread, or stale bread soaked in milk. When bread and milk are used, care should be taken to squeeze all the milk out of the bread. From the third or fourth day commercial chick feed may be fed until the chicks are old enough to eat wheat screenings or cracked corn.

To insure rapid and uniform growth of the chicks, provide in addition to a grain feed a dry mash to which the chickens will have access at all times.

For additional information on incubation and brooding, request Farmers’ Bulletins 585 and 624.

An excellent range providing shade and shelter for growing chicks.

If possible locate the brooders on ground that has recently been cultivated, thereby eliminating the danger of tainted soil and possible disease.

Chicks having access to a shaded range, such as shown above, develop and thrive better in warm weather than those not having such range.

For the production of infertile eggs, exhaustive information relating to the care of poultry and eggs, along with individual advice on such subjects—write to U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, c/o Animal Husbandry Division, Washington, D. C.

Select a location for the poultry house that has natural drainage away from the building. A dry, porous soil, such as sand or gravelly loam, is preferable to a clay soil.

OLD STYLE HEN HOUSE
NO LIGHT—NO VENTILATION
POOR RESULTS

SHED
EXCELLENT MATERIAL FOR POULTRY HOUSE

OPEN FRONT HEN HOUSE
SHED BOARDED UP IN FRONT POULTRY NETTING WINDOWS

SIDE VIEW OF HOUSE
CONSTRUCTED FROM OLD SHED

INTERIOR OF SAME HOUSE

GOOD SUNLIGHT CONDITIONS.
1 MOVABLE ROOSTS
2 DROPPING BOARD
3 NESTS

NESTS OPEN FROM FRONT HENS ENTER FROM REAR

MODEL HEN HOUSE
CONSTRUCTED FROM SHED AT LITTLE COST
NOTE EFFECTS OF A COAT OF WHITEWASH

 

Rebuilding a poultry house out of old lumber at small cost

The building should face the south or southeast to insure the greatest amount of sunlight during the winter.

The roosts should be built on the same level, about 3 feet from the floor with a droppings board about 6 inches below the roosts.

A good interior arrangement for a poultry house, showing roosts and droppings boards with nests underneath and wire coop at end for confining broody hens. Note ventilators in back of house and the abundance of sunlight, which insures a dry house and healthy fowls.

A partial open-front curtain house is conceded to be the best type for most sections of temperate climate.

Good roosts may be made of 2 by 2 inch material with the upper edges rounded.

The nests may be placed on the side walls or under the droppings boards. It is best to have them darkened, as hens prefer a secluded place in which to lay. For further information on poultry house construction request Farmers’ Bulletin 574.

A trap nest is a laying nest so arranged that after a hen enters it she is confined until released by the attendant. The trap nest shown in the accompanying illustration is used with good results on the Government poultry farm and is very similar to the nest used at the Connecticut State experiment station. It is very simple and may be built at a small cost.

Trap nests enable the poultryman to distinguish between the layers and the drones.

When possible it is advisable to trap-nest the layers for the following reasons:

1. To tame the birds, thereby tending toward increased egg production.

2. To furnish definite knowledge concerning traits and habits of individuals.

3. To furnish the only satisfactory basis for utility or other breeding.

4. To eliminate the nonproductive hen.

5. To add mechanical precision to judgment and experience in developing and maintaining the utility of a flock.

For further information and plans showing the construction of a trap nest, send for Farmers’ Bulletin 682, “A Simple Trap Nest for Poultry.”

Classification of Poultry Feeds

A homemade dry-mash hopper.

Oats in the process of sprouting.

In order to obtain an abundance of eggs it is necessary to have healthy, vigorous stock, properly fed.

The following are good grain mixtures for the laying stock, the proportions being by weight:

A choice of any one of these rations should be scattered in the litter twice daily, morning and evening.

Average amount of feed consumed by a laying hen and eggs produced.

Either of the following suggested dry-mash mixtures should be fed in a dry-mash hopper such as illustrated, allowing the fowls to have access to it at all times.

When fowls do not have access to natural green feed, sprouted oats, cabbage, mangels, cut clover, etc., should be fed.

When wet mashes are fed, be sure that they are crumbly and not sticky. Plenty of exercise increases the egg yield.

A rural cafeteria.

Fresh, clean drinking water should be always provided. Charcoal, grit, and oyster shell should be placed before the fowls so that they can have access to them at all times.

For additional information on feeds and feeding request Farmers’ Bulletin 287, “Poultry Management,” and Farmers’ Bulletin 528, “Hints to Poultry Raisers,” from U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

To produce infertile eggs confine or dispose of the male birds. This has no influence on the number of eggs laid by the hens.

Produce the infertile egg. Infertile eggs are produced by hens that have no male birds with them.

The following table shows that the losses of fertile eggs are computed to be nearly twice as great as in the case of infertile eggs.

The hen’s greatest egg-producing periods are the first, second, and third years, depending upon the breed. The heavier breeds, such as Plymouth Rocks, may be profitably kept for two years; the lighter breeds, such as Leghorns, three years.

Market white-shelled and brown-shelled eggs in separate packages. Eggs irregular in shape, those which are unusually long or thin-shelled, or which have shells otherwise defective, should be kept by the producer for home use, so that breakage in transit may be reduced as much as possible.

Uniform products command the best prices. Standard-bred fowls produce uniform products.

For additional information on packing and shipping eggs by parcel post request Farmers’ Bulletin 830, “Marketing Eggs by Parcel Post,” issued by the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

Extremely large, small and soiled eggs should not be marketed; use them at home. All the eggs above were produced by a farm flock of mixed or mongrel fowls.

Eggs from “stolen” nests should not be marketed; they are of unknown age and quality and should be used at home.

When taking eggs to market, protect them from the sun’s rays in warm weather. Ship or deliver eggs twice or three times weekly.

Notice the candler has places for the good eggs as well as for checks (cracked eggs), dirty eggs and “rots.” When selling eggs insist that they be bought on a quality basis.

The result of a trip under the corncrib.

Everybody in the shade except the eggs.

 

Infertile eggs will withstand marketing conditions much better than fertile eggs.

All cockerels not intended to be kept or sold for breeders should be marketed when they reach suitable size. Such birds confined in a homemade fattening battery or coop and fed a fattening ration for a week or ten days will not only increase in weight but bring a better price on the market, because of improved quality.

A shipment of eggs on the railroad station platform, exposed to the sun.

Candling eggs for quality.

 

A capon is an unsexed male bird, which when mature is of larger size and more desirable for eating than cockerels or cocks.

A Buff Orpington cock.

A Buff Orpington capon.

 

By following directions and with a little practice, poultrymen will find caponizing a simple operation. For detailed information on caponizing, request Farmers’ Bulletin 849.

Boys caponizing a cockerel.

The free use of an effective lice powder is always advisable. A dust bath, consisting of road dust and wood ashes, is essential in ridding fowls of lice.

Sodium fluorid, a white powder which can be obtained from druggists, is also effective. Apply a pinch of the powder at the base of the feathers on the head, neck, back, breast, below the vent, base of tail, both thighs, and on the underside of each wing.

An effective remedy for lice on chicks is a small quantity of melted lard rubbed under the wings and on top of the chick’s head.

Applying sodium fluorid.

The free use of kerosene or crude oil on the roosts and in the cracks of the house will help to exterminate mites.

Whitewash is effective against all vermin.

It is possible and thoroughly practicable to keep the poultry flock reasonably free from lice and mites. Such practices should be the aim of every one who is endeavoring to establish a successful flock of poultry.

For complete information on mites and lice, request Farmers’ Bulletin 801.

A bad case of roup.

All diseased birds should be isolated.

Colds and roup.—Disinfect the drinking water as follows: To each gallon of water add one tablespoonful of sodium sulphite or as much potassium permanganate as will remain on the surface of a dime.

Chicken pox.

Chicken pox.—Put a touch of iodin on each sore and apply carbolated vaseline.

Gapes.—Fresh ground and vigorous cultivation will often remedy this trouble, which is caused by small gapeworms that live in the soil and attach themselves to the inside of the throat.

Limberneck.

Diarrhea in hens.—Low-grade wheat flour or middlings is good for this trouble. A teaspoonful of castor oil containing 5 drops of oil of turpentine to each fowl is also good.

Scaly legs.

Bumblefoot.—When the feet are badly swollen, a small cut should be made with a clean, sharp knife, and the pus removed. Wash the wound out with equal parts of hydrogen peroxide and water, grease with vaseline, and bandage.

Limberneck.—A teaspoonful of castor oil given to the fowl will sometimes effect a cure.

Scaly legs.—Apply vaseline containing 2 per cent of creolin to the affected parts and after 24 hours soak in warm, soapy water. Repeat treatment until cured.

For a detailed discussion of the foregoing and other poultry diseases, request Farmers’ Bulletin 957, “Important Poultry Diseases.”

For further information or individual advice on poultry raising write to your State Agricultural College, or to the Animal Husbandry Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

A Philadelphia lady who was fond of canaries, and was an adept in their breeding and care, netted over $1,000 every year by raising these beautiful songsters and selling them to people of wealth in various parts of that city. But to make a success of this venture, one must thoroughly understand canaries from every point of view.

A Chicago woman, made a comfortable living by laundering and mending lace and other fine articles of women’s wear, which could not be entrusted to a washer woman. She went among the wealthy people and solicited this work.

A young lady, in a Western Washington town, too small to support a professional manicurist, made a good living by studying up on the treatment and care of the nails and hands, and offering her services to the well-to-do people of her town. They were greatly pleased that they could have this service performed for them without going to the city, and kept the young lady busy, at a compensation that afforded her an excellent living.

A woman who lived in a small town some distance from a city, where there were many families of wealth, found field for her talents in shampooing and dressing the hair of women and children. Possessing a pleasing personality, she called upon the leading ladies of the place and offered to come to their homes at stated intervals, for the purpose of caring for the hair of the ladies and their daughters, at a stipulated sum per hour, assuring them of satisfactory service. Her offer was accepted by most of the women she visited, and she found her time fully occupied.

Acknowledgment is due to the United States Department of Agriculture for the following plan.

Contribution from the Bureau of Markets, Charles J. Brand, Chief.

Whether the marketing of eggs by parcel post should be attempted by any particular producer will depend on his present available markets, the possibility of securing a satisfactory customer or customers, and the care taken to follow tested and approved methods in preparing the eggs for shipment. Failures in attempting to ship eggs by parcel post have resulted because proper precautions as to package or container, packing, and labeling were not observed.

This article presents conclusions from investigations made by the Office of Markets and Rural Organization in cooperation with the Post Office Department and gives detailed information as to the use of the parcel post.

The practicability of shipping eggs by parcel post is demonstrated by the fact that more parcels of eggs than of any other one product pass through the mails. In order to test various methods of packing and handling eggs the Office of Markets and Rural Organization has shipped more than 700 dozen eggs through the mails from various points, under various conditions, and in different types of containers, without undue loss, either in the expense of shipment or the condition of the eggs on reaching the consumer’s kitchen.

While the great bulk of eggs which come from distant producing territory will continue to be shipped by other methods, it is no doubt true that many cities can be supplied with a considerable portion of their fresh eggs from within the first and second zones by parcel post to the advantage of both producer and consumer. By such direct contact the producer should secure somewhat better prices for his eggs than are realized by present methods of marketing, and the consumer should obtain a fresher quality at no increased cost, or, frequently, even at a reduction in price. The producer who does not have satisfactory marketing facilities may find in the parcel post a means of solving his egg-marketing problems. This applies especially to the man whose flock is so small that he can not make case shipments, i. e., shipments in the regular 30-dozen-size egg case.

Four hundred and sixty-six shipments were made in the experiments. They comprised a total of 760¹¹⁄₁₂ dozens, or 9,131 eggs, in lots of from 1 dozen to 10 dozen each. The number of eggs broken was 327, or slightly less than 3.6 per cent of the whole number. Of these, 209 eggs, or slightly less than 2.3 per cent, were broken too badly to use; the remaining 118 were usable. If 91 eggs broken in parcels known to have received violent usage be eliminated, the breakage resulting in loss is less than 1.3 per cent.

The instructions issued by the Post Office Department for the handling of fragile mail matter (which includes eggs) are carefully drawn and quite ample. If the proper preparations were made for mailing, and if all employees of the Postal Service could be educated to observe the instructions faithfully, the breakage could be reduced to a negligible minimum.

These experimental shipments were made over various routes and distances, including not only local shipments over short routes but points as far away from Washington as Minneapolis, Minn., and the Rocky Mountains. They began in October, 1913, and extended to February, 1914, thus including the holiday rush. The shipments were sufficiently numerous to justify the conclusion that eggs can be shipped by mail satisfactorily under the existing postal provisions, provided these are rigorously observed.

The successful use of the parcel post for marketing eggs imposes the need of great care on the producer. Only such eggs should be shipped as are produced by healthy fowls kept under proper sanitary conditions and supplied with sound, wholesome feed. If possible, only infertile eggs should be produced for market; fertile eggs deteriorate rapidly and are the cause of much loss. A broody hen on the nest, or exposure to a temperature from other sources sufficient to start incubation, causes all such eggs to be rejected when they are candled. Eggs should be cared for carefully, beginning with keeping the fowls, under such conditions that the eggs will not be soiled in the nest by mud from the feet of the hens or otherwise; they should be gathered at least once a day (twice would be better) and should be stored in a well-ventilated place, which must be kept as cool as possible. Eggs intended for high-class trade should never be washed, as washing removes the natural mucilaginous coating of the egg and opens the pores of the shell. Eggs which are soiled should be kept for home use or disposed of otherwise than to a parcel-post customer.

In spite of the greatest care it will sometimes happen under ordinary farm conditions that an occasional bad egg will appear among those sent to market. It would be wise to candle every egg shipped. Candling is “the process of testing eggs by passing light through them so as to reveal the condition of the contents.” A simple candling outfit may be made of an ordinary pasteboard box sufficiently large to be placed over a small hand lamp after the ends have been removed. The box should have a hole cut in it on a level with the flame of the lamp. Several notches should be cut in the edges on which the box rests, to supply air to the lamp. The box should be sufficiently large to prevent danger from catching fire. The one shown in figure 1 is made of corrugated pasteboard; ordinary pasteboard will serve the purpose. Candling is done in the dark, or at least away from strong light, and each egg is held against the hole in the side of the box, when its condition may be seen. An egg that shows any defect should not be marketed.

Fig. 1.—This cut illustrates a homemade candling outfit, consisting of small lamp and corrugated pasteboard box.

Only first-class eggs can be marketed successfully by parcel post. The shipping of bad eggs not only will cause dissatisfaction or even loss of the customer, but, in interstate shipments, will violate the Federal food law if there are more than 5 per cent of bad eggs in a shipment. The limit allowed, however, is no excuse for any bad eggs among those marketed.

Persons desiring to build up a business of marketing eggs by this method should hatch their chicks early enough to have them begin laying in the fall season, when eggs are scarce and high priced. This will also result in more evenly distributed production throughout the year.

In the spring, when they are plentiful, eggs may be preserved for home use in a solution of water glass, so that those laid during the fall and winter season may be available for marketing. A standard grade of water glass can be obtained at drug stores for 75 cents per gallon, if bought in moderately large quantities. Each quart of water glass should be diluted with 10 quarts of water which has been boiled and cooled. Only strictly fresh, newly laid, clean eggs should be placed in the solution. The eggs may be packed in stone jars or crocks which have been washed thoroughly in scalding water and the water-glass solution poured over them, or the eggs may be placed daily in the solution by putting them down in it carefully by hand so as to avoid breaking or cracking them. The solution at all times should cover the eggs to a depth of at least 2 inches. The solution will not injure the hands. The jars should be put in a cool and preferably dark place before the eggs are deposited in them, and should not be moved, because breakage and loss may result. The water-glass solution may become cloudy, but this is a natural condition and should cause no alarm.

Fig. 2.—This illustration shows two 2-dozen size corrugated pasteboard egg boxes. The one to the left is closed. The other is taken apart to show construction. The two inner pieces of the case fold around the egg fillers and slip into the outer case shown on top. In filling, the box is not taken completely apart but only opened up properly.

Eggs thus kept are good for all purposes, but the shells break rather easily in boiling. This trouble can be prevented by puncturing the end of the shell with a pin or needle just before boiling. Perhaps an occasional customer will be willing to buy eggs preserved in water glass, but they should be sold for just what they are and at a price mutually agreed upon by the producer and customer.

Experience has shown that frequently parcels are mailed in containers not sufficiently strong and inadequately prepared and protected. These are a cause of complaint. While the containers often can be secured more easily by the consumer, the producer should make it a point to secure, through his local dealer or otherwise, such containers or carriers as meet the requirements of the postal authorities and such as will carry the particular product in a satisfactory manner, so that he may have uniformity in them when he is shipping to a number of customers. Uniform containers and uniform pack are economical and desirable; otherwise he may lose his customer, and should the container or carrier not be sufficiently stout to stand the service it will not be worth returning as an “empty” to use again.

The postal requirements for mailing eggs for local delivery are as follows:

Fig. 3.—This picture shows a 10-dozen size box of corrugated pasteboard. The eggs are placed in four layers of 30 each.

This embraces all collection and delivery service within the jurisdiction of the postmaster of the office where the parcel is mailed.

Eggs to be sent beyond the local office are to be prepared for mailing as follows:

The ideal container must be simple in construction, efficient in service, and cheap. Simplicity of construction is essential, so that it may be assembled and packed or filled readily and rapidly. Any part which is to be opened should be so marked or notched as to indicate the part to pull up or out. It must be efficient in service to insure satisfaction to the shipper and to the receiver, and also to prevent damage to other mail matter by possible breakage and leakage. It must be inexpensive or it will defeat the object to be attained, which is a reduction of the cost of handling between producer and consumer.

Fig. 4.—This photograph shows a fiber-board box filled with corrugated-pasteboard lining and fillers, or partitions, of the same material. Each egg has a wrap of one-faced corrugated pasteboard. The lining is raised to show the eggs; it shows dark against the lid.

Trials of many different styles and makes of containers or cartons for shipping eggs by parcel post were made. Quite a number proved satisfactory in extended trials. A few of them are illustrated in these pages for the purpose of showing in a general way their appearance and construction. Any container which meets the postal requirements and which serves the purpose properly can be used.

The experiment stations in the various States have information as to containers for parcel-post shipments of eggs, in consumer-size lots, and persons desiring information of this kind should not address the United States Department of Agriculture, but should address the director of the experiment station in their own States. The following list gives the post-office address of each station:

• Alabama:
• Auburn.
• Tuskegee Institute.
• Alaska: Sitka.
• Arizona: Tucson.
• Arkansas: Fayetteville.
• California: Berkeley.
• Colorado: Fort Collins.
• Connecticut:
• New Haven.
• Storrs.
• Delaware: Newark.
• Florida: Gainesville.
• Georgia: Experiment.
• Guam: Guam.
• Hawaii: Honolulu.
• Idaho: Moscow.
• Illinois: Urbana.
• Indiana: Lafayette.
• Iowa: Ames.
• Kansas: Manhattan.
• Kentucky: Lexington.
• Louisiana: Baton Rouge.
• Maine: Orono.
• Maryland: College Park.
• Massachusetts: Amherst.
• Michigan: East Lansing.
• Minnesota: University Farm, St. Paul.
• Mississippi: Agricultural College.
• Missouri: Columbia.
• Montana: Bozeman.
• Nebraska: Lincoln.
• Nevada: Reno.
• New Hampshire: Durham.
• New Jersey: New Brunswick.
• New Mexico: State College.
• New York:
• Geneva.
• Ithaca.
• North Carolina: Raleigh.
• North Dakota: Agricultural College.
• Ohio: Wooster.
• Oklahoma: Stillwater.
• Oregon: Corvallis.
• Pennsylvania: State College.
• Porto Rico: Mayaguez.
• Rhode Island: Kingston.
• South Carolina: Clemson College.
• South Dakota: Brookings.
• Tennessee: Knoxville.
• Texas: College Station.
• Utah: Logan.
• Vermont: Burlington.
• Virginia: Blacksburg.
• Washington: Pullman.
• West Virginia: Morgantown.
• Wisconsin: Madison.
• Wyoming: Laramie.

The eggs for packing, if the trade requires it or if it can be done without any disadvantage, should be assorted as to size and color. Eggs irregular in shape, those which are unusually long or thin-shelled, or which have shells otherwise defective, should be kept by the producer for home use, so that breakage in transit may be reduced as much as possible.

Regardless of the particular style or design of the container used, each egg should be wrapped according to parcel-post requirements, so that it will not shake about. Square-block tissue paper, which comes in packages of 500 sheets each, soft wrapping paper, or newspaper, should be used around each egg. Should the eggs shake about in the container, the danger of breakage in handling is increased.

From the experimental shipments that have been made, it is clear that the packing should be attended to carefully. A little practice will enable the packer to do his work rapidly.

Average hens’ eggs will weigh about 1¹⁄₂ pounds to the dozen, or 2 ounces apiece. The weight of a single dozen of eggs in a carton properly packed and wrapped for mailing will run from 2 to 3 pounds, depending on the nature of the particular container, the size of the eggs, and the packing and wrapping used. If the container be a very light one and the eggs small, the parcel may fall within the 2-pound limit, and the postage, therefore, within the first and second zones, or 150-mile limit, would be six cents. Most parcels containing a dozen eggs will exceed 2 pounds but will not reach 3; therefore the postage on them will be 7 cents within the first and second zones. A parcel containing 2 dozen eggs will add perhaps 2 cents to the postage, though sometimes only 1 cent, depending on the nature of the container and the packing and wrapping.

It should be observed that the larger the parcel (within the size and weight limits) the cheaper is the postage, as the first pound of every package costs 5 cents within the first and second zones, while each additional pound, up to 50, costs but 1 cent; so that while a 1-pound parcel would cost 5 cents postage, a 2-pound parcel would cost only 6 cents, or 3 cents a pound. A 20-pound parcel would cost 24 cents, or 1¹⁄₅ cents per pound, and a 50-pound parcel would cost 54 cents, or but 1²⁄₂₅ cents per pound.

Fig. 5.—This illustration shows 20-pound parcel-post scales, which will be found quite convenient for many household purposes requiring a small scale.

Shipping eggs intended for hatching purposes in the style of containers illustrated in this bulletin has been found satisfactory to a great many poultry breeders. Those who do not favor this way of packing can use the method ordinarily employed when eggs are to be shipped by express, which is covered by the following postal regulation:

The person receiving eggs for hatching should place them on the small end in bran or similar substance for 24 hours, in order that the germs may settle thoroughly before incubation is started.

As the postal regulations require that every parcel must have on it the name and address of the sender preceded by the word “From,” each person shipping eggs by parcel post will find it convenient to have a rubber stamp similar to the following:

From
William Smith,
Rural Corners, Pa.

The stamp and an inking pad will cost about 50 cents.

The postal regulations also require that parcels containing eggs are to be marked “Eggs.” For this purpose a rubber stamp having letters one-half inch high and reading “Eggs” should be used to stamp this word on each side of the parcel. Thus the nature of the contents will be apparent no matter which side is in view.

The sender will soon learn how much postage each size of parcel requires. Parcel-post scales can be secured at reasonable prices. Scales are needed in the farm home on many occasions, and the parcel-post type will serve these other purposes also. They can be had for $2.50 and weigh up to 20 pounds. (See fig. 5.) “Union” scales having both a platform and a scoop attachment and weighing up to 200 or 300 pounds can be had for from $6 to $12, if desired.

Boxes, wrapping paper, and twine should be bought in as large quantities as possible (say a year’s supply at a time), so that lower prices may be obtained. With proper organization it will be possible for several farmers to join in ordering containers by the thousand and other supplies in correspondingly large quantities.

In arranging with the customer as to the size and frequency of shipments it is wise to take into consideration the fact that the larger the parcel sent (i. e., the more eggs sent in one parcel) the cheaper will be the postage per dozen. It would be much more economical for the family that uses, say, 4 dozens a week to have them sent in a 4-dozen parcel once a week than to have them sent in two 2-dozen parcels at different times during the week; and the eggs, if produced under proper conditions and properly kept, would not deteriorate to any appreciable extent in that length of time. The same principle would hold good regardless of quantity used.

Considering the cost of the container and the postage, the consumer usually will find it no economy to buy eggs for food by parcel post in less than 2-dozen lots.

The appearance of the parcel depends largely upon the manner in which it is wrapped. Odds and ends of paper and twine are not desirable for this purpose. Every producer who aims to make a business of shipping eggs by parcel post should procure a supply of good tough paper of the proper size to wrap his parcels, and also good, strong, though not too heavy, cord or twine that stretches very little.

No matter what the design of the container there is always danger, should the parcel be subjected to excessive pressure or violence in any form, that the eggs may be broken and the contents leak out. In a large number of experiments it was found that when parcels were properly wrapped with good paper, even though there were quite a number of broken eggs in the parcel, in only a few cases did any leakage of the contents damage other mail matter. A container badly stained from broken eggs should not be used again. Better a little less profit on a shipment of eggs than a displeased customer, who, displeased a few times, will cease to be a customer.

It is a simple matter to wrap the parcels both rapidly and neatly. A little attention to the best manner of folding the paper in completing the wrapping will result in a securely and neatly covered package. This applies to parcels weighing less than 20 pounds—parcels exceeding 20 pounds need not be wrapped.

To insure prompt delivery the address should be written plainly on the wrapping of the parcel. Much mail matter is delayed or altogether fails to reach its destination because of an incomplete or poorly written address.

An inclosure stating the number of eggs and the price may be placed in the parcel, but no message of any kind may be included, as that would subject the package to the first-class postage rate.

The person receiving the eggs should unpack them immediately to see if any have been broken. It may be desirable to have instructions printed on the outside of the container, and the following are suggested:

“Please unpack and examine at once to see condition and to give proper attention.”

Whether or not this is printed on the container, the shipper should have a distinct understanding with the consumer that this is to be done with every parcel received, so that information as to any unsatisfactory condition may be promptly obtained.

Many shippers will doubtless find it desirable and economical to have the customer save the containers and return them after a sufficient number have accumulated. When so returned the postage on empty cases still in usable condition is less than the cost of new ones. The consumer should receive credit for the postage required to return them. Many of the containers are made in “knocked-down” style, i. e., to take apart and fold so they can be made into a much smaller package or parcel. Containers which are knocked down to be returned should be packed in such a way that there will be no edges or points projecting without support or protection, as such projections are likely to be broken or crushed in the mails.

The cost of the container is necessarily included in the price of the eggs to the consumer. It is therefore to the interest of the consumer to take proper care of containers and to save or return all that are in usable condition. Since the return of containers will have some effect on the price of the eggs, the proper spirit of thrift should cause the consumer to take care of all returnable empties and to send them back in accordance with whatever agreement or understanding may exist between the producer and himself.

One of the problems to the average farmer is how to secure customers who desire eggs direct from the farm. In other words, the question is, “How shall I come in contact with the person who wants my product?”

An occasional contact may be secured through acquaintance in the city or town where a parcel-post market is sought. Contact might also be secured by a small advertisement in a city or town paper, stating the number of eggs available per week. The postmasters in a number of large cities have issued lists of consumers which ought to be helpful. In France city dwellers make these business arrangements in summer when in the country on their holiday. Consumers who will not take trouble about these relatively small things should not complain of the high cost of food products.

Additional contact ought to be more easily obtained than the original contact, for the simple reason that if a producer supplies satisfactory eggs the person receiving them is almost sure to obtain other customers for him by speaking well of his product. It might be said that the reputation a parcel-post shipper makes with his first customers will very largely determine his success or failure in marketing by this method.

The matter of holding business once secured and securing additional business is important. One of the serious drawbacks of ordinary farming is the great irregularity of income during the year. The development of a regular parcel-post business in eggs and the numerous other products that may be marketed by this means will increase the income and distribute it better throughout the year. Once a customer has been secured, every endeavor should be made to furnish strictly high-grade goods and to deal fairly, promptly, and satisfactorily, so that the customer may be retained. When a reputation has been established for products of high quality and for fair dealing, the holding of customers and securing new ones will be a comparatively simple matter.

As the object of parcel-post dealing is to get slightly increased prices for the producer and better products at the same price, or the same class of products at lower prices, for the consumer, the question of arriving at prices fair to both is important. It is also difficult.

It is not likely, at least not for some time to come, that eggs will be marketed so largely by parcel post that the ordinary marketing quotations can not be depended upon in arriving at prices.

It ought to be a comparatively easy matter for a producer and a consumer to agree upon a stipulated market quotation as the basis for determining the price to be paid. A consumer may desire 5 dozen eggs per week, the price to be agreed upon being the number of cents per dozen above the wholesale quotation for the best grade of eggs on the market that week. The necessary relations in this matter can be maintained only by scrupulous honesty and well-founded mutual trust.

The nature of the agreement between the producer and the consumer, whether reduced to writing or not, should be made to suit the circumstances and must be fair to both. Perhaps the first agreement made should be in writing; but later, if mutual confidence and trust have been thoroughly established, the contract may be verbal.

The matter of frequency and method of payment can be arranged in various ways. For the first agreement term, which may be a year or less, cash in advance might be satisfactory, until a definite system of orders and payments is established.

For the reason that eggs are in very abundant supply in the spring season and in very short supply in the fall and early winter season, the contract should specify quantity to be supplied each week throughout the year. The producer can not expect the consumer to take all the eggs that are to be marketed in the season of greatest production, nor can the consumer expect to get as many eggs as he wishes in the season of lowest production; and these two extremes should be thoroughly understood and specifically mentioned in the agreement, so as to have no misunderstanding regarding them.

In the season of short supply the consumer might be willing to try some eggs preserved in water glass, thereby relieving the situation.

The producer in making an agreement with a consumer should undertake to replace or allow for eggs lost by breakage in shipping. Should this provision in the agreement be abused by any consumer it might be sufficient reason to refuse to contract again with that consumer, and of course satisfactory evidence of unusual breakage would need to be produced, and it might even be necessary to locate the cause of the breakage in the mails.

The following is a suggested form of agreement:

The United States is divided into “units,” each one of which is numbered, as illustrated by the accompanying section of map. (See fig. 6.) The center of each unit constitutes the center of the zones for all post offices within that unit. The first zone consists of any given unit together with all the adjoining units, even though they but touch at the corner. The second zone embraces all those units within a radius of 150 miles from the center of any given unit, and the whole of any unit, any part of which is touched by this 150-mile boundary line, is considered entirely within that zone.

Fig. 6.—This illustration shows a section of Parcel Post Zone Map for Washington, D. C., and all other post offices in Unit 1071.

Larger map

There is separate zone map for each unit. The accompanying illustration shows a section of the map for the unit in which Washington is located. The second circle shows the nominal boundary of zone 2; but owing to the fact that all units which are touched by this boundary line fall entirely within the second zone, the units which are bounded by the heavy line (outside the second curved line) are entirely within zone 2. This principle applies to all other zones; that is, any unit which is touched at any point by the boundary of a given zone lies wholly within that given zone and is so considered for the purposes of the parcel-post service.

Particular description is here given of the first and second zones because of the fact that the great bulk of the shipping of farm products by parcel post is likely to be done within these zones. The rate can be ascertained readily from the accompanying tables.

Local parcel post rates

Fifty pounds is the weight limit for local delivery. These rates are 5 cents for the first pound and 1 cent additional for each 2 pounds or fraction thereof; they apply to any parcel-post matter that does not go beyond the jurisdiction of the mailing office.

First and second zone parcel-post rates

The weight limit within the first and second zones is 50 pounds. These rates apply to all points within the first and second zones, as there is no difference in rates between these two zones. A simple rule to determine the postage on any parcel not going beyond the second zone is to add 4 to the number of pounds, and the resulting number is the postage required in cents. Example: A parcel weighs 13 pounds and 11 ounces; this will require postage on 14 pounds (as any fraction of a pound is considered a full pound); 14 + 4 = 18 cents postage.

The weight limit for the third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth zones is 20 pounds. Any information desired in regard to rates, zones, and other postal matters can be obtained from any post office.

In addition to the weight limits shown in connection with the foregoing postage tables there is a measurement limit, which is the same for all zones. This limit is that the girth (measurement around) and the length added must not exceed 84 inches. For example, a parcel 12 inches square (48 inches around) and 36 inches long would be just up to the limit, as would also a parcel 15 inches square (60 inches around) and 24 inches long. A parcel cubical in shape and 14 inches in each dimension would measure 56 inches around, and to this would be added 14 inches for length, making 70 inches, or 14 inches less than the limit.

If desired, a receipt can be procured from the postmaster acknowledging the mailing of a parcel on the payment of 1 cent. For 3 cents a parcel may be insured against loss if not valued at more than $5.

A parcel may be sent collect on delivery for 10 cents. This also insures it for actual value not exceeding $50.

Under the present method the general farmer, or in most cases the farmer’s wife, sells the surplus eggs to the local storekeeper, taking their value out in trade. The parcel post offers an opportunity for a cash outlet at better prices. It should prove a valuable help, especially to those farms that are located unfavorably in regard to a consuming market. It is not too much to say that shipping by parcel post has been demonstrated as a practical proposition when properly conducted.

To send a 2-dozen-size parcel would cost about as follows: For container and wrapping, 8 cents; for postage, 9 cents, or a total of 17 cents, which would be 8¹⁄₂ cents a dozen marketing cost. Marketing a 5-dozen parcel would cost about 13 cents for container and wrapping and 14 cents postage, or a total of 27 cents; a 10-dozen lot would cost about 22 cents for container and wrapping and 25 cents postage, or a total of 47 cents. These figures are based on container prices prevailing prior to July 1, 1914.

The postage rates here used are those within the first and second zones. The rates to the third and farther zones are higher, and the advantages of marketing by parcel post consequently less.

These figures include the cost of a new container each time. The experiments show that containers from the 4-dozen size up will stand on an average two to four trips very satisfactorily. Containers for smaller lots will stand on an average from three to five trips. As the postage cost of returning containers is considerably less than the price of new ones, the average expense for containers can be materially reduced from the figures quoted.

If it is kept in mind that it takes a few days for eggs to reach the consumer, a regular supply of eggs can be had for use at all times. The possibility of broken eggs and the consequent adjustment of payment may seem to be a disadvantage, but if properly provided for in the agreement it need not be. The matter of arriving at equitable prices may seem to be difficult, but ought not be a drawback.

Some farmers may be so situated that they already have a satisfactory market for their eggs. Others may wish to have a parcel-post market during a part of the year, but may dispose of them otherwise during the remainder of the year. The local market may also at times afford a more satisfactory price than that received under a parcel-post selling agreement. There may also be producers of large quantities of eggs who find express transportation cheaper than parcel post.

The securing of proper containers and the wrapping and packing of the eggs properly for mailing, as well as the care that needs to be exercised in shipping only strictly first-class eggs, may seem difficult to some, but if a parcel-post market is to be developed, it will require care and attention to get it properly established and to keep it going successfully.

The foregoing discussion applies especially to shipments of eggs for family consumption. It is likely that many producers will desire a larger outlet than is afforded by private families. These shippers may use containers such as are described in the postal regulations. They must come within the weight and measurement limits, however. The present 30-dozen commercial case exceeds the weight limits and would have to be forwarded by express. The express companies are now paying special attention to small shipments of food products, and furnish prompt and efficient service.

Should an individual farmer not have enough eggs to ship alone a number of neighboring farmers may club together for the purpose of shipping eggs and may secure a purchaser in the person of a hotel, restaurant, or lunch-room proprietor, or a retail grocer in some town or city. The eggs from each farm should be packed in 1-dozen size cartons or fillers, which would take the place of the ordinary filler of the standard 30-dozen-size egg case. These cartons should have stamped on them the name and address of the producer, or instead of the name and address a number could be assigned to each farm for the purposes of identification. Each carton should be sealed so that any complaint in regard to quality can be traced to the individual producer. This is necessary in order to protect members of the club from complaints of delinquency not justly attributable to them.[2]

Shipping by express presupposes that the producers concerned are within reasonable distance of express service, otherwise the expense of transporting the eggs to the express office might be prohibitive.

It is hoped that these methods may enable the producer to realize better prices, and that at the same time the consumer will secure a fresher product. Eggs so handled and shipped will be fresher and in better condition than ordinary country-store or huckster-collected eggs.

The average farmer pays scant attention to egg and poultry production, usually leaving matters relating thereto to his wife. Properly managed, however, this branch of farm industry may prove profitable. Indeed, it is not unlikely that a careful keeping of the cost of producing corn on many farms would lead to the conclusion that the family treasury had profited more by the activities of the hen than by raising corn.

It is quite possible that once having secured a parcel-post market for eggs many farmers having other commodities not readily salable at home may open up markets for them in the same way. Methods of arriving at prices would be the same, the producer advising the consumer as to the commodities, quantity, and price. By this means a market may be found for many products which are not now being marketed, mainly for the reason that they are in the nature of by-products or small surpluses over the family’s need which do not justify a special trip to market.

There is also a field of opportunity open for development in making a special effort to produce such things as town or city residents are anxious to obtain, and by proper attention a supplemental income could be built up by developing such business.

(1) In the experiments conducted in this study 760¹¹⁄₁₂ dozens, or 9,131 eggs, were sent through the mails in 466 shipments of from 1 to 10 dozens each. The total breakage was 327 eggs; of these, 118 were only cracked or slightly broken and were usable, and 209 (or 2.3 per cent) were broken beyond use. Ninety-one eggs were broken because the parcels containing them were handled contrary to postal rules and regulations. Subtracting these, the loss was only 1.3 per cent. This shows the possibility of shipping eggs by parcel post with small loss, and indicates that eggs may be so shipped with safety if existing postal regulations are observed.

(2) Care should be exercised in the production of eggs so that they will be of as good quality as possible. The hens should be provided with proper quarters and fed on clean, wholesome feed. The production of non fertile eggs reduces the losses materially. After gathering, the eggs should be kept carefully in the coolest and best ventilated place available.

(3) Trials of many styles and makes of containers were made; a large number proved satisfactory. The addresses of manufacturers of containers can be obtained from the agricultural experiment stations in the several States.

(4) In selecting eggs for shipping by mail, thin-shelled and unusually long or irregular-shaped eggs should not be used. Each egg should be wrapped in sufficient paper to hold it snugly in its own individual compartment in the container. The container should be properly closed and carefully wrapped with good, tough wrapping paper and strong twine. The address should be written plainly to insure prompt delivery on arrival. The postal regulations require the name and address of the sender on the parcel also.

(5) If attention is given to the necessary details, as indicated in this bulletin, eggs can be shipped by parcel post to the advantage of the farmer. This method of marketing affords a means of increasing the fresh-egg business to the benefit of both the producer and the consumer.

(6) Farmers located out of reach of a satisfactory market or of the usual means of transportation can find in the parcel post a ready means of getting their eggs direct to a consuming market promptly and at prices that will justify the additional trouble involved in packing for mailing.

• Farmers’ Bulletin 51. Standard Varieties of Chickens.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 287. Poultry Management.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 528. Hints to Poultry Raisers.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 530. Important Poultry Diseases.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 562. The Organization of Boys’ and Girls’ Poultry Clubs.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 574. Poultry House Construction.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 585. Natural and Artificial Incubation of Hen’s Eggs.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 624. Natural and Artificial Brooding of Chickens.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 656. The Community Egg Circle.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 682. A Simple Trap Nest for Poultry.
• Farmers’ Bulletin 703. Suggestions for Parcel-post Marketing.

Further suggestions along this line may be found in Farmers’ Bulletin 703, Suggestions for Parcel-Post Marketing, which may be obtained on request from the Division of Publication, Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C.

Having observed that of the thousands of dolls which are sold during the holidays very few of them are dressed to suit the tastes of buyers, this woman felt certain she could make a good living by dressing these dolls.

She therefore prepared a circular letter which she sent to hundreds of selected homes in her city, asking to be allowed the privilege of dressing the children’s dolls according to her own taste, or that of the mothers of the little girls, and received invitations to call at the homes of a large number of these people. She did so, and so well did she demonstrate her ability for the work that she received many orders. Her charges were reasonable, and she developed a regular and paying business.

A young man in an eastern Washington town, who was obliged to work his way through the agricultural college, adopted, as one of his numerous plans for making money, that of providing substantial yet inexpensive manilla covers for school books.

He bought from a wholesale paper store, a quantity of the best manilla paper at 4 cents a pound and, at a cost of 15 cents additional, had it cut into different sizes and the corners cut off on a regular paper cutter. The ends he cut off himself with a pair of shears, and pasted them down so they could be slipped on over any school book, to protect it. The cover, completed, cost him less than 2 cents each, yet he sold a large number of them for 5 cents each. Finally, he induced the school board to buy 5,000 of them, at 3¹⁄₂ cents each. He made enough in this to put him through the greater part of his first year’s schooling. He operated the same plan in other school districts the second and third years, and completed his course with the money he thus earned.

A woman in Lincoln, Nebraska, who knew the difficulties and dangers involved in lifting hot pans that have to be handled often, figured out a plan to make this work both safe and convenient.

She made a belt to fasten around the waist, and on each side of the front she fastened a strip that came down nearly to the knees. On the ends of these strips she sewed small quilted pads about six inches square. These were always ready to use, and proved great time-savers and made the lifting easy.

She was so well pleased with the one she made for herself, that she made up a hundred of them and went from house to house, explaining their advantages, and readily sold them at 25 cents each.

In late October or early November every year, a Massachusetts woman buys some plain glass dishes, about five inches wide and two or three inches deep. She then collects pebbles and places them in each dish, and on top of them, so they will not touch each other, she places fine narcissus bulbs, filling in around them with more pebbles, until the dish is quite full. Then adding water enough to fill to the top, she sets the dishes on the cellar floor and leaves them there until they are full of roots. She then brings them into a light, sunny room, and as soon as they are in bloom she takes them to the woman’s exchange, where they sell readily for 50 cents a dish. The cost of the dishes is 5 cents each, and the bulbs, six for 5 cents, so she makes 40 cents on each dish.

A country woman with a grove of hickory trees on her farm, made $30 in one month gathering hickory nuts, which she sent to a friend in the city, who bought them at $1.50 per bushel. That was only twenty bushels, and people who live in localities where these nuts are plentiful could multiply that number many times by gathering them on a more extensive scale.

What mother has ever been able to get a baby’s thumb into a mitten? And how long would it stay if she did? Then why have thumbs on baby’s mittens at all?

These are questions a Canadian mother asked herself many times, and learned that there was but one answer: make the mittens without thumbs. And she did so.

In fact, she found that no matter how many pair she made, the baby-outfitters gladly took all she could knit, sold them for 40 cents a pair, and charged her only a small commission for selling; as the materials cost less than 10 cents, her profit was large. She used white pompadour or saxony yarn, and a large steel hook, so the work was light, pleasant and profitable.

Here is the story of a Montana woman who discovered that she could make a better tailored hat for girls, and sell it for 50 cents, than the millinery stores ask $2 for, and she not only made one for her own little girl, but for a hundred or more other small misses, and realized a profit on every one she made. The material cost but little, while the work on the hats was no trouble at all, so she kept it up until she had supplied everybody of her acquaintance with the prettiest hats to be seen anywhere. She made them from a pattern published by a well known woman’s periodical; and it was so easy to follow it that the making of hats was a real pleasure.

She also made nice hats for women, at $1.00 each, and on these the profits were still greater.

A southern woman who was extremely fond of flowers lived in a town of 5,000 inhabitants in which there was no regular florist, so she began supplying the needs of the flower-loving people there by engaging in the business on a small scale herself, specializing on potted plants and cut flowers.

She bought small plants, repotted them, and easily doubled her money on them. In their season she buys tomato and pansy plants and scarlet sage, as well as bulbs and roots, and holds regular flower sales at Easter, Christmas, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, etc., and always finds a demand for all her floral products.

Recently she turned her back yard into a hot-house, and raises the plants herself, thus decreasing the cost and increasing the margin of profit. From one large bed, the seed for which cost 75 cents, she sells from $15 to $20 worth of plants every season. She also advises flower growers about flowers culture, color schemes, etc., and in many ways adds to the grand total of her yearly income.

A downeast woman learned basket making in the young people’s society of her church, and made it a regular business. She specializes in market and scrap baskets, but makes fancy reed ones to order. Her main sales are made through the woman’s exchange, though sometimes direct to customers, and her earnings are sufficient to support her very comfortably.

This line of work is not overcrowded, and there is plenty of opportunity in it for many other women.

There are many methods of growing mushrooms, but the one adopted by this Michigan woman is perhaps as easy and profitable as any of them.

First, providing a sufficient quantity of fresh manure and black dirt, she carefully prepares the beds and buys the spawn, and with but little care thereafter they produce a good crop every month in the year.

In one bed 7 feet long by 2 feet wide, made from an old trunk lid and two soap boxes, she placed three bricks of spawn early in October, and eight weeks later picked 1¹⁄₂ pounds of mushrooms, which sold for $1.26 per pound. Then every two days thereafter, until May 1st, she picked from four to five pounds. The picking, packing and marketing are easy, and do not interfere with her regular household duties. She made $8 to $10 a week out of this industry, and recommends it to others who need something to help out with household expenses.

A woman in Minnesota, whose income was very limited, was asked by the parent-teachers’ association to provide noon lunches for the pupils in the basement of a school building, the profit or loss to be her own.

She had two long tables made of rough boards, covered with white oilcloth, and on these she spreads sandwiches made of minced ham, peanut butter, chipped beef and cheese, at 3 cents each; cake at 2 cents a slice, with milk, cocoa, soup, etc., at very low prices, yet which pay her a profit. She buys her material at wholesale prices, and makes a small profit on each article, so there is at least a comfortable living in it.

At one o’clock her work is all done, and she has the afternoons and Saturdays at her own disposal.

Not a very large enterprise, but it affords a living, and that is quite an item for a poor woman.

An eastern woman, anxious to help her husband lift the mortgage from their farm, had been told of the possibilities of desiccated vegetables, and decided to try out the plan herself.

By way of experiment, she desiccated some vegetables and dried them in the sun. These she soaked for an hour in cold water, poured off the water, and put the vegetables in with some meat she was stewing. In half an hour she had a fine Irish stew ready for the table.

Calling in some of her neighbors, they formed a local company for manufacturing desiccated vegetables. The vegetables, dried to a small bulk, were easily shipped to grocers at a great saving in freight or express charges, the weight also having been reduced to almost nothing.

The company employed several of its members to become traveling salesmen, and they took many orders, as dealers were glad to get the new product. A package containing enough potatoes, carrots and onions for a stew, was sold for 3 cents at retail or 2 cents wholesale. They sold well at all seasons, as they were a great saving to the housewife, and when put into water were as fresh and palatable as in their original state.

A young man left Chicago some time ago and went to the Northwest for the purpose of increasing his earning power.

Having first provided himself with twelve cartoon plates, with a strong home-trade argument under each cartoon, which a big newspaper syndicate had made for him, he stopped at a town of some 5,000 inhabitants and called upon the publisher of the leading newspaper. To him he made the following proposition: To obtain for his paper one or two pages of local advertisements to run every week for twelve weeks, and create a strong sentiment for patronizing home merchants and local industries, furnishing the cartoons and home-trade arguments, of which he showed proofs, and to divide the profits equally, though it was not to cost the publisher a cent, except the composition on the local ads. to be secured and set up; that for this home-trade page, the rates must be double his regular rates, so that he would get full price for his ads.

Of course, the publisher accepted, and the Chicago man went to work. In three days he had contracts signed up for enough local ads. to fill two pages with the cartoon in the center of the page to run twelve consecutive weeks, the contracts to be left with the publisher, who was to collect and forward him his half, but the newspaper man willingly paid him one-fourth of the amount that would be due him at the end of the twelve weeks.

In three days the Chicago man had made just $288. This plan will afford a good living to any advertising salesman.

In every household, no matter how economical the housewife, there is a certain amount of table scraps and kitchen waste which has feeding value but which, if not fed, finds its way into the garbage pail.

Poultry is the only class of domestic animals which is suitable for converting this waste material, right where it is produced in the city, into wholesome and nutritious food in the form of eggs and poultry meat.

Each hen in her pullet year should produce ten dozen eggs. The average size of the back-yard flock should be at least ten hens. Thus each flock would produce in a year 100 dozens of eggs which, at the conservative value of 25 cents a dozen, would be worth $25.

By keeping a back-yard poultry flock the family would not only help in reducing the cost of living but would have eggs of a quality and freshness which are often difficult to obtain.

Remember that eggs produced by the back-yard flock cost very little, as the fowls are fed largely upon waste materials.

An illustration of the average back yard of the city man which may be turned to a profitable use by raising chickens.

The keeping of a small flock of laying hens on a town or village lot or in a city back yard is an important branch of poultry keeping. Though the value of the product from each flock is small of itself the aggregate is large. The product of such a flock, both in the form of eggs and fowls for the table, may be produced at a relatively low cost, because of the possibility of utilizing table scraps and kitchen waste which would otherwise be thrown away. A small flock of hens, even as few as six or eight, should produce eggs enough, where used economically, for a family of four or five persons throughout the entire year, except during the molting period of the fall and early winter. By the preservation of surplus eggs produced during the spring and early summer this period of scarcity can be provided for. The keeping of pullets instead of hens also will insure the production of eggs at this time. Not only will the eggs from the home flock materially reduce the cost of living, but the superior freshness and quality of the eggs are in themselves well worth the effort expended. Eggs are a highly nutritious food and are so widely used as to be almost indispensable, and an occasional chicken dinner is relished by everyone.

Where conditions render it feasible and cheap small flocks of poultry should be kept to a greater extent than at present by families in villages and towns, and especially in the suburbs of large cities. The need for this extension of poultry raising is particularly great in those sections where the consumption of poultry products exceeds the production, with the result that prices are high.

Objection is frequently raised to the keeping of poultry in towns and cities because of the odor which may result and also because of the noise which is made by roosters crowing, particularly in the early morning. In some cases city regulations have been formulated to prevent or to control poultry keeping. Where there are city regulations it is necessary to find out their provisions and to conform to them. There is no necessity for the poultry flock to become a nuisance to neighbors. If the dropping boards are cleaned daily and the houses and yards are kept in a reasonably clean condition there will be no annoying odors.

The male bird need not be a nuisance. Unless it is intended to hatch chickens from the flock it is unnecessary to keep a male bird. The fact that there is no male in the flock will have absolutely no effect on the number of eggs laid by the hens. If it is desired to mate the hens and to hatch chicks the male bird should be sold or eaten just as soon as the hatching season is over. This is desirable not only for the purpose of eliminating noise, but also to save the feed that would be eaten by the male and for the reason that the eggs produced after the male is disposed of will be infertile. Since these eggs are incapable of chick development they keep much better than fertile eggs and consequently are superior for preserving or for market.

Fig. 1.—Poultry house and run in a back yard.

The flock must be kept confined; otherwise the hens will stray into neighbors’ yards and gardens, where they may cause damage and are almost sure to cause ill feeling.

Householders usually desire not only eggs for the table and for cooking, but also an occasional chicken to eat. For this reason one of the general-purpose breeds, such as the Plymouth Rock, Wyandotte, Rhode Island Red, or Orpington, is preferable to the smaller egg breeds, such as the Leghorns. Not only do the mature fowls of these breeds, because of their larger size, make better table fowls than the Leghorns, but the young chickens for the same reason make better friers and roasters, whereas chickens of the egg breeds are only suitable for the smaller broilers. The general-purpose breeds are also “broody” breeds, the hens making good sitters and mothers, which is a decided advantage when it is desired to hatch and raise chickens, since the hens of the egg breeds seldom go broody and are in any event rather unreliable sitters and mothers. If, however, the production of eggs outweighs the desire for an occasional table fowl, the lighter egg breeds undoubtedly will be found better, because they lay as many eggs and do so on less feed, with the result that they produce the eggs more cheaply. It is by all means advisable to keep some pure breed or variety. Where this is done, sales at a profitable figure can often be made of breeding stock which it is intended to market or of eggs for hatching.

The size of the flock which can be most efficiently kept will depend first of all upon the space available and, secondly, upon the amount of table scraps or other waste which is available for feed. It is a mistake to try to overstock the available space. Better results will be obtained from a few hens in a small yard than from a larger number. The back-yard poultry flock rarely will consist of over 20 or 25 hens and in many cases of not more than 8 or 10, or occasionally of only 3 or 4. For a flock of 20 to 25 hens a space of not less than 25 by 30 feet should be available for a yard. Where less space is available, the size of the flock should be reduced, allowing on the average 20 to 30 square feet per bird. A few hens are sometimes kept successfully with a smaller yard allowance than this, but if the space is available a yard of the size indicated should be used.

Fig. 2.—A back-yard poultry plant. In the background are the poultry houses set up off the ground on accounts of rats. At the left is a shade made of wooden strips and roofing paper. At the right are the coops for the hens and chicks. In the foreground oats for green feed are being sprouted under wire screens.

The best way for the city poultry keeper to procure hens is to purchase them in the fall. An effort should be made to obtain pullets rather than older hens, and the pullets selected should be well matured, so that they will begin to lay before the cold weather sets in. Evidences of the maturity of pullets are the development and red color of the comb and a size and growth which are good for the breed or variety. Hens will lay little or no eggs during the fall and early winter, while they are molting. Well-matured pullets, however, should lay fairly well during this period, so that an immediate return is realized from the investment. The purchasing of pullets in the fall is preferable in most cases to purchasing day-old chicks or to hatching chicks in the spring. Usually there is little space available for the raising of chicks, and, moreover, many city dwellers have had no experience in raising them. Under these conditions the results are apt to be very poor. Hatching and rearing chicks also necessitates broody hens for this purpose, or else investing money in artificial apparatus such as incubators and brooders. Such an investment is often too great to prove profitable with the average small flock. If chicks are raised, they must be fed throughout the summer and no return will be obtained until the pullets begin to lay in the fall, except that the males can be eaten or sold.

Fig. 3.—A shed in the heart of the city utilized for a poultry house. While a larger opening in the front would admit more light and make a more suitable hen house, the fowls kept here have done very well. The wire netting used for the yard was purchased very cheaply at an auction. The grass and sacks shown on the top of the run are used to furnish shade.

When pullets are to be purchased, it is well if possible to go to some farmer or poultryman who may be known to the prospective purchaser. In some cases it may pay to make arrangements with the farmer to raise the desired number of pullets at an agreed price. Where the householder does not have an opportunity to go into the country for his pullets, he can often pick them out among the live poultry shipped into the city to be marketed. The advice of some one who knows poultry should be sought in making such a purchase, to make sure that pullets or young hens are obtained, and that the stock is healthy. Often the local poultry associations are glad to help the prospective poultry keeper to get stock by putting him in communication with some of its members having stock for sale. Sometimes the local board of trade or chamber of commerce is glad to help to bring together the prospective purchaser and the poultry raiser.

The flock should be comfortably but not expensively housed. A house which provides a floor space of 3 or 4 square feet per bird is ample for the purpose, and fowls are often successfully kept with an allowance no greater then 2¹⁄₂ to 3 square feet. Houses must be dry and free from draft, but must allow ventilation. Often there is an unused shed or small building on the place which can easily be converted into a chicken house (see fig. 3). The front of the poultry house should be faced toward the south, if possible, so that the sun will shine into it. Perfectly satisfactory houses can be made cheaply from piano boxes or other packing cases. Two piano boxes with the backs removed can be nailed together and a door cut in the end. These boxes should be covered with a roofing paper in order to keep the house dry and to make it wind-proof. A portion of the door should be left open or covered with a piece of muslin, so as to allow ventilation. (See figs. 4 and 5.) Similar houses can be constructed of packing cases at a relatively small cost. A small amount of 2 by 4 or 2 by 3 lumber can be purchased for framing. The box boards can be applied for siding or sheathing and then covered with roofing paper. Where there is a board fence it is sometimes possible to take advantage of this by building the poultry house in the corner of the fence and making the fence itself, with the cracks covered by strips or battened, serve as the back and one side of the house.

Fig. 4.—Poultry houses, each of which is made out of two piano boxes. The two boxes are placed back to back, 3 feet apart, the back and top of each removed, a frame for roof and floor added, and the part between the two boxes built in with the boards removed from the boxes. The whole is covered with roofing paper. With piano boxes at $2.50 each, such a house can be easily and quickly constructed for $12. It will accommodate 12 hens comfortably.

A cheap house 8 by 8 feet square can be made of 2 by 4 inch pieces and 12-inch boards. Plans for such a house are given in figure 6. The 2 by 4 pieces are used for sills, plates, corner posts, and three rafters. No studding is required except that necessary to frame the door and window space. The boards are run up and down and add sufficient stiffness to the house. They are used also for the roof and covered with roofing paper. The back and sides of the house also can be covered with roofing paper, or the cracks can be covered with wooden battens or strips 1¹⁄₂ to 3 inches wide. In the front of the house there should be left a window or opening which can be closed, when desired, by a muslin screen or curtain which serves as a protection against bad weather but allows ventilation. In the side a door should be provided which will allow entrance. A shed or single-slope roof is best because easiest to build. A height of 6 feet in front and 4 feet in the rear is ample. If desired, the house may be built higher, so that it is more convenient to work in; the increase in cost will be slight. The ventilator in the rear is not needed in the northern part of the country, but is desirable in the South where summers are very warm.

Fig 5.—Rear view of piano-box houses shown in fig. 4. The openings at the rear are provided for ventilation and coolness in the hot weather. Windows could be used instead of solid shutters and would make the houses lighter when closed.

Such a house would be ample for a flock of 20 to 25 hens. It can be built quickly and easily and is cheap in construction. The material required is as follows:

Fig. 6.—Plan of a simple back-yard poultry house.

Larger drawing

When the soil is well drained and consequently will remain dry no floor need be used in the house, the ground itself serving as the floor. Often a slight dampness can be corrected by filling up the floor several inches above the outside ground with sand, cinders, gravel, or dry dirt. Three or four inches of the surface of the floor, and of the run if a very small run is used, should be removed and replaced with fresh dirt two or three times a year. If the ground is so wet or damp that this condition can not be corrected by filling it is best to provide a board floor as this will help to keep the house dry, will allow easier cleaning, and will promote the general health and welfare of the hens. A house with a board floor should be set on posts or blocks, so that it is 5 to 12 inches above the ground. When this space is left the floor will not rot so quickly and rats are not so likely to take refuge under the house. (See fig. 7.)

Fig. 7.—A good type of open-front poultry house for a small flock. The front can be closed with a muslin curtain on cold nights. The house is set on brick piers so as not to afford a refuge for rats. Notice the nests built out on the front of the house where the eggs can be reached by raising the hinged cover.

In order to keep the flock in a clean and sanitary condition, dropping boards should be provided and roosts above them. This makes it easy to remove the droppings each morning and helps greatly to keep the house free from objectionable odors. A little sand or ashes sprinkled on the dropping board after each cleaning will be found to make the cleaning easier.

The dropping boards and roosts should be placed against the back wall. Here they are out of the way and at the same time where they are least likely to be reached by drafts. The dropping boards should be about 20 to 30 inches from the floor, depending on the height of the building. This gives space enough under them so that the hens have room to exercise and is not too high for the heavier hens to fly up to. The roosts should be 3 or 4 inches above the dropping boards. If more than a single roost is used, they should be on the same level; otherwise all the hens will try to crowd upon the highest roost. A piece of 2 by 4 or 2 by 3, laid and with the upper corners rounded off, make a good roost. A pole, or even a piece of board 2 or 3 inches wide, may be used. If the roost is of light material and fairly long, it should be supported in the center, as well as at the ends, to prevent it from sagging badly. An allowance of 7 to 10 inches of roost space per fowl, according to the size of the birds, should be made. If more than one roost is used, they should be placed about 15 inches apart.

Nests must be provided and may be very simple. Any box about 1 foot square and 5 or 6 inches deep is suitable. An ordinary orange box with the partition in the middle serves this purpose very well, each box forming two nests. The top is removed, the box laid on its side, and a strip 3 to 4 inches wide nailed across the lower front. (See fig. 9.) Nests can be fastened against the walls of the house or set on the floor. It is preferable to fasten them against the wall, as they take too much floor space if set on the floor. One nest should be provided for each 4 or 5 hens.

Fig. 8.—A larger poultry house suitable for a suburban lot. Notice the old lumber, sash, etc., used in the construction. The utilization of such used material, which can often be purchased for a very slight sum at auction or where buildings are being wrecked, lessens the cost of the poultry buildings very materially.

The straw or other material used in the nest should be kept clean and not be allowed to get so low that the eggs when laid by the hen will strike the board bottom of the nest, as this will cause them to break and will start the hens to eating the eggs, which is a very troublesome habit and one that is very difficult to break up once it is formed.

A litter of straw or the leaves raked up in the fall about 3 or 4 inches deep, should be used on the floor of the house. This material helps to absorb the droppings and also provides a means of feeding the grain in such a way that the hens are obliged to exercise by scratching for it.

When hens become broody, they should be “broken up” as quickly as possible. for the sooner this is done the sooner they will resume laying. To break a hen of broodiness she should be confined to a small coop, preferably with a slat bottom. Give her plenty of water to drink; she may be fed or not as desired. Not much difference will be found in the time required to break her of broodiness, whether she is fed or made to fast. Usually from 3 to 6 days’ confinement will break her, but some hens require 10 to 12 days. The broody hen will be recognized by her inclination to stay on the nest at night, the ruffling of her feathers and her picking at anyone who approaches her, and by the clucking noise she makes. The fact that her broodiness has been broken up can be recognized by the disappearance of these symptoms.

The yard should be inclosed by a board or wire fence. Wire fencing is preferable, as it is cheaper and the hens are less likely to fly over it. If cats prove troublesome, where one is raising young chickens, it may be necessary to cover the top of the yard with wire also. A board should not be used at the top of a wire fence, as this gives the hens a visible place to alight and tends to teach them to fly over. A 5-foot fence is high enough for most conditions, but if the hens show a tendency to fly over such a fence the flight feathers of one wing should be clipped. The larger the yard which can be provided the better the hens will do, as it not only gives them greater opportunity to exercise, but also makes it possible to maintain a sod on the yard. In most cases not enough land will be available so that a sod can be maintained.

Fig. 9.—An orange box converted into a double nest by laying it on its side and nailing strips across the front to hold in the nesting material.

If the yard is fairly large, it can be divided into two parts and green crops, such as oats, wheat, rye, or dwarf essex rape, allowed to start in one yard while the hens are confined to the other. (See fig. 10.) The green crops should be sown very thick, and the following quantities will be found satisfactory for a yard 25 by 30 feet: Wheat, 2³⁄₄ pounds; oats, 1¹⁄₂ pounds; rye 3¹⁄₄ pounds; rape, 5 ounces. When the growing stuff reaches a height of 2 or 3 inches the hens can be turned upon it and the other yard be similarly sown.

Where it is inadvisable to divide the yard, it is possible to keep a supply of green stuff growing by using a wooden frame 2 or 3 inches high, covered with 1-inch-mesh wire. A frame made of 2 by 4 lumber, 6 feet long and 3 feet wide, with an additional piece across the center to support the wire when the hens stand on it, will be found desirable for a small yard. (See fig. 11.) A part of the yard as large as this frame is spaded up and sown, the frame placed over it, and the material allowed to grow. As soon as the green sprouts reach the wire the hens will begin to pick them off, but since they can not eat them down to the roots the sprouts will continue to grow and supply green material. This frame can be moved from place to place in the yard, and in this way different parts cultivated.

The yard should be stirred or spaded up frequently if not in sod in order to keep it in the best condition. This will not only tend to keep down any odors which might arise, but also allow the droppings to be absorbed into the soil more readily and therefore keep the yard in better condition for the hens.

Although it is necessary to keep the hens confined to their yard most of the time, it is sometimes possible to let them out where they may range upon the lawn for an hour or so in the evening when some one can be at hand to watch them, or at certain seasons of the year to allow them to run in the garden plot. This will be enjoyed greatly by the hens and will be very beneficial to them.

Fig. 10.—Back-yard poultry house and flock. Notice the double yard. The green crop of the first yard has been fed off and the second yard is planted to rape, which is about ready to feed. The mulberry tree in the background provides, when the berries are ripe, nearly enough feed for a flock of 25 hens for three weeks.

In feeding the city flock an effort should be made to do so as cheaply as possible, consistent with the production of eggs. To accomplish this, all table scraps, kitchen waste, etc., should be utilized. Scraps of meat or left-over vegetables which can not be utilized in any other way make excellent feed. There are also many other waste products, such as beet tops, turnip tops, carrot tops, potato parings, onion tops, watermelon and cantaloup rinds, the outside leaves of cabbages, waste lettuce leaves, bread and cake crumbs, etc., all of which are relished by the hens and can be used to the best advantage. In saving the scraps and waste it is well to separate the portions adapted for feeding to the flock and place these in a receptacle or pail of their own. Decomposed waste material or moldy bread or cake should never be saved to feed to the hens, as it is harmful to them and may cause serious bowel trouble. Sloppy material, such as dishwater, should not be thrown into their pail. It is also useless to put in such things as banana peels or the skins of oranges, as these have little or no food value. Any sour milk which is not utilized in the house should be given to the chickens. This should be fed separately, however, either by allowing the hens to drink it or by allowing it to clabber on the back of the stove and then feeding it in that condition. When the family’s table waste is not sufficient for feeding the flock, it is usually possible to get some of the neighbors who keep no hens to save material suitable for feeding. Many people are glad to do this if a small pail in which to place the waste is furnished.

Fig. 11.—A frame made of 2 by 4 inch lumber and covered with ³⁄₄-inch mesh poultry wire used to sprout oats or other grain for the hens. The wire prevents the hens from eating the sprouts down so close as to kill the plants and from scratching out the roots. Sprouting grain unprotected will be quickly killed.

Table scraps and kitchen waste are best prepared for feeding by running them through an ordinary meat grinder. After the material has been put through the grinder it is usually a rather moist mass, and it is well to mix with it some corn meal, bran, or other ground grain until the whole mass assumes a crumbly condition. The usual method is to feed the table scraps at noon or at night, or at both times, as may be desired, in a trough or on a board. All should be fed that the hens will eat up clean, and if any of the material is left after one-half or three-quarters of an hour it should be removed. If allowed to lie it may spoil and would be very bad for the hens.

With the table scraps it is well to feed some grain. Perhaps this may be given best as a light feed in the morning. Four or five handfuls of grain (about ¹⁄₂ pint) scattered in the litter will be sufficient for a flock of 20 or 25 hens. By handful is meant as much as can be grasped in the hand, not what can be scooped up in the open hand. By scattering it in the litter the hens will be compelled to scratch in order to find the grain and in this way to take exercise, which is decidedly beneficial to them. If the house is too small to feed in, the grain can be scattered on the ground outside. A good grain mixture for this purpose is composed of equal parts by weight of wheat, cracked corn, and oats. Another suitable grain mixture is composed of 2 parts by weight of cracked corn and 1 part oats.

Fig. 12.—An intensive back-yard poultry plant. Practically the entire back-yard is occupied by houses and covered runs, and about 70 hens are carried. Each house is 6 by 14 feet, divided into two pens with a covered yard of the same size. Each pen carries about 15 hens. The houses are raised from the ground so that the hens can run under them. The soil in the runs is renewed four times a year. A flock of 13 hens in one of these pens laid 2,163 eggs in a year. Oats are sprouted in the cellar of the dwelling house for green feed. In addition, chickens are raised here.

In addition to the grain and the table scraps it is well to feed a dry mash. This dry mash is composed of various ground grains and is placed in a mash hopper or box from which the hens can help themselves. The advantage of feeding such a mash is that the hens always have access to feed, and this tends to make up for any fault, inexperienced, or insufficient feeding. The hens do not like the dry mash so well that they are likely to overeat, but it will supply a source of feed in case they are not getting enough. The dry mash also provides a suitable medium for feeding beef scrap, a certain amount of which may or may not be necessary, depending upon the amount of meat scraps available in the table waste. If the hens show a tendency to become overfat it may be desirable to close the mash hopper during a part of the day and allow them access to it only during a certain period, preferably the afternoon. A good dry mash is composed of equal parts by weight of corn meal, wheat bran, wheat middlings, and beef scrap. Another good mash is composed of 3 parts by weight of corn meal and 1 part beef scrap. Still a third mash, which has given excellent results, is composed of 1 pound of wheat bran, 1 pound of wheat middlings, 6.5 pounds of beef scrap, and 16.5 pounds of corn meal. The beef scrap used in the dry mash is usually the most expensive ingredient, but it is a very essential part of the mash and very efficient for egg production. It should not be eliminated or reduced unless the quantity of meat in the table scraps is considerable or unless some other product can be substituted for it. Fish scrap, when available, may replace the beef scrap, or cottonseed meal can be used to replace one-half the beef scrap in the mash. No attempt should be made to replace more than half the beef scrap with cottonseed meal, as the results in egg production and in the quality of the eggs will be unsatisfactory.

Green cut bone can often be purchased from the butcher. This material when procured fresh makes an excellent substitute for beef scrap. It should be purchased in small quantities, as it can not be kept fresh for any length of time and when spoiled may cause severe bowel trouble. It is best fed in a trough not oftener than every other day, allowing about one-half ounce per bird. Should severe or continued looseness of the bowels follow the feeding of green cut bone it should be discontinued or the quantity reduced.

Vegetable tops, parings, and other vegetable refuse supply a valuable and very necessary green feed for the hens. Lawn clippings also are a valuable green feed. They can be fed as soon as cut, or they may be dried or cured, stored in bags, and saved until winter, when they can be soaked in warm water and fed in that condition or be mixed with some of the mash or with the table scraps.

Fig. 13.—Inclosure for hen and chicks with box used as a coop at the end. Both coop and run is moved each day to a fresh spot of ground. A burlap bag thrown across the top of the yard provides shade. Twenty-five chicks were put with a hen in this yard and 24 of them were raised, making good growth.

The hens should have access at all times to a supply of grit or stones of a size small enough to be swallowed readily. Grit is used by the hens to help in grinding in their gizzards the hard grains which they eat. A supply of ordinary gravel will answer the purpose of grit very well. Crushed oyster or clam shell also should be given to the hens and be kept before them at all times. If this is withheld the hens are likely to lack sufficient shell-forming material in their feed, with the result that they lay many soft-shelled or thin-shelled eggs. Grit or shell can be purchased in small quantities at any feed or poultry supply store.

A plentiful supply of clean, fresh water must always be available to the hens. The fowls drink freely, especially when laying heavily, and should not be stinted of such a necessary and cheap material as water. The water pan or dish should be kept clean. If it is not washed out frequently a green slime will gather on its inner surface. This should not be allowed to happen. It is well to keep the water pan outside the house and in the shade in the summer, but in the winter, when the water may freeze, it is best that the pan be left in the house, and it should be raised about a foot above the floor so that the hens will not kick it full of straw or other litter when scratching for their feed. When the nights are cold enough so that the water is likely to freeze the pan should be emptied each night and refilled in the morning.

If the best results are to be expected from the flock, the hens must not be allowed to become overrun with lice or the house with mites. Usually there will be a place in the yard where the hens can dust themselves in the dry dirt. If such a place is not available, a box large enough (about 2 feet square) for the hens to get into it should be provided in the house and a quantity of dust such as ordinary road dust or fine dirt placed in it to allow the hens a place to dust themselves. A dust bath aids the hens in keeping lice in check and therefore adds to their comfort. Usually the lice are not present on the birds in sufficient number to prove particularly harmful. However, it is better to keep the hens as free as possible from this pest, and if they are not able to keep them in check by dusting themselves, other measures can be undertaken.

To rid the hens of lice, each one can be treated by placing small pinches of sodium fluorid, a material which can be obtained at most large drug stores, among the feathers next to the skin—one pinch on the head, one on the neck, two on the back, one on the breast, one below the vent, one at the base of the tail, one on either thigh, and one scattered on the underside of each wing when spread. Another method is to use a small quantity of blue ointment, a piece about as large as a pea on the skin 1 inch below the vent. If mercurial ointment is used instead of blue ointment, it should be diluted with an equal quantity of vaseline. Any of these methods will be found very effective in ridding the hens of lice and should be employed whenever the lice become troublesome. Two or three applications a year usually prove sufficient.

Mites are more troublesome and more harmful than lice. They do not live upon the birds like the lice, but during the day hide in the cracks and crevices of the roosts and walls of the house, and at night they come out and get upon the fowls. They suck the hen’s blood, and if allowed to become plentiful—as they certainly will if not destroyed—will seriously affect her health and consequently her ability to lay eggs. They may be eradicated by a few thorough applications of kerosene or some of the coal-tar products which are sold for this purpose, or crude petroleum, to the interior of the poultry house. The commercial coal-tar products are more expensive but retain their killing power longer, and they may be cheapened by reducing with an equal part of kerosene. Crude petroleum will spray better if thinned with 1 part of kerosene to 4 parts of the crude oil. Both the crude petroleum and the coal-tar products often contain foreign particles, so should be strained before attempting to spray. One must be sure that the spray reaches all of the cracks and crevices, giving especial attention to the roosts, dropping-boards, and nests, and the treatment should be repeated two or three times at intervals of a week or 10 days.[3]

Often it is inadvisable to attempt to renew the city poultry flock by hatching and rearing chicks or buying and rearing day-old chicks. Previous experience in the raising of chickens often increases the chances of success. However, the land available is usually small in area, and no attempt should be made to raise chicks unless a plot can be provided separate from that to which the hens have access and upon which there is grass, or a supply of green feed can be furnished. Where these conditions are not available, it is better to kill the hens as soon as they have outlived their usefulness and replace them by well-matured pullets in the fall. Where it is found desirable to hatch and rear a few chicks this can best be done with hens. Where a few day-old chicks are purchased to rear and no hens are available for the purpose, it is possible with little trouble and expense to construct a fireless brooder which will answer the purpose. Full directions for making such a brooder are given in Farmers’ Bulletin 624, page 10[4].

The hatching should be done early in the spring and should be completed if possible by the first of May. Chicks hatched before this time will have a good chance to mature and be in laying condition as pullets before the cold weather of fall sets in, and should in consequence be producers during the entire fall and winter. Early-hatched chicks are also easier to raise, as they live and thrive better than those which are still small when the hot weather begins. If it is desired to hatch and raise chicks, the reader is referred to Farmers’ Bulletin 585, “Natural and Artificial Incubation of Hens’ Eggs,” and 624, “Natural and Artificial Brooding of Chickens.”[5]

In any flock some hens will be found to be much better producers than others. Often there are a few hens which are such poor producers that they are unprofitable. Where the flock is comparatively small, the owner is often able to determine by observation which are the poor producing hens. Needless to say, these should be the ones to kill and eat as fowls are desired for the table. All hens molt in the fall and early winter. During this molting season, which usually takes about three months, the hens lay few or no eggs. It is advisable, if well-matured pullets can be purchased at a reasonable price, to kill and eat the hens as they begin to molt, replacing the flock with newly purchased pullets. The hens should not be killed, however, until they begin to molt and their comb begins to lose its size, color, and flexibility, for if these changes have not taken place the hens will probably still be laying and at a time of year when eggs are especially valuable.

A small flock of hens, even five or six, may produce enough eggs during the greater part of the year to supply the needs of a medium-sized family. Where a larger flock is kept, there will be a time during the spring and early summer when more eggs are produced than are used. These surplus eggs can either be sold or, what is perhaps more desirable, preserved in the spring for home use during the fall and early winter, when eggs are high in price and much more difficult to obtain from the flock.

The eggs to be preserved must be fresh. They should be put in the preserver on the day on which they are laid. The eggs should be clean, but it is better not to wash them. Eggs with dirty shells can be used for immediate consumption and the clean eggs preserved. Cracked eggs or those with thin or weak shells should never be used for preservation. Not only will the cracked egg itself spoil, but it will cause many of the other eggs packed in the same jar with it to spoil as well.

One of the best methods of preserving eggs is by the use of waterglass. This material can be purchased by the quart from the druggist or poultry supply men. It is a pale yellow, odorless, sirupy liquid. It should be diluted in the proportion of 1 part of waterglass to 9 parts of water which has been boiled and allowed to cool. Earthenware crocks or jars are the best containers for the purpose, since they have a glazed surface and are not subject to chemical action from the solution. The crocks or cans should be scalded out, so that they will be perfectly clean, and allowed to cool before they are used. A container holding 6 gallons will accommodate 18 dozen eggs and will require about 22 pints of solution. Too large containers are not desirable, since they increase the liability of breaking some of the eggs. Half fill the container with the waterglass solution and place the eggs in it. Eggs can be added from day to day as they are obtained, until the container is filled. Be sure that the eggs are covered with about 2 inches of waterglass solution. Cover the container and place it in a cool place, where it will not have to be moved. It should be looked at from time to time to see that not enough of the water has evaporated so that the eggs are uncovered. If there seems to be any danger of this, sufficient cool boiled water should be added to keep them covered.

Remove the eggs from the solution as desired for use and rinse them in clean, cold water. Before boiling such eggs prick a tiny hole in the large end of the shell with a needle, to keep them from cracking. As the eggs age the white becomes thinner and is harder to beat. The yolk membrane becomes more delicate, and it is correspondingly difficult to separate the whites from the yolks.

Limewater is also satisfactory for preserving eggs and is slightly less expensive than waterglass. A solution is made by placing 2 or 3 pounds of unslaked lime in 5 gallons of water which has been boiled and allowed to cool, and allowing the mixture to stand until the lime settles and the liquid is clear. The eggs should be placed in a clean earthenware jar or other suitable vessel and covered to a depth of 2 inches with the liquid. Remove the eggs as desired, rinse in clean, cold water, and use immediately.

Keep the hens confined to your own land.

Don’t keep a male bird. Hens lay just as well without a male.

Don’t overstock your land.

Purchase well-matured pullets rather than hens.

Don’t expect great success in hatching and raising chicks unless you have had some experience and have a grass plot separate from the yard for the hens.

Build a cheap house or shelter.

Make the house dry and free from drafts, but allow for ventilation.

Fowls stand cold better than dampness.

Keep house and yard clean.

Provide roosts and dropping boards.

Provide a nest for each four or five hens.

Grow some green crop in the yard.

Spade up the yard frequently.

Feed table scraps and kitchen waste.

Also feed grain once a day.

Feed a dry mash.

Keep hens free from lice and the house free from mites.

Kill and eat the hens in the fall as they begin to molt and cease to lay.

Preserve the surplus eggs produced during the spring and summer for use during the fall and winter when eggs are scarce and high in price.

Available for Free Distribution by the Department.

Standard Varieties of Chickens. (Farmers’ Bulletin 51.)

Poultry Management. (Farmers’ Bulletin 287.)

Successful Dairy and Poultry Farm. (Farmers’ Bulletin 355.)

Hints to Poultry Raisers. (Farmers’ Bulletin 528.)

Important Poultry Diseases. (Farmers’ Bulletin 530.)

Boys and Girls Poultry Clubs. (Farmers’ Bulletin 562.)

Poultry House Construction. (Farmers’ Bulletin 574.)

Natural and Artificial Incubation of Hens’ Eggs. (Farmers’ Bulletin 585.)

Natural and Artificial Brooding of Chickens. (Farmers’ Bulletin 624.)

Simple Trap Nest for Poultry. (Farmers’ Bulletin 682.)

Squab Raising. (Farmers’ Bulletin 684.)

Duck Raising. (Farmers’ Bulletin 697.)

Goose Raising. (Farmers’ Bulletin 767.)

Mites and Lice on Poultry. (Farmers’ Bulletin 801.)

Standard Varieties of Chickens: 1. The American Class. (Farmers’ Bulletin 806.)

How the Produce Dealer May Improve Quality of Poultry and Eggs. (Separate 596 from Year Book 1912.)

Thanksgiving Turkey. (Separate 700 from Year Book 1916.)

The Chicken Mite, Its Life History and Habits. (Department Bulletin 553.)

Refrigeration of Dressed Poultry in Transit. (Department Bulletin 17.) Price, 10c.

Commercial Fattening of Poultry. (Department Bulletin 21.) Price. 10c.

Lessons on Poultry for Rural Schools. (Department Bulletin 464.) Price, 10c.

Food Value and Uses of Poultry. (Department Bulletin 467.) Price, 5c.

Eggs and Their Value as Food. (Department Bulletin 471.) Price, 5c.

Improvement of Farm Eggs. (Bureau of Animal Industry Bulletin 141.) Price, 10c.

A capon is an unsexed or castrated male chicken.

The true capon seldom crows.

The capon is to the poultry dealer what the fat steer is to the beef packer—the source of the choicest food product of its kind. As a result of a contented disposition the capon develops more uniformly than the cockerel, and grows larger than the cockerel of the same age. Coupled with this better growth, the capon commands a better price per pound, and the demand continues good notwithstanding the fact that more and more are raised each year.

The Plymouth Rocks, Light Brahmas, Cochins, Indian Games, Langshans, Wyandottes, Orpingtons, and various crosses of these, make the best capons.

Cockerels should be caponized when they weigh from 1¹⁄₂ to 2¹⁄₂ pounds or when from 2 to 4 months old.

The operation is more difficult than with most other domestic animals, but can be performed rapidly and with little danger after some practice.

The making, feeding, and marketing of capons, with details concerning methods and results, are presented in this bulletin that caponizing may become a regular practice of the poultry raiser where conditions are favorable.

It is impossible to say just how long the operation of caponizing has been performed. It seems quite certain, however, that the practice was familiar to the Chinese more than 2,000 years ago. Later it was practiced by the Greeks and Romans and, through medieval times, by the people of middle and southern Europe, until in recent times it has been introduced into America. At present capons are most universally known and appreciated in France, although within the last few years the business of producing them has advanced rapidly in this country. This industry is most important in that portion of the United States east of Philadelphia, though increasing numbers of capons are being raised in the Middle Western States. During the winter months capon is regularly quoted in the markets of the larger eastern cities. Massachusetts and New Jersey are the great centers for the growing of capons, while Boston, New York, and Philadelphia are the important markets.

A Capon.

What is a capon? A capon is an altered or castrated male chicken, bearing the same relation to a cockerel that a steer does to a bull, a barrow to a boar, or a wether to a ram. As with other male animals so altered, the disposition of the capon differs materially from that of the cockerel. He no longer shows any disposition to fight, is much more quiet and sluggish, and is more docile and easy to keep within bounds. The true capon seldom crows. Along with this change in disposition there is a change in appearance. The comb and wattles cease growing, which causes the head to appear small. The hackle and saddle feathers develop beautifully.

As a result of the more peaceful disposition of the capon he continues to grow and his body develops more uniformly and to a somewhat greater size than is the case with a cockerel of the same age. For a time the cockerel and the capon make about equal development, but as soon as the reproductive organs of the cockerel begin to develop the capon begins to outstrip him in growth. Also when finishing off the capon fattens more readily and economically. As they do not interfere with or worry one another, a large flock of capons may be kept together. Coupled with the better growth is the fact that the capon brings a better price per pound. Cockerels from 2 to 5 months old usually bring from 15 to 25 cents a pound; if held longer than this they become “staggy,” are classed as old cocks, and do not bring more than 6 to 15 cents a pound. Capon in season brings 20 to 35 cents and often more a pound. There are two reasons, then, why it is better to caponize surplus cockerels than to raise them for market as such: (1) There is an increase in weight and (2) the price per pound is materially increased. Yet in many localities where especially fine poultry is raised, while capons usually sell for a somewhat better price, the difference is not great. In fact, for the Boston market, many capons are picked clean and sold as “south shore roasters.” Hence it will be seen that the profit in capons must depend to a great extent upon local conditions. The demand for capons continues good, notwithstanding the fact that more and more are raised each year.

In selecting the breed best suited for caponizing several factors must be taken into consideration. Large capons bring the best prices. Consequently the breed should be large. It does not pay to caponize small fowls. Yellow legs and skin, as in other classes of poultry, are most popular. The Plymouth Rocks, Light Brahmas, Cochins, Indian Games, Langshans, and Wyandottes are all recommended by different producers, as are also various crosses of these. The Orpington also makes fine capons, but the white legs and skin are somewhat of a disadvantage in this country. The Brahmas and Cochins possess good size. By some the Brahmas are claimed to be difficult to operate upon; by others this is denied. The Plymouth Rocks and Wyandottes are somewhat smaller, but sell readily and possess the advantage of yellow skin and legs. The Langshan is large and is easily operated upon. The Indian Game is probably most useful as a cross upon some one of the other breeds, thereby improving the breast meat without materially reducing the size of the fowl. In Massachusetts the Brahma was formerly the most popular breed for this purpose because of the demand for large birds for roasters. Later crosses between the Light Brahma and the Barred or White Plymouth Rock became quite popular, while at present the pure Barred and White Plymouth Rocks are perhaps most widely used.

In so far as the effects of the operation and the rapidity and ease of healing are concerned, the time of year when the operation is performed is of little importance. The capons seem to recover and do well at any time. Certain other considerations, however, do influence the time. The age and size of the cockerel are very important. As soon as the cockerels weigh 1¹⁄₂ to 2¹⁄₂ pounds, or when 2 to 4 months old, they should be operated upon. The lower age and weight limits apply particularly to the American breeds, while the higher apply to the Asiatics. If smaller than this, their bodies do not give room enough to work handily. On the other hand, they should never be over 6 months old, as by this time the testicles have developed to a considerable extent, the spermatic arteries carry greater amounts of blood, and the danger of pricking these arteries and causing the fowl to bleed to death is greatly increased. The fact that capons are in greater demand and bring the best prices from the Christmas season until the end of March, and that it takes about 10 months to grow and finish them properly, makes it important to hatch the chicks in early spring so that they will be of proper size for caponizing in June, July, and August. These are by far the most popular months for the operation, though in some cases it is performed still later.

Fig. 1.—Instruments used in Caponizing.

There are several sets of instruments for performing the operation. These differ principally in the type of instrument used in getting hold of and removing the testicle. One type is the cannula (fig. 1, a). This consists of a hollow tube, the lower end of which is compressed and closed except for two small holes through which to run the horse hair or wire comprising the other part of the instrument. This type requires two hands to operate. Another type is the twisting scoop (fig. 1, b). This is a spoon-like scoop slotted in the center and mounted upon a slender rod. It is designed to slip under the testicle, allowing the spermatic cord to pass through the slot. By twisting the cord in severed. This type has the advantage of requiring only one hand to operate, but is more liable to produce “slips” than the cannula. A third style of instrument (fig. 1, i) is also in the form of a spoon or scoop, but instead of being in one piece has two jaws regulated by a slide. The testicle is caught in the scoop with the spermatic cord between the jaws, and by tightening the jaws and gently moving the instrument the cord is severed and the testicle removed. Still another type, not now in common use, is the spoon forceps. With this the testicle is simply grasped with the forceps and detached by a twisting movement. Here one hand can be used also, but the liability of slips is rather greater than with the other methods.

Figure 1, k, shows a type of forceps, consisting of two hinged arms, one of which terminates in a broad, flat surface, and the other in an end of similar shape from which the center has been removed, leaving only a narrow rim. These two ends are held closely pressed together by means of a rubber band passing across the handles. In use, the ends of the forceps are separated, the solid one slipped under the testicle and the rim then allowed to settle down over it. The cord is thus caught and the testicle can be removed. Careless or too rapid use of this instrument is likely to cause slips. Figure 1, l and m, shows two additional types of testicle removers. The type shown in l has a curved handle which brings the hand out of the line of vision, making it easier to see into the body cavity when using the instrument. A knife for making the incision into the body cavity is, of course, necessary. Almost any sharp-pointed, thin-bladed knife will answer the purpose well (see fig. 1, c). Some sort of spreader to spring apart the ribs far enough to allow the instruments to be inserted into the body must be used. A plain spring spreader, as shown in figure 1, d, or a sliding spreader (fig. 1, e), allowing the pressure to be gauged, will answer the purpose. A sharp-pointed hook (fig. 1, h). for tearing away the thin membranes, and a blunt probe, of which figure 1, g, is one type, for pushing aside the intestines, complete the necessary equipment. A pair of small tweezers or nippers (fig. 1, f) is also useful in removing any foreign matter from the body.

Fig. 2.—Barred Plymouth Rock cockerel of suitable size to caponize.

Fig. 3.—Method of securing fowl in position for the operation on top of a barrel.

Fig. 4.—Feathers plucked away to make ready for incision.

Before beginning the operation two conditions are absolutely essential. If these are not favorable, do not attempt to operate. The first of these is that the intestines of the fowl should be completely empty, so that they will fall away and expose the testicle to view. This can be accomplished by shutting up the fowls and withholding all food and water for 24 to 36 hours before the operation. Withholding water tends to make the blood thicker and consequently to decrease the amount of bleeding. Thirty-six hours is better than 24, especially for a beginner. The second condition is a good, strong light, so that the organs of the fowl may be clearly and easily distinguished. Direct sunlight is best for this, and in consequence it is well to operate out of doors on a bright day. Some operators have substituted the physician’s head reflector and artificial light with good success. An ordinary incandescent electric bulb fastened to a gooseneck standard and provided with a reflector can be used to good advantage when caponizing indoors. It has been suggested that a probe consisting of a small electric bulb on the end of a slender rod and operated by small dry batteries, so that it can be introduced into the body cavity, could be manufactured and used with good success.

When ready to operate, catch the bird and pass a noose of strong string about the legs. Do the same with both wings close to the shoulder joints. To the other end of the string are attached weights of sufficient size to hold down and stretch out the bird when placed upon the head of a barrel or box of convenient height, which is to serve as operating table. These weights are allowed to hang on opposite sides of the barrel or box (see fig. 3). A table, if so desired, may be arranged by boring holes through its top at proper distances from each other, allowing the strings to pass through these, and hanging the weights underneath. Still other ways of holding the fowl in place have been devised, but these are unimportant so long as the fowl is held securely stretched out.

Fig. 5.—The incision made. Before making the cut, the skin over the last two ribs is pulled down toward the thigh and held there while the incision is made. When the bird is released after the operation, the skin slips back into its natural position. The cut in the skin is then not directly over the incision in the body, with the result that the wound is closed and protected.

Having fastened the fowl, be sure that all the instruments are at hand. It is also well, though not necessary, to have ready some absorbent cotton and a dish of water to which have been added a few drops of carbolic acid or some other antiseptic. Having once started, carry the operation through as quickly as possible. Moisten and remove the feathers from a small area over the last two ribs just in front of the thigh (see fig. 4). With the left hand slide the skin and flesh down toward the thigh. Holding it thus, make the incision between the last two ribs (see fig. 5), holding the edge of the knife away from you as you stand back of the fowl. Lengthen the incision in each direction until it is 1 to 1¹⁄₂ inches long. Now insert the spreader into the incision, thus springing the ribs apart, as shown in figures 6 and 7. The intestines will now be visible, covered by a thin membrane called the omentum. Tear apart this membrane with the hook, and the upper testicle, yellow or sometimes rather dark colored and about the size and shape of an ordinary bean, should be visible close up against the backbone. By pushing aside the intestines this can easily be seen, and the lower one also, in a similar position on the other side of the backbone. Expert operators usually remove both testicles through one incision. This is a desirable practice, as it saves time and is not so hard on the bird. Inexperienced operators will usually find it well to attempt the removal of the upper or nearer testicle only and to make a second incision on the opposite side of the body for the removal of the other testicle.

If both testicles are to be removed through the same incision, remove the lower first, as the bleeding from the upper might be sufficient to obscure the lower. Each testicle is enveloped in a thin membrane. This may be and probably is best removed with the testicle, though some operators tear it open and remove the testicle only.

The delicate part of the operation is now at hand, owing to the close proximity of the spermatic artery, which runs just back of the testicle and to which the testicle is in part attached. If this is ruptured the fowl will bleed to death. The cannula, threaded with a coarse horsehair or fine wire, or one of the other forms of instrument previously described, now comes into use. If the cannula is used, allow the hair or wire protruding from the end to form a small loop just large enough to slip over the testicle. Work this over the testicle, being careful to inclose the entire organ. Now tighten up on the free ends of the hair or wire, being careful not to catch any part of the artery. If the spermatic cord does not separate, saw lightly with the hair or wire. When the testicle is free, remove it from the body. The method of removing the testicle is shown in figure 8. If only the upper testicle has been removed, turn the birds over and proceed in exactly the same manner upon the other side.

Fig. 6.—Spreader in place. Tearing open the membranes.

After removing the testicle, if the bleeding is at all profuse it is well to remove a portion of the blood by introducing small pieces of absorbent cotton into the body by means of the hook or nippers, allowing them to become saturated and then removing them. Be sure to remove all blood clots, feathers, or foreign matters. After the testicles and all foreign matter are removed, take out the spreaders, thus allowing the skin to slip back over the incision.

Even experts are sure to kill some birds, but the loss is small, seldom exceeding 5 per cent where any considerable number are caponized, and usually not more than 2 or 3 per cent. With beginners, of course, the percentage is much larger, but with a little practice and care this is soon overcome. Any fowls which may be killed in this way are perfectly good to eat and are therefore not wasted.

A great deal of practice is required to become expert enough to operate rapidly. Consequently it is quite common in localities where many capons are grown to hire experts to do the work. These men are able to caponize a fowl every two to five minutes, and charge from 3 to 6 cents a fowl for the service. It is most humane for the beginner to make his first trials upon dead fowls.

Many times, particularly with beginners, while the operation seems to be entirely satisfactory, the bird will turn out to be what is known as a “slip.” A “slip” is neither cockerel nor capon, but is between the two, possessing the mischievous disposition and the appearance of an ordinary cockerel, but, as a rule, being unable to reproduce. This condition is due to the fact that a small piece of the testicle is left in the body. This piece often grows to a considerable size. As the “slips” possess the same restless disposition as the cockerels, they grow and fatten little if any better, while they do not bring as good a price in the market as the capons. Consequently it is well to use every precaution in order to avoid “slips,” as they are unprofitable as compared with capons. With the greatest care, however, “slips” are more common than are deaths due to the operation. The percentage varies all the way from 50 per cent with beginners down to 2 or 3 per cent with experts.

Fig. 7.—Spreader in place. The testicle can be observed lying between the jaws of the spreader.

Upon being released from the operating table the capons are usually put in a closed yard where they can find shelter, food, and water and can be kept quiet. No roosts are provided, as the less flying and jumping they do the sooner will the wound heal. The capons seem to be very little inconvenienced by the operation, and water and soft feed mixed with sweet skim milk can be given immediately. Some feeders give this in unlimited quantity, while others feed more sparingly for a time. Some growers observe no precautions whatever, giving the birds full liberty immediately after the operation and allowing them to have any sort of feed.

For a week or 10 days the newly made capons should be carefully observed to see whether they become “wind puffed.” This is a condition caused by air gathering under and puffing out the skin near the wound. When observed it can be readily relieved by pricking the skin with a needle or knife and pressing out the air. In about 10 days or 2 weeks the incision into the body should be entirely healed, and, although no special antiseptic methods are employed in the operation, blood poisoning or any other trouble seldom results.

Capons are usually kept till they are about 10 months old. At this time the market is at its best and the birds have made their most profitable gains. The feeds used and the methods of feeding vary greatly, so much so, indeed, that it is futile to try to give specific directions. For several months after the operation a good growing ration and not a fattening ration is required. It may consist of whole grains, ground grains, or a combination of the two, as each feeder finds most profitable and best suited to his locality. As with other poultry, variety must be given for best results. Late in the fall, when the capons have no pasture, green feed, such as cut clover or vegetables, should be provided. A somewhat more fattening ration than that required for laying hens seems to give good results.

Fig. 8.—Removing the testicle.

As capons are not usually marketed before Christmas or the first of January they have to be housed during the late fall and early winter. Because of their quiet disposition they stand crowding quite well and have been successfully housed with only 2 or 3 square feet of floor space to a fowl. Free range for capons is very desirable, as it promotes their continuous, rapid, and economical growth.

During the last month or month and a half before marketing, the corn in the ration should be gradually increased until the fowls are on a full fattening ration. For the last two or three weeks it is desirable to shut them up and feed them in crates, for every possible ounce at this stage adds to the appearance and profit.

The capons selected for killing should be confined for 24 hours without feed or water to completely empty their crops. The usual method of killing is known as the sticking method. The fowl is hung up by the feet, the head held in the left hand, and the whole body stretched to full length. The mouth is forced open, and by means of a sharp, narrow-bladed knife held in the right hand the blood vessels at the back of the throat are severed with a single sweep. The knife is then turned and the point plunged through the roof of the mouth to a point just behind and between the eyes. The brain is here reached, and if properly stuck all feeling is then lost. Convulsions ensue, the muscles are relaxed, and the feathers come out easily.

Capons should always be dry picked, as they look much better and some of the feathers should be left on. The feathers of the neck and head, the tail feathers, those a short way up the back, the feathers of the last two joints of the wing, and those of the leg, about one-third of the way from knee to hip joint, should be left on. These feathers, together with the head of the capon, serve to distinguish it from other classes of poultry on the market, and consequently should never be removed. In picking be careful not to tear the skin. If bad tears are made, sew them up. Capons scalded and picked bare bring very little, if any, better prices than other poultry in the same condition.

Fig. 9.—The spreader removed and the weights taken off the wings. Notice how the skin slips back over the incision so as to close it.

Most markets require capons to be undrawn and the head and feet left on. Care should be used to cleanse the head and feet of all signs of blood or filth.

After picking, the carcases are hung in a cool place until the animal heat has entirely left the body, when they are ready to be packed. Like other poultry they should be packed in boxes of convenient size, holding a dozen carcases, or in barrels. Every attention should be given to neatness and attractiveness, as this helps the sale and the price. During the time of year when most capons are marketed—January, February, and March—no ice is necessary, but if for any reason they are shipped in warm weather they should be packed in ice.

Fig. 10.—Capons dressed for market. These illustrations show appearance after picking, but do not show fowls in perfect condition of flesh.

It is extremely difficult to make any general statement concerning the profits yielded by capons. That they do yield a profit in practically all cases is undoubtedly true, but whether the profit is sufficient to give up to them the time and room they require is a question which must be settled by each man’s experience and by local conditions. Many poultrymen think that they can do better to turn off their surplus cockerels as broilers as long as the market holds up and rely upon caponizing only for later-hatched chicks. The house room thus saved they use for pullets or other laying stock, feeling that they make more money in this way. It is certain, however, that many poultrymen find capon raising profitable enough to induce them to continue in the business. On several farms in Massachusetts 500 to 1,000 capons are raised annually, and the writer knows of one farm on which in one season 5,000 cockerels were held for caponizing. Although the industry is growing rapidly year by year, the supply does not yet equal the demand. The best prices are commanded by capons produced near to the market, and consequently perfectly fresh. The markets of the West usually do not quote as good prices as the eastern ones; hence most of the western-grown capons are shipped East, in which case the express rates cut down the profit materially. On the whole, the profit is probably rather greater for eastern producers than for those of the North Central States.

One of the very best carpet cleaners ever placed on the market is that put up in liquid form by a man living in a western town of 5,000 people, where there was no steam cleaning establishment. He used the following formula:

Solution soap, 120 ounces; ammonia water (10%), 60 ounces; gasoline, 120 ounces; chloroform, the cheap kind, 20 ounces; saltpetre, 10 ounces; commercial oil of wintergreen, or other perfume, sufficient to give an agreeable scent.

(The solution soap named is made of cheap olive oil, 60 ounces; caustic potash, 12 ounces; wood alcohol and water, equal parts, to make 1,000 ounces.)

In making the liquid cleaner, dissolve the saltpetre in the water, add the ammonia to the soap solution, then the chloroform, oil and gasoline, shaking well after adding each ingredient, then add this to the water. This makes a milky white compound that must be shaken well before using. Citronella or other cheap perfume may be used instead of the wintergreen, if desired.

In making the soap solution, called for in the formula, put the oil into a suitable vessel, with half of the alcohol, then dissolve the potash in water, mix the two solutions, until it forms a nice soap, which can be determined by dropping a little of it in water. If it dissolves without forming oily drops, it is complete. Allow this to cool, add the rest of the alcohol and enough water to bring the measure up to 1,000 ounces. Then strain and filter.

Use the cleaner by applying freely with a sponge, and scrub briskly with a stiff brush, then wash off with warm water, which removes all grease, dirt, etc.

With a man to do the work, our friend went to the most prominent homes, as well as all the hotels in his town, and asked for the privilege of demonstrating his compound. This was granted in practically all cases, and he was given a large number of orders for cleaning carpets without removing them from the floor, at about half the price charged by regular cleaning establishments, yet which netted him a good profit after paying his man for the work.

He also advertised it through the smaller towns, and secured sales for it which brought him a good income every year.

The only objection to white shoes is that they soil so easily, but those who use the following formula will find their troubles on that score are over.

Precipitated chalk, 4 ounces; zinc oxide, 6 ounces; whiting, 8 ounces; pipe clay, 16 ounces; have all thoroughly dry and in fine powder, mix together very thoroughly and pass through a fine sieve. Now is where one of the tricks of the trade comes in. If the powder should have any yellowish tinge, as it most likely will, or does not seem to be just as dead white as it should be it may be brought up, by the judicious admixture of a very little bluing, just as is used in washing clothes and also is put in white granulated sugar for the same purpose. The blue must be in very fine powder and thoroughly mixed with the other powder, to give the proper results. Add it cautiously and be careful not to get too much. A good plan to work is, take some blue and rub it with three or four times its bulk of the powder in a mortar until thoroughly and evenly mixed, then use this powder for toning up your product. When this is done, mix a dram of powdered tragacanth and a dram of carbolic acid for each pound of the powder, with enough water to wet the whole thing into a stiff, putty-like mass. Fill this mass solidly into the boxes, and strike the upper edge. It will dry out, but that will not injure it at all.

Directions for use: Brush the shoes well, then rub over with a soaped cloth, to remove all stains, etc. Wet a small sponge or cloth in water, rub it on the cake in the box until well loaded, then go over the shoes, evenly and rapidly. Set aside to dry, and with a dry cloth lightly remove spots in the dressing.

A young man who had been clerking in a men’s furnishing store for $10 a week got an idea one day that turned out to be the means of giving him a good-paying business.

He noticed that there were many public stenographers located in the various office buildings of the city, and figuring that all their patrons had to come to them when wanting work done, why wouldn’t it be a good thing to call at the different stores and offices of these patrons and do their type-writing.

He therefore bought a light but reliable typewriting machine, which could be carried easily from place to place, learned to operate it with accuracy and speed, and then began to work up a line of customers. He found them, too, lots of them, and every day he called at their places of business and wrote their letters.

He was kept busy all the time, and from the very beginning of his enterprise he made from $25 a week up, yet did his work at the rate of 10 cents per letter. He seldom used short-hand but took the letters on his machine.

This is something that all poultry raisers would give a good deal to know:

On every alternate day, mix cayenne pepper with soft food, at the rate of one teaspoonful of pepper to each dozen hens. Take good care to see that each hen obtains her share. In winter give each hen a half ounce of fresh meat each day, and see that they have plenty of water, grain, gravel and lime.

K. J. MATHESON AND F. R. CAMMACK, of the Dairy Division.

Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry.

Cottage cheese can be made on the farm or in the home with little labor and expense.

It is a palatable, nourishing product that furnishes a means of utilizing skim milk to excellent advantage.

The directions given in this plan are for manufacturing cottage cheese either for home use or for marketing on a small scale.

Preparing Cottage Cheese for Market.

Cottage cheese, a most palatable and nutritious product, is one of the few varieties of cheese which can be manufactured on a small scale. It furnishes a convenient and economical means for using skim milk as a human food, and supplies, more cheaply than meat, the protein or body-building part of the diet. In fact, pound for pound, it contains 25 per cent more protein than a medium-fat side of beef and costs about half as much.

The haphazard methods used in the making of this product, together with the lack of simple and easily available directions, probably are responsible for the small quantities made and consumed in the farm home. Uncertainty of results and defects in the finished product also have been causes for discouragement to the beginner. It is hoped, however, that by following the directions given in this bulletin a better and more uniform product may be obtained.

For making the cheese in small quantities for home use a very simple process and ordinary household equipment will suffice. But if it is desired to market the product and to insure good, uniform quality it will be necessary to follow somewhat more elaborate methods. Details sometimes must be modified according to conditions, and only experience will give proficiency.

Cottage cheese is judged by its flavor and texture. A high-quality cheese should have a clean, mild, acid flavor and a texture smooth, free from lumps, and uniform or homogeneous throughout. The undesirable flavors commonly found are described as unclean, tasteless, too acid, and sometimes even bitter. Flavor can be controlled by the use of clean, sweet skim milk and a good “starter,” but texture depends largely upon careful manipulation during the making process. Good, clean skim milk, clean utensils, and careful attention to the details of making are essential to good quality in the product.

The first consideration in the production of good cottage cheese is the quality of the milk itself. Milk which is dirty or has undergone any abnormal fermentation is undesirable. The fresher the milk the more satisfactory it is for cheesemaking, because then it is possible to direct and control the souring. It is absolutely necessary to give the milk proper attention, both at the time of its production and in all its subsequent handling. The temperature at which it is kept from the time of production until made into cheese determines in a large measure the quality of the cheese. For best results milk should be kept cool, at 50° F. or lower, if possible, until it is to be made into cheese.

The material and construction of all equipment used in handling milk and in the manufacture of cheese should be smooth and free from crevices, so as to allow easy and efficient cleaning. The most scrupulous care should be exercised in order to keep all utensils sweet and clean. For cleaning utensils the following method is advised:

One gallon of skim milk will make about 1¹⁄₂ pounds of cheese. If the milk is sweet it should be placed in a pan and allowed to remain in a clean, warm place at a temperature of about 75° F. until it clabbers. The clabbered milk should have a clean, sour flavor. Ordinarily this will take about 30 hours, but when it is desirable to hasten the process a small quantity of clean-flavored sour milk may be mixed with the sweet milk.

As soon as the milk has thickened or firmly clabbered it should be cut into pieces 2 inches square, after which the curd should be stirred thoroughly with a spoon. Place the pan of broken curd in a vessel of hot water so as to raise the temperature to 100° F. Cook at that temperature for about 30 minutes, during which time stir gently with a spoon for 1 minute at 5-minute intervals.

At the conclusion of the heating, pour the curd and whey into a small cheesecloth bag (a clean salt bag will do nicely) and hang the bag on a fruit-strainer rack to drain, or the curd may be poured into a colander or a strainer over which a piece of cheesecloth has been laid. After 5 or 10 minutes, work the curd toward the center with a spoon. Raising and lowering the ends of the cloth helps to make the whey drain faster. To complete the draining tie the ends of the bag together and hang it up. Since there is some danger that the curd will become too dry, draining should stop when the whey ceases to flow in a steady stream.

The curd is then emptied from the bag and worked with a spoon or a butter paddle until it becomes fine in grain, smooth, and of the consistency of mashed potatoes. Sour or sweet cream may be added to increase the smoothness and palatability and improve the flavor. Then the cheese is salted according to taste, about one teaspoonful to a pound of curd.

Because of the ease with which the cheese can be made it is desirable to make it often so that it may be eaten fresh, although if it is kept cold it will not spoil for several days. If the cheese is not to be eaten promptly it should be stored in an earthenware or glass vessel rather than in one of tin or wood, and kept in a cold place.

The first step in the making of cottage cheese is to sour or ripen the milk. If care has been used in the production and handling of milk, a good grade of cheese may be made by allowing the milk to sour naturally. Uncertainty of results and lack of uniformity in the cheese, however, have caused many to resort to a more definite means of controlling fermentation or souring by the use of starters. Some of the dangers and disadvantages of natural souring are—

Fig. 1.—Bottles of Starter.

When cottage cheese is to be produced in large quantities it is advisable to use a starter. Starters aid and hasten acid fermentation and tend to suppress and eliminate undesirable fermentation. A starter, in brief, is a quantity of milk in which the acid-forming bacteria have grown until the milk contains a great number of them. There are two kinds of starters, commercial and homemade.

Fig. 2.—Stirring in starter and rennet and taking temperature.

When cottage cheese is to be made on a large scale it is advisable to use a commercial starter, obtainable from a reliable starter company or through a dairy-supply house. The small package of starter, which may be either liquid or solid, is added to a pint of pasteurized skim milk and the milk covered and set away at 75° F. to sour. This is called a “mother starter.” After curdling or coagulation, a teaspoonful of the “mother starter” is added to a quart of pasteurized skim milk, which, when coagulated, is used to ripen the milk for cheesemaking. In pasteurizing milk for starters, it is heated to 175° F. and held at that temperature for 30 minutes, after which it is cooled to 75° F. before the starter is added.

Homemade starters are made as follows:

1. Clean thoroughly and boil for five minutes several pint fruit jars or wide-mouthed bottles, together with tops or tumblers for covering them. (Fig. 1.) After boiling, keep the jars or bottles covered to prevent the entrance of bacteria.

2. Select several pint samples of fresh milk, put into the jars or bottles, cool to 75° F., cover and keep at that temperature until curdling occurs.

3. The curdling or coagulation should take place in about 30 hours. An ideal curd should be firm, smooth, marblelike, free from holes or gas bubbles, and should show little separation of the whey. To be a good starter the curd should have a clean, sharp, sour or acid flavor.

4. Select the sample that most closely meets these conditions and propagate it. This is done as follows:

a. Prepare, shortly before using, a quart jar or bottle and a teaspoon according to the method described in paragraph 1.

b. Fill the jar or bottle with fresh skim milk and pasteurize by heating to 175° F. and keeping at that temperature for 30 minutes.

c. Cool to 75° F. and add a teaspoonful of curdled milk or starter described in paragraph 3, and set away to curdle.

d. Propagate the starter from day to day until one is found with desirable qualities. In doing this repeat steps a, b, and c, but in the last use the starter of the day before instead of that originally mentioned in paragraph 3.

While for small-scale operations the pasteurization of milk may not always be practicable, it permits a better control of the fermentations, increases the yield of cheese, and renders the product safe from disease-producing organisms. If milk is pasteurized it is absolutely necessary to use a vigorous starter for ripening. Otherwise, great difficulty is found in draining the curd, and as a result the cheese probably is spoiled.

Skim milk is pasteurized for making cottage cheese by heating it in a pail, can, or vat to a temperature of 145° F. and holding it at that temperature for 30 minutes. The milk then is cooled quickly to 75° F., when it is ready for adding the starter.

Fig. 3.—Pouring curd upon draining cloth.

To make cottage cheese in considerable quantities and of good, uniform quality, especially if it is to be sold, it is desirable to follow a more exact method than that described for making small quantities for home use.

For natural souring without starter, fresh skim milk is placed in a clean pail or a “shotgun” can, covered, warmed to 75° F., and allowed to stand at that temperature until curdled. The temperature can be controlled by keeping the pail or can of milk in a tub, sink, or other vessel filled with water at the same temperature.

When starter is used it is stirred into skim milk which has been warmed to 75° F. (Fig. 2.) The vessel of milk then is covered and set away at the same temperature to curdle. The quantity of starter used varies from 1 to 5 per cent; a pint for 3 or 4 gallons of milk usually gives good results. By the use of a large quantity of starter it is possible to ripen the milk and complete the making of the cheese in one day. Probably it is more convenient, however, to set the milk with starter at night, in which case the milk should be firmly clabbered by morning. For obtaining a desirable coagulum or curd that is firm and not easily broken into fine particles during heating, 75° F. seems to be the best temperature. When the skim milk has coagulated into a firm, solid curd which gives a sharply defined break as the finger is inserted, with whey collecting at the break, the curd is ready for cutting.

The coagulum, or curd, is cut crosswise into 2-inch squares, with a long-bladed knife. The mixture then is heated quickly to 100° F. and is maintained at that temperature for about 30 minutes. During the entire heating process the curd is stirred with a spoon or a cream agitator every four or five minutes. The object of these operations is to remove the whey from the curd and to bring the product into a concentrated form. The texture of the cheese is regulated in a large measure by the manner of cutting, heating, and stirring the coagulum. Prolonged and vigorous stirring of the mixture is undesirable, since it causes a fine-grained curd which is slow in draining and has excessive curd losses in the whey. Heating at too high a temperature results in a tough, dry curd.

Fig. 4.—Raising and lowering draining cloth to hasten draining.

After heating, the mixture is poured upon a draining cloth, which is fastened over a pail or a specially constructed rack, in order to separate the curd from the whey. (See fig. 3.) The curd is allowed to drain undisturbed for 15 or 20 minutes, because if handled during that period it will tend to become mushy, a condition which renders the removal of the whey very difficult. Later, every few minutes, the sides of the cloth should be raised and lowered several times (as shown in fig. 4), which hastens draining. Draining should continue until very little whey separates upon standing, at which time the curd is rather soft and smooth. It is then ready for salting.

For salting, the curd is placed in a pan or pail and salt added and mixed uniformly into the curd with a butter ladle or a spoon. The usual rate of salting is two heaping tablespoonfuls to 3¹⁄₂ gallons of milk, or about 2¹⁄₂ ounces to 10 pounds of curd, although there is some difference of opinion as to the quantity of salt needed. In case a scale is lacking it is possible to approximate the salt when it is known that a level tablespoonful of salt equals two-thirds of an ounce. Salt is added to the cheese to increase its palatability and to a certain extent to preserve it.

Several advantages are found in making cottage cheese with rennet or pepsin, as follows:

Rennet is a substance which causes milk to coagulate and may be obtained either as commercial liquid rennet or as junket tablets. The former may be purchased from a dairy-supply house, while the latter may be obtained from grocery and drug stores.

If commercial rennet is used for making cottage cheese, about 3 drops should be added to each 10 pints or pounds of milk, or 10 drops to 30 pounds of milk. The rennet, after being measured, is diluted about 40 times with cold water (a half cupful is satisfactory) before it is added to the milk. For measuring a medicine dropper may be used with good results.

If the liquid rennet can not be obtained, junket tablets may be used, one tablet having about the same strength as 1 cubic centimeter or 25 drops of the liquid. One tablet may be dissolved in 10 tablespoonfuls of cold water, then 1 tablespoonful of the mixture is sufficient for 10 pounds or pints of skim milk and 3 tablespoonfuls for 30 pounds of milk. Junket tablets are not always of the same strength, so it may be necessary to experiment somewhat before the right quantity to add is obtained.

Pepsin is a powder which has somewhat the same effect upon milk as rennet and may be used instead. It should be added at the rate of one-twelfth gram to 100 pounds of milk. For 30 pounds of milk this would be a quantity about half the size of a medium-sized pea. This should be dissolved in water and fractional portions used in a manner similar to that described for the junket tablet.

The milk is handled in identically the same manner as in the method already described with the exception that rennet or pepsin is added to it just after the starter is put in and the mixture stirred vigorously. When this is done the curd or coagulum may be poured directly into the draining cloth without cutting, heating, or stirring. If no starter is used it is desirable to let the milk stand at 80° F. for five or six hours before adding the rennet or pepsin.

When clear whey collects upon the surface of the curd in the can it is an indication that the curd is ready to be drained. At first it may not be possible to get the best results by this method, but after a few trials it should be possible to produce a fine, firm coagulum in from 12 to 15 hours.

The coagulum is now poured upon the draining rack covered with cotton sheeting. Because of the fineness of the curd a draining cloth with a smaller mesh is more desirable than the one previously described. After a short preliminary drainage of perhaps 20 minutes the ends of the cloth are unfastened and the diagonally opposite corners drawn together and tied. Moderate weights, about 25 pounds, are then placed upon the bag of curd to hasten the draining. (See fig. 5.) A pail filled with stones or water will serve for this purpose. There is danger that the cheese curd may be pressed too dry when rennet is used, so it is advisable to watch the curd closely at this period. The pressing should be continued until the curd has reached about the same consistency as described under the preceding method.

Fig. 5.—Boards and weight for pressing cheese.

After draining, salt is added in the same way as for ordinary cottage cheese.

A small quantity of sweet or sour cream added after salting, especially if the curd is a little dry, will improve greatly the quality and palatability of cottage cheese made by either process. Usually cream is added at the rate of half a pint to 10 pounds of curd.

Finely ground pimento peppers also add much to the appearance, taste, and attractiveness of the product, especially to the finer textured, rennet-made cheese. Peppers when used are added at the rate of 1 pound to 20 of curd.

If the product is to be marketed the additional expense of cream or peppers probably is warranted.

The yield of cottage cheese depends upon the quality of the milk and the method of manufacture. Yields of from 12 to 22 pounds of cheese per 100 pounds of skim milk represent the limits, while a normal yield of from 16 to 18 pounds produces best results. A gallon of skim milk usually yields about 1¹⁄₂ pounds of cottage cheese.

Although often marketed in bulk and sold by the pound, cottage cheese may be marketed best in single-service containers holding from 10 to 12 ounces. This makes a neat and convenient package which commonly retails for about 10 cents. These cartons are made of wood pulp treated with paraffin. For interstate shipping it is necessary to put the net weight of the cheese on the package, and it is desirable, for advertising purposes, to place on it the name and address of the maker. While the product may be molded into balls or prints and wrapped in paraffined paper, the carton is strongly recommended as a marketing receptacle for such a perishable product as cottage cheese. The carton makes a nearly air-tight package which improves the keeping quality of the cheese.

It is advisable to keep cottage cheese at a low temperature until consumed. Holding the product at room temperature for only 36 hours may cause it to become slightly “off flavor,” while in a longer period the deterioration may be so marked as to render it unsuitable for consumption. Cheese from which the whey separates spoils quickly and is very undesirable. It is better to have the cheese a little too dry than too moist, for the former defect may be corrected easily by the addition of a little cream or milk by the consumer.

Little equipment is needed for making cottage cheese, and for the most part it may be found in any home. When the cheese is made in large quantities a small outlay for equipment is warranted as a matter of convenience and satisfaction. In most homes, however, satisfactory substitutes may be found for some of the utensils mentioned here.

Fig. 6.—Equipment used in first stages of making cottage cheese.

Starter bottles.—Quart milk bottles and tumblers are needed for holding the starter. Quart fruit jars will serve the purpose very well.

Cans or pails.—A “shotgun” can which may vary in size and material is very convenient; usually it is straight sided, 8 inches in diameter, 20 inches high, and holds about 4 gallons of milk. If such a can is not available, an ordinary 10-quart milk pail will be satisfactory.

Fig. 7.—Wire-covered draining rack.

Milk agitator.—A stirrer of the kind shown in figure 6 is desirable for causing a uniform distribution of the starter and rennet prior to setting and for stirring the curd, but for making small quantities of cheese a spoon is entirely satisfactory.

Floating dairy thermometer.—The use of a reliable and accurate thermometer is absolutely necessary to obtain uniformity in results from day to day. Because of the danger of breaking, it should be kept in a case when not in use.

Rennet or pepsin.—Either commercial liquid rennet or junket tablets are desirable when cottage cheese is to be made quickly. Powdered pepsin also may be used. Rennet always should be kept cold and in a dark place.

Draining racks.—An ordinary fruit-straining rack is very useful for small quantities of cheese. A colander also will answer the purpose. When larger quantities are made a special rack will be found to be very convenient. Such a rack is described below.

A wire-covered rack (fig. 7) consists of a rectangular frame, 20 by 52 inches and 6 inches high, upon the bottom of which is tacked one-half inch mesh woven wire. The rack should be made of hard wood and dovetailed at the corners. If it is placed upon a table slightly inclined, the whey is directed to a common point and collected in a jar or pail by the use of strips nailed to the bottom of the frame. The materials required for making the rack are two boards ⁷⁄₈ by 6 by 52 inches, two boards ⁷⁄₈ by 6 by 26 inches, and woven wire 26 by 52 inches.

Another kind of rack is rectangular, 13 inches wide, 36 inches long, and 10 inches deep. The corner posts extend 1¹⁄₂ inches beyond the strips and top and bottom, with the top rounded, so that a ring may fit over them. The bottom slats fit loosely into notches and are removable for washing. The materials required are four corner posts 1¹⁄₂ by 1¹⁄₂ inches, nine strips 1 by ³⁄₈ by 36 inches, and six strips 1 by ³⁄₈ by 12¹⁄₄ inches, notched to receive bottom slats, all made of pine. A cloth is fastened upon each frame and the contents of one can poured into each cloth.

Draining cloths.—When the cheese is made without rennet, common cheesecloth is most satisfactory, but for cheese made with rennet, unbleached cotton sheeting is recommended. The quantity depends upon the size of the draining rack, enough being required to supply a single thickness, with an allowance for hems. All draining cloths should be hemmed.

Cartons.—Round, paraffined, sanitary, single-service containers are desirable for marketing the cheese.

The process of making cottage cheese without rennet or pepsin, on the basis of 30 pounds or about 3¹⁄₂ gallons of milk, which will yield about 5¹⁄₄ pounds of cheese, may be summarized as follows:

Obtain clean, fresh milk.

If starter is not used, warm the milk to 75° F. and hold it at about that temperature until curdled.

If starter is to be used, add 1 to 5 per cent, or about 1 pint of starter to 30 pounds of milk, stir, and set away at 75° F. to curdle.

If it is desired to pasteurize, heat milk to 145° F., hold at that temperature for 30 minutes, and cool to 75° F. If pasteurization is practiced, a starter must be used and should be added after pasteurization, as described.

Time for curdling when starter is used, 12 to 15 hours (usually overnight).

When starter is not used the time for curdling will be about 30 hours.

Cut and stir, and then heat to 100° F. and hold for 30 minutes. Stir gently at intervals.

Pour upon cheesecloth and drain for 20 or 30 minutes.

Place in pail or pan and salt at the rate of 2¹⁄₂ ounces to 10 pounds of curd, or about 2 level tablespoonfuls for the cheese from 30 pounds of milk.

If desired, add sweet or sour cream at the rate of one-half pint to 10 pounds of curd, or about one-quarter pint of cream to the product from 30 pounds of milk.

The following is an outline of the process with rennet or pepsin on the basis of 30 pounds or 3¹⁄₂ gallons of milk, which will yield about 5¹⁄₄ pounds of cheese:

Obtain clean, fresh milk.

When a starter is not used, after adding rennet or pepsin, warm the milk to 75° F. and hold it at about that temperature until curdled.

If starter is to be used, add 1 to 5 per cent, or about 1 pint of starter to 30 pounds of milk, and set away at 75° F. to curdle.

If it is desired to pasteurize, heat to 145° F., hold at that temperature for 30 minutes, and cool to 75° F. If pasteurization is practiced, a starter must be used and should be added as described.

Add rennet, junket tablets, or pepsin just before setting the milk away to curdle at 75° F., carefully stirring to insure a thorough distribution.

Add rennet at the rate of one-third cubic centimeter, or about 8 drops, diluted 40 times in cold water (half a cup of cold water is satisfactory) for each 30 pounds or 3¹⁄₂ gallons of milk.

Or, dissolve one junket tablet in a pint of cold water and use one-third of the mixture.

Or, dissolve powdered pepsin (one-half size of pea) in one-quarter pint of cold water and use the entire mixture.

Time for curdling when starter is used, 12 to 15 hours (usually overnight).

When starter is not used the time for curdling will be about 30 hours.

Pour upon cotton sheeting and drain for 20 or 30 minutes.

Tie the ends of the cloth together and press with weight (20 or 25 pounds) until the curd has attained the desired consistency.

Salt at the rate of 2¹⁄₂ ounces to 10 pounds of curd. If desired, add sweet or sour cream at the rate of one-half pint of cream to each 10 pounds of curd, or one-quarter pint of cream to the product from 30 pounds of milk.

LEWIS B. FLOHR, Investigator of Marketing and ROY C. POTTS, Specialist in Marketing Dairy Products.

Contribution from the Bureau of Markets, CHARLES J. BRAND. Chief.

Because butter does not keep well unless good storage facilities are available, most families must purchase it frequently and in small quantities.

Parcel post has been found a desirable and useful means of sending butter from producer to consumer, and when favorable conditions exist and proper methods are used in preparing and mailing, it carries satisfactorily by that method of transportation.

There are practically no difficulties in transporting cheese by parcel post. Frequently this method of marketing affords an economical and satisfactory way for obtaining cheese for family use.

Butter is highly perishable unless it is handled under proper conditions, yet the fact that many consumers obtain their supplies direct from producers by parcel post, proved by the quantity passing through many post offices, indicates that parcel-post marketing of butter is feasible. It is usually an economical method, as the cost of market distribution through the regular wholesale and retail channels of trade is relatively high in comparison with the cost of shipments by parcel post from the first and second and sometimes more distant zones.

Shipments of butter aggregating more than 10,000 pounds have been made by the Bureau of Markets, under various conditions and in packages carrying from 1 to 10 pounds, over both long and short distances, in order to test various kinds of shipping containers, methods of packing, and the possibilities of parcel-post shipping of butter during the summer and other seasons. These experimental shipments consisted of (1) shipments of fresh butter from four creameries to this bureau, and (2) shipments of the butter received from the creameries by the bureau to experiment stations and return shipments of the same. The summarized results of the shipments from the four creameries are presented in the following table:

Table I.—Experimental shipments of butter by parcel post in 2, 3, 5, and 10 pound parcels from creameries to the Bureau of Markets.

Fig. 1.—Two views of hand printer for 1-pound prints.

Although many of these shipments were made during the heat of summer, only 14 of the 454 shipments, or 3.1 per cent, were received in an unsatisfactory condition. These very satisfactory results may be attributed to the care exercised in the proper packing of butter in suitable shipping containers and the pre-cooling or thorough hardening of the butter at the creameries before shipment.

The experimental shipments to the State experiment stations were satisfactory where the temperature and distance were not too great. Butter which had softened much in transit from the creamery to the bureau when later shipped to the experiment stations did not arrive in as good condition as that in which the grain had not been previously injured. In general, the shipments from Washington were successful when forwarded as far north as Maine and as far west as Michigan and Indiana. Shipments into the South were successful for shorter distances.

The results of these experimental shipments indicate that well-made butter, thoroughly chilled before shipping, when packed in a suitable container, may be marketed satisfactorily by parcel post when extreme high temperatures are not encountered. Under ordinary conditions, where the butter does not melt and a firm or semifirm condition is maintained, the shipping of butter by parcel post generally may be successful. Even though proper safeguards were taken, the shipments made during extremely hot weather frequently arrived in an oily and unsatisfactory condition.

As parcel-post shipments of butter are likely to be subjected to conditions, especially during the summer, which may cause deterioration and injure the quality of the butter, it is highly desirable that every possible precaution be taken before shipment. Particularly is this true of farm-made butter, because conditions affecting its quality and condition usually can not be controlled as easily on farms as in creameries. However, farm-made butter should be marketed just as satisfactorily as creamery-made butter when it is properly made and prepared for shipment.[6]

It is necessary to maintain proper conditions in the care of the milk and cream and the making of butter if a marketable product is to be produced. Too much importance can not be given to the maintaining of cleanly conditions in the stable and in other places where the milk, cream, or butter are produced or kept, for they absorb odors and spoil very quickly. It is important, too, that these products be kept in a cool place. High temperatures should always be avoided as heated cream or butter produces a soft, oily condition in the finished product which is undesirable. In manufacturing butter on the farm or in a factory the buttermilk must be removed and washed out, and the proper amount of salt must be incorporated evenly. Frequently parcel-post shipments of farm butter are unsatisfactory to customers because proper methods were not used in making it, and thereby the quality and condition of the butter were injured before it was shipped. For the satisfaction of customers it is important that a uniform quality of butter be produced.

Fig. 2.—Three stages of a parcel-post package of butter; Wrapped, opened, showing print of butter.

The methods used in preparing butter for parcel-post shipping depend largely upon the local conditions and the style of package used. To insure delivery in the best possible condition, butter, after being packed or printed and placed in cartons, should be chilled or hardened thoroughly before it is shipped.

One of the most satisfactory ways of preparing butter for shipment is in the form of regular 1-pound prints. The standard print measures 2¹⁄₂ by 2¹⁄₂ by 4⁵⁄₈ inches. A hand butter printer or mold should be used in forming the prints. The printer shown in figure 1 is so made that it can be taken apart readily and thoroughly cleaned. The print of butter is easily removed from the mold by the false bottom. Another style is made with the sides and ends hinged to the bottom and held in place by hooks across the ends. After the butter is packed in the mold the sides are unhooked, so that the butter can be removed from the printer. One-pound hand printers similar to these styles may be secured from dairy-supply companies or they may be made on the farm.

Each pound print should be neatly wrapped in regular butter parchment or paper. A second thickness of such paper has been found to add materially to the carrying possibility of the butter. Waxed paper may be used for the second wrapping. As a further protection to the print, it should be placed in heavy manila paraffined cartons, which may be obtained from folding paper-box companies for about one-half cent each when unprinted or at a slightly additional cost when printed as a stock carton or with a special private brand.

Fig. 3.—Actual parcel-post shipment of 3 pounds of butter wrapped in parchment paper, several thicknesses of newspaper, corrugated paper-board carton, and finally an outside wrapper of heavy wrapping paper.

Corrugated fiber board shipping containers of various sizes may be obtained for shipping 1-pound prints of butter. (See fig. 2.)

These boxes or containers practically insulate the butter and furnish much protection against heat. Further protection may be obtained by wrapping the container in stout wrapping paper. The whole should be tied securely with a strong cord. In tying the twine, it should be drawn tightly around the package so as to insure its proper carriage. Not infrequently packages are broken open or otherwise damaged because they are insecurely tied. The corrugated containers are also useful for carrying shipments of butter put up in other styles.

Some persons ship butter by parcel post in improvised or “home-made” containers. Clean, discarded, corrugated paper-board cartons are obtained from the grocer or other merchant at small cost or frequently without cost. It is possible to cut a piece of paper board in such shape and size that when it is folded it will form a satisfactory carton. In figure 3 is shown a piece of paper board that is cut so as to provide a carton for shipping 3 pounds of butter that is wrapped in parchment paper and several thicknesses of newspaper.

For this carton the paper board was so cut that it was 7¹⁄₂ inches wide and 25 inches long with projections in the middle of the length which were 4¹⁄₂ inches wide and extended 8¹⁄₂ inches on each side. This provided a carton with dimensions, when folded, as shown in the illustration, of 4¹⁄₂ by 6 by 7¹⁄₂ inches.

Butter shipped in an improvised container should be wrapped in parchment paper and several thicknesses of newspaper and then should be securely tied with string. The package should then be inclosed in the piece of corrugated paper board with the projections of the paper board so folded as to form a container. The container should then be tied with twine, wrapped in heavy wrapping paper, and again tied securely with a strong twine.

Fig. 4.—Cheese for parcel-post mailing. In some of the important cheese-producing sections Swiss and other varieties of cheese are frequently cut into suitable blocks for parcel-post shipping.

If butter that is prepared for shipment in this manner is thoroughly chilled before being mailed, it should carry safely even in warm weather if it is not in transit over 24 to 36 hours.

A few of the many instances which have come to the attention of the bureau will indicate with what success butter may be marketed by parcel post.

A farmer’s wife who was making a good quality of butter was securing but little more than half retail price a pound for it when a trial shipment was made by parcel post to a consumer in a large city.[7] As the result of this shipment, a demand was developed and customers obtained for the entire product at an advance in price to the farmer’s wife and with a considerable saving to the customers under the retail price of the best creamery butter.

A number of creameries have developed an extensive parcel-post business. One which has a large output markets practically its entire product direct to consumers or retail distributers, except in the flush of production in spring and early summer. Another has developed a substantial parcel-post trade by sending out a weekly price list. Formerly this creamery used newspaper advertisements, but the manager says that the quality of the butter is sufficient advertisement.

“LONGHORN” (WEIGHT 12#)		“YOUNG AMERICA” (WEIGHT 8#)		“MIDGET” (WEIGHT 4#)
“FLAT” (WEIGHT 21#)			“BRICK” (WEIGHT 10#)

Fig. 5.—Various styles of American Cheddar cheese suitable for parcel-post shipping.

Successful parcel-post marketing of butter requires that extreme care be taken to insure the delivery of a satisfactory product to the customers. The following are a few of the important considerations to be observed to market butter successfully by parcel post:

1. A uniformly high-quality product should be produced.

2. It should be properly packed in neat and attractive packages.

3. The shipping container used should amply protect the butter from deterioration and damage.

4. The packages should bear the address of the sender and be properly addressed to the customer.

5. The most expeditious mail service from the mailing office should be used to insure the delivery of the butter in the best condition.

Most varieties of cheese, being firm and not so subject to damage by high temperature as butter, may be shipped any distance by parcel post without difficulty. (See fig. 4.)

The two important varieties of cheese produced on farms are cottage cheese and American (full cream or whole milk) cheese. Cottage cheese is soft and quickly perishable, therefore it is consumed while fresh. When made rather dry and packed in moisture-proof packages it may be shipped to points where delivery may be made within 24 to 36 hours. The first and second zones are usually the practical limits of shipping cottage cheese by parcel post.[8]

Fig. 6.—Suitable container for shipping cheese.

As American, Swiss, Brick, and several other of the firmer varieties of cheese are ripened or cured and paraffined before they are marketed, they can be more successfully shipped by parcel post then the soft varieties such as cottage cheese. The more common styles or forms in which the firmer varieties of cheese are marketed are prints, bricks, and cylindrical shapes. The prints are made by cutting the larger styles of cheeses into square “prints” weighing usually 1 pound each. Bricks are made in molds of the desired size. Cylindrical-shaped cheeses, both flat and long, are commonly known by various trade names such as Midgets, Picnics, Young Americas, Long Horns, Daisies, and Flats. On the Pacific coast a type of cheese called “Jack,” which closely resembles the “Daisy” size, is marketed by parcel post. The usual weight and shape of several styles of cheese, suitable for parcel-post shipping, are shown in figure 5.

General care should be exercised in the packaging of cheese for shipment by parcel post. The surface of the cheese should be clean and, if necessary, paraffined. As a protection to the cheese it should be wrapped in several layers of paper, preferably with a waxed paper next to the cheese. Corrugated or other fiber-board containers or wooden boxes may be used as shipping containers. (See figure 6.) When rather weak fiber board or wooden boxes are used they should be wrapped with several sheets of tough paper.

Parcel-post packages, like other mail matter, should be carefully addressed, including the street number of the person to receive the parcel. In the upper left-hand corner the name and address of the sender should be plainly written. It is preferable to place all addresses on the package itself rather than on a tag tied to the package, for if the tag becomes detached the addresses of both the sender and receiver are lost. A rubber stamp for butter shipments bearing the statement: “Butter—keep away from heating apparatus,” may be used to show that the parcel is perishable and should be handled accordingly by the postal employees. The letters in the word “Butter” should be one-half inch high, the others one-fourth inch high.

In shipping by parcel post such a perishable product as butter, which is affected by exposure to heat, inquiry should be made of the post office regarding the daily mail service for parcel matter from that point to the destination of the shipment. Arrangements should be made to post the packages as near as practicable to the mail time in order to obtain delivery in the quickest possible time.

Parcel Post Package Ready for Sending.

Consideration should be given to the practicability of using night mail service when available, as the temperature is usually cooler at night than in the daytime. Night shipments to points within the first and second zones ordinarily are delivered early the next day.

In a general way the foregoing precautions suggested for butter should be observed in shipping cheese.

Postal regulations provide that—

When it (butter) is so packed or wrapped as to prevent damage to other mail, it will be accepted for local delivery either at the office of mailing or on any rural route starting therefrom.

Butter will be accepted for mailing to all offices to which in the ordinary course of mail it can be sent without spoiling when suitably wrapped or inclosed or when packed in crates, boxes, or other suitable containers to prevent the escape of anything from the package, and so constructed as to properly protect the contents. More than 50 pounds can not be sent beyond the third zone.

The firmer varieties of cheese, not being liable to cause damage in the mails, need no special consideration when properly packaged. In some cases it will be found that the express can be used to better advantage than the parcel post.

The rates on parcel-post packages vary according to their weight and the distances shipped. Persons not familiar with the postal regulations governing parcel-post shipments may obtain specific information at any post office regarding the rates and limits of weight and measurement applicable to shipments to any other office.

A woman had heard her friend’s husband complain of the poor-fitting quality of ready-made shirts, and tried her hand at making him some. She carefully took his measure, bought a good shirt pattern and made him two. He was so well pleased that he ordered six more, and after that she had all she could do in making shirts for men, charging a price depending upon the style of shirt. This insured her a good living each year.

There are other men who want shirts made, and other women who can make them—and make money at it, too.

While other canvassers were complaining that they did not get a chance to show their goods or samples at every house they visited, many doors being shut in their faces, an English brush company thought of a good plan.

They furnish their salesmen with post cards saying:

“Dear Madam: This card entitles you to one of our 15-cent sink brushes, which our agent will deliver to you at your home tomorrow. You don’t have to buy a thing—just let him show you our full line of brushes.”

The next day after mailing this card, the agent calls with the brush, and of course Madam is civil enough to accept it and “look at the others.”

That “look” nearly always means a sale, and this happens at almost every house, so the agent finds himself admitted to every home and a chance to have a popular hearing.

This is given as a tip to other agents who have had the cold reception usually accorded agents and peddlers.

This plan, which was successfully operated by a Chicago man, not only brought many struggling authors of musical compositions into considerable prominence, but proved a profitable business for himself. He was engaged in publishing sheet music, and was in close touch with musical people all over the country.

He inserted an ad. in the classified columns of the big city dailies, addressed to composers who had failed as their own publishers, the ad. asking them to write for a proposition. Hundreds of them did so, and he made them the following offer: If they would send the plates of their composition, and sign over their rights in the same to him, he would publish them, with their names prominently displayed as authors, send the authors fifty copies of each composition, and give a wide distribution to the main issue of the same; that he would also prominently mention their names in his publicity matter, and thus greatly increase their reputations as authors.

Practically all of them accepted this offer, and he faithfully carried out his part of the contract, so that, just as he said, they became widely known in the musical world, and were soon doing business with the leading music publishers of the country. He realized a good income from publishing their compositions, as some of their compositions met with good sale while he sold some of all the rest.

A Seattle man who carried a line of barbers’ supplies, decided to increase his mail-order business by making it an object for men in the country and small towns to have their old-style razors honed, at no cost if not satisfactory.

He inserted an ad. in some country newspapers, offering to make “dull razors sharp or no pay,” to return the razor, post paid, in twenty-four hours, and if the customer was satisfied, he was to send him 25 cents.

A lot of them came in, all were sharpened and returned, and most of them were paid for. But he had a good list of names, secured in this way, and to these he sent a neatly written booklet, containing illustrations of many articles in the way of shaving supplies he carried in stock, and the orders he received from these made him a good profit, besides the amount he was ahead on the razors he honed. The few losses did not count, for he was out only 2 cents on each for postage, and those that did pay placed him far ahead.

It isn’t often we hear of anyone who succeeds in selling a product without newspaper advertising, but here is the case of a young man in a small city who did.

This young man was putting up a very good cough remedy, and the first he made he left with the druggists to sell. They liked it, and sold it rapidly. Then he watched for the country merchants at the court house, the hotels, and other places, and many of them agreed to carry his remedy and push it, which made a great many more sales. In a few months every store within 15 miles of his home town was selling it. Then a wholesale grocery house took it up and, through its 15 traveling salesmen, introduced it in three states, covering several hundred miles. He demonstrated the wisdom of covering a small territory in the beginning, and gradually increased it.

A young printer in Los Angeles made money by getting a number of excellent photographs of local views, and printing calendars for city merchants, with these views as the prominent feature of each calendar.

A very young man who had worked in a printing office for a couple of years decided to go into business for himself on a small scale, so he bought a small hand press that could be carried from place to place, and visited country fairs, picnics, summer resorts, and other places where people gather for recreation, and did a nice business printing calling cards and other small jobs. When he had a little leisure, he went among the smaller merchants in out-of-the-way sections of the country and printed letter heads, envelopes, business cards, etc., and in this way made a good living.

A Chicago man, who has good taste in designing pillows and cushions earns a living by making artistic cushions, pillows, etc., for use in cosy corners. He goes to the homes of wealthy people, shows them his samples, and almost invariably receives an order for a number of these articles. His prices are rather high, but his work is so artistically done that it is well worth all it costs.

In a northern city of 10,000 inhabitants, a woman fitted up a neat, tasty and well equipped bathroom exclusively for women. It became very popular. Women who had no bathroom of their own, disliked going to one patronized by men, at once became her regular customers.

ANDREW S. WEIANT
Scientific Assistant in Poultry Investigations Animal Husbandry Division.

Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry
A. D. Melvin, Chief

Guinea fowl are growing in favor as a substitute for game birds, with the result that guinea raising is becoming more profitable.

They are raised usually in small flocks on general farms, and need a large range for best results.

Domesticated guinea fowl are of three varieties, Pearl, White, and Lavender, of which the Pearl is by far the most popular.

Guinea fowl have a tendency to mate in pairs, but one male may be mated successfully with three or four females.

Guinea hens usually begin to lay in April or May, and lay 20 to 30 eggs before becoming broody. If not allowed to sit they will continue to lay throughout the summer, laying from 40 to 60 or more eggs.

Eggs may be removed from the nest when the guinea hen is not sitting, but two or more eggs should be left in the nest.

Ordinary hens are used commonly to hatch and rear guinea chicks, but guinea hens and turkey hens also may be employed successfully, although they are more difficult to manage.

Guineas are marketed late in the summer, when they weigh from 1 to 1¹⁄₂ pounds at about 2¹⁄₂ months of age, and also throughout the fall, when the demand is for heavier birds.

The value of the guinea fowl as a substitute for game birds such as grouse, partridge, quail, and pheasant is becoming more and more recognized by those who are fond of this class of meat and the demand for these fowls is increasing steadily. Many hotels and restaurants in the large cities are eager to secure prime young guineas, and often they are served at banquets and club dinners as a special delicacy. When well cooked, guineas are attractive in appearance, although darker than common fowls, and the flesh of young birds is tender and of especially fine flavor, resembling that of wild game. Like all other fowl, old guineas are very likely to be tough and rather dry.

Guinea Fowl.

A few of the large poultry raisers, particularly those who are within easy reach of the large eastern markets, make a practice of raising a hundred or so guineas each year, but the great majority of guineas are raised in small flocks of from 10 to 25 upon farms in the Middle West and in the South. Many farmers keep a pair or a trio of guineas more as a novelty than for profit, and from these a small flock is raised. The guinea fowl doubtless would be more popular on farms were it not for its harsh and at times seemingly never-ending cry. However, some people consider this cry an argument in the guinea’s favor, as it gives warning of marauders in the poultry yard. Similarly, their pugnacious disposition, while sometimes causing disturbances among the other poultry, also makes them show fight against hawks and other common enemies, so that guineas sometimes are kept as guards over the poultry yard. Often a few guineas are raised with a flock of turkeys and allowed to roost in the same tree, where they can give warning if any theft is attempted during the night.

The highest prices for guinea fowl are paid in the large eastern markets. Guinea raisers, who are near these markets, or who have developed a trade among private customers receive prices that make this industry very profitable. One poultryman located near a New England summer resort has raised as many as 400 guineas in one season, selling them in August, when they weigh about 1 pound each, at $1.25 per pair. Wholesale prices in New York usually range from 75 cents to $1 per pair for dressed spring guineas weighing 2 pounds to the pair, and from $1.25 to $1.50 per pair for those weighing 3 to 4 pounds to the pair. Old guineas are not wanted and seldom bring more than 50 or 60 cents a pair.

Fig. 1.—White guinea, male.

In the city markets of the Middle West and South the demand for guinea fowl is small, and the prices are correspondingly low, the average price received by the producer being from 20 to 30 cents each. The ordinary retail price for guineas in Birmingham, Ala., is from 30 to 40 cents, while in St. Louis and Chicago the retail price usually is about 75 cents, and in New York $1. On the Pacific coast very few guineas are raised and only occasionally can they be found even in the largest markets.

The demand for guinea fowls as breeding stock is considerable, most of them being sold in pairs and trios. Breeders of the purebred Pearl, White, or Lavender varieties who have a reputation for high-class birds usually have little difficulty in disposing of surplus stock at prices ranging from $2 to $3.50 a pair and from $3 to $5 a trio. The demand for eggs for hatching is greater than for breeding stock. From 75 cents to $1 for 15 eggs from pure-bred birds is an ordinary price. During the last few years a limited market for guinea eggs has developed among commercial hatcheries which have an outlet for a few day-old guinea chicks along with their ordinary chicks, ducklings, goslings, and turkey poults. One hatchery near Boston has sold as many as 2,000 guinea chicks in one season, the eggs being purchased from an extensive breeder in Ohio and shipped by express in crates containing 360 eggs each.

Fig. 2.—Splashed guinea (cross between White and Pearl varieties).

Several species of wild birds known as guinea fowl are found in Africa, and derive their name from Guinea, which is situated on the West Coast of that continent. From one of these wild species (Numida meleagris) the common domesticated guineas are descended. They have long been domesticated, having been raised as table birds by the ancient Greeks and Romans, and were introduced into this country by the early settlers. In Africa, where there are still many wild flocks, they are highly prized by hunters as game birds, and in England they sometimes are used to stock game preserves. Even in this country a few flocks left to shift for themselves have become so wild as to afford excellent hunting.

Domesticated guinea fowl are of three varieties—Pearl, White, and Lavender. The Pearl is by far the most popular. It has a purplish-gray plumage regularly dotted or “pearled” with white and is so handsome that frequently the feathers are used for ornamental purposes. The White guinea fowl (fig. 1) is of pure-white plumage, and the skin is somewhat lighter in color than in the Pearl variety. Lavender guineas resemble those of the Pearl variety, except that the plumage is of a light gray or lavender, regularly dotted with white instead of a dark or purplish gray dotted with white. By crossing the Pearl or Lavender varieties with the White, what is known as the “Splashed” guinea is produced, the breast and flight feathers being white and the remainder of the plumage being Pearl or Lavender (fig. 2). Crosses between guinea fowl and other poultry, particularly chickens and less commonly turkeys, are not unknown, but such birds without exception are sterile.

The young guinea chicks are very attractive, those of the Pearl variety resembling young quail. They are brown in color, the under part of the body being lighter than the rest, while the beak and legs are red. The first feathers are brown, but these are replaced gradually by the “pearled” feathers until at about 2 months of age the brown feathers have disappeared completely. About this time also the wattles and helmet begin to make an appearance.

As yet no standard of perfection has been set for guinea fowl, the birds not being recognized by the American Poultry Association. They are exhibited at poultry shows throughout the country, however, and most of these shows offer prizes for the best birds. In judging guinea fowl, the points regarded as most important are good size and uniform color. White flight feathers in the Pearl and Lavender varieties are the most common defects. In weight, guineas average from 3 to 4 pounds at maturity for both male and female.

The male and the female guinea fowl differ so little in appearance that many persons have considerable difficulty in making a distinction. Indeed, it often happens that those who are inexperienced in raising these fowl will unknowingly keep all males or all females as breeding stock. Usually the males can be distinguished by their larger helmet and wattles and coarser head (fig. 3), but to be positive one should listen to the cry made by each bird. That of the female resembles “buckwheat, buckwheat,” and is decidedly different from the one-syllable shriek of the male. When excited, both the male and the female emit one-syllable cries, but at no time does the male imitate the cry of “buckwheat, buckwheat.” Sex can be distinguished by this difference in the cry of the male and female when the birds are about 2 months old.

Like quail and most other wild birds, guinea fowls in their wild state mate in pairs, and this tendency prevails among domesticated guineas also, provided the males and females are equal in number. As the breeding season approaches, one pair after another separates from the remainder of the flock and ranges off in the fields in search of a suitable nesting place. Once mated in this way, the male usually remains with his mate throughout the laying season, standing guard somewhere near the nest while the hen is laying and ready to warn her of any approaching danger. However, it is not necessary to mate them in pairs under domestic conditions to secure fertile eggs, and most breeders keep but one male for every three or four females. When mated in this way the hens are more apt to lay near home, and several usually lay in the same nest, thus making it much easier to find the nests and gather the eggs.

Fig. 3.—Distinguishing between male and female. The helmet and wattles of the male (on left) are larger than those of the female.

Most guinea raisers allow their breeding stock free range of the entire farm at all times, and this helps to keep the birds strong and vigorous. During the winter the breeders should be fed a grain mixture of corn, wheat, and oats twice a day, and where no green feed is available on the range at this time of the year, vegetables, such as potatoes, turnips, beets, and cabbage, should be substituted. Animal feed is essential to best results and can be supplied by feeding meat scrap or skimmed milk. Given free range, where the supply of natural feed during the winter and early spring is ample, as it usually is in the southern portion of the United States, the guineas can be left to pick up a considerable part of their feed. Free access to grit, charcoal, and oyster shell is necessary throughout the breeding and laying season. Avoid having the breeders too fat, but keep them in good firm flesh.

While guineas can be kept in the best breeding condition upon free range, still they can be confined, if necessary, and satisfactory results obtained. One extensive guinea raiser has confined as many as 45 hens and 15 males in an acre pen throughout the breeding and laying season and been successful. This pen is inclosed with a wire fence 5 feet high and the birds are prevented from flying over by clipping the flight feathers of one wing. Within the pen is a grass pasture with bushes here and there where the hens make their nests by scratching out a bowl-shaped hollow in the ground. The winters being severe, a roosting shed is provided, having a cleated board reaching from the floor to the roosts for the wing-clipped birds to walk up.

As profitable egg producers guinea hens can not compete with ordinary hens, but during the latter part of the spring and throughout the summer they are persistent layers. The eggs are smaller than hen eggs, weighing about 1.4 ounces each, while eggs of the common fowl average about 2 ounces each; consequently guinea eggs sell at a somewhat lower price. There is no special market for guinea eggs and they are usually graded by dealers as small hen eggs. Owing to the natural tendency of the guinea hen to nest in a patch of weeds or some other well-hidden place, many of the eggs are not found until they are no longer fit for market. The shells of guinea eggs are so thick and often so dark that it is difficult to test them by candling, and for this reason, and also because the eggs are small, dealers do not like to handle them. For home use, however, guinea eggs can be made to take the place of hen eggs, and many regard them as superior in flavor. In composition the greatest difference is that the shell is thicker and the yolk makes up a slightly larger proportion of the total egg contents than in the case of hen eggs.

Fig. 4.—Relative size of eggs of ordinary hen (left) and guinea hen (right).

Guinea hens usually begin laying in April or May, those in the South laying earlier than those in the North. A short time before the opening of the laying period the hens with their mates begin searching for suitable nesting places among the weeds and brush along the fences or in the fields. In this search the male takes as active an interest as his mate, and when a suitable location is found both help to dig out the nest and make it into a suitable shape. Each day as the hen goes to the nest to lay the male accompanies her and remains near by until she comes off. Should anyone approach he shrieks in warning and thus betrays the whereabouts of the nest, which might otherwise be difficult to locate. If several guinea hens are mated with one male they usually all lay in the same nest, but sometimes a hen after mating will wander off by herself to make her own nest. At other times the male bird, after helping one hen to make her nest, will then desert her and pair off with another hen to make another nest.

From 20 to 30 and often more eggs are laid before the guinea hen becomes broody, at which time she can be broken of her broodiness easily by removing the eggs from her nest, when she will soon begin laying again. If not allowed to sit, guinea hens will continue to lay throughout the summer, laying from 40 to 60 and in some cases 100 eggs during the season.

The wild nature of the guinea hen asserts itself in her nesting habits. Instinct demands that the nest be well hidden from all enemies, such as crows, dogs, skunks, opossums, rats, foxes, coyotes, and other predatory animals. If the hen becomes frightened by the intrusion of some enemy, or if her eggs are removed from the nest, more than likely she will change her nesting place to a safer location. For this reason she should not be disturbed while she is on the nest, and the eggs should not be removed without leaving a few nest eggs in their place. If a number of eggs are removed at one time, half a dozen left in the nest usually are sufficient to keep the hen from seeking a new nest. If the eggs are gathered every day, two or three usually are enough to leave as nest eggs. It is unnecessary to remove the eggs with a spoon or to scrape them out with a stick, as is sometimes done to prevent the hand from coming in contact with the nest and leaving a scent. After the eggs are gathered they should be handled with as little jarring as possible and should be set while fresh, never holding them more than two weeks if it can be avoided.

Ordinary hens are used commonly to incubate guinea eggs, but guinea hens, turkey hens, and incubators also can be employed successfully. The usual sitting for a guinea hen is about 14 eggs, for a hen of one of the general-purpose breeds such as a Plymouth Rock, 18 eggs, and for a turkey hen, about 24 eggs. The incubation period for guinea eggs is 28 days, although frequently they start hatching on the twenty-sixth day and are all hatched by the end of the twenty-seventh day.

If the nest in which the guinea hen becomes broody is safe from any disturbance, she may be trusted with a sitting of eggs and more than likely will hatch out every egg that is fertile, provided all hatch at about the same time. As soon as the guinea chicks begin to leave the nest the hen will leave with them, and any eggs that are late in hatching are ruined unless they are placed in an incubator or under a broody hen before they become chilled. Guinea hens usually are too wild to be set anywhere except in the nest where they have become broody, and often such a nest is unsafe. Because of these disadvantages and the fact that guinea hens do not make the most satisfactory mothers for guinea chicks, ordinary hens are most often used to do both the incubating and the brooding, at least until late in the summer, when the guinea hens often are allowed to sit and raise a brood without much attention being given them. Broody turkey hens, when not needed to incubate turkey eggs, often receive a sitting of guinea eggs, and they hatch them quite as well as ordinary hens and also are able to cover more eggs.

Incubators are used as successfully in hatching guinea eggs as in hatching hen eggs. They are operated in exactly the same way for either kind, except that the thermometer is lowered sufficiently to make its relative position above the guinea eggs similar to its former position above the hen eggs.

Little has been done in the way of brooding guinea chicks artificially. They are naturally of a wild nature and require free range to grow into strong, vigorous birds. Nevertheless in one case a New England poultryman hatched 200 guinea chicks and succeeded in raising about 125 by brooding them in exactly the same way as common chicks in a hot-water brooder house. On bright warm days the chicks were allowed to run in a yard about 50 by 100 feet, which had been planted to corn, and thus afforded some green food for them to pick at. This yard was inclosed by a 5-foot wire fence of 1-inch mesh, with 2 feet of ¹⁄₂-inch mesh around the bottom. The guineas began flying over the fence when they were about 6 weeks old, and from then on they had free range and were allowed to roost in the trees. Other poultrymen who have tried brooding guinea chicks artificially report utter failures, sometimes due to white diarrhea, and at other times the birds seem to become weak and die from no apparent cause except too close confinement.

Ordinary hens make the best mothers for guinea chicks. Given warm, dry weather and plenty of range, turkey and guinea hens can be used successfully, but should a rain or heavy dew occur, the mother turkey or guinea hen is apt to drag the chicks through the wet grass and many are lost from becoming wet and chilled. Neither turkey nor guinea hens can be induced to seek the shelter of a coop at night and during storms, but will remain out in the fields to hover their broods wherever they happen to be when nightfall overtakes them. When the guineas are old enough to roost they can be trained to roost wherever desired by driving them to the roosting place and feeding them there regularly. After the first few nights they will come to the place themselves, but until they are old enough to roost many of the young guineas that are being raised with turkey or guinea hens are likely to be killed by exposure to cold and dampness or by being led over so wild a range that they become exhausted and are unable to keep up with the remainder of the flock.

If ordinary hens are used as mothers, it is very easy to raise a large percentage of the total number of guinea chicks hatched. Each hen that is to have a brood should be allowed to hatch out some of the eggs herself, after which she will mother all that are given her. A Plymouth Rock hen can care for 18 easily. After the hatch is completed and the chicks are strong enough to leave the nest, the hen and brood are ready to be removed to the coop provided for them. The greatest fault of the hen as a mother is that on the average farm she has become accustomed to staying about the barnyard, and if allowed to do so, she will keep her guinea chicks there also. Conditions about the barnyard are entirely unsuited for raising guineas, and to prevent the hen keeping them there the coop should be placed in a distant pasture or field. Here the hen should be induced to remain until the guineas are old enough to go to roost.

For the first two days the hens should be confined to the coop, allowing the chicks to run in and out at will. They will not stay away unless there is another brood near by which they are apt to join. After the first few days the chicks become so attached to their foster mother that they will never leave her. By the third day the hen will have recognized the coop as her home and can have free range without fear of her wandering far away. At night she will return to the coop with her brood and can be shut in to protect her from foxes or any other night prowlers. After the dew is off the grass in the morning the coop can be opened and the hen and her brood allowed free range again. Should a rain come up they can easily be driven to the coop and the chicks will be kept warm and dry. The coop should be rain proof and built without a floor. If it is moved a short distance every day, the ground beneath it is kept fresh and clean.

Hens to be used in brooding guinea chicks should first be completely freed from lice. This can be done by dusting them with some good lice powder at the time they are set and repeating once a week during the period of incubation. Guineas are less likely to have lice than common fowl, but when they are raised with hens care should be taken to keep them from becoming infested. Examine the young chicks about the head and along the wing bar at the base of the quill feathers, and if lice are found grease these parts lightly with lard. As the guineas grow older they take great delight in dusting themselves and usually are able to keep free from lice.

Guineas are fed in much the same way as chickens, but they require less feed, as they are natural rangers and can be trusted to find enough seeds of weeds and grasses, buds, insects, and green vegetation in the fields to supply much of their living. For the first 36 hours after hatching no feed is required, as the sustenance from the egg is sufficient to nourish them for this period. The first meal may consist of a little hard-boiled egg mixed with bread crumbs, or bread may be soaked in milk, squeezed partly dry, and fed in small bits. Clabbered milk also is very good. Three times a day is as often as they need to be fed, one feed consisting of clabbered milk or the bread and egg or bread and milk mixture, and the other two of chick feed. If the coop is placed in a field or pasture where green feed is available, the guinea chicks can secure this for themselves; otherwise, sprouted oats, dandelion leaves, lettuce, or onion tops cut fine should be furnished. Water, grit, and fine oyster shell should be before them always.

By the end of the first week the young guineas will be finding enough worms and insects to take the place of the egg or milk feed, so this may be eliminated and chick feed given morning and night. If clabbered milk is available, however, it can be continued with excellent success, since guineas are very fond of variety in their ration and it is conductive to quick growth. As the birds grow older, whole wheat, oats, and cracked corn can be substituted gradually for the chick feed.

When guinea fowl are from 6 to 8 weeks old they will leave their coop and start roosting in some near-by tree or other roost that may be provided for them. They prefer roosting in the open, but if they have been raised with a hen they can be induced to follow her inside a poultry house and roost there. It is advisable to have them become accustomed to going in a house or shed of some sort, for otherwise it is almost impossible to catch them when they are wanted for the market. Guineas, even after they are grown, will not allow the mother hen to leave. When she goes to her nest to lay, they follow and wait near by until she is ready to leave again. This attachment affords an easy method of controlling the natural wild instincts of the guinea fowl and makes raising them under domestic conditions much simpler.

The marketing season for guinea fowl is during the latter part of the summer and throughout the fall. At this time the demand in the city markets is for young birds weighing from 1 to 2 pounds each. At about 2¹⁄₂ months of age guineas weigh from 1 to 1¹⁄₂ pounds, and at this size they begin reaching the markets in August. As the season advances the demand is for heavier birds. During the fall of 1916 New York wholesale quotations for dressed guineas were as follows:

The usual practice in marketing game birds is to place them on the market unplucked, and in most markets guineas are sold in this way (see fig. 5). They look more attractive with the feathers on and sell more readily. When dressed the small size and dark color of the guinea are likely to prejudice the prospective customer, who may be unfamiliar with the bird’s excellent eating qualities. For hotel and restaurant trade, however, guineas should be dressed in the same way as common fowl. Before shipping any birds to a market, it is advisable to inquire of the dealer to whom they are to be shipped whether the feathers should be removed.

Fig. 5.—Guinea fowl usually are marketed unplucked, except for hotel and restaurant trade, for which they are dressed like ordinary fowl.

If the guineas are to be marketed with the feathers on, all that should be done is to bleed them by severing the vein in the roof of the mouth, allowing them to hang head downward until bleeding is complete. If the feathers are to be removed, this should be done by dry picking. The vein in the roof of the mouth is severed first to insure thorough bleeding, and the knife then thrust through the groove in the roof of the mouth into the brain. When the brain is pierced the feathers are loosened by a convulsive movement of the muscles and can be removed easily.

A Spokane man, whose total capital was $75, perfected a plan for making money out of post cards, and realized a profit of about 90 per cent.

He bought 9,000 post cards of different designs, including embossed floral, birthday greetings, best wishes, air-brush embossed fruit and flowers, live series, embossed and family mottoes, cards for all the holidays and seasons, etc. These he bought at $4.00 per 1,000 for $36. To send out these cards in registered packages of 100 each, cost $14.50, a total of $50.50.

The next he secured the names of several hundred general store keepers in towns of 700 or under, and selecting 90 of these at one time, he sent each of them 100 of the assorted cards, offering to accept $1.00 for the lot if paid inside of ten days, or $1.25 for the 100 cards if kept more than 10 days before remitting. He added that if they did not want to keep the cards, he should be notified at once, and he would send postage for their return. He also enclosed a price list of other cards, and asked the merchants to compare the quality and prices of his cards with other cards, and note the saving made by patronizing him.

In practically all cases the $1 was remitted inside the ten days named, and his gross receipts from the cards that cost him $50.50 was $90, or a net profit of $39.50. This afforded him a comfortable income by the year.

An enterprising agent who had secured several formulas, had them printed separately on good paper, with the selling price marked at 50 cents each.

He made up a small quantity of each article mentioned, for demonstration purposes, and bought a gross of cheap silverene sugar spoons at a cost of less than 5 cents each, to be used as premiums, and started out on a house-to-house canvassing expedition.

He would call at a house and ask the lady if she had any clothing that was soiled with grease or paint or a soiled glove that she would allow him to clean without charge. Almost every housewife had exactly what he mentioned, and quickly brought it out, as it would cost her nothing to have it cleaned. Having thoroughly cleaned the clothing or gloves he would then rub a little of the furniture polish on a chair, and clean a silver spoon or the nickel on the stove with his metal polish, and by this time he would have her deeply interested. Then he took from his grip one of the silverene spoons, with the remark that he was not selling the cleaners or polishers but simply the formulas for making them from ingredients procurable at any drug store, and that she could have any two of the 50-cent formulas for 50 cents and he would throw in the sugar spoon as a premium. Usually he got the half dollar without further argument, but if the lady hesitated he would add another formula or two more if necessary, as they cost him nothing but the printing, and the spoon cost but 5 cents, so he would have been away ahead if he had given her one each of all the formulas and the sugar spoon besides.

There are several ways of establishing circulating libraries, but probably the best plan yet devised is one worked out by a young man living in a middle-western city.

Going into a town of not less than 800 or 1,000 people, he first arranges with some trustworthy merchant, usually the local druggist, to handle the books and make his place the library headquarters. The druggist is glad to do this without charge, as it will bring many people to his store who have not been coming there before, and probably mean a number of new customers.

He then canvasses the town for members, on a basis as follows: The membership fee to be $1.75, and for two years will entitle the members or their families to the use of any of the books in the circulating library, one book to be placed therein for each member secured, but at least fifty members must be secured, thus giving each one the chance to read the fifty books in the two years for $1.75. Of course, more than fifty members are secured, if possible, and the membership fee is to be paid to the druggist or merchant handling the same, upon the arrival of the books.

When all the members possible have been secured, the originator of this plan orders the books forwarded to the resident manager, who is the druggist or merchant already mentioned, and the membership fee is collected and sent to the home address of the man who established the library, while he goes on to the next town to start another library. It does not require more than a week in each town, and as the books are bought in quantities at a very low figure, he makes a good living each year from this plan.

A young man living in a southern city originated a plan by which he was able to sell thousands of memorials all over the country, while not appearing to be selling anything.

Supplying himself with an impressive looking blank book, in which long lists of names could be written, he called at every house in the territory he was canvassing, and informed the lady at each place that he was compiling a list of the deaths in the county for statistical purposes. In those cases where deaths had occurred in the family he would ask for the names, dates of births and death, and having secured these, he would say, as he was leaving:

“These records are going to be very beautiful, and the lady next door has asked me to show her what they will be like. If you wish, I can bring yours at the same time, so that you may see if I have all the facts correctly stated.”

Having bought several hundred memorials at a low figure, those with angels on them predominating, and selecting from books of poetry stanzas appropriate to each of the memorials, he had these, together with the names and dates, printed in gold letters, pasting the printed slips on the memorials, near the bottom, thus making them very attractive.

Returning to the route he had formerly canvassed he would call at each house where he had procured names and dates and say to the lady that, in compliance with her request, he had come to show her the record. It was so beautifully done that in practically every case the lady would ask if it were for sale. He would sell the record for $1.60 or $2.00, and as at least half of this was clear profit, and he sold many thousands of memorials in this way, some idea of his earnings may be gained.

An Illinois woman, wishing to earn a little money for herself, obtained catalogs from various seed firms, and sent 50 cents to one of them for geranium seeds.

She planted them in shallow boxes, and got more than 200 plants from them. She shifted these plants from the boxes to small tin cans, and sold them to her neighbors for 10 cents each, thus receiving $20 for her 50-cent investment.

Succeeding so well in her first venture, she sent for more seeds, some plants and thumb pots, and bought collections of small plants, from which she took cuttings when they had grown larger.

She soon had more orders for plants than she could fill, so she built a low shed on the south side of her house, with old window frames and glass for a roof, and produced on a larger scale. She found that geraniums, begonias and ferns were most in demand, and she specialized in these. In a year or two she had a business of her own that was not only pleasant and fascinating but profitable enough to give her an independent income.

Very few people seem to know that although geese pay greater profits than any other domestic bird, they cost much less to raise than other species of fowl. But a farmer’s wife in Kansas knew this, and she utilized her knowledge in a very profitable way.

She realized that the market for live goose feathers never could become glutted, and that dressed geese for Thanksgiving and Christmas time brought enormous prices.

She began early in the summer as she knew they were expensive to keep over winter. She bought one pair and a setting of eggs and from these she raised fifteen fine young geese within the first three months. Another setting brought out twelve more, and by fall she had a nice flock of thrifty young ones. By late November they were almost full grown, raised entirely on green stuff, so that just before Thanksgiving she plucked them all, including the old ones, and had a fine lot of fresh, clean feathers which later sold for very high prices. Then, after plucking the birds, she killed them all, dressed them, and sold every one of them before Thanksgiving. She could have sold many more for they were choice, fat birds, and all young except the two she started with.

When she counted up her total receipts from the sale of the feathers and the dressed geese, she was surprised, and the next year she went into the business on a much larger scale, with correspondingly increased profits, which were sufficient to make her livelihood.

A literary woman in a small city, realizing the inability of many people to make proper selections of books from the public library, in conjunction with the librarian, induced the editor of the local daily paper to let her establish a “library column” in the Saturday issue, in which she sought to instruct the public regarding the choice of books, the use of the card catalog, the consultation of shop lists, the periodical index, and various reference works. She was to be paid $5.00 a week, if she “made good,” which she did.

Then she inaugurated a “club column” in the same issue of the paper, and gave interesting news of club meetings, with comments upon the work done, etc., and for this she received another $5.00.

Later the editor urged her to add a “home department” to her work, at still another $5.00 a week, and on this modest salary she managed to live comfortably. In two years, however, she was offered the control of the home department of the Sunday edition of a large city daily at more than twice her $15 a week in the small town, and she promptly accepted it.

A farmer’s wife, who had plenty of fruits, small fruits, berries, vegetables, etc., but had very few jars in which to put them up, arranged with a number of families in the city to have them furnish the jars, while she would furnish the fruits and the sugar, and do the canning, for 20 cents per jar. As the fruit thus put up was worth at least 50 cents per quart jar, the city people obtained it cheaply enough, while the farmer’s wife made $80 by putting up 400 jars during the season. This made it profitable all around, and saved a lot of farm products that would otherwise have gone to waste. This plan can be worked on a larger scale to afford any one a good living each year.

Plan No. 265. He Loves the Out-of-door Life

Two landscape gardeners, who lived in a residence part of the city where scant attention was paid by the owners to the appearance of their lawns and parking strips, undertook to change the looks of the neighborhood, and create a good business for themselves.

Selecting ten blocks on a graded street, along which were good houses and many trees, most of them sadly neglected, they proposed to the owners of the various houses on both sides of the street to give it the careful and skillful attention the places needed, at so much a month.

Most of the owners signed contracts for this work, and at the end of the season each property so cared for by these men had improved better than 100 per cent in appearance. The result was that several owners were offered higher prices for their property than they had ever thought it worth, and the next year those who had at first refused to employ the landscape gardeners were the first to sign up for the season just starting.

A suburban resident who knew all about gardens and gardening, yet realized the utter ignorance of the average suburbanite regarding the planting and care of gardens, the prevention and extermination of insect pests, and a lot of other things necessary to know, decided one spring that he would not raise a garden that year, but would make a good living by taking care of other people’s gardens, not doing the work himself, but taking general supervision of it and telling the owners just how it should be done, if they wished to make a success of gardening.

Most of the people in that suburb wanted to raise gardens, but didn’t know how to do it themselves, so they were glad enough to secure the services of this expert at so much for the season, and do as he told them.

He made a careful survey of every garden under contract, noting the soil, slope and general characteristics of the location, named the kind and quantity of seeds or plants, to be given a certain amount of space, the kind of fertilizer, if any, that must be used, the time of planting, the method of cultivation, the symptoms of insect pests, and the kind of spray to be used in their destruction, and every other item of knowledge needed by those who didn’t know but were willing to learn.

The outcome of it all was that that particular suburb was frequently mentioned in the city papers as the one possessing the prize gardens for many miles around, and the owners found them the source of profit instead of loss, besides having the satisfaction of knowing how to do it next year.

And the expert was equally pleased for he had made $2,000 that season by simply telling other people what to do.

One would scarcely think there could be much of a living in simply traveling around and repairing lawn mowers, but a man in a western city, who is “handy with tools,” and has a taste for machinery, makes a good living for himself and a large family.

The mechanism of a lawn mower is easily learned by carefully studying its construction, finding out what each particular piece is for, how it gets out of order, how to repair it, in short, to become a master of the machine.

He not only covers a large territory in his home city, where all work in that line is reserved for him, by those for whom he has already done repairing, but he occasionally finds time to take in one or two outside towns where, in a few days, he takes all the lawn mowers that need repair and puts them in first class working condition.

His charges are 50 to 75 cents an hour. He makes a living, and has bought and paid for a nice home.

That “many a mickle makes a muckle,” is pretty well exemplified in the case of a young man living in Buffalo, who has built up a very good business of his own through supplying soda water counters, small lunch rooms, tourists, school houses, factories, etc., with what he calls “nut sandwiches.” These he makes from shredded wheat “triscuits” by cutting them in two and spreading peanut butter between the two sides. He puts these up in wax paper and retails them at a low price, yet one that enables him to make a discount when selling them in quantities.

There is a concern in a southern city that puts up and delivers lunches in any part of town, to those who cannot go home to their mid-day meal. A lunch they sell and deliver for a comparatively small sum, which includes two ham sandwiches, one cheese sandwich, a piece of pie and a piece of cake, packed in a paper box, with paper napkin, toothpicks, etc. Less elaborate lunches are sold for 10 cents, and more complete ones for a higher price, and deliveries are made by boys on bicycles, who are hired for two hours each day.

As the expense has been reduced to a minimum, the young fellows at the head of the concern are able to send out a better lunch than can be bought at the restaurants, for the same price and yet make a good profit out of the business for themselves.

A lady in southern California motored to a little tourist town up the mountain side to look at some property she thought of buying. Noticing an abandoned street car in the rear of a gift shop, she leased it from the owner and converted it into a “dining car.” Taking out the seats, she put in adjustable tables and chairs, electric lights and pretty cretonne hangings. The tables she painted buff, with black enamel tops; the dishes were in conventional designs of the same coloring, while quaint birds and flowers were the shapes given the salt and pepper shakers. Table runners and napkins she made of soft Indian-head, hand-hemmed.

A kitchen was built at one end of the car and reached by a protected platform, so no kitchen odors reached the car.

The menu was of the “homey” variety, and light lunches were served all day, with a 6-o’clock dinner.

The patronage of hungry motorists from cities on the coast, as well as the people of the little mountain town, makes it lively at all times, and a very profitable as well as pleasant business.

Other disused cars all over the country could be put to the same practical and profitable use, if people only thought of it.

To help her husband rise from a $10-a-week clerkship to a factory of his own, where he is making more money in a day than he formerly made in a month as a “hired man,” is what a New York woman accomplished by a little idea that came to her one day.

Having made a practice of visiting the large markets late in the evening, and buying over-ripe fruit for a small price, as much of it would not keep over night, she suggested to her husband that, as he quit his work at 5 o’clock every day and had a half-holiday on Saturdays, he should visit these markets as late as possible on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, buy fruit at low prices, bring it home and let her can or preserve it. Then on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, he could carry samples of the canned or preserved fruits on his bicycle to clubs, hotels and the best residences, let the chefs and cooks sample them, and take orders.

Her husband thought the suggestion a good one, so he bought the fruits, berries, etc., as cheaply as possible, near closing time of the markets, and she canned or preserved them in the best way.

The fruit sold readily; he found many orders waiting for him when making his second calls, and the first week their profits were $30, or three times the amount of the husband’s salary. Of course, he resigned at once, and they enlarged the scope of their operations to such an extent that in a year or two they had removed to a suburb, rented a piece of ground, where they raised cucumbers for pickles, which she pickled according to a recipe that created a tremendous demand for them, and later they established a factory for putting up fruit which has made them good profits every year since it started.

Plan No. 272. “Not What I Have, but What I Do is My Kingdom”

An architect living in a western city has a wife who possesses excellent taste and marked talent in the matter of planning surroundings for homes, and her own little cottage is an example of what a woman with excellent taste can do.

Her husband had designed many houses in a good residence district, but as the owners lacked the taste necessary to add attractive surroundings, they did not present a pleasing appearance.

In order to assist her husband she volunteered to furnish plans for laying out and decorating the grounds free of charge, and in every case made a great improvement in the appearance of the place. So favorable was the impression created by her work that she was paid for her plans and her services which greatly assisted her husband’s business.

A couple of years later her husband was given a contract for designing all the houses to be built by a land company on a large tract, and she was given a contract for all the landscape gardening.

Just because she knew that almost every man on earth likes huckleberry pie, a woman started out on a capital of one dollar to help her husband to rise from a job in a cotton mill to a business of his own.

The husband went for a two-weeks, much needed, vacation and rest in the mountains, and on that very morning a colored boy came to the door with two pails, one filled with huckleberries, the other with blackberries, both of which he offered to sell for 25 cents.

She wanted the berries, but she couldn’t break that dollar, the last bit of money she had on earth, and the boy turned tearfully away. Just as he reached the gate, an idea struck her, and she called him back, paid him the quarter and took the berries. It was then ten minutes to 8 A. M.

At 11.30 she had sixteen delicious huckleberry and blackberry pies out of the oven and in a basket. Then she hurried over to the factory where her husband worked, and asked and received permission to stand at the exit of the cotton mill and offer her pies to the workmen as they came out at 12.

When they came out and saw those pies, and were told they could buy them at a low price, inside of ten minutes every pie was gone, and she went home with a good profit as the result of her first day’s pie-making. The next day she had pies for all the workmen, and her business grew so fast that at the end of the fourth day she wired her husband to come home and help her.

Today they own a big pie house that is making several thousand dollars a year, and it all came from the start the wife made on one dollar.

Establish a school in which, for a small weekly sum, you can teach little girls the art of cooking. Vacation is the best time to start this, when teachers and pupils are both at leisure. A large class should be easily formed for this purpose.

Those who cannot combine the teaching of cooking and sewing in the same school, will find a separate school a profitable occupation, or both together could be turned into a domestic housework school.

Anyone who has a house with a window fronting on the street, or near it, can start a little store in which most of the goods are home-made, and so show a large profit and make a good deal of money. It all depends on the enterprise of the storekeeper.

For one who lives in the country there is a profitable business in collecting names and addresses of residents in each rural community and selling them to the publishers of farm journals. They will pay well for these names. In the city it is an easy matter to find a market for the names.

Operating a folding, addressing and mailing bureau is a pleasant and profitable home business that will grow and make money for the person who owns it.

Print on a good, strong piece of cardboard a list of articles needed in the home from day to day, with the heading, “Lest We Forget,”—the housewife is to stick a pin in each article wanted on the list, which begins with apples and ends with yeastcake.

All around the sides of this list have spaces for ads. which the merchants will gladly pay for, as the list is consulted several times every day, and the names of advertisers become familiar to the entire household.

Distribute free of charge the cards to the housewives. Such a medium is valuable to the advertiser and will yield a good advertising solicitor a good living.

Fresh vegetables for an average family may be grown upon a large back yard or city lot.

The use of fresh vegetables conserves meats, grains, and other foods produced on farms.

The production of vegetables at home relieves transportation difficulties and solves the marketing problem.

The city home garden utilizes idle land and spare time for food production.

Thousands of acres of idle land that may be used for gardens are still available within the boundaries of our large cities.

Some of the problems that confront the city gardener are more difficult than those connected with the farm garden, and it is the object of this article to discuss these problems from a practical standpoint.

City Farming.

The problems that confront the city gardener are vastly greater than those of the farmer, who is free to select the choicest plat of ground upon the farm for his vegetable garden. The city-lot or back-yard garden as a rule offers little choice of soil or location. The available land is often shaded a part of the day, and the soil frequently consists of hard clay or is covered to a depth of several inches with cinders, broken stone, or other materials unfit for growing plants. The city gardener is usually handicapped by lack of practical experience and for want of suitable tools with which to do the work. Hand methods must be employed for the most part, and numerous local difficulties must be overcome. It is possible, however, to grow certain kinds of vegetables under very adverse conditions, and the results obtained by many city gardeners are truly remarkable.

The many thousands of city gardens have played an important part in providing a substantial increase in the food supply of the country. It is essential that the work so well started should continue and that the many thousands of acres of unoccupied land in and around our cities be utilized for food production. The experimental stage of city gardening has been passed, and, in the language of one of the State workers, “the city garden movement will not have achieved its full purpose until all suitable lands are utilized and every family table is fully supplied.”

Fig. 1.—Small back-yard gardens in a residence section of Washington, D. C.

The city back-yard or vacant-lot garden provides a supply of vegetables at home without transportation or handling costs. Vegetables from the home garden are fresher and more palatable than those brought from a distance. Many persons who work in offices, stores, and factories have time mornings and evenings that may well be devoted to the cultivation of a garden, thus utilizing spare time and idle land for food production. The home vegetable garden should be a family interest and all members of the family who are able to do so should take part in its cultivation. There is no better form of outdoor exercise than moderate working in the home garden, and few lines of recreational work will give greater returns for the time employed. (Fig. 1.)

There are three general types of city vegetable gardens: Back-yard gardens, vacant-lot gardens, and community gardens. In locating the home garden the back yard or the ground surrounding the dwelling should be given first consideration, because of the convenience both in working the garden and in gathering the products as wanted for use. If the grounds around the dwelling are too small or too densely shaded or if the soil is of such a character that vegetables can not be grown successfully upon it, the use of a vacant lot in the neighborhood is recommended. (Fig. 2.) Community gardens located in the outskirts of the city, where a tract of land can be secured, are adapted for the use of families living in apartment houses; also for shopworkers and those employed by large manufacturing concerns. There is a distinct advantage in having the garden located near the home, as much of the work of tending it may be done during spare moments, and the garden can be protected from theft or from injury by stray animals.

Fig. 2.—A vacant-lot garden on one of the principal residence streets of Washington, D. C.

Do not locate the garden on land upon which the sun does not shine for at least five hours each bright day. Do not locate the garden on soil where the rock is but a few inches below the surface and where there is insufficient moisture. Do not attempt to grow a garden where a fill has been made with cinders, broken bricks, or rock, or where the original soil has been buried with materials upon which weeds will not grow. If weeds grow rank and vigorous it is a sure sign that the soil is good. Do not plant a garden under or near large trees that will steal all the moisture and plant food from the crops. The maples and the oaks are the kinds of trees that are most injurious to crops planted near them. Do not plant a garden on low land where the crops are reasonably sure to be lost from overflow. Failure to observe one or more of the above precautions has resulted in disappointment on the part of many gardeners.

Where there is any choice in the selection of a garden location the following points should be considered. The land should be level or gently sloping toward the south or southeast. The drainage should be good, but the land should not be so steep as to wash during rains. The location should be higher than adjoining land, in order to safeguard against frost, as frost does most damage on the lower levels. The ideal soil is a dark sandy loam with a rather retentive subsoil. The soil should be deep and break up loose and mellow when plowed or spaded. Plenty of organic matter or rotted manure should be present in the soil, in order to give it the power to retain large quantities of moisture and to carry the crops through periods of drought.

Fig. 3.—Long straight rows of vegetables which add attractiveness to a garden and lessen the labor of cultivation. Note how this garden has produced these results.

The ideal garden spot is seldom found, but it is often possible to choose a location that embodies a number of the more important conditions and then supply others. The difficulties of the first season are greater than those of subsequent years, and a garden plat if properly handled will improve with each season’s cultivation.

On account of the wide variety of local conditions that must be met, no definite plan can be given for a garden. A plan should be drawn on paper and the location of each crop decided upon. As a general rule, the rows should run north and south, but it is more important to have the rows run the long way of the garden for convenience in cultivating. Figure 3 shows a well-planned garden.

It is essential that the garden be so arranged that the tall-growing crops will not shade the smaller ones.

With the location of the garden settled, the first step is the preparation of the soil. First, remove anything that would interfere with the plowing or spading of the soil. If the location is the home back yard it is assumed that the ground is free from débris and ready to be broken up. If the garden is to be located on a vacant lot it is probable that there will be stones, broken bricks, tin cans, and other trash to be gotten rid of. If the quantity of trash is not too great it should be hauled to some dump, but if there is so much of it as to make its removal expensive it may be piled on one side or one end of the lot. In some cases stone fences have been built along the outside of lots from the stones that were scattered over the ground. This cleaning-up process requires considerable work and should be done whenever the weather will permit prior to preparation for planting.

The next step in the garden-making process will be to plow or spade the ground. If the land is in sod it should be turned in the fall so that the sods will rot. Heavy clay soils should be turned up loosely and allowed to lie exposed to the freezing and thawing of the winter months. In all cases manure should be turned under if it can be secured. If the surface soil is so hard that it can not be spaded or plowed to advantage a pick or mattock should be used and the ground broken to a depth of 8 or 10 inches. Plenty of manure is about the only thing that will bring a soil of this character into condition. The supply of manure in cities is now quite limited, and the city gardener should make arrangements early in the season to get what he needs. It is assumed that the average back-yard garden is about 30 by 60 feet in size. About 1 ton or one 2-horse load of stable manure can be spaded into the soil of a plat of this size each year. On soil which has not been worked before and which is especially heavy and wanting in organic matter a larger quantity of manure can be used. Street sweepings are not desirable, as they frequently contain considerable oil. Sawdust and planing-mill shavings should not be used on garden land. Leaves may be mixed with heavy soils, but it is best to have them fairly well rotted before they are applied to the land. Early breaking and exposure to frost is the best method of getting land that has not been under cultivation for a number of years in shape for planting. Sandy soils do not benefit by freezing and thawing as do the heavy clay soils, and in all cases precautions must be taken so that the soil will not wash away during heavy rains. It is a very good plan to plow or spade the land in the autumn, sow rye upon it, and then turn the rye under early in the spring.

In regions where the soil is very sandy it is often necessary to keep the surface covered with coarse manure or with some material to prevent it from blowing away. If this precaution is not taken the entire surface soil will be blown off to the depth of the plowing. In the spring the coarser part of the covering should be raked off or turned under before pulverizing and fitting the surface for planting.

Nothing is gained by working the land before it is sufficiently dry in the spring. In sections where the ground freezes hard during winter no harm will be done by plowing it in the fall or during the early winter when quite wet, as the freezing will correct any injury, but land that is worked when too wet in the spring will be injured for the entire season. The usual test is to press a small quantity of the soil in the palm of the hand. If it is too wet for working it will adhere in a solid mass and retain the imprint of the hand, but if dry enough to work it will crumble apart of itself.

When the test shows its fitness for working, land which was plowed or spaded in the fall should be thoroughly harrowed, raked, hoed, or forked over to a depth of 4 or 5 inches, in order to fit it for planting. The more carefully this part of the work is done the easier it will be to care for the crops during the growing season. Land which was not worked in the fall should be plowed or spaded as soon as it dries out sufficiently in the spring, and the top should be thoroughly fitted, as suggested above.

Gardeners frequently ask whether it is advisable to use coal and wood ashes on garden soils. The use of coal ashes on heavy clay soils will tend to lighten them, but the ashes should be screened before they are applied, in order to remove any clinkers or cinders. They should then be spread evenly upon the land and thoroughly mixed with it. Coal ashes have little value as a fertilizer, their use being mainly to loosen the soil and make it more workable.

Wood ashes that are produced by the burning of hard woods, such as oak and hickory, frequently contain as much as 7 per cent of potash and also a little lime and for this reason are a valuable fertilizer. Wood ashes produced by the burning of pine and other soft woods and hardwood ashes that have been exposed to the weather and have had their potash leached from them have comparatively little value as a fertilizer. Not more than 50 pounds of reasonably dry unleached hardwood ashes should be applied to a plat of ground 30 by 60 feet in size, and these should be well mixed with the soil.

An application of about 12 pecks of hydrated or air-slaked lime to a plat of land 30 by 60 feet in size is advisable in most cases, but there are certain soils that do not need lime. Lime has the effect of loosening and pulverizing heavy clay soils. It also has the effect of sweetening poorly drained soils and those that have a tendency to be sour. It is poor policy, however, to endeavor to remedy conditions resulting from lack of drainage by the application of lime without first providing suitable drainage and removing the cause of the sourness of the soil. Lime should always be applied to the surface soil and not turned under. It should not be applied to land that is to be planted to Irish potatoes, on account of the tendency of the tubers to become infested with scab where lime is present. Perhaps the best method of applying lime to the remainder of the garden is to scatter it over the surface after plowing and before the land is harrowed and fitted for cultivation in the spring. (Fig. 4.) One application each year is sufficient, and much larger quantities may be applied on heavy clay soils than on light or sandy soils. Lime should never under any circumstances be mixed with commercial fertilizer or with manure, as it liberates the nitrogen contained in them.

The use of barnyard manure on garden land has already been mentioned, but too much stress can not be placed upon this important point. The most successful commercial gardeners not only follow the practice of plowing or spading under large quantities of manure, but they stack up manure to rot and apply the rotted manure as a top-dressing when fitting the land for planting. Beans, tomatoes, and Irish potatoes may be injured by the use of too much manure, but it is practically impossible to have the land too rich for most garden crops.

Poultry and pigeon manures are excellent fertilizers for the garden but must be used sparingly, as they are very strong and are liable to burn the crops. These manures should be kept under shelter until used and then should be well mixed with the soil, care being taken that no lumps of the manure come in direct contact with the seeds. Not more than 200 pounds of poultry or pigeon manure should be applied to a garden plat 30 by 60 feet in size.

Fig. 4.—Applying lime to a garden after plowing and before harrowing.

Sheep manure is sold by florists and seedsmen and is an excellent fertilizer for garden crops. Like poultry manure, it is very strong and should be used sparingly. A little pulverized sheep manure sprinkled along the rows and worked into the soil will give the plants a vigorous growth.

The use of commercial fertilizers is advisable, especially where plenty of stable or barnyard manure can not be procured. As a rule, fertilizers should be sown broadcast and thoroughly harrowed or raked into the upper 3 inches of soil. Where applied underneath the rows the fertilizer should be well mixed with the soil before the seeds are planted. Great care must be taken in the use of commercial fertilizers in a small garden, as there is always a tendency to use too much and do more injury than good. From 40 to 60 pounds of a standard fertilizer, such as is used by truck gardeners, may be applied to a plot of ground 30 by 60 feet in size.

Commercial fertilizers may be used in very moderate quantities as a side dressing for most growing crops. Nitrate of soda is frequently used in this manner, especially with crops that are grown for their leaf and stem development rather than for fruit. Where used as a side dressing it is best to apply the fertilizer a short distance from the plants but where the small feeder roots will reach it. The fertilizer should be worked into the soil immediately.

It should be remembered that the best results are obtained by the use of commercial fertilizers where there is plenty of manure or organic matter in the soil. All sods and weeds and the remains of garden plants that are not infected with disease should be turned under or composted in one corner of the garden, in order to form material with which to enrich the soil.

Elaborate or expensive tools are not necessary for the cultivation of a small garden; in fact, a spade or spading fork, a hoe, a steel rake, and a line with two stakes to fasten it to are all that are required. A garden trowel and a watering can may be added to advantage but are not absolutely necessary. A wheelbarrow, wheel cultivator, and seed drill are desirable for the larger gardens and might be procured and used jointly by several gardeners in a neighborhood. After the soil is broken and in shape for planting, the hoe and the steel rake are the important tools for a small garden.

Fig. 5.—Window box for starting early plants in the house.

A comparatively small quantity of seeds is required for planting the average city garden, but these should be procured in ample time and should be of the highest quality obtainable. The best are the cheapest in the long run. Garden seeds should not be wasted; only enough should be planted to insure a perfect stand. Any seeds that are left over should be stored in a ventilated tin or glass container, to protect them from mice until needed for later planting. The particular variety of any crop to plant will depend upon local conditions. There are usually experienced persons in each community who can be relied upon for advice as to the best varieties to plant in that section. A number of the seed houses are now offering special garden-seed collections adapted to various conditions and sizes of gardens.

Half the pleasure and profit of a garden is derived from having something to use just as early in the spring as possible. In many cities and towns last year the local greenhouse men grew thousands of plants which were sold to home gardeners at very reasonable prices. It often happens, however, that home gardeners do not have the opportunity to purchase well-grown plants, so they must start their own supply of early plants in the house or in a hotbed if they desire to have their crops mature early. Among the garden crops that may be started to advantage in this manner are tomatoes, early cabbage, peppers, eggplant, and lettuce. Even cucumbers, melons, beets, snap beans, Lima beans, and sweet corn may be started indoors by using flowerpots, paper bands, or berry boxes to hold the soil.

Fig. 6.—Starting early plants; preparing the seed box.

Where just a few tomato and cabbage plants are desired, the seeds may be sown in a cigar box or in a shallow tin pan with a few holes punched in the bottom for drainage. A very good plan is to secure a soap box and saw off about 3 inches of the bottom portion to form a tray. If the top has been saved, it can be nailed on and the box again sawed, forming a second tray. This will leave about 3 inches of the middle of the box upon which a piece of wire netting may be tacked to form a sieve for screening the soil used in the trays. Any shallow box (fig. 5) that may be fitted into the window of a living room where there is a reasonable amount of sunlight will answer for starting early plants.

After filling the trays with sifted soil, smooth off even with the top and slightly firm down the soil in the trays by means of a small piece of board. Use the edge of a ruler or strip of thin board (fig. 6) to form little grooves or furrows in the soil in which to plant the seeds. These little rows should be about 2 inches apart and one-fourth inch deep. Scatter the seeds of tomatoes, early cabbage, peppers, and eggplant, as shown in figure 7, very thinly in the rows and cover them by sifting a small quantity of soil over the entire surface. Smooth the top of the soil gently and water very lightly.

The box should then be placed where the temperature will remain at about 70° F. If conditions are kept right, the seedlings will appear in five to eight days after the seed is planted. From this time on the plants will need constant care, especially as regards watering. Owing to the fact that the light from a window comes from one side only, the seedlings will draw toward the glass, and the box should be turned each day, so as to keep the plants from growing crooked. Just as soon as the little plants are large enough to handle they should be transplanted to other boxes and given 2 or 3 inches of space in each direction.

Fig. 7.—Starting early plants; sowing seed in the window box.

Where the required number of plants is too great for growing in window boxes, a hotbed or cold frame may be provided. The usual method of constructing a hotbed is to first dig a shallow pit 8 to 18 inches deep, according to locality, and pack it full of fermenting stable manure. The manure before being placed in the pit should be turned over once or twice in a pile, in order to insure even heating. It may then be packed into the hotbed pit and tramped uniformly. Standard hotbed sash are 3 feet in width and 6 feet in length, and the size of the bed should be made to suit the number of sash employed. A framework of boards 18 to 24 inches high at the back and about 12 inches high in front is placed over the manure-filled pit to support the sash. (Fig. 8.)

About 3 or 4 inches of fine garden loam is spread evenly over the manure and the bed allowed to stand four or five days to warm up before any seed is sown. At first the temperature of the bed will run rather high, and it is best to delay planting the seeds in it until it begins to decline. This can best be determined by placing a cheap thermometer, with the bulb about 3 inches below the surface of the soil, and watching it until the temperature falls below 85° F. before planting the seeds.

If glazed sash are not available for covering the hotbed, heavy muslin may be used instead; the glass, however, makes the most desirable form of covering. Care must be taken to give the bed sufficient ventilation to prevent overheating; as it is liable to heat up rapidly when the sun shines full upon the glass. Watering should be done during the early part of the day and the bed given enough air so that the plants will dry off before night. The bed should be closed before evening, in order to conserve enough heat to carry it through the night in good condition. If the weather should turn severely cold, a covering of straw, blankets, or canvas may be thrown over the bed to protect it.

Fig. 8.—Preparation of a sash-covered frame for starting early plants.

A cold frame is constructed in exactly the same manner as a hotbed, with the exception that no manure is placed beneath it to supply heat.

Before the plants are set in the garden, either from the hotbed or the cold-frame they should be gradually hardened to outside conditions by giving them more ventilation each day. Finally, remove the sash entirely on bright days and replace them for the night. The aim should be to produce strong, healthy plants that will make a quick start when placed in the garden.

The accompanying planting tables, together with the frost-zone maps (figs. 9 and 10), are based upon records of the United States Weather Bureau covering a period of 20 years and are intended to serve as a guide for determining the earliest dates that the various garden crops may be planted in the spring; also the latest dates that it will be safe to plant certain crops and have them mature before the first killing frost in the autumn. It should be borne in mind that there is a difference of several days in the frost occurrence within each zone; this is due to differences in altitude and latitude, and also to the proximity of bodies of water and large tracts of timber.

EARLIEST PLANTING DATES
Earliest safe dates for planting vegetables in the open in the zones shown in figure 9

Owing to the varied character of the Rocky Mountain and Pacific coast regions, it is not practicable to present the planting information in zone form, as there may be a very great difference in the dates of killing frosts in the same general locality on account of elevation. Gardeners on the Pacific coast should be guided by the experience of competent persons in their own neighborhood. The coast region of Oregon and Washington is so influenced by ocean currents that a separate map would have to be designed to meet its requirements. Sufficient data upon which to base a map for this region are not at hand.

In zones A, B, C, and parts of zone D of the eastern United States, cabbage, turnips, spinach, kale, collards, and certain varieties of onions may be grown in the open ground throughout the winter. In certain parts of zone E spinach and kale may be grown all winter. In zone F such crops as sweet potatoes, melons, eggplants, and peppers should be planted only under the most favorable conditions, as the season is sometimes too short for their full development under adverse conditions.

Garden plants are divided into about four more or less distinct groups.

Early cabbage plants, kale, onion sets, smooth peas, Irish potatoes, and radishes may be planted two weeks before the average date of the last killing frost.

Beets, Swiss chard, carrots, lettuce, wrinkled peas, cauliflower, spinach, and sweet corn may be planted about the date of the last killing frost.

LATEST PLANTING DATES
Latest safe dates for planting vegetables for the fall garden in the zones[9] shown in figure 9

Beans, parsnips, salsify, melons, cucumbers, tomato, and sweet-potato plants may be planted after the last killing frost.

The heat-loving plants, such as peppers, eggplants, Lima beans, and the squashes, should not be planted in the open until the ground has thoroughly warmed, which will be about four weeks after the last killing frost.

There are a number of crops, such as snap beans, lettuce, radishes, and beets, that should be planted at intervals in order to insure a continuous supply throughout the season. In the case of snap beans as many as five different plantings may be had in some sections. In the southern part of the United States special attention should be given to the planting of the semihardy crops, such as spinach, kale, and cabbage, during the autumn, in order to have a supply throughout the winter.

Fig. 9.—Outline map of the United States, showing zones based on the average date of the last killing frost in spring. The time of planting for the various vegetables is determined for every section by the dates given on this map.

Larger map

By following the table showing the latest safe dates for planting (see also fig. 10), the various crops will mature during average years; however, there may be seasons when the first killing frost in the autumn occurs earlier than usual and some of the later plantings will be lost. The late planting of vegetables prolongs the season of usefulness and is worth a chance.

A garden bears close acquaintance, and the successful gardener is the one who keeps in close contact with his crops throughout the entire growing season. A visit to the garden during the early morning while the dew hangs heavily upon every plant will reveal the happenings of the night. Perhaps some insect attack has started or some injury has occurred which requires immediate attention. A garden requires a little attention almost every day and responds in direct proportion to the care bestowed upon it. The size of the garden should be such that its care will not prove a burden. A small garden intensively cultivated is much better than a larger one which is allowed to grow to weeds.

The frequent stirring of the surface soil with a steel rake, especially during dry weather, will stimulate the growth of the crops and control weeds. The surface should also be stirred after a rain just as soon as the ground is dry enough to work. Most people have an idea that the stirring of the soil is primarily in order to kill weeds, but there is equal need of it where no weeds are present. The roots of plants require air as well as moisture, and frequent stirring of the surface soil admits the air and at the same time conserves moisture. Shallow cultivation during dry weather forms what is known as a soil mulch, preventing the escape of moisture. Very often shallow cultivation during dry weather is more effective than irrigation.

Fig. 10.—Outline map of the United States, showing zones based on the average date of the first killing frost in autumn. The latest safe dates for planting vegetables in the autumn are determined by the dates given on this map.

Larger map

Artificial watering, if properly applied, will prove a decided advantage during dry periods, but may prove an injury if not properly handled. Frequent light sprinkling of the garden is injurious. The proper method is to soak the soil thoroughly about once each week, preferably during the evening, and then loosen the surface by cultivation the following morning or as soon as the soil is dry enough to work. No more water should be applied until absolutely necessary; then another soaking should be given. On a small scale the water may be applied by means of a sprinkling can. Where available, a garden hose is effective, and overhead sprinkler systems are frequently employed to advantage. Perhaps the best method for applying the water is to open slight furrows alongside the rows of plants and allow the water to flow gently along these furrows.

After the water has all soaked into the soil the wet earth in the furrows should be covered with dry soil, to prevent baking. Where seeds are to be sown during a period of drought a slight furrow may be opened and filled with water; then, after the water has soaked into the soil, the seeds may be sown and covered with dry earth. This method will insure a good stand of plants, as the moisture feeds upward in the soil, like the oil in a lamp wick.

Garden crops are subject to attack by a number of insects and diseases. Preventive measures are best, but if an attack occurs and the city gardener is not familiar with the insect or disease and the proper treatment to protect his crops he is advised to consult the local garden leader or write immediately to the Extension Division of the State College of Agriculture. The United States Department of Agriculture has a bulletin (Farmers’ Bulletin 856) which gives the necessary information on garden insects and diseases and can be procured free upon request.

In a number of cities the garden committees have arranged for sprayers and spray materials, and these are furnished to gardeners at actual cost. In a few instances power sprayers have been used, the work being done by city-park employees, the outfit being driven through the alleyways and the gardens reached by means of long leads of hose. In many cases the city-garden committees have provided a number of small compressed-air sprayers that can be carried by means of a strap over the shoulder of the operator. These are lent to the gardeners, who are also supplied with the necessary spray materials at cost and given full instructions regarding their application.

Poisons may be applied in a powdered form to a number of the garden crops, including Irish potatoes, by means of a small burlap or cheesecloth bag, the poison being dusted upon the plants when they have dew upon them. This can be done in the morning before the plants have dried or late in the evening after the dew has begun to form.

As a rule not more than 10 or 12 different kinds of vegetables should be grown in the city home garden. These should be chosen from the standpoint of securing the greatest food value from a limited area. Certain of the very important food crops, such as Irish potatoes, peas, and sweet corn, require too much space for the small city garden, but should be included wherever the available space will permit.

Owing to the extreme variation of local conditions, no definite plan can be given for the city home garden, and each gardener will have to select the crops to be grown according to his soil, space, and the requirements of his family. By careful planning and by keeping every foot of garden space fully occupied a great quantity of produce can be secured from a comparatively small plat of ground. A succession of plantings of certain vegetables will produce a continuous supply while others may be grown between the main crops, thus making the land do double duty. There is a tendency on the part of many persons to plant too heavily to lettuce and radishes. As a matter of fact a supply of these vegetables can be grown in the rows between the plants or hills of other crops. Most beginners attempt too many varieties and kinds of vegetables. They would do better to confine themselves to a few standard sorts, leaving the novelties to those who have plenty of land and time at their disposal.

It is assumed that the average space available for the city vegetable garden will not exceed 80 by 60 feet. Many gardens in back yards are smaller, while others located on vacant lots may include one-fourth acre or more. The size of the garden will determine largely the crops to be grown. The following cultural directions are based on average conditions and are subject to some modification to suit the locality.

The bean crop stands at the head of the list in importance for the city garden, especially from the standpoint of producing a large quantity of food quickly on a limited space. The food value of the bean, in all forms, is also very high, and it may be grown under a wide range of conditions.

String beans, or snap beans in bush form, are the most popular for planting in the small garden. The seed should not be planted until the ground is fairly warm and the danger of frost safely passed. Stringless Green-Pod, Currie’s Rustproof Wax, and Refugee Wax are the leading early varieties of bush beans. Where space is limited the bush varieties can be planted in rows 24 inches apart, with the individual plants 3 or 4 inches apart in the row, or in hills 12 inches apart with four plants in a hill. Three, or even four, plantings at intervals of three or four weeks should be made, in order to insure a continuous supply. In sections of the country where the first autumn frost does not occur until about the first of October a late or fall crop of snap beans can be grown to advantage, the seed being planted about the first week in August.

A half pint of seed of snap beans will plant about 100 feet of row with five seeds to a hill and the hills 12 inches apart. A hundred feet of row will be sufficient for one planting to supply the average family. If four plantings are made 1 quart of seed will be required.

Pole or climbing beans should be planted in every garden where space will permit. The variety known as Kentucky Wonder produces a plentiful supply that can be eaten pod and all while they are tender, as shelled beans when more mature, and as dry beans after they ripen. Pole or climbing Lima beans are adapted to a wide range of territory and can often be grown on a division fence, on a trellis covering the kitchen porch, or on an outbuilding. Figure 11 shows a street fence which is being made to support a splendid crop of Lima beans. Bush Lima beans are more limited in their soil and climatic requirements, but are considered by many persons to be of finer quality than the pole varieties.

Lima beans require a richer soil than string or snap beans, and the seed should not be planted until the ground is quite warm, fully a week later than snap beans. All beans should be planted comparatively shallow, especially on clay or heavy soils. On light or sandy soils beans may be covered from 1¹⁄₄ to 2 inches. Beans will not start well if planted in wet soil or if covered too deeply.

In case the soil should become packed by heavy rains before the plants appear it is a good plan to break the crust over the row by means of a steel rake, great care being taken that the rake teeth do not go deep enough to injure the sprouting beans. Beans should be cultivated and hoed at least once a week, but they should not be worked when their leaves are wet with dew or rain, as this has a tendency to cause them to rust. In case more beans are grown than are required for summer use, the young tender pods may be canned for winter. Any beans that become too old for immediate use should be allowed to ripen and be saved for planting the next season or for cooking as dry beans. Colored dry beans are as good as white, both in flavor and nutritive value, in spite of a rather general popular belief to the contrary, and none of them should be wasted.

The root crops, including beets, carrots, parsnips, salsify, turnips, and radishes, form a group of very important food crops for the small garden. The soil requirements and general culture are very much the same for all the root crops, and for that reason they are considered collectively. The soil for root crops should be quite rich, and it should also be spaded or plowed deep and made fine and mellow the full depth that is broken. These root crops will all withstand slight frosts and may be planted very early in the spring. Root crops are especially desirable for the small garden on account of the fact that the rows may be as close together as 12 or 14 inches and the plants 3 or 4 inches apart in the row, making it possible to grow a large quantity of food on a small tract.

Beets

An ounce of beet seed will be sufficient for the ordinary city garden. Beets may be planted almost as soon as the ground can be worked in the spring. Make the soil fine and mellow; then lay off the row about 1 inch deep, using the hoe handle to make the little furrow. What are commonly called beet seeds are really seed balls, each containing two or three seeds, and for that reason too many should not be put in. Eight or ten to the foot of row are sufficient. Cover the seeds about 1 inch and rake the surface smooth over the row. If the seeds are good and the weather favorable the plants should appear in about 10 days after planting. They should be thinned to about 3 inches in the row, but if not too thick to start with they may be allowed to reach a height of about 3 or 4 inches before thinning, and the thinnings may be used for beet greens. Any skips or spaces can be filled in by transplanting plants that are removed from other parts of the row. A row 50 feet long will furnish enough early beets to supply the ordinary family. A second planting may be made about four week after the first. A late planting should be made about six or eight weeks before the first autumn frosts. Any beets that are left in the garden at the end of the season should be stored for winter use.

Fig. 11.—Lima beans growing on the outside of a garden fence.

Crosby’s Egyptian and Blood Turnip are considered among the best varieties for the home garden.

Carrots

One-fourth ounce of carrot seed will be more than enough to plant 50 feet of row early in the spring and to make another similar planting later for fall use and storage. Plant the seeds rather thickly, 20 or 30 to the foot, and cover them with about half an inch of light soil, but not more than one-fourth of an inch in heavy soil. Thin to 2 or 2¹⁄₂ inches in the row as soon as they are large enough to handle. If desired, the plants may be left a little closer, then thinned a second time when the first of the young carrots are about half an inch in diameter. The young carrots that are thinned out may be used on the table as creamed baby carrots and are very fine. Late-planted carrots may remain in the ground until after the first frosts of autumn and then dug, topped, and stored for winter use.

Oxheart and Danvers Half-Long are leading varieties.

Parsnips

A 10-cent packet, or about one-eighth of an ounce, of parsnip seed will be sufficient to plant for the ordinary family. Be sure that the seed is fresh, as it loses its vitality if kept over until the second year. Plant the same as carrots, and thin to 3 or 4 inches in the row. Parsnips require a deeply prepared and a very rich soil for their best development.

Parsnips may remain in the ground where grown during the winter or until wanted. It may be best, however, to dig part of the roots late in the fall before the ground freezes and store them for winter use.

In the North parsnips are planted quite early and given the entire season to develop and are used mainly during the winter and spring. In the South they may be planted quite early and used as a spring vegetable; then another planting is made for a fall crop. The later planting is usually made in August or September, when the late summer rains occur.

Hollow Crown and Guernsey are among the best varieties.

Salsify, or Vegetable Oyster

Salsify requires practically the same cultural treatment as parsnips. It is not grown extensively in the home gardens of the Southern States, but is primarily a northern crop. Salsify may remain in the ground during the winter, or a part may be dug late in the fall and stored in a bed or box of moist sand for winter use.

The Sandwich Island is the leading variety.

Turnips

Throughout the Northern States turnips are planted as a late-season crop, the seed being sown from July 10 to 25 and the crop harvested after the first heavy frosts. In the Southern States turnips are planted in the spring, just as soon as the ground can be worked, and the crop is used before the hot weather of summer comes on. A late crop is frequently planted in September, the roots being cooked in the usual manner, while the young tender tops are boiled as greens.

For the small garden, turnips had best be planted in drills, with the rows about 12 inches apart, and the plants should be thinned to 2 or 2¹⁄₂ inches in the row. The seed should be scattered very thinly in the drill and covered very lightly. The plants removed in thinning may be used as greens. Turnips will withstand some frost, but their keeping qualities are injured if allowed to freeze before pulling. If they become frozen in the storage pit they should not be disturbed until the weather warms and the frost gradually draws out of them. For best results turnips should not actually freeze at any time.

The Purple-Top Strap-Leaved is a leading variety.

Radishes

Radishes are mentioned last in the list of root crops because they have the least real food value of any. Everybody wants a few early radishes in the garden, because they come to maturity quickly and furnish something green and succulent for the table. From 10 to 20 feet of row will produce all the radishes required by a family. The seeds should be sown in a little furrow or drill, about 12 or 15 seeds to the foot, and covered 1 inch. Radishes may also be sown thinly in the drill with beets, carrots, or parsnips, as they come quickly and break the surface for the other seedlings. The radishes should be pulled before they are large enough to injure the regular crop.

The Scarlet Globe White-Tipped, French Breakfast, Icicle, Philadelphia White Box, and Early Yellow Turnip are among the leading varieties.

Where it is desirable to have radishes for a considerable period of time, two, or even three, plantings at intervals of two weeks should be made, or the same result may be obtained by the proper selection of varieties. There are also two or three varieties of winter radishes that may be grown for winter use.

Tomatoes are among the most universally used products of our home gardens, and there should be a few plants, no matter how small the garden. In order to have tomatoes early, the seed must be sown in the house or hotbed or the plants purchased from some plant grower who has the facilities for starting them early. Bonnie Best, Early Jewel, Acme, Globe, and Detroit are among the leading early sorts, while Improved Stone and Trophy are standard late varieties. Two small packets of seeds, one of an early and one of a late variety, will produce enough plants for several family gardens, and it may be possible for one person to start the plants for an entire neighborhood. If a window box is used for starting early plants of various kinds, a portion of the space in this box should be used for the tomato plants. Where a window box is not in use a cigar box filled with loose soil will serve as a seed bed, but the plants will have to be transplanted and given about 3 inches of space both ways as soon as they form one or two true leaves in addition to their two small seed leaves. Tomato seed comes up in about five or six days, and the seedlings will ordinarily be ready for transplanting in two weeks after the seed is sown. About six weeks will be required for growing the plants from the time of sowing the seed until they are ready for setting in the garden.

A tray of fine, rich soil about 8 inches deep placed in a south window of a living room makes a good transplanting bed. The plants can be grown in quart berry boxes, in 3-inch flowerpots, in tin cans with a few holes punched in their bottoms, or in paper bands. The essentials are to keep the plants growing rapidly from the start and to retain all the dirt attached to their roots when setting them in the garden.

The best method of growing tomatoes in the city home garden is by pruning the plants to a single stem, or at most to two stems, and tying them to stakes or a trellis, as shown in figure 12. By this method the plants can be set as close as 2 feet apart in each direction. When tied to stakes the plants are easy to cultivate. The fruit is clean because it is kept off the ground, and the tomatoes ripen earlier than when the plants are not pruned or tied to stakes. Any stakes that are about 1¹⁄₂ inches in diameter and 4 to 5 feet long will answer. Frequently the plants are trained to horizontal wires stretched on small posts or to a trellis made of laths.

The tomato plants are pruned by pinching out the side shoots (fig. 12) as they appear in the axis of the leaf, that is, where it joins the main stem. The fruit clusters appear on the opposite side of the stem where there is no leaf. The plants are tied to the stakes or other support by means of soft twine or with small strips of old cotton goods. (Fig. 13.) Seedsmen have on sale a jute string which is especially made for tying tomatoes. Loop the string around the stake so that it will not slip downward on the stake and then tie loosely below a leaf node in such a manner that the stem will be supported without the string binding it and injuring its growth. Four to seven fruit clusters will be formed on each plant, and if the plants are well cultivated and cared for they will continue to bear fruit throughout the season in the northern parts of the country. In the South, where the heat of midsummer kills tomato plants, a late crop may be planted for fall use.

Fig. 12.—Training tomatoes to stakes: A, Cutting out the side shoots or branches; B, tying the main stem to the supporting stake.

Sweet or Mango peppers are increasing in favor with home gardeners everywhere. Six or eight good plants will supply enough for an ordinary family. In the North, where the growing season is short, the plants must be started indoors and should be transplanted twice, so as to be quite large by the time the weather is warm enough to set them in the garden. Pepper plants will not withstand any frost, and they should not be set out until all danger is past. In the South the seed should be sown in the house or in a hotbed and may be transplanted directly from the seed bed to the garden, although better plants will be obtained if they are transplanted first from the seed bed to other boxes or to the hotbed and later to the garden. The plants should be handled in the same manner as tomatoes, but pepper plants are even more delicate.

The Ruby King and Chinese Giant are standard varieties of the large sweet peppers. Pimento peppers are becoming very popular throughout the Southern States; however, they will not mature where the frost-free growing season is less than 4¹⁄₂ months and are not profitable unless they have at least 5 months of warm weather for their development. The pimento is adapted to the South, where the summers are long, with plenty of hot weather. The green pimento peppers have a thick flesh and a pleasant flavor and may be used like any sweet pepper. When red ripe the pimentos are canned for winter salads and for mixing with cheese to make pimento cheese.

Fig. 13.—Tomatoes trained to stakes in a back-yard garden.

The seeds of eggplant should be sown indoors at the same time that early tomatoes and peppers are planted. The small plants should be transplanted to pots or paper bands and kept in the house until the weather is quite warm. The plants require a rich, deep soil, with plenty of fertilizer. They should be set about 2¹⁄₂ feet apart each way. Six to ten plants will be sufficient to supply the average family.

Okra is sown in the open after danger of frost is over and the soil becomes quite warm, but in the North a few plants for the home garden may be started indoors. like tomatoes or peppers. Sow the seed a few inches apart in the row and thin the plants to 18 inches to 2 feet apart. Okra is very prolific, and 8 or 10 feet of row will supply the needs of an average family. Give frequent shallow cultivation until the plants are nearly grown.

The pods are the part of the plant used for food and should be gathered while still crisp and tender. If the pods are removed so as to allow none to ripen, the plants will continue to bear until killed by frost.

The White Velvet, Dwarf Green Prolific, Perkins Mammoth, Long-Podded, and Lady Finger varieties are recommended.

The usual method of growing onions in the home garden is to plant a quart or two of sets just as early in the spring as the ground can be worked. Throughout the South the sets may be planted in the autumn and the surface of the ground mulched with fine straw or light manure over the winter. Onions may also be grown from seed, sown in the early autumn in the South and early spring in the North, but as a rule it is more satisfactory to secure a few sets for planting.

Fig. 14.—Planting onion sets; every bulb is placed with the root end downward at a uniform depth and in straight rows.

Onions require a light, mellow, rich soil. If planted in rows the sets (fig. 14) should be placed by hand, root end downward, about 4 inches apart in the row and covered to a depth of 1 inch. If planted in a bed they should be spaced 4 to 6 inches apart in each direction. As a rule, onion sets are not sold under variety names, but are classed as white, brown, or red.

The Yellow Globe, Yellow Danvers, Red Wethersfield, and Silverskin are among the leading varieties that are planted from seed. The Crystal Wax and Red Bermuda varieties of the Bermuda type are often grown in the Southern States.

Where wanted for green onions, the sets may be planted as a filler in the rows with early tomatoes, but where mature onions are desired it is best to plant them alone. Fully grown onions should not be pulled until the tops have broken over and partially ripened. The bulbs should then be pulled and spread in a cool, dry place (fig. 15) where they will get plenty of air. The mature onions should be kept where it is quite cool and dry. Slight freezing will not hurt the stored onions if they are not disturbed while frozen.

Fig. 15.—Onions spread out to dry in the shade of a tree.

The cabbage group of garden plants includes both the early and the late types of cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards, and Brussels sprouts. The general cultivation of each member of this group is practically the same. They are natives of low-lying seacoast regions and require deep, moist, and rather rich soil for their best development. The various members of the cabbage group, however, may be grown in almost any locality; in fact, cabbage is one of the most universally grown of our garden crops. The important consideration is to have plenty of plant food in the soil so that they will make a quick, tender growth.

Early Cabbage

Only a few heads of early cabbage should be grown in a small city garden. The plants should be started indoors, but may be set in the garden quite early if hardened off a little before setting them. In certain sections of the South, especially near the seacoast, the early varieties of cabbage may be started in October, planted out in November, and matured in April or May of the following spring. The Jersey Wakefield and Charleston Wakefield are the leading early varieties. They may be set in rows 24 to 30 inches apart and 15 inches apart in the row.

Late Cabbage

Late cabbage can be planted between the rows of early potatoes or after snap beans, so that double service may be obtained from the soil. Late cabbage may be planted July 1 in some sections of the North and will form solid heads before the weather becomes cold enough to injure the crop. The Late Flat Dutch, Danish Baldhead, and Copenhagen are among the best late varieties. They should be planted in rows 36 inches apart and 18 inches apart in the row. Cabbage may be stored in a cool, dry, well-ventilated cellar or buried in an outdoor pit in the garden.

Cauliflower

Cauliflower is much more difficult to grow than cabbage and is only adapted to certain soil and climatic conditions which are to be found near the seacoast and limited inland areas. The important consideration in growing a spring crop of cauliflower is to have it so early that the heads will be formed before the extremely hot weather begins. The methods of starting the plants and general culture are the same as for early cabbage. When the heads begin to form, the leaves should be brought together above the heads and fastened by means of a string, so as to shut out the sunlight and retain the snowy whiteness of the heads. A fall crop of cauliflower can be grown in the same manner as late cabbage. Cauliflower can not be stored to advantage, but must be used within a few days after it is gathered.

Kale

Kale can be grown either as a spring or fall crop, and in sections where the temperature does not go below zero during the winter it can be planted in the fall and will be ready for use during March and April. The market gardeners around Norfolk, Va., grow great fields of winter kale, planting the seed in September and cutting the crop at any time during the winter when the ground is free from snow and ice. About 50 or 60 feet of row in the home garden may be planted during the late summer for fall and early winter use. Kale is not stored, but is left growing until wanted for use.

Collards

No southern garden would be quite complete without a small plat of collards for late fall and early winter use. Collards are a hardy form of cabbage which forms a loose head or cluster of very tender leaves that are used in much the same manner as cabbage. Throughout the South collards are planted during the latter part of the summer and the plants are left standing where grown, like late cabbage, and are quite hardy; in fact, it is claimed that the flavor is greatly improved by a slight freezing of the heads. Collards are not recommended for planting in the Northern States. A small packet of seed is all that is necessary to start the plants required in a family garden.

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts are a kind of cabbage that forms a large number of buttons or small heads along its stem where the leaves are attached. The culture of Brussels sprouts is the same as that of cabbage except that the leaves are removed from the lower part of the stem to give the buttons more room to develop.

Kohl-Rabi

Kohl-rabi is a near relative of cabbage. It forms an enlargement of the stem just above the surface of the ground. This portion is used in the same way as turnips.

As a general rule, the American people do not eat enough green vegetables, commonly referred to as salads. Crops of this class are especially adapted to the small garden, as they occupy very little space and will withstand more or less shading. The salad plants require a deep, rich soil with plenty of moisture. They also thrive under comparatively cool conditions.

Swiss Chard

Swiss chard resembles the common garden beet in appearance, but it does not form an edible root, like the beet, and is grown for its large leaf stems, which are boiled for greens. Americans do not as a rule eat enough greens, and there is need to encourage the planting in the home garden of Swiss chard and other crops that may be used for this purpose. Beet tops while young and tender make good greens, but the leaf stems of Swiss chard have a very excellent flavor and remain tender a long time. As the outer leaf stems are removed the plants keep on forming new leaves in the center, so that a continuous supply is provided.

Swiss chard is planted and cultivated the same as garden beets. One-half ounce of seed will be sufficient for the ordinary family of five persons. The variety known as Lucullus is considered best. Plant in the early spring the same as beets, and thin the plants to about 6 inches in the row.

Spinach

Spinach is another crop that is highly desirable for use as greens. Spinach thrives in cool weather and should be grown both as a spring and as a fall crop. In the extreme northern part of the country only one crop may be grown. In sections where the winters are mild the seed can be planted in the fall and the plants can remain in the ground all winter. For a spring crop, plant in the open ground as soon as the soil can be worked. The rows may be as close as 7 inches, and 12 to 15 seeds should be sown to a foot of row, the plants being thinned so that they will have 1¹⁄₂ to 2 inches of space for their development.

Spinach requires a very rich soil in order to make it grow quickly. A bed 5 feet wide and 30 feet in length and having about eight rows running the length of the bed will furnish enough spinach for the ordinary family. The entire spinach plant is removed by cutting just above the surface of the ground. From 2 to 3 ounces of seed will be sufficient for a bed 5 by 30 feet in size. Spinach contains large quantities of iron and is especially desirable as a part of the diet in the early spring.

Celery

There is nothing particularly difficult about growing celery after the plants are started. The celery seed bed requires very careful watering until the plants are up and large enough to transplant. As a rule, it will be best for city gardeners to purchase plants that are ready for setting in the garden. Celery requires a rich soil and plenty of moisture.

Anyone desiring to grow it should write to the United States Department of Agriculture for a copy of the Farmers’ Bulletin on celery (No. 282), which gives full directions for growing the crop.

The White Plume, Golden Self-Blanching, and Boston Market are among the best varieties for the home garden.

Lettuce

No early garden would be complete without at least a bed of lettuce; however, only a small space is necessary to grow plenty for the average family. In the old-fashioned garden a small bed was spaded in one corner and the seed sown broadcast and raked into the soil just as soon as the ground was dry enough to work in the spring. As the plants grew and began to crowd each other, they were thinned and those that were pulled out were used on the table. Later, when the plants became larger, they were cut off just above the ground.

Lettuce requires very rich soil and plenty of moisture, and will not withstand continued hot weather. It can be grown in partial shade and is one of the few crops that can be planted in back-yard gardens that are shaded a portion of the time. A 5-cent packet of seed will produce all the plants required for the small garden. A good method is to sow the seed in a box in the house and transplant the small plants to a bed or to rows in the garden. Lettuce is not injured by a light frost, especially if the plants have been grown in the open. The seed or plants may be planted between other crops that require a longer period for their development than the lettuce. Two plantings should be made in the spring and one in the late summer, in order to have a supply for a considerable period.

Grand Rapids is the leading variety of loose-leaf lettuce, while the Big Boston, Iceberg, and California Cream Butter are good heading sorts.

There are a number of garden vegetables that require too much space for growing in the small home garden. Wherever plenty of land is available these vegetables should be grown. Among those included in this group are Irish potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas, sweet corn, squashes, cantaloupes, and watermelons.

Irish Potatoes

Irish potatoes are among the first crops that can be planted in a home garden. They have no place in a small garden, but where a space as great as 30 by 60 feet is available they should be included. A peck of seed potatoes, properly cut, will plant 300 feet of row and should yield 4 to 5 bushels. The usual method is to cut the seed, two eyes to each piece, dividing the fleshy part of the potato as equally as possible. The seed should not be cut until the ground is all ready to receive it. Great care should be taken to get seed that is free from scab or other diseases.

Irish potatoes can be planted in the North just as soon as the frost is all out of the ground and the soil dry enough to work. In the South the planting date will be governed by the season and the time that the young plants will be safe from spring freezes. It generally takes three to five weeks after planting in the Southern States for the potatoes to come up. In the North they will appear in a shorter period if weather conditions are favorable.

Peas

Peas, often called English peas, require considerable space and should not be planted in a small garden. In order to be of real value at least 15 feet of row should be planted for each person in the family. Peas are the first crop that can be planted in the spring. In the North, this planting can be made just as soon as the ground can be worked, and two, or even three, plantings should be made in order to have a continuous supply. In the South, peas are planted about the same time as early Irish potatoes or a little earlier.

Peas require a rather rich soil with a little fertilizer added, as they make a quick growth. One pint of seed will plant 75 to 85 feet of row, and this should yield plenty of peas for five persons at each of four or five pickings. First, spade and rake the ground until it is fine and mellow; then open a furrow 3 to 4 inches deep with the corner of a hoe. Scatter the seeds broadcast in the bottom of the furrow or space them at the rate of 12 to 15 peas to a foot and cover them 3 to 4 inches deep. In heavy soils the seeds should not be covered so deeply as in light or sandy soils. If the ground is cold the seeds may be 10 days or two weeks in coming up, and if there should be a heavy rain meantime the crust forming on the surface of the soil should be carefully broken over the rows with a steel rake.

Extra Early Alaska, Gradus, and Thomas Laxton are among the leading early sorts. The Champion of England and Telephone are considered good medium and late varieties.

The extra-early sorts may be planted with the rows as close as 24 inches apart where hand cultivation is practiced. The later and larger growing varieties require a space of about 3 feet between the rows. There should not be more than 10 days or two weeks’ difference between the planting dates of early and of late varieties of peas, as the late ones mature more slowly than the early sorts.

Several of the early varieties of peas can be grown without supports, but they do better if given something to climb on. The late varieties for the most part make a strong growth and require supports. Brush, where it may be had, woven-wire netting, a wire fence, or strings on stakes make satisfactory supports for peas. (Fig. 16.) The supports should be in place when the peas come up, in order that the plants may climb them from the first. Early spring peas occupy the land a comparatively short time and may be followed by late cabbage, beets, turnips, kale, spinach, or some other crop. A planting of peas made late in the summer will often give a fine fall crop that is ready for use just before frost in the autumn.

Fig. 16.—Tall-growing peas of the Telephone type, supported on brush.

Sweet Corn

Sweet corn requires plenty of space in order to produce enough ears to supply an average family and for that reason finds its proper place in large city and suburban gardens. The rows should be spaced at least 3 feet apart, and the individual plants should stand 15 to 18 inches apart in the rows. If the corn is planted in hills containing three stalks each of the hills must be at least 2¹⁄₂ feet apart in the row for the early dwarf-growing varieties and 3 feet apart for the later or larger growing sorts. Corn requires a rich soil and should not be planted until the ground has warmed considerably. A pint of seed will plant 400 to 500 feet of row in either drills or in hills. Cover the seed 1¹⁄₂ to 2 inches deep and thin to three stalks in a hill or to single stalks 15 or 18 inches apart in drills. If a large number of offshoots or suckers appear at the base of the plants at the ground, these should be removed, as they draw the strength of the plant. None but those shoots that appear very near the ground should be removed, as some of the varieties have their ears quite low on the stalks and the young ear looks very much like a sucker until the silk appears.

The Golden Bantam is the leading early variety. The Country Gentleman, Stowell’s Evergreen, Mammoth Evergreen, and Ohio Sugar are among the leading medium and late varieties. For a continuous supply, plant Golden Bantam as early as possible, then follow in a few days with a planting of Country Gentleman. Two weeks later plant Stowell’s Evergreen, and follow with additional plantings of some good late variety every three weeks until midsummer.

Sweet Potatoes

For an early crop, sweet-potato plants are started in a hotbed or greenhouse, and they must not be set in the open until all danger of frost is past and the ground is well warmed up. They usually thrive best when planted on wide ridges some 4 to 4¹⁄₂ feet apart and 12 to 15 inches apart in the row. Any good garden fertilizer will answer for this crop, and it is best applied either in small trenches or to the surface of the ground before the ridges are thrown up. Frequent shallow cultivation should be given until the vines begin to run. The Porto Rico, Nancy Hall, and Southern Queen varieties are recommended, and the Big-Stem Jersey where a dry-fleshed potato is desired.

Vine Group

The vine group includes cucumbers, summer and winter squashes, cantaloupes, and watermelons. Owing to the space required by these crops they are not adapted to planting in a small garden. For the convenience of those who desire to grow them, brief cultural directions are given.

Practically all of the vine crops can be trained to a wire fence or trellis or on wire netting. By this method they can be planted along a fence or beside a building where there is good sunlight and the vines can be trained up out of the way of other crops. In case cantaloupes or squashes are grown on a trellis, it will be necessary to support the fruits by means of bagging or cloth slings.

All of the vine crops require plenty of fertility in the soil. In addition to a shovelful of manure and a handful of fertilizer in each hill, a small quantity of commercial fertilizer may be worked into the soil around each hill after the vines begin to spread over the ground. The fertilizer should not be placed closer than a foot from the base of the plants and should be scattered over a considerable area. The results to be obtained in a small garden from growing any of the vine crops except summer squashes and cucumbers are extremely doubtful, and beginners are advised to devote the space to crops producing more food on a small area.

Cucumbers

One or two hills will produce enough cucumbers for the average family. Each hill should be given about 50 square feet of space, or 7 feet in each direction. The hills should be made several days before planting, with a shovelful of manure mixed thoroughly with the soil of each hill. About a dozen seeds should be scattered in each hill and covered to a depth of about an inch. Later, the plants should be thinned to three to five in a hill.

Cucumbers are very tender and should not be planted until all danger of frost is past. The plants may be started indoors by planting the seeds in pots, paper bands, or quart berry boxes filled with soil; then set in the garden when the weather is warm. The young cucumber plants are frequently destroyed by a small beetle. The easiest way to protect the plants is by covering each hill with a small wooden box the bottom of which has been removed and a piece of fine mosquito or fly netting tacked on. After the plants become toughened, the beetles are not likely to trouble them.

White Spine is the most common variety.

Cantaloupes

Cantaloupes, sometimes referred to as muskmelons, are grown exactly the same way as cucumbers.

The Rocky Ford, Tiptop, Hoodoo, and Ohio Sugar are among the leading varieties.

Watermelons

Watermelons require too much space for planting in a small garden. The cultivation of watermelons is practically the same as that of squashes.

The Kleckley Sweets and Florida Favorite are among the best small watermelons for home growing. The variety known as Tom Watson is the one most frequently sold on our markets.

Squashes

Two varieties of summer squashes are suited for growing in city gardens. These are the Summer Crookneck and Pattypan. The summer squashes are of bush habit of growth and do not require much space. Three to five hills of either of the kinds mentioned will supply the ordinary family. The hills should be 4 to 5 feet apart. Plant 8 or 10 seeds to a hill, covering them to a depth of an inch, and when the plants are well established thin them to three in a hill.

The Hubbard Squash and Boston Marrow form true vines and require more space than the summer bush varieties. The fruits of the summer varieties are used while they are young and tender, but those of the fall and winter varieties are allowed to get fully ripe before being gathered and stored. Four or five hills will be sufficient, and a space of 10 or 12 feet should be allowed between the hills.

The vine or running squash may be grown in a corner of the garden or on a trellis. In one instance an old peach tree formed a support for a large squash vine and the fruits were held up by slings consisting of strips of bagging.