Chapter XXVII: Section 1754: applies to all branches of the service, in Washington, D (18)

This attorney made up his mind when entering practice that he would use as much care as possible in bringing his suits, so when a case was brought to him, he always had a complete report concerning the party against whom the suit was brought. He made it a point to know the party’s standing in the community, whether he was good or poor pay, what property he had, if he had property, what incumbrances were against it,--in fact, he knew everything about his man before he started his suit and knew very well what per cent of the judgment he would receive if he obtained same. This was business-like and it made him much money and saved him a great deal of time in useless litigation.

At the court house usually there is an information bureau, conducted by some member of the reporting company of the city which can give him a complete statement of the people’s credit. A Clipping Bureau in the city can also give additional information. The information bureau of the abstract office can tell all about the property that the party concerned owns, the obligations against it and so forth. The assessor’s office, county treasurer’s office and the clerk’s office are all able to give information. He claimed that these various avenues of information which he uses, have made him more than $1,000 to $1,200 a year.

He also runs in a few lawyer’s-directory services, holding himself ready to give reports concerning people who live in the community. For these reports he charges $2.00 or more and if the report is very long, he makes a charge of $5.00. These reports, he says, run into a considerable sum each week, which, alone, would defray all of his office expenses.

PLAN No. 736. DIVORCED WOMAN FARMS

This woman was left alone by the desertion of her husband and had two small children to take care of. She endeavored to secure a position in the city, but was unsuccessful, so she made arrangements to rent a farm two or three miles from the city, and near the electric line. It was an irrigated tract, and she went on the farm in the early spring and remained there until late in the fall.

She had had very little farming experience prior to this time, but found that she could not only make a living, but put up many preserves besides, and soon she had four or five hundred dollars to carry her through the winter.

PLAN No. 737. YOUNG LADY ON THE FARM BECAME AMBITIOUS

She became convinced that by making good cottage cheese there would be a ready sale for it, so she prepared to learn all that she could about cottage cheese making. She asked questions of all of those who made it, and she attended every meeting where she could make inquiries about making the cheese. She wrote to the Department of Agriculture for a bulletin of how to make cottage cheese on the farm. From these sources she gained much information and started making the cheese. She put it up in very pretty packages and labeled them, “Cottage Cheese from the Farm Direct to You.”

Those who ate her cottage cheese wanted more. She made a price high enough to net her a very good profit. She placed an ad. in one of the daily papers of the city and secured a good deal of business through it. She delivered her sales by parcel post.

In the beginning prior to advertising, she solicited among her friends by telephone, selecting in this manner people with whom she could get in direct touch from the farm. She secured regular customers through her friends who lived in the city in this manner, and in five or six months she had a steady demand for all the cottage cheese she could manufacture. She claims to make seven or eight hundred dollars a year in this way.

PLAN No. 738. BLUE PRINTS OF FURNITURE BECAME VERY POPULAR

This man made a specialty of making blue prints of different kinds of furniture that could be made at home. He exploited the fact that the ordinary farm conveniences could be made by the man on the farm and much money saved.

If it was a kitchen cabinet, he drew the plan and made a blue print of it, which showed how to put it together. He also wrote a letter of instructions on “What to Do and How to Do It,” and approximately the cost of making the article. He had these blue prints and letters prepared and when inquiry was made for these plans, for which he charged $1.00 each, he forwarded them at once.

There was scarcely an article of utility in the house that he did not have a blue print of, and instructions for making it, and the exact cost of materials and tools necessary to do the work. These grew very popular, and in a year’s time, by running an ad. in several of the local, country, weekly and farm papers, he was enabled to make a net profit of approximately $2,000. In the beginning he did this work on the side, but later it took up his entire time.

PLAN No. 739. RETIRED MAN GOES INTO POLITICS

This man had sold his farm and had been residing in the city for about two years without anything special to do. He became possessed of the idea that he could serve his country, city or state in some manner, so he saw one of the leading politicians of the town who gave him the following advice:

That he go to one of the local attorneys and pay him a fee of, say, $25.00 and get a complete list of all of the various offices that were open to people in that county seat, giving the names of the township offices that he might be able to fill, the requirements of each office and the salary to be derived therefrom, and the time that these offices would come up for appointment or election, also the same information relative to the county, the city, and the other towns in the county; also what offices were open in the state, with their respective salaries and the requirements of each, and a further statement from the attorney as to what appointments were open, or were available from the various congressmen and other governmental agencies. This report was submitted to him and he went over the entire field and ascertained which one aroused his interest. After making his selection, he went to the office of the county auditor and obtained leave to look over the votes that had been cast for the last few years and found that the Republicans had dominated the county for years back; so from this he determined that it was a question of getting the nomination on the Republican ticket, and this he set about to do.

First, he became familiar with the strong men of his party and also found out in what way he could be of real service to the party. In this way he ascertained what offices were short and what kind of competition he could expect. While he did not get the office that he thought he was best qualified to fill, yet there was another in which he did not encounter any competition and was nominated and elected.

The $25.00 he paid the attorney for this outline was money well invested, and he made the suggestion that any young man who desires to follow public work for a livelihood would do well to follow the advice which was so profitable to him.

Politics is like any business--one must build slowly and carefully. After he has rendered his party service for a period of years, and even though unsuccessful at the polls, there are always opportunities for him to secure appointments on certain commissions or obtain good positions through the influence of friends in the party. And receiving the above report, which has been given as a suggestion, you will be very much surprised to know how many political offices there are in your city, county, state, and nation.

PLAN No. 740. DOUGHNUTS EARN HER A HOME

She lived in a city of about 50,000 population and was absolutely dependent upon her own efforts. She chose, rather than go out to work, to earn her money from her own kitchen, if possible. She had always been complimented on the kind of doughnuts she made, and she thought that if people were as appreciative as those who had eaten her doughnuts, she would be able to make a very good income from making them. So she started making “Home-made Doughnuts;” real home-made doughnuts--no make-believe about them. She labeled them, “Mrs. Blanche’s Doughnuts.” Soon she established a reputation for them, as people began to talk about the quality of her doughnuts. They called for them at the store, and the store people wanted to buy from her, so they could fill her orders. The result was that in a few years she had bought and paid for a home in one of the best districts of the city, as well as making a good living besides.

To a woman who has a home and children, one wonders why she should prefer to go out to work when there are so many plans that she can execute in her own kitchen, and be with her family and be her own boss.

PLAN No. 741. HIDDEN COIN IN WINDOW

This is an old plan, but to those who have never seen it worked it might be suggestive of some idea.

The merchant increased the value of his store windows by means of concealing a coin or some other object and awarding the person who finds the article, a certain prize. You would be surprised at the amount of interest this attracts to a display window, and it often brings many sales. At least, it has the effect of making the windows far better advertising mediums.

PLAN No. 742. HE DREW PICTURES

If you wanted to illustrate certain subject matter in your book, this man would with his camera take an exact picture, so as to give you an idea of what his art work would be like. After taking these pictures, he would send them to a Chicago company which would put them through a process of enlarging to the desired size, leaving only the dim lines on the print, so from these he could make his drawing. This man understood art work and could lay in the lines with pen and ink in an excellent manner and was sure to meet with the satisfaction of the man with whom he was dealing. From this plan alone he was able to make a living.

PLAN No. 743. THE WAY A YOUNG BOY PAID HIS EXPENSES WHILE GOING THROUGH THE GRADE AND HIGH SCHOOL

This young man lived in the Northwest country about twenty miles from a large city. At a very early age his mother died, leaving his father with seven or eight children. His father was very cruel, and he can remember how each child, when they became old enough to think for themselves, ran away. He had three sisters, and because of the cruel treatment they had to leave. His father refused to use any farm implements other than was made by his own hands. When it came to putting the wood up in the winter, he would make all of the children go out and work with large saws until they almost dropped from exhaustion. He made a wagon to which he hitched these children and compelled them to draw the wood to the house. This kind of work continued until he was unable to stand it any longer, and he left for the city, not knowing where he was going to make his home.

He got a job working in a home, doing odd chores. He had a desire to go to school, and this privilege was allowed him, and for his keep he rendered service to the family. He was an exceptionally good boy and did his best to please the people for whom he was working, with the result that this was spoken of to others in the neighborhood. Finally a doctor’s wife became interested in him and made it possible for him to continue and devote his spare time to his school work. He realized this advantage and worked hard and made a good showing in his grade school work.

When it came to the high school, he was doubtful as to whether or not he could continue, but the good woman encouraged him further, and believing in his fidelity to his work and the great interest he manifested in his education, she decided to assist him through a high school course, in which he won an enviable reputation. He was made the president of his class and won unusual honors through his ability as a debater.

This is a good illustration of what a boy, alone in the world, can do for himself. This young man made it a point to please the persons for whom he was working, and always had in mind the giving of more service than was asked of him, and in this way he won their appreciation and their good will, and naturally made them ambitious for his future welfare.

PLAN No. 744. ELEVATOR BOY BECOMES ENGINEER

When I was in high school I knew a boy there who was engaged in the elevator work. His dress was very ordinary; he had no parents and had to look out for himself.

One day he had a conversation with one boy in the class who was planning on becoming an engineer. This boy made it clear to him how important it was to know all about algebra, geometry, etc., and do his daily work in the best possible manner. He was much impressed with this conversation and made up his mind that he would become an engineer. He continued his work at the elevator, and in this way defrayed his entire high school expenses. He was allowed the privilege of sleeping in one of the rooms in the large building, which was his only home, and his elevator work paid for his board and gave him a little extra money.

High school was not enough. He must go to college, and he felt that he must go to one of the best engineering schools, which he did. He found employment during the summer, worked in the various mines, where he followed the mining engineer’s work and in this way not only made a good salary but gained beneficial experience as well.

Not many years ago I met him and learned he was engaged in railroad work in Alaska, held a very responsible position.

PLAN No. 745. HE DEVELOPED AN AMUSEMENT PLACE AT THE LAKE

This lake lay about seventeen miles outside of a city of some 125,000 population. About three years prior to the time to which I refer, a real estate campaign was put on and a car line was built to this place, and advertisements were displayed showing the advantage of this lake as a future summer resort. After the real estate boom subsided the place did not materialize as a summer resort.

One day a young fellow from an eastern city came to this place and noticed the great opportunity for an amusement resort during the summer months. He made a lease for a number of years and began to build up a summer resort. He took the old restaurant building and turned it into an up-to-date place. All people who took lunches at this restaurant, paid a good price, but those who brought their lunches and desired to use the hall, paid 25 cents for the privilege. He opened bathing houses and made the usual charges, and pointed out to the people of the city the great opportunity of visiting this lake Friday afternoon or Saturday night and remaining until Monday. He made arrangements to supply them with tents. He arranged with large stores to have picnics at this lake, and he offered special inducements to the people to visit his resort. He was very successful, and after a couple of years of this kind of work he had made this one of the most popular places of amusement.

PLAN No. 746. RIDING TO COLLEGE ON BROOMS--HOME WORKERS IN SOUTH DOING IT

Broom-making in some of the southern states is being encouraged by home demonstration agents of the United States Department of Agriculture and the state colleges. The home clubs in Alabama rank first in this work, and the past year some especially good records have been made in the state. The crowd which attends one of these broom-making demonstrations is such as to make the passer-by think an auction is being held.

Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, grows broomcorn, and brush and broom-making has become so popular in that section that all the members of clubs who didn’t grow a patch last year are planning to do so the coming season. A broom-making machine has been bought by one community in the county, and other localities have ordered machines for use next summer. With a machine, twenty-five brooms can be made in one day. Each member makes her own brooms and gives one-fourth of her output for use of the machine.

The cost of making a broom in that part of the state is estimated to be 20 cents, with the wire, thread, tacks, and handle costing about 12¹⁄₂ cents. Good hickory handles cost 8 cents apiece, while those of other woods cost 6 cents. Tuscaloosa County plans soon to manufacture the broom handles instead of buying them.

The community that possesses a broom-making machine has a source of steady income. While the broom work is planned primarily for the young people, the older members of the family, on cold rainy days and in winter, find making these necessary household articles an easy way to add to the family income. At the present price of brooms, fair wages can be made.

When a pupil learns to make perfect brooms, if she wishes to put them on the market, she is permitted to label them as “Tuscaloosa Grown” and “Home-Demonstration-Club Brooms.” Some of the girls in the clubs are planning to earn money for normal school and college by broom work. Will they be termed witches if they ride to school on a broom?

The boys as well as the girls in the broom-corn sections are interested in the industry. One boy in Cherokee County, Alabama, has been enabled to enter high school by the money he earned in making brooms. He has sold sixty at $1 each and has 200 more to make.

PLAN No. 747. GIRLS RAISING MORE CHICKENS THAN BOYS IN FLORIDA CLUBS

Thousands of chickens were added to Florida’s supply of fowls last year by the efforts of the boys and girls under the supervision of the home-demonstration agents of the United States Department of Agriculture and the state colleges. The bronze medal for the best individual record made by a girl went to one in St. Johns County. She set 179 eggs and raised 152 chickens, valued at $264.24. The expenses for raising the flock were $56.95, leaving a net profit of $207.29. A boy in Baker County, won the state bronze medal given for the boy who made the best individual report in the state. He raised eighty-three chickens, valued at $116.15, at a cost of $47.64. His net profit was $68.51. The girls in Florida apparently are outstripping the boys in the poultry-club work.

PLAN No. 748. POULTRY YIELDS $1.14 AN HOUR

A side line for the farmer’s wife which yields $1.14 for every hour she puts into it is worth the consideration of every farm woman. A Wabash County, Indiana, woman has demonstrated that this amount can be made by keeping chickens. Last year the local county agent interested this woman in keeping a farm poultry flock, and as a result she produced a net profit of $172.24. She kept an accurate account of her work and found at the end of the season that she had received $1.14 an hour for the time she actually devoted to caring for her flock.

PLAN No. 749. GIRLS HERD THEIR OWN SHEEP

“After paying all expenses, I cleared $1,240 from my sheep last year,” reports a girl member of a sheep club organized in Fremont County, Wyoming. Several years ago she bought the first of a flock and she has handled her sheep so successfully that they number 108 ewes. In 1918 her flock produced seventy-nine lambs, seventy-six of which she raised. These, with seven orphan lambs abandoned by sheep herders, constituted the year’s increase. All the care the sheep require is given them by their girl owner. She next plans with part of her profits to buy twenty-five pure-bred Cotswold ewes in Nebraska and to use them to start a pure-bred flock.

A girl in Sheridan County, Wyoming, in 1918 cleared $928 with a flock of forty-eight ewes. During the coming season these two girls plan to throw their sheep together and to herd them themselves over the Big Horn Mountains. Orphan lambs discarded by other camps are also to be collected and cared for by the youthful herders. Members of the boys’ and girls’ sheep clubs in some of the western states find the salvaging of “bum” or stray lambs an economical way of obtaining a start in the sheep-club work.

PLAN No. 750. CHAMPION DRAWS 80 CENTS AN HOUR FOR GARDEN WORK

Eighty cents an hour for working in his garden is what a man of Fillmore County, Minnesota, earned in his one-tenth-acre plot. He was awarded the state championship in garden work in Minnesota last year, and in his report to the state club leader of the boys’ and girls’ club work, he says:

“For several seasons I had grown a garden with some success, and in 1919 I determined to secure even better results. I started my garden on three plots (all together comprising one-tenth-acre) differing widely in soil, slope and surroundings. Two had been, until the year before, waste land, and sprouted a healthy crop of bones and rusty cans in the wake of the plow. I made my plans according to conditions and adhered to them throughout the season to save time and confusion when there was real work to do. Desk-farming is one of the most interesting features of the work.

“Tomatoes, cabbages, eggplant, and everything that needed an early start were planted about the first of April in four hotbeds of ordinary size. All surplus plants were easily sold.

“In May, twelve dozen tomato plants were transplanted, and were coming along splendidly until one day I found a thrifty plant nearly cut off. This rather pleased me, as I had never seen a cutworm outside of a picture, and I was glad to make his acquaintance. When the seedlings fell, one by one, however, I decided I had seen enough of the pest. Happily, their depredations were stopped in time and there were plenty of plants to fill in.

“I raised about two-dozen kinds of vegetables to provide a variety for the table, and for marketing, large crops of tomatoes, peas, cucumbers and celery were planted.

“Canning was a big factor in making the garden a success. What we couldn’t eat I sold, what I couldn’t sell we canned; and what we couldn’t can, I fed to the chickens, so none were wasted. Our summer kitchen was our cannery and the wash boiler our canner. For nearly everything we used the one-period, cold-pack method and followed the directions sent out by the government, with excellent results. We put up 221 quarts of tomatoes, beans, peas, carrots, beets, chard, sweet pickles, kohlrabi, tomato jelly and sauce, carrot conserve, dill pickles, limes, cabbages, tomato jam, mincemeat, eggplant, celery and others. Since we desired a pleasing variety we canned thirty-seven kinds from our garden and purchased some others.

“In all my work with the plants I kept this in mind--that the earliness, quality and quantity of the product is dependent on the seed, environment (including weather, fertility, and shade) and the care given them. So I purchased the best seed obtainable, planted it when natural conditions were best, and cared for each kind as its peculiarity required. Where there is a deficiency in any of these requirements, it can in part be made up in the others.

“The total receipts from the one-tenth acre were $150.48; subtracting $35.42 for expenses, a profit of $115.06 was left, or the equivalent of 80 cents per hour net for every hour spent working in the garden. Home-gardeners will not have to strike for higher wages for some time yet. In addition, I had the good fortune to win a $45 prize for an exhibit of canned goods at the state fair. So I feel well repaid financially for my efforts.”

PLAN No. 751. BOY BELIEVES IT’S WISE TO LEARN BY EXPERIENCE

Experience pays--that’s the belief of a boy of Montgomery County, Indiana, state champion in the sow-and-litter project in 1918. And because he wished to learn by doing from the start, this club member himself selected and bought the sow he entered in the contest.

The hog was an immune, registered, big-type Poland China gilt, and at the time of purchase, in January, she weighed 279 pounds. In April, nine pigs were farrowed, all of which lived. The litter averaged forty-four pounds apiece at nine weeks, when the leader in the boys’ and girls’ club work weighed them. Four were sold in the fall for $50 apiece, one was fattened, killed and sold for $34, and four sow pigs which are being kept are worth at least $200.

All the care of the pigs has been taken by their boy-owner. His father, in the meantime, has become interested and from now on father and son plan to make the raising of the big type Poland China pigs a main line in their farming.

PLAN No. 752. SUCCESS INSPIRES

Here are the achievements of a Tennessee boy: Fifteen months ago he purchased a Duroc Jersey gilt, giving his note for twelve months to the local bank. This pig has farrowed twenty-seven pigs and has raised twenty-one of them. The boy sold three of the first litter at $25 each. Four of them now weigh 420 pounds and are worth $320. The seven pigs of the second litter are worth $175, and the seven of the third are worth $105, while the mother--the pig purchased when the boy entered the club--is valued at $75. This means a profit of $750 in fifteen months.

PLAN No. 753. GIRL WINS POULTRY RECORD

The poultry record for the past year for West Virginia was made by a girl of the Harrison County Poultry Club. Her record for the year shows a profit of $111. She now has thirty-three year-old hens and twenty-seven pullets in her flock, and has been getting a dozen eggs a day, for which she has received 60 cents and more.

PLAN No. 754. CLUB STARTS BOY ON ROAD TO SUCCESS AS POULTRYMAN

That organized agricultural club-work among boys and girls is something more than a contest which ends with the season, but a continuous, constructive piece of work that eventually leads the club members into the business of farming and home making is illustrated by the accomplishments of a poultry club member in Vermont.

In 1912 a boy joined the Vermont Poultry Club, in spite of the opposition of the members of his own family, and, in a number of instances, discouraging words from friends and neighbors who did not understand what club-work meant to the American boy. He started with only a few settings of eggs, but two years later he was well on the road to success, for he had become the champion in his county in poultry club-work, having produced the best grade of birds and the most profit from his investment. In 1914 he exhibited some of his birds at the county fair, the poultry show, and the state fair, and succeeded in winning a number of ribbons and first prizes. The following year he became the champion poultry-club member of his state and was sent to New York City to the National Education Association to tell how he did his work and what he thought of it. The following year he again won the state championship.

By that time his reputation in the poultry industry had spread to other states and he was selling settings of eggs throughout New England direct to consumers, and had built up a trade in the sale of birds for breeding purposes.

One year later, in 1917, he started out with a business of his own, using his own business cards, his own business stationery, and expanding his poultry plant two-fold. He became manager not only of his own poultry plant, which he developed rapidly, but found time to take a position as superintendent of the poultry farm at one of the State institutions.

PLAN No. 755. CLUB CALF BRINGS $1 A POUND AT MINNESOTA BABY BEEF SHOW

Sixteen counties in Minnesota were entitled to send forty-eight boy and girl club members, with their calves which had won prizes in their county, to the first baby-beef show held in that state. Owing to the influenza epidemic only twenty-nine were able to go to St. Paul in December and exhibit the baby beeves they had raised; but the crowd made up in enthusiasm what it lacked in numbers. The calves were sold at auction and brought an average of 20 cents a pound.

The champion, owned by Irwin McKay, was sold for 35 cents a pound, and with the prizes won, netted his young owner $447. Later the calf was resold for $930, or for a little more than $1 a pound. A boy on the farm can easily pay for his education by raising stock as did the boys above.

PLAN No. 756. ONE EWE GIVES BOY PROFIT OF ALMOST FIFTY DOLLARS

Late in the fall of 1917, a boy of Henry County, Indiana, and nine other boys in his neighborhood, organized a sheep club. A few interested stockmen and the local bank made it possible for each club boy to secure one breed ewe. Each boy gave his note to the bank for the purchase price of his sheep.

In the summer of 1918, a boy presented the following statement of his work and investments:

_Disbursements_

Cost of one ewe $18.00
Feed 6.25
Interest on note .72
------
Total cost $24.97

_Receipts_

1 ewe (inventory) $18.00
1 lamb (sold) 25.00
1 lamb (sold) 22.50
Wool (sold) 6.50
------
Total receipts $72.00
Total cost $24.97
------
Profit $49.03

Investments paying 200 per cent were worth looking into, the farmers who lived in the locality of this club thought and interest in sheep raising increased.

Another boy in the Henry County club has developed a flock of thirty ewes, and plans to have more. His father has become so interested in his work that, although the boy is rather young, he is allowed to go to sales and do his own bidding on prospects for his flock. Practically all the boys engaged in the sheep-club work are keeping their foundation animals and at the same time are adding to their stock.

Previous to 1918, there were but few boys and girls organized into sheep clubs under the supervision of the Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural colleges. With the high price of wool and mutton, the sheep project, however, has become increasingly popular. Last year 257 such clubs were organized, with an enrollment of 3,613 members. During the year 8,005 lambs were raised by these young people, and 2,006 pounds of wool were marketed. The total value of the flocks at the end of the year was $131,173.40; the initial cost of the sheep, together with the expense of feeding them, was $37,082.82; the total profit made by the boys and girls who were members of the sheep clubs, and who continued the work throughout the year, was $94,090.58. The results the boys have been getting have opened the eyes of their fathers. The boys and girls in the sheep clubs are demonstrating in every state that sheep are profitable if well handled.

PLAN No. 757. BOYS’ YOUNG SOW MAKES NET PROFIT OF $385 IN LESS THAN 12 MONTHS

Three hundred and eighty-five dollars in less than a year--that’s the clear profit a young sow gave two boys who live in Harris County, Texas. Theorists in farm management and the like might figure up a pretty big bill of costs against the sow, to be deducted from the profit she has made, but the boys know that such figures would not tell the truth, because they’ve got the money in their pockets--or they did have it.

The sow and her progeny did eat sixteen bushels of corn, worth $24, and they did range over five acres of pasture, considered worth $25. These two items--a total of $49--have already been charged to the sow, and deducted from her gross revenue of $434. The remaining $385 is clear profit, because the rest of the feed consisted of slop and surplus milk that would have been thrown away had there been no pigs, and peanuts and sweet potatoes gleaned by rooting the patches after the crops had been harvested as carefully as possible. She farrowed her first litter of pigs April 4, 1918. One died and two were given in payment for the sow. The other four were grown, fattened, and killed to furnish the family supply of lard and pork. Another litter of six pigs came later in the year and are now on the farm--good-sized shotes in first-class condition. The sow will farrow a third litter of pigs before long. The account now stands this way:

The original sow, $60; six shotes, $60; 800 pounds of pork, $224; twenty five gallons of lard, $90. These four items make a total of $434 from which a deduction of $49 is to be made for corn and pasture. Those figures prove that hog raising on the farms of Harris County, Texas, is profitable. But the caution to be written at the bottom of this story is: do not carry figures too far. Making figures in arithmetic fashion, you would have this: If one sow makes a profit of $385, 100 sows would make a profit of $38,500. That is perfectly good arithmetic but it is not good farming.

The big profit in hog raising on southern farms, the specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture point out, is made where the farm family keeps enough hogs to consume all the waste products, to convert into money the things that would otherwise be lost, and that can be kept on a minimum of bought or stored feed. Every dollar got out of that number of hogs is practically clear profit. Beyond that point the profit dwindles.

The number of hogs that can be profitably kept is, of course, a matter that each farm family must determine for itself. In some cases it may be one sow. In others it may be six or a dozen or any number of sows. On every farm there is some waste that pigs could convert into money. On most farms it probably amounts to at least as much as on one farm, where, in one year, a boy made one sow produce enough revenue to buy a whole set of new furniture for mother or to keep sister in college for a year.

PLAN No. 758. MONEY MADE IN PRESERVING EGGS

Two methods of preserving eggs are recommended by specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture, they follow:

Water-Glass Method:--Use 1 quart of sodium silicate to 9 quarts of water that has been boiled and cooled. Place the mixture in a 5-gallon crock or jar. This will be sufficient to preserve 15 dozen eggs; and the quantity needed to preserve a larger number of eggs will be in proportion.

First, select a 5-gallon crock or jar, and clean it thoroughly, after which it should be scalded and allowed to dry.

Second, heat a quantity of water to the boiling point and allow it to cool.

Third, when cool, measure out 9 quarts of water, place it in the crock, and add 1 quart of sodium silicate, stirring the mixture thoroughly.

Fourth, place the eggs in the solution. Be very careful to allow at least two inches of the solution to cover the eggs.

Fifth, place the crock containing the preserved eggs in a cool, dry place, well covered to prevent evaporation. Waxed paper covered over and tied around the top of the crock will answer this purpose.

Lime method:--When water glass cannot be obtained the following method may be used in its stead. Many consider this method entirely satisfactory, though instances are known in which eggs so preserved have tasted slightly of lime.

Dissolve 2 or 3 pounds of unslaked lime in 5 gallons of water, that has previously been boiled and allowed to cool, and allow the mixture to stand until the lime settles and the liquid is clear. Place clean, fresh eggs in a clean earthenware jug or keg and pour the clear limewater into the vessel until the eggs are covered. At least 2 inches of the solution should cover the top layer of eggs.

Sometimes a pound of salt is used with the lime, but experience has shown that in general the lime without the salt is more satisfactory.

Hold your eggs when the price is low by the above methods and sell when the price is good.

PLAN No. 759. PROTECTION AGAINST FRAUDULENT COURT ACTIONS

How often it happens after one has applied years of honest endeavor that worthless persons will compel him to go to court to defend his character and property against a charge of fraud. After the case has gone to the jury he still believes that it is impossible for such efforts against you to succeed--that the charges and statements cannot be believed. The jury goes to its room and decides the case. The members are tired and want to get home, so they compromise, which means that the defendant loses perhaps $5,000. He thought it impossible to be robbed in daylight before a court and jury, by perjuries, but this is what has happened. The lying combination has been successful. The court is not to blame and sometimes the jury is not at fault. Doubtless the next few years actions of this kind will be very numerous, as the people who traded property during the war will hatch up all kinds of schemes to regain it.

I have listened for days at a time to men in fraud actions lie before court and jury, and they knew they were perjurying themselves and knew its penalty, but that did not deter them. They were wolves in sheeps clothing, and possibility of money meant more to them, than honesty.

The most effective protection against men of this character is as follows: When one has business transactions he should be sure to obtain a signed letter similar to the following. If the parties to the transaction are honest, they will not take exception to it. If it is a trade give them the same kind of a letter:

............... 19....

To........................
Name

........................
Address

Dear Sir:--

I have directed this letter to you for the purpose of stating our
transaction of ................ 19.... with reference to
.................. which is as follows:

(Here give legal description of property and a short and condensed
statement of transaction.)

I wish you to understand that I have in no way depended or relied on
any statement made by you or your agent in above referred to
transaction but have made careful investigation for myself upon which
I have relied.

I have had this letter prepared for the purpose of assuring you on
behalf of myself and representatives that I am forever barred from
complaining in any manner about the above deal.

I remain,

Very truly,

............................
Name

Especially is such letter of value to a lawyer, as without it he may some day be confronted with a former client who is willing to lie about some transactions they have had.

This plan alone may save one his all some day, if he will follow it. As a matter of fact, an attorney should insist on such a letter to protect his client. If a person refuses to sign a letter similar to above it is better to lose a deal, as such refusal warrants suspicions.

PLAN No. 760. IMPROVED MILKING STOOL

It does not seem that a milking stool could need any improvements. Nevertheless, a party recently designed and made a very handy one for the farmer.

The stool is strapped to the body of the milker, and when he rises from the task of milking one cow to go to the next, the stool, of course, goes with him, leaving his hands free. When the weight of the person is placed on the seat, the spring in the rod supporting the seat is compressed, and the rising of the occupant releases the weight, which assists in lifting the stool from the ground.

When many cows have to be milked the work of carrying the stool becomes labor which adds to the worker’s fatigue.

You can manufacture these yourself and market them.

The farmer owning stock can obtain a list of large and small stock farmers from clipping bureaus in any large city. When advertising, begin with a well-written classified ad. in a reputable farm paper.

PLAN No. 761. TRY TO FEED ALL THEY GROW

A farmer who lives in northern Idaho, says:

“I came here five years ago from Montana, buying an 80-acre stump farm, with a small house and barn on it, and with a few acres of it cleaned up along Sand Creek. I paid $2,600 for this place, and it took all the money I had, except a little to buy a couple of cows and a team of horses. For the last five years my wife and I have made a living on this ranch, supporting five children, and have cleaned up the land, so that to-day we have thirty-five acres under cultivation. We made it a point to try to feed everything we grow on the place and selling it as a manufactured product.

“Last year we produced seventy-five tons of choice clover and timothy hay. The surplus timothy we sold at our barn door at about $16.00 per ton. We raised some 150 sacks of potatoes on an acre of newly cleared land and we have sold them at an average of about $1.50 per 100. We have raised about one ton of carrots, three tons of rutabagas, and about one ton of mangels, and red garden beets. The root crops we find very profitable here, and they give us a fairly well balanced ration for our milk cows, with clover hay. Our books show that our cows have averaged, summer and winter, about $18 per month each. We have milked six cows the past year. During that time we raised seventeen hogs, marketed them at a fair price, and have fed our one team of horses.

“We have a nice trout stream running through our yard, as well as a railway station a quarter of a mile away. We have refused an offer of $8,000 for our place, stock and improvements, so that we feel justified in feeling that we have done fairly well in the five years that we have lived on the stump ranch.”

PLAN No. 762. FARMER IN THE WEST

This farmer tells of his success and satisfaction in Idaho, as follows:

“I got very tired of the long severe winters of North Dakota and Minnesota, so I sold my stock and started west hunting for a better climate. My wife liked it in northern Idaho, and her health was a great deal better. So we purchased 160 acres of land. This land had been cut-over about fifteen years ago and the stock from the adjoining town had grazed over it and scattered clover and timothy seed so that the stumps were almost covered up with hay.

“I made my first payment about the 10th of July, and in the next thirty days I got in and with scythes and hand rakes put up some twenty-five tons of fine clover and timothy hay. I bought five Holstein cows that the Commercial Club had shipped in, paying $470 for the five cows. I bought a cream separator and began work within thirty days after making my initial payment. I found that 160 acres of stump land was too much for one man to undertake with my limited capital, so I had a chance of selling off ninety acres of it at an advance of $10.00 over the purchase price, so that I sold that much and have about sixty acres left. We had a lot of snow here the past winter, but the cold was not severe, there only being six nights of zero weather during the entire winter.

“I now have a good barn, a small house, seventeen head of cattle, three good horses, and have cleaned up fifteen acres of land. I expect to cut fifty tons of good hay this coming season, and I do all the work myself, with the exception of one boy. Our five cows have averaged us about $10 per month in cream checks.”

If a man wants to make a success of his life and has the will to do it nothing can stop him.

PLAN No. 763. A GOOD COUNTRY TO LIVE IN

This man came to northern Idaho, from Minnesota, regarding which he says: “Because we decided this was a good country to live in, I bought 120 acres of land from one of the lumber companies, cut-over land, and began preparations in October, 1914. By hard work I was able to get in a few acres for the crop the first spring, which cut me enough clover and wheat, hay and grain to feed a team of horses, two cows, some pigs and chickens. I have contracted clearing here at about $15 per acre. Off of the three and a half acres of clover that I sowed down the first October and November that I was here, I cut ten tons last season. This spring I have sown down one-half acre of alfalfa, three acres of wheat, twenty-five acres of extra fine clover, one acre in my garden and orchard, and about five acres of new clover. I have twenty-one hogs that I have raised on the clover stubble, two cows and two horses. Clover makes a wonderful crop here, producing from two to three tons in two cuttings every year. My wife and children are very much pleased and we expect to pass our remaining days in this valley.”

PLAN No. 764. IRRIGATED FRUIT LAND NEAR SPOKANE, WASHINGTON

He bought his land at Opportunity nine years ago at a cost of $350 an acre. He now has five and a half acres in bearing orchard, with 450 trees eight and nine years old. In 1913 they yielded an average of four packed boxes of apples to the tree, for which he received an average price of $1.31 a box, or a total return of $2,856.

The story of the production of these trees from the beginning is interesting. The first year they yielded nothing; the second year, one box; the third year, 125 boxes; the fourth year, 500 boxes; the fifth year, 1,200 boxes; the sixth year, 1,800 boxes; the seventh year, 2,300 boxes and the eighth year, 2,300 boxes that he sold at $1.20 per box. The lowest price that he received during this time has approximately been $1 per box and he says that the farmer can make money marketing fancy apples at 75 cents a box.

But more can be done on a 10-acre tract than grow apples. For the first five or six years most of the land can be utilized by planting tomatoes, cucumbers, cantaloupes, potatoes, squash, pumpkins and all sorts of garden truck between the rows of trees. Most of the tracts are farmed this way, in addition to setting aside a part of the land to be permanently used for these crops, berry patches, etc. This inter-planting makes the land pay operating expenses and a profit while the trees are coming into bearing. After the trees attain size, the only other crop that can be raised is clover or some legume that will put nitrogen into the soil.

$300 AN ACRE FROM DEWBERRIES

The following figures are quoted from this Opportunity farmer and is from his own experience with these crops: “Tomatoes will yield from ten to twenty-five tons to the acre. Grapes do well and sold for the table market. Have paid at the rate of $700 to the acre. Green corn for the market pays well.” He has taken from $150 to $200 worth of hubbard squashes off an acre. One acre of dewberries after the third year brought in an average of $300 a year. He has realized about the same from strawberries.

The first year he was on the land he took $525 worth of tomatoes off an acre; $235 worth of cantaloupes off two-thirds of an acre; $175 worth of watermelons from an acre. He has half an acre of cherry trees that are paying him well.

In his poultry yard he raises Rhode Island Reds, because he says they do best in the winter when he has more time to give them and the price of eggs is higher. During December, January and February, his 175 hens laid enough eggs to bring in an average of $56 a month at a total expense for feed, etc., of about $10.00 a month.

Discussing the cost of living and maintenance he says:

“It cost me $24 a year for domestic water and electric lights--a cheaper rate than almost any city. The water for irrigation is $7 a year per acre. My net income from my land last year averaged over $300 per acre. My land nine years ago cost me $350 an acre; it is now worth $1,500 an acre.”

The above is a remarkable record. Facts are more wonderful than exaggerated statements. The above district is perhaps one of the most beautiful home districts in the world.

PLAN No. 765. WEALTH PROM A GARDEN PATCH

Strawberries, raspberries, cabbage, cucumbers, currants, rhubarb, beans, cantaloupes, gooseberries, grapes, hubbard squash, summer squash, corn, green peppers, hot peppers, ground-cherries, watermelons, citron, egg plant, tomatoes, are some of the things grown on the irrigated farm of this man living near Spokane, Washington.

And these are the side lines: The entire place of twenty-five acres is planted to fruit trees--apples and pears--now five and six years old. Their 1915 gross returns were above $5,500, practically all from garden produce. In 1914 their sales were $5,400.

This farm is an inspiration and an education. Every available square foot seems to be growing something. Grapes are growing along the low stone wall that separates him from his neighbor. Between trees are long rows of vegetables and in the tree rows themselves are cucumbers, squash and similar products.

One of the 1915 yields was $1,600 from three acres of strawberries. Six rows of raspberries 160 feet long brought a return of $75. Five acres of cantaloupes sold at an average price of $1.25 a crate and brought a gross return that averaged $250 per acre. Sales of green corn ran $60 an acre, and some of the corn and all of the fodder was left. An acre of peppers brought in about $400. Currants proved very profitable, yielding 40 to 50 cents a bush, with about 1,000 bushes to the acre. Eggplant has been made to pay over $300 per acre. From about an acre of tomatoes he sold 1,200 crates at an average price of 35 cents a crate.

This produce was not peddled or even hauled to Spokane for sale among the grocers. It was sold at wholesale and loaded on the cars at the nearby stations. Much of it went to Spokane, but the greater part went to outside markets.

PLAN No. 766. PROFIT FROM IRRIGATED LANDS

It is just a little difficult to tell the story of irrigated lands and not seem to be painting the picture too bright. The enormous crops that can be produced by intelligent use of the water are so large that it is hard to believe that so much value can be taken off an acre of ground. Alfalfa is perhaps the lowest in value per acre per year, and yet this same hay fed to cows and pigs and marketed as milk and hogs can be made to pay an annual return of from $125 to $250.

The well-conducted apple orchards produce from 250 to 500 boxes of apples per acre per year. The average of the good orchards is somewhere in between. These will run from 60 to 80 or 85 per cent fancy and extra fancy and that means a sale price at the orchard around $1 a box.

PLAN No. 767. WHAT TEN ACRES DID

This farmer and his wife, living near Spokane, Washington, tell of the comfort and profit they get from their ten acres as follows: