introduction, and showed up the advantages of his brushes in a fair way.

Night after night, week after week, he continued this work. Saturday was his best day, as he usually made three or four dollars on that day alone. He netted from this work something like $10 to $12 a week. It was hard work carrying a suitcase filled with brushes, from which he showed his wares, but it paid his expenses through his high school and enabled him to get his education. He stuck to his work and won out. This is a plan that any young man of energy and push can follow at odd intervals to make his way through high school. PLAN No. 677. LAWYER GETS ON SCHOOL BOARD After getting out of the law school he did not have sufficient funds to open an office, so he became a teacher in one of the high schools in the city in which he desired to make his home. After teaching for about two years, he determined that he would go into practice for himself. This he did. He felt that it would be an advantage to him to hold some kind of public office, and so he ran for and secured a membership on the school board. This position he was well qualified to fill, having taught for several years preceding his study of the law. After that he joined an athletic association and ran for office in the association and was made one of its directors. In these two positions he enjoyed a good opportunity for coming in contact with the best people of the city, and when politics was alive, he was one of the main members of the political organization, and had much to say about who should be elected to office. He served as assistant prosecuting attorney for some time, got the experience that he desired, and then continued with his practice. From these offices, which have been a great advantage to him, he has won an excellent reputation in the community. PLAN No. 678. HE WANTED TO BE A LAWYER He went into a railway office as stenographer and studied law as he worked. He was a man of excellent appearance and untiring energy, and he worked until he had passed the bar examination for his state. He prepared to make himself a specialist on railway law, and continued study for three or four years. During that time he acted as assistant to the railway attorney, but instead of staying with the railway company for years, as most attorneys do, he identified himself with one of the best trial lawyers in his part of the state, who made a specialty of damage suits. He was a valuable adjunct to this firm as he was familiar with railway law. By reason of the fact that he had a knowledge of railway law, from the railway standpoint, he was very successful in his work. PLAN No. 679. LAWYER BECOMES RAILWAY COUNSEL After finishing at a law school, he obtained an appointment as assistant to the counsel for a railway. He studied for two or three years, in this capacity, and worked with the counsel of the railway until finally he won recognition for his services from the company. The railway counsel was changed, or left the service, and he became counsel for the railway at that point. This kind of work pays well, and he has an assistant or two under him, and enjoys a good reputation in his community. PLAN No. 680. NEWSPAPER MAN MAKES EXTRA MONEY Reporters on newspapers make extra money by following the career of men who are public spirited. They become familiar with their aspirations and try to help them make good, by giving them all the newspaper support they possibly can. Of course, this cannot be done without compensation, and the reporter is paid extra for this work. It is valuable aid, for the man who desires to attain political prominence. The reporter, as a rule, is under-paid, and this enables him to increase his income considerably. The reporter’s advice alone is worth a great deal, as the average aspirant for office does not understand what is, and what is not, a good news article. The reporter can be absolutely fair with the paper and render this service. PLAN No. 681. HE BECOMES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE SECRETARY There is a large field for any man who has ambition for public work, in the chambers of commerce of the various cities of our country. He can identify himself as an assistant, or in some other capacity and win a good reputation as a man of value in this work. From time to time there are inquiries from this source for the right kind of men for the work. The salaries are good, ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 a year, and the work, itself, is extremely interesting. This really is a first-class advertising man’s job. If a man understands advertising, and understands the advertising of communities, there is no reason why he should not be a capable man for this position, and such a man usually knows what is good news value, and what articles can be put in the paper, and what effect these various articles will have for the benefit of his community. It is usually a business proposition and supported by business men, exclusively; professional men and politicians having little to do with this work and the young man who can make good will soon find a position awaiting him. I know a few men who have made excellent records in this direction and are now the recipients of $8,000 to $10,000 a year. It took them at least five to six years before they were qualified to hold a large position. One started in as a newspaper reporter, and the other started in as an editor of a paper, and finally developed into an advertising man. PLAN No. 682. LAWYER BECAME STATE REPRESENTATIVE He was always the champion of the issues that arose in his particular neighborhood club, and he finally decided that if he were a state representative, it would be a beneficial experience for him, as well as an avenue through which to become known in the state generally. So he went about increasing his friendship, becoming acquainted with everybody in his district, and finally announced himself as candidate for the state legislature, and he was very much surprised at the ease with which he won the election. He was repeatedly returned to the legislature and has almost become a permanent fixture in this capacity. He has always seen to it that the newspapers give him proper mention, on any matter in which he is engaged. He makes it a point to call the attention of the reporters to it if it has any news value at all. By this studied effort and work on his part he has made himself good timber for the United States Congress. Not only that, but he has won a large friendship among the people of the various states, which has brought him a good deal of valuable practice, and has given him business opportunities. A young lawyer makes a very serious mistake when he does not pay attention to his opportunities in this direction. PLAN No. 683. HE BECAME POLICE JUDGE After winning an election as justice of the peace, it is always the ambition of the justice to become police judge of the city. To win this position does not only mean the increase of one hundred or more dollars a month in salary, but also gives a good opportunity for a lawyer to build up a reputation, which may lead to a judgeship in the superior court. Of course, the mayor and city council of a city determine which justice will be the police court judge, and a friendly standing with them will aid in determining whether or not a candidate will be police judge. Most of the people of a city and the county know more about the police judge than they do about the superior court judge. As a matter of fact, the newspapers of the community give far more publicity to the doings of the police court than do those of the superior court. Every little matter that comes up before the police court, serious or otherwise, is printed in the local daily, and all questions of any consequence that are to come up will first take place before the police court. So a lawyer, who occupies this position, and has good judgment, and takes his cases seriously, has an opportunity to make a good record for himself, and if he handles his opportunities in this position properly, he can become judge of the superior court. This work brings him in touch with all the police branches and their work, and the county prosecutor’s office as well. As a matter of fact, many persons in the profession believe that it is best for a man who desires to become a superior court judge, to first become justice of peace. PLAN No. 684. ILLUSTRATOR FOR U. S. GOV. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 685. HE WANTED TO BECOME CITY COMMISSIONER There were at least thirty persons aspiring for the $5,000-a-year job and he was but little known. Although he felt that he was strong enough to get the nomination, yet most of his friends advised him that they did not think that he could succeed, but they would do their best for him. He went in for all there was in it; he worked both night and day; he obtained the support of many young men in the city. He had stalwart friends in the police department and with their support and the support of their friends he gained the nomination. With the nomination secured, he felt sure of election. However, he did not give up his personal efforts but worked both night and day until the night of the election, and then he did not give up until all of the votes were cast. The way he had worked for himself was an inspiration to his friends. However, it might be said that he had three or four friends who were especially valuable to him, and knew the political situation far better than he, and they did not hesitate to support him to the limit, as they believed in him and felt sure that if once elected he would make a good record. When the votes were counted, he had won by a large majority. Many men believe that it is unbecoming for them to work for themselves, but this man did not think so. He felt that the enthusiasm of his friends would lag if the man who was running for the office did not believe enough in himself to work with them. PLAN No. 686. HE RAN FOR JUSTICE OF THE PEACE When he came into the community he was little known; in fact, up to the time he ran for the nomination on the Republican ticket, he was scarcely heard of, but prior to his nomination he billed the entire town. He had small boards placed at the various bridges and public places in the community with a large picture of himself, naming the office he desired to secure. He also had the telegraph poles tacked with large posters, bearing the same announcement. This publicity was so striking that it caused a great deal of comment all over the city, and when the nomination came up he secured it easily, and nomination in that county meant--the election! PLAN No. 687. HE FIRST BECAME COUNTY ASSESSOR This attorney, from a financial standpoint, was not prepared to go into the practice of law, so he became an aspirant for the office of county assessor. He was not a good speaker, but he made up his mind to work strenuously for this office, and so he obtained the support of ten or twelve of his friends who worked for him, and, finally, he secured the office. Many of his friends could not understand why he wanted such an office, but when once nominated and elected he had many people to appoint who make the assessment of the property in the county. These men were naturally people who supported him, and this enabled him to build up very strong political support throughout the county with this support as a nucleus which re-elected him many times. PLAN No. 688. A MIDDLE-AGED LADY’S WAY OF MAKING A LIVING The following is a plan that represents lots of hard work. This woman believed she could sell goods direct and obtain higher-class and better-grade goods by directly representing the factory. She made arrangements with a certain factory, and started in to sell. She made a specialty of women’s and children’s underwear, stockings, etc., and sold large quantities. In this house-to-house selling of these goods, she netted more than $70.00 a month. In her travels she also found opportunity to sell other products, such as honey and other household articles which she carried as side lines. If there was a demand by her customers for goods she did not carry she made it a point to get the desired articles for them. PLAN No. 689. A LAUNDRY PLAN THAT PAID This man ran a laundry in a city of upwards of 150,000 inhabitants, and the population was increasing daily. He figured that if he could see the newcomers before the other laundries did that they would just as soon patronize him as the others, and yet he would like to know something about their reputations as to payment before obtaining their business. Therefore he got in touch with a first-class information bureau in his city and secured all the names of people who came from the smaller towns into the city, and as soon as he got their names and the town they left he directed a letter to the editor of the paper in the town from which they had come inquiring as to their present address and their reputation for paying. After securing their address and statement as to their reputation for payment of their bills, and if he ascertained that they were good, he immediately called upon them at their new address in the city, and obtained their business. He had no competition in his work and this plan alone made his laundry a prosperous business. It might be stated that if there is no information or clipping bureau in your community, it would be well for you to take all of the newspapers of the surrounding towns, which could be secured by direct subscription or by going to the local newspaper where, undoubtedly, all of these papers are sent in as exchanges, and by an arrangement with your local newspaper, they would be glad to allow you to read and go over these papers. The items in these papers will show the names of people who are leaving the small towns and the communities to which they go; then find out through the transfer men and companies where they are. PLAN No. 690. HOW HE BECAME A BANKER When I knew him at college he was a man of wonderful and unusual strength and good nature. He was as democratic as a person could be, and was liked by all who knew him. If you were to pick out a banker in the crowd at school, he would be the last man, perhaps, that you would think would follow the banking business. After his college course he went into the stock business. He was well liked by all of the stockmen in the district in which he lived, and he had an acquaintance extending through the entire Northwest. But the stock business did not particularly appeal to him. He then entered into other lines of work and finally became closely associated with a man engaged in the banking business. This man had taken over a bank in one of the farming communities and asked this party whether he would like to spend a part of his time in this little bank and see what he could do in the way of assisting it. This work interested him from the beginning. He immediately took possession of the bank as though it were his own and began to build it up. In a short time he had doubled its deposits. His record was so unusual that the head of the bank in the city became interested, and as his showing continued the president of the bank became convinced that he should be in the city bank, so he made arrangements for him to come. He went at things with the same untiring energy in the city bank, as he had in the country bank, with the results that the deposits were greatly increased. I remember one day going into this large bank and I was somewhat surprised at seeing him as one of the managing officers of the bank. I asked him how it came that he was there, and he told me that he had been associated in the banking business for a number of years. The position which he had obtained did not in the least effect his pride and he possessed the same spirit, which manifested itself so agreeably in his school days. He said he had been helped, and that it was his desire to help others as he had been helped--that was his attitude in the banking business. Instead of possessing the ordinary cold and distant attitude of the average banker, he was the opposite. In his former work among the stockmen of the Northwest he acquired a large acquaintance, and they all thought a great deal of him, and had confidence in the institution with which he was connected. They rather preferred to deal with a bank with which he was connected. Your friends often determine whether you are to be a success or a failure. PLAN No. 691. WONDER COVERS “Wonder covers” for rolling-pin and bread-board are the invention of a Maine woman, but anybody can make them. For the rolling-pin, the cover is of stockinette or any elastic knitted textile fabric, made to pull over the pin in a stretched-tight way, like a jersey sleeve, and tied at the open end. The other part of the equipment is a mere square of canvas (sailcloth), to lay upon the bread-board. Provided with these covers the housewife can manipulate the softest dough without any danger of its sticking to pin or board. But before using nearly a quart of flour must be rubbed into the pin-cover the first time it is slipped over the rolling-pin, and a little flour must be rubbed into it the same way each time it is used. With careful use the covers will stay clean a long time. When necessary to wash them, it should be done with cool water and a small scrubbing brush. Then they may be ironed. But the flour should be thoroughly washed out of them before they are ironed. PLAN No. 692. CHICKEN CANNED Down in Alabama a woman makes a living by taking orders for canned chicken and chicken by-products. She puts one pound of meat in a number 2 can, and the gravy adds from 4 to 8 ounces, and she receives 80 cents a can for it. She claims that at this price she makes good money and she does so by using the best of soup meat in soups and gumbo. One rooster by this method brought her $3.50. The above price might be increased, and a little advertising and personal sales work would develop a good business in any town. PLAN No. 693. A GOOD FARMER USES OTHER PEOPLE’S FARMS A young farmer was limited in capital and could not buy a good farm, so he purchased a few acres in a good district and went to work. He soon found that the farmers in his neighborhood did not understand their business. He took over a large neglected orchard for a crop arrangement and in a short time had contracted for land for two to three years that the farmers were neglecting, which gave him a large farm. He went to work and in several years not only made a good saving but was able to finance himself for a farm of his own. PLAN No. 694. STARTED A CLOTHING STORE This young fellow was, from a business standpoint, about helpless. He was born and raised in the Old Country. When he made application to relatives who ran a department store for employment, he did not possess any qualities that they could use. They gave him work for two weeks, during which time he must find a position elsewhere. At the end of two weeks he managed to stay another four weeks. He realized he must do something. He had no capital, but he decided to rent a store building in the poor end of town. After hours he went about getting all the old clothes he could collect from door to door. He cleaned the old suits as best he could and offered them for sale at a low price. He worked night and day, taking but little time for sleep, and he soon began to make sales from his stock of old suits. He obtained the assistance of another poor fellow who wanted to help him. In a few months he was able to pay his help a regular salary. Twelve months from the time started in business he had a fine stock of clothing on hand and was employing four salesmen and making a good profit. Thrift coupled, with a good plan, will make a success every time. The young man I have mentioned above had a very poor appearance, was not educated, and had much to overcome, but his willingness to sacrifice clothes, amusements and even food and sleep for a good plan brought him permanent business in a remarkably short time. PLAN No. 695. CLOTHES CLINIC She had a family of six and she was the sole support of the home. All six children were too young to work. The mother was ambitious for their education and determined to do all that was possible to give them all the educational advantages of other children. To begin with, she had some old clothes on hand, and she soon became very skilful in making them over into handsome suits for the boy and pretty dresses for the girls. In fact, her children were the best dressed of any in their school. Their clothes all had the appearance of being made by a tailor. She dyed their shoes and made hats, coats, dresses, underwear, neckwear and stockings. She became familiar with dying and learned to remove stains from clothing. People soon learned of her skill in this work. She arranged to teach other mothers her art and received a good income every year from this source. She would also, for a certain sum, take an old suit or dress and help the mothers plan and cut out the kind of dress or suit it could be made into. During the war-time her work became very popular, as lots of good material was found in old garments. Her specialty enabled her to assist others to make a great saving in the home every year. The government offered good assistance in this work during the war. The Board of Vocational Education, Washington, D. C., puts out a pamphlet on “Clothes for the Family” that would be an asset in any home. During the war, in different parts of the country, there have been fashion shows of clothes which were made from old garments. In one instance a pretty little dress was made from a pink woolen nightgown. This should be an excellent specialty for any ambitious woman. Clothes should not be wasted when there is so much poverty. A man and wife could base substantial and profitable business on the above lines. Among the well-to-do, old clothing consisting of excellent cloth can be purchased for a song. These garments can be made into first-class outfits, by proper cleaning and tailoring, and sold at a good profit. PLAN No. 696. PROFIT FROM ONE PIG, $587 A Tennessee boy in May, 1918, invested $50 in a pure-bred gilt, and now figures his profits at $587.35. She farrowed seven pigs, part of which the boy sold for $133. With this money he purchased a boar of excellent breeding, which he exhibited at the East Tennessee Division Fair, winning the grand championship of the breed over all exhibits. He won $87 in prizes, $45 of it in competition with experienced farmers. His animals are now valued at $525. This, with the money from sales and prizes-winnings, amounts to $745, from which he deducts $157.65 for feed and care, leaving a profit of $587.35. This plan would certainly pay a boy’s way through high school, besides giving him a knowledge of stock raising that would be invaluable. PLAN No. 697. GIRL MAKES 3,000 GALLONS OF SYRUP A home demonstrator, who a few years ago was a member of one of the canning clubs under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture, in connection with the state college, now owns and operates an evaporator for the benefit of the farmers of New Kent County, Va. In the past season 3,000 gallons of canned syrup or sorghum have gone from her little plant. She says the turning out of thirty to forty gallons a day has been easy and pleasant work. Why not start this business in your community? PLAN No. 698. THE BEST BEDBUG PREPARATION The effectiveness of various exterminators of bedbugs is described in Bulletin 707, issued by the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C., embodying the results of experiments by the Bureau of Entomology. Hydrocarbon oil sprays (kerosene, gasoline, etc.) were found to be effective against bedbugs, killing, in most cases, 100 per cent within forty-eight hours; coal-tar creosote emulsions were effective, when used undiluted, but their effectiveness fell very rapidly when they were diluted; mercuric chlorid, as a dust and a 6-per-cent-water solution, was found to kill 100 per cent; pyrethrum was found to be very effective, while pyrethrum stems were of little or no practical value; tobacco powders were to be found of little or no value, and hellebore to be absolutely ineffective. Why not put this up and give it a name and create a demand for it? PLAN No. 699. BUILT HER HOME ON $40 SALARY “How I paid for my home: As a girl, seven years ago, I built a seven-room modern house costing $3,500. My income at that time was $40 a month, as I worked as a maid in one of the best families. I built the house as a home for myself. When I started to build I had the lot paid for and $700 cash as first payment. The rest of the debt was paid at $35 or more per month. It never involved any hardships, and I was quite often praised for owning such a fine house. “When the house was finished I rented it for $36 a month, so as to make better payments, and it did not take long before the house was paid for and was mine. “The foundation is 36x44 feet; there are seven large rooms on the first floor, four closets, a linen closet, bath, large front and back porches, a half basement with hot-air furnace, laundry with stationary tubs, storeroom, coal bin with air-tight chute. The attic is finished and the walls of the house are built strong enough to add another story if desired. “Owning a home not only proved a good investment but gave me real satisfaction. I was highly respected and well esteemed by my neighbors and people in general. “My experience may show that any man or woman can own a home, even with a small income, with a little saving and a plan.” PLAN No. 700. RECEIVED $100 PER MONTH FOR 40 YEARS An income of $100 a month is not out of the ordinary, but when that income has been steady and all saved for forty years, it means a great deal. He was a farmer, and never had the opportunity of a high school or college, but in spite of this handicap he made a success. He stayed with his father until he was 23, at which time he decided to go in for himself. So he took up a homestead in Minnesota. The first year he put up his shack, 12x16 feet, and broke forty acres of land. His brother took up an adjoining farm. It was discouraging in those days, he said. It was a long way from the railroad and people. One ox, an old cow and a plow were all they had to work with, all other farm implements they made themselves. Wheat and oats were the crops, and 25 bushels per acre was the first yield, and 70 cents was the price they received. The first year they saved about $300. The second year they broke and planted forty more acres and saved $800. In ten years’ time the railroad was built, the farm was all under cultivation and a saving of $6,000 was made. Then along came a man with $12,000 and paid this amount for the farm. With the $6,000 he had saved, he now was worth $18,000. This man has always followed the plan of pioneering. Not only has he and his brother done so but his son also, and he is now up in the Alberta country farming a large piece of land. A plan like the above, coupled with thrift, will never fail. He stated to me that he has lost but little during the forty years, and has saved more than $100 a month during his forty years of farming. If you want to homestead go to the United States land office and they will tell you how much land is subject to be homesteaded. PLAN No. 701. DO YOU WANT TO BECOME A PLUMBER My conception of a plumber has always been a husky, dirty-faced fellow who is full of independence and presenting an exorbitant bill for his services. But my impressions were changed when I met Bert. Before going into the plumbing and heating business he sold pumps and windmills. He came to the city, and this is the way he became a first-class plumber in one year without previous experience: He started a repair shop of his own, went out with a soldering iron and got the business. When he took a repair job he took his time and carefully figured out how the plumber put his work together, and after a year of careful study and some experiments of his own he took contracts for plumbing. He made a special effort to do the work right so there could be no complaint about it afterward. He spared no pains and never allowed himself to hurry or slight his work. If he used more time than the job justified, he made an allowance for that. When he heard of a person “knocking” his work, he called on him at once and tried to satisfy him and make him a booster instead. He also put in heating plants which work was very profitable. His profits were $10 a day the year round, and he plans to make it run $20 a day the coming year. His business is only an ordinary and modest little plumbing and heating concern in the outskirts of a city of 100,000. There is nothing impossible in his plan. He works regularly eight hours every day and likes his work. PLAN No. 702. REPRESENT LOCAL WEEKLIES He represented a list of local weeklies, running from forty to sixty in number. Through the Type Foundry Association this space can be secured very cheap, something like 3 cents an inch per paper, costing to our man to run and advertisement in forty papers the sum of $1.20. He went over all the newspapers and publications that covered his immediate territory and clipped from them all the classified advertisements or display ads. that looked to have a prospect for business. This clipping was pasted to a form letter, which he had prepared, calling attention to the advantages of these forty papers to his proposition. His price to them was $7.00 for the entire list, one time. An order of one inch meant a profit to him of $5.80. His net profits for orders--and this is always cash business--nets him more than $100 a month. There is room for this business in every city of over 50,000 population in the United States. The letter-writing does not take over one hour a day, and he mails about eight letters per day. This is a good business for a woman at home or a man could use it to great advantage during his spare time. [Illustration: Plan No. 702. He Washes so Others May See] PLAN No. 702B. WINDOW-WASHING AND HOUSE-CLEANING When he came to city he “was down and out.” He was a capable fellow, but owing to domestic trouble he worried and drank a good deal. He was in this shape when I first met him. He got a job washing windows and kept at it. His employer knew nothing about window-washing or house-cleaning--he was a business-getter instead--and finally as he was unable to pay this man for his labor, he turned the business over to him in payment for his services. He quit drinking when the state went dry. He then saw great possibilities in the window-washing and house-cleaning business. He could do the work himself, and if those he hired did not do their work properly he was quick to see it and let them go. He would contract for the year to wash windows for an entire building at something like 15 to 20 cents a window. He would go over all the windows once every month. His arrangement was cheaper than having the janitor do it. He also contracted to wash the halls and elevator shaft. He got business where others could not. He and the men he hired knew how to work. When he had an unusually dirty job he used the following combinations with great success: Citrus powder, three-fourths part; Wyandott powder, one-fourth part; softsoap about the size of a hen’s egg in a bucket of water. This solution was allowed to stand over night. When a place was real dirty he went over it at least three times, washing with the grain of the wood. He was especially careful to see that no streaky work was done in the washing of walls, etc. He washed a square place at a time and was particular to see that the sides and corners were as clean as the center, then when the next square was done there was no overlapping of several inches. He was also careful to see that the base-boards of the room were clean, especially the corners and bottom, which if neglected always remain unclean in appearance. It is true that his work is not regarded as a high calling, but he believed that if his work did not reflect credit on him, he would reflect credit on it by performing his services well. He also cleaned houses, using a vacuum cleaner. His business is very profitable and produces for him a very good living. PLAN No. 703. WHAT ONE GARDEN PAID Records of the boys’ and girls’ club work of the United States Department of Agriculture are full of instances of boys and girls who grew more than enough vegetables for their home tables and who either canned the surplus or sold the remainder at a profit not to be sneezed at. For instance, Thomas Bresnan, of Springfield, Illinois, a lad of 15, made a net profit of $283 on a garden that was 310x410 feet. Thomas had a hard time with worms, but he learned how to fight them. His garden was so far away that when he needed lime he carried a heavy sack of it three and one-half miles from Springfield. Some of the lime spilled out and got into his eyes, and Thomas got mad and quit, but only until he talked with his club leader, then he went in again and won, as above mentioned. PLAN No. 704. FATHER LEARNS A NEW TRICK Early frosts are the bane of the tomato grower. When a severe one seemed due one February night in Florida, both a little girl, who had one-tenth of an acre planted, and her father, who had three, got busy covering up their plants. “Father” put tomato baskets over the plants to protect them, and so did Anna, but she did not stop at that; she placed a handful of soil on top of each of her baskets. It required some time, but it was time well spent, for when the baskets were removed Anna’s plants were just as fresh as before the freeze, while “Father’s” had suffered considerably. When the first picking was made in the latter part of March, her father gathered thirteen crates from his three acres, while the girl gathered eleven from one-tenth acre, from which a net profit of $175 was made. PLAN No. 705. GROWS THIRTY-ONE VEGETABLES IN HIS HOME GARDEN Among the striking examples of individual achievement in home gardening that have been reported to the United State Department of Agriculture, is that of George A. Williams, an employe of the Government Pension Office in Washington. Despite the handicap caused by the loss of an arm, Mr. Williams last season grew thirty-one varieties of vegetables in his home garden of slightly less than one-fifth of an acre. He sold in his neighborhood vegetables worth $326, in addition to those used by his family of four persons. Despite the success in this instance, the Department of Agriculture does not advise home-gardeners to strive for a great variety of crops, but to concentrate their efforts on a few. Did you find it hard to get ahead last year? If so, perhaps your back yard will put your effort on the profit side. PLAN No. 706. WHAT A GIRL NEARLY BLIND DID Of all the stories of girls’ efforts that have come to the United States Department of Agriculture, none tells of more devoted work than that of a Berkshire County, Massachusetts, girl, who is blind in one eye and losing the sight of the other. She raised a pig when the government called for more meat, and when the army called for fruit pits to make gas-masks, the number of stones she gathered was the second largest individual number in the country. And she cultivated a garden successfully when the government told the necessity for more food production. “I was very much interested in club work this year, and I was very happy while working in my garden,” wrote this girl in her story. “I knew that all the time I was working in my garden I was helping Uncle Sam.” Except a few furrows turned by her father, where the land was particularly rough, all the work in her garden was done by the girl, and in addition she helped her father in his food plot. Between the lines in her report may be read some of her difficulties. “The greatest delight my pig had,” she wrote, “was jumping the fence and rooting in my garden.” But nothing daunted her, and the surplus products of her work, stored for the family’s winter use, made a fine showing. When the father is having a hard time to make both ends meet the children can do a great deal to put the home on a successful basis and receive an education while doing so. PLAN No. 707. SAVING EGGS IS PUBLIC SERVICE The storing of eggs during the season of greatest production, when they are the cheapest in price, becomes a public service by making them available during the season of scarcity of fresh eggs. There are two approved processes for storage; the first is the water-glass method, and the second is the lime-water method. Water-glass Method: For 30 dozen eggs, use two 5-gallon crocks (capacity, 15 dozen eggs each.) Take 18 quarts of water that has been boiled and cooled. Mix it with 2 quarts of sodium silicate. Place eggs as collected, fresh and clean, in crocks, keeping covered to a depth of at least 2 inches with water glass solution. Keep in a cool, dry place. Eggs preserved in this way remain perfectly wholesome, maintain full food value and are perfectly edible for from six to nine months. Lime-water Method: Place 3 pounds of unslacked lime in 5 gallons of water and let it stand until the lime settles and the liquid is clear. Use same as water-glass. This method is recommended when water-glass cannot be obtained; it is good, though not quite as reliable as the other. The above was published in the Extension News Service by State College of Washington. Every egg raiser should know when is the time eggs will bring the best price and save them until that time. Following the above simple suggestion alone would make the egg a profit-maker. PLAN No. 708. MONEY IN POULTRY It is strange that the people generally do not avail themselves of the great opportunity the United States Government gives them in poultry. Write the Department of Agriculture at Washington, D. C., and tell them you want a catalog of all publications they have which will help you to raise chickens in town, city or country and you will be surprised at the great amount of information at once available to you. This information will save you several years’ unsuccessful experimenting and bring you to your goal--a successful chicken-raiser--at a much earlier date. The following are samples of what can be done by those who make poultry raising a study. PLAN No. 709. WHAT ONE WOMAN DOES To prove that there is profit in poultry raising, let me cite the case of Mrs. George L. Russell, of Missouri, whose husband had maintained all along that her hens were an expense instead of a profit. He was giving all his attention to some brood-mares in which he had invested $2,000. In defense of her hens Mrs. Russell kept a set of books for a year and proved by the actual figures that the money she had invested in poultry was paying a better dividend than the money her husband had invested in brood mares. Last year she had a flock of 365 Brown Leghorn hens and cleared $1,782.91, besides adding $200 worth of extra stock to her flock. Her husband isn’t complaining anymore. To his wife Mr. Russell gives all credit for the success of their poultry business. “It has been a life-saver for me,” he said. PLAN No. 710. ANOTHER CHICKEN RAISER Mrs. H. A. Hume, of Tecumseh, Kansas, turned $150 worth of feed into $427.16 worth of chickens, at market prices, this year, besides the eggs she produced from 140 hens. She has demonstrated what can be done on a general farm with poultry as a side line. She breeds a good laying strain of White Leghorns. PLAN No. 711. MAKES GOOD PROFIT A California woman states in a letter the following: “Last month I turned $275 worth of feed into $667 worth of eggs.” If it is possible for these people to do this, it is possible for you, or any other poultryman, to make good money out of your poultry if they are properly handled. PLAN No. 712. ARTICLES YOU CAN MAKE AND SELL The following articles could be made by you and sold. They are necessary to the household and will appeal to the housewife. Each article is easily made up. Give a name to your article so that you may have the advantage of repeat orders. To commence with you will have to solicit your work. You will find that a neat pamphlet telling of the value of your article distributed two or three days before you call will be a great assistance to you. PLAN No. 713. SHOWER BATH A very simple, convenient and cheap arrangement for a home-made shower bath has been built by a woman. Take a 2-gallon tin bucket, punch a hole in the bottom of it, and solder in the opening a piece of metal piping 2 inches long. Attach to the pipe a 4-foot length of rubber tube, with a sprayer from a garden watering-pot on the end. Tie to the handle of the bucket a piece of rope and run the latter through a staple driven into a wall at a suitable height, thus making a pulley by which the bucket can be raised or lowered to meet the convenience of the person using the shower. Drive a hook below the staple so that the rope can be fastened to it to hold the bucket in place. A good-size wash tub placed beneath the bucket will serve for the person to stand in. To cut off the water a clothespin pinched on to the rubber tube will do. The cost of the shower bath will be as follows: 2-gallon tin bucket .50 12 feet of rope .07 Rubber tube and connections 1.50 Piping .10 Stock .10 Staple .10 ---- 1.87 PLAN No. 714. DUSTLESS MOP Another of the conveniences showing a woman’s ingenuity is a dustless mop for painted or polished floors. The mop is made from old stocking legs cut into 12-inch lengths and slashed into strips an inch wide up to within 4 inches of the tops. For a handle cut the straw from a worn out broom. Take a large wooden button and cover it with several thicknesses of stocking, then fold the tops of the stockings so that they radiate from a common center and screw them to the end of the broom handle through the button. Tie twine several times around it just below the button. The mop is then dipped into a solution of one-half cup of paraffin and one cup of coal oil (kerosene) and allowed to dry. Keep moist by rolling tightly and pressing into a paper bag. PLAN No. 715. SCRUBBING CHARIOT Another woman’s invention is the scrubbing chariot, and it is one of the cleverest of labor-savers. This consists of a comfortable, padded frame on rollers, which enables the housewife, in wiping floors, to roll herself about and do her scrubbing with ease and comfort and save a great many steps. An ordinary soap box can be used for this by cutting down the sides to about five inches high and knocking out one side. Padding made of burlap will make it comfortable when kneeling, and the whole thing is placed on four rollers and stands just the height of the rollers off the floor. On one side of it should be screwed a dish for soap and on the other a rack for the scrubbing brush. PLAN No. 716. ICELESS REFRIGERATOR This iceless refrigerator was made by a woman, and its cost was practically nothing. It stands in a tub of water and on the top shelf is a pan of water. A canton flannel covering should be made and hung smooth side outward, tied closely at the bottom, buttoned securely down one side, and the top laid in the pan of water with a weight to hold it. Of course, with this arrangement the cloth keeps itself continually wet with water supplied from the pan on top and from the tub in which it stands. The central post should be substantial, with a large heavy base so that it will not tip. Two shelves 12 inches apart will hold the milk, butter, etc., and a third shelf at the top is necessary to hold the can of water. Keep the refrigerator in a shady place where air will circulate around it freely. On dry, hot days a temperature of 50 degrees can be obtained in this refrigerator if plenty of water is kept in the pan and in the tub. PLAN No. 717. FOLDING IRONING-BOARD This ironing-board is a step-saver. Being hinged to the wall, it is always ready and in place. It may be hooked up against the wall when not in use. The leg (braced) is hinged to the board and falls flat when the board is lifted. With it down and in use the leg is not in the way and skirts may be ironed without lifting or changing. The directions for making are as follows: The ironing-board is 57 inches long and rounded at the free end and should be made of thoroughly seasoned wood, 1¹⁄₂ inches in thickness. Its width at its attached end is 15 inches, at the free end 10¹⁄₂ inches. The leg (brace) is 56¹⁄₂ inches if the board is attached to the wall at 33 inches from the floor. If the board is higher the leg is longer. Attach the leg to the board 11 inches from its free end, by hinges. The board should be padded with any heavy material such as cotton flannel or a blanket, and brought to the under side of the board and tacked smoothly in place. The ironing-sheet should be 4 inches wider than the board with tapes on opposite sides about 10 inches apart to tie it in place. PLAN No. 718. SOLDERING KIT An outfit for repair work by women in their homes is useful and will save considerable time and expense. The equipment includes a soldering iron, a small brush, a file, sandpaper or a brick to rub the iron clean and to clean the surfaces to be repaired, a porcelain or stoneware cup, and from the hardware store get 10 cents worth of muriatic acid, some zinc points, such as glaziers use, and some solder. Soldering flux is a solution of zinc in crude muriatic acid. To make it put half a teaspoonful of muriatic acid in the cup and add one zinc point. Be sure not to spill any on your clothes. It is used to tin the soldering iron and also for brushing the tin and soldering surfaces so that the solder will adhere to the tin. While iron is heating, thoroughly clean the vessel to be mended, by scraping down to the bare metal, then brush over it with the flux. When your iron is heated, clean it free from soot or dirt with sandpaper or other means, then dip it into the flux in the cup and at the same time hold the solder to it, and the end of the iron will become covered with the solder, which is called “tinning” it. For small holes this is all the solder needed. Just touch the tinned iron to the hole and it is filled. For larger holes more solder is needed. For a still larger hole a zinc point can be laid on the hole and fluxed, then solder applied. A hot iron and clean surface will insure good work. PLAN No. 719. WOMEN MAKE GOOD COW-TESTERS The twenty-seven women now employed as cow-testers by some of the 353 cow-testing associations in this country have not only done satisfactory work, but have achieved results above the average, according to dairy specialists of the United States Department of Agriculture. The main reason why women have begun to do this work is the scarcity of cow-testers. Most of the testers at work when the war began were young men, and many of them are now in military service. Because of the shortage of workers the past year has seen the number of cow-testing associations (organizations of farmers who want to keep records of their herds) decrease for 472 to 353, although there has been an increased demand for such associations, and it is believed the number could easily be doubled if enough testers were available. The work does not require great physical strength. It does demand some training, but this is easily acquired by women. The first woman cow-tester in the United States, Miss Bessie Lipsitz, began work less than three years ago, with a cow-testing association in Grant County, Wisconsin. Wisconsin now has eighteen women cow-testers, Iowa six and three other states have one each. Considering that the testers get free board and lodging, the pay is thought to be satisfactory. The women cow-testers are paid the same as men and receive from $50 to $75 a month, besides board and lodging. Conveyance to the next farm is furnished in some associations, while in others the tester provides her own conveyance and the farmers furnish free stable room and feed for her horse. The employment of women as cow-testers came as a war measure. To keep the work on a satisfactory basis, women must continue to receive the same pay as the men for the same work. Occasionally there may be an association in which it would not be advisable for a woman to work, but if such is the case, the fault is with the association and not with the woman cow-tester. How to obtain more testers is a serious problem. Partially disabled soldiers, in some cases, may be induced to take the necessary training and enlist for the work. In some sections young men below the draft age have been employed, and the results have been satisfactory. The most radical step, however, and the one that promises the most far-reaching and immediate results, is the employment of women as cow-testers. PLAN No. 720. SUPPORTS FAMILY BY HOME CANNING The sale of her canned fruits and vegetables has enabled a woman in Albemarle County, Virginia, to feed and clothe her eight children the last two years. When war was declared her eldest son enlisted in the navy. In a few months the second son went into the army, and the mother was left to wrestle with the problem of providing three meals a day for the eight younger brothers and sisters. About this time the home-demonstration agent of the United States Agricultural College was teaching the women in that locality how to can. With a garden that could raise plenty of fruit and vegetables, and with wild fruit to be had for the picking, the mother of ten decided that therein lay the solution of her problem. Results have proved that her judgment was right. Thousands of cans of fruit and vegetables have been put up and sold from this country home. One lot, which the home demonstration agent helped her sell, brought $125. This plan made a living for a mother and eight children. PLAN No. 721. GIRL MAKES $98 FROM NINE HATCHES Little girls who have to help themselves to go through high school can often accomplish it by raising chickens. A little girl in Orange County, Virginia, borrowed money to buy nine settings of eggs. On this venture her first year’s work netted a profit of $98, and she has three roosters left. There is no reason why your little girl should not have a few chickens and help swell the family income. PLAN No. 722. MOUNTAINEER WOMAN CANS TO KEEP TEN CHILDREN IN SCHOOL Knowledge of how to can products that will command a ready sale is enabling a mother in the hills of Virginia, to keep her ten children in school. Schoolbooks and clothes cost money, but this ambitious mother was determined that her children were to have schooling if it were possible. Late in the fall, with a 2-horse wagon loaded with her canned fruit and vegetables, this woman of the hills drove 20 miles to the home-demonstration agent’s headquarters. She brought 30 gallons of apple butter, 376 quarts canned tomatoes, 8 quarts ripe tomato catsup, 8 quarts green tomato catsup, 12 quarts succotash, 36 quarts soup mixture, 12 quarts okra, 12 quarts fox grape preserves, 48 No. 2 cans string beans, 36 cans (No. 2) corn, 48 quarts peaches, 48 quarts blackberries, 12 quarts butterbeans, 12 quarts squash, 2 quarts damson preserves, and 8 quarts green tomato and mince meat to be sold. Through the co-operation of the home-demonstration agent, the wagon was emptied in a short time in the university town, and the little boys and girls up in the hills will have shoes and schoolbooks this winter as a result. PLAN No. 723. SUCCESS IN POULTRY WORK All poultry raisers, especially girls should receive encouragement and inspiration from the record made by this girl. Her experience demonstrates the wide possibilities for poultry paying a girl’s way through school, making worth-while trips, purchasing their clothes, and having spending money for other purposes. With an original investment of $17.50 for a pen of Barred Plymouth Rocks, this girl in one season--her first year in poultry work--made a net profit of $370.50. According to her own story, she bought her original stock just a few days before Christmas, in 1917, giving the local bank a note for $17.50. Her birds began to lay a month later. From January 25 to October 17 the original pen of pullets laid 650 eggs. The first nine eggs she received from the flock were used as a setting, from which were hatched and raised seven chicks. From these she selected her chickens, which later took prizes at the tri-state and county fairs. From her first 100 eggs set she hatched 92 chickens. From the next 125 eggs set, 110 chickens were hatched. During the season she raised 170 chickens. According to her account these results were not obtained without work and some hard luck. For example, a mink visited the flock on the night of the 4th of July and killed twelve of the biggest chickens. Hawks in the neighborhood seemed to have a fondness for her chicks, and carried off their share. Last September she sent two pens of her chickens to the tri-state fair, where they won first and second prizes. The following month she exhibited them at the county fair, and won first prize, which was $20. She now has a flock of fifty selected pullets and eight cockerels, in addition to her original pen. In spite of the losses from the mink and all charges, she made a good profit. All the grain fed came from her father’s farm, but was charged at market prices, the total cost of feed amounting to $40. The cost of the original chickens, interest and express, brought the expenses of the season to $59.50. From the sale of settings of eggs, chickens sold, prizes, and value of stock on hand, a total of $430 is credited to her work. When expenses are deducted, there is a total net profit for one year of $370.50. PLAN No. 724. BUSY BEES WITH BUSY BOYS OR GIRLS MEAN MUCH HONEY Bee raising by boys or girls received special encouragement during the past year from the Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural colleges because the honey produced aided materially in relieving the sugar shortage. Plenty of cane sugar is now in sight, but the young people seem to have no intention of ceasing in their efforts to produce honey. They and their families have acquired a taste for the delicacy, and hot biscuits minus honey don’t taste the same any more. Then, too, there is a ready sale at a good price for all the surplus honey one can produce. The parents co-operated with the young people in the study of modern methods and plans for bee raising. Comb-honey only had been produced heretofore, as little had been known of extracted honey or how to manage colonies producing it. The parents were willing to secure modern equipment for the children, and to move the bees from old crooked combs in poor boxes and hives to modern 10-frame hives. When the colonies began to produce well, the children united in the purchase of a complete extracting outfit. With honey selling 20 to 30 cents a pound in some markets, keeping bees is a business by which boys or girls can make fair incomes without the expenditure of much work or time. Two of the largest producers in Lyon County were boys of 17. One boy with seven colonies produced over 500 pounds in the 1918 season. The other, with fifteen colonies, took from his hives 858 pounds. With an initial investment of $15, one of the smallest boys in the club, working in the country at extracting time, found 100 pounds in his contest hive and sixty pounds in the other. A third member cleared $40 from the season’s work, besides supplying the family table. PLAN No. 725. LOST--A COMMON FACTORY-HAND; FOUND--A GOOD FOOD PRODUCER Four years ago a boy in Massachusetts faced what would have seemed even to an adult a hard problem. Born in Italy, but thoroughly inoculated with American ideas of the necessity of education, James was told by his father while in the 8th grade that he could no longer be kept in school. His future path was to lie toward the near-by factory. Believing, because of his garden-club experience under the auspices of the local leader of the United States Department of Agriculture, that he could earn as much by potato raising outside of school hours as he could in a factory by devoting his whole time, he finally obtained permission from his father to try it. So successful was he that summer that his father was willing that he should enter the 9th grade in the fall. The next spring the superintendent let him have land to use for a large garden. To ten boys he had selected from the upper grammar grades he made the proposition to pay so much an hour and to give each a garden plot. The following excellent advice he offered to them in addition: “If you are going to quit, quit now while it is cool and not when it is hot next August.” By fall he had decided that enough could be earned in the summer to enable him to attend high school and the agricultural college later. Now a junior in high school, he has a good-size hot-house under lease, where he raises cabbages, cauliflower, and tomato plants; he owns an auto truck to handle his produce, and he has a bank account and pays his bills by check. With all the school and business cares, he still has time to look after the school welfare of his younger brothers and sisters, visiting their teachers and watching their progress. A factory hand, probably only a mediocre one, has been lost, but a good food producer has been gained through the vision given James by his experience in raising a garden. If you are in a factory this example will give you hope. PLAN No. 726. A BOY’S BIG PROFIT ON ONE PIG From Blackwell, Texas, comes the report of the worth-while achievement of a 15-year-old boy, Kenneth Campbell. This little live-wire pig-raiser sent his pig to the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show. It turned out to be the grand champion barrow of the whole exhibit. It won $105 in prizes and sold for $115. The initial cost of this prize-winner was $5 and $34.60 was spent for feed; leaving a net profit of $180.40. It is a fine thing to teach your boy to-day, while you are with him, how to support himself in an independent way. Would your boy know how to do something himself, if you were gone? A knowledge of how to make his way is worth more to him than your money when you are gone. PLAN No. 727. WHAT A UTAH GIRL DID “I am going to take the first prize in gardening away from the boys at the Utah State Fair in 1919,” is the challenge of a 15-year-old girl member of a boys’ and girls’ club in Salt Lake County, Utah, conducted under the direction of the United States Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural college. It looks as if her prediction may come true, for already this industrious girl has made a rather remarkable record. She began at the age of 11, and in the first year her exhibits took first prize at the grade school, first prize at the high school, and second prize at the state fair. When she finishes her course at the high school she is going to enter the Utah agricultural college. In addition to plowing, harrowing, and leveling sixty acres of land and helping her father with other farm operations--doing for him all that a boy of her age could do and much more than many boys would be willing to do--this young food producer this year raised and sold an abundance of garden produce; put up 600 quarts of fruit and vegetables, besides drying a quantity of them; raised 100 chickens, knitted socks for soldier relatives overseas, and bought Liberty Bonds to back them up. But let her tell her own story: HELPED PLANT 1,500 FRUIT TREES “I was born and raised in Salt Lake City. When I was eight years old my father moved to his farm in Pleasant Green near Utah Copper Mills and Garfield Smelter, Salt Lake County, Utah. It was covered with sage brush and rock, which had to me removed. “The following spring we cleared a part of the land and planted 1,500 fruit trees. We also engaged in truck farming that season. I, the oldest girl of a very large family, assisted my father in every way I could. He always enjoyed instructing me, and he explained every little question I asked him. He taught me how to plant small seeds by mixing them with sand, scattering it along the trench and covering with a hoe. Also he taught me how to plant vegetables and how to cultivate. We raised an abundance of tomatoes, cabbages, cauliflower, peppers, egg plant, and also 1,600 bushels of carrots and 200 bushels of potatoes. “The next year I assisted again, and the following year--I was then eleven years old--he gave me a small space of my own, which he plowed for me. He made me plant everything myself, also do the weeding and hoeing. I raised an amount of garden truck and took it to town and sold it. The next year--at the age of twelve--I was attending school in Hunter when they started a boys’ and girls’ club. When I joined, my father said I would have to learn to plow, so he bought me an 8-inch plow. I plowed about half an acre; then he allowed me to drive three horses with a sulky plow. I plowed twenty acres for him that year and mowed thirty-three acres of alfalfa hay. My sister raked it, and we all bunched it and I helped stack it. I raised nine different kinds of tomatoes, six different kinds of peppers, cauliflower, cabbages, and peanuts, and seventy-two different kinds of flowers. I took first prize at the grade school and first prize at the high school and second prize at the state fair.” PLOWED SIXTY ACRES HERSELF “Last year I plowed, leveled and harrowed thirty acres and cut all father’s hay, put up 300 quarts of fruit and vegetables and had a war garden. This year I plowed sixty acres all myself, harrowed and leveled it--wheat, alfalfa and beets--and helped father plant and cut and irrigate. I have put up fruit and vegetables--600 quarts--besides drying fruit and vegetables, and have baked the bread, and on Saturday and after school I have to plow until the ground freezes up, and finish in the spring, 1919. I am going to take the first prize away from the boys in gardening, in the Utah state fair. “I attend the Cypress High School. When I finish there I am going to go to the Utah Agricultural College.” RAISED ONE HUNDRED CHICKENS “I also raised 100 chickens this year. I joined the Soldiers of the Soil, and with $15 I borrowed in June I bought 105 baby chickens and raised 100 of them. In June, 1919, I will pay off my note. I am going to market all my roosters and keep the pullets. I could pay the note now, but I am going to lend it to Uncle Sam on the Fourth Liberty Bond for our boys over there. I have found time to knit socks for some of my cousins over on the firing line.” PLAN No. 728. 33 ACRES, 23 PIGS, GIVE BOYS $2,255.64 Twenty-three boys under 16 years of age, in a Haywood County, Tennessee, pig club, each bought a pig. The average weight of the pigs was 78 pounds. Most of them were registered. In 180 days they attained a weight of 266 pounds each, at a cost for feed of 10¹⁄₂ cents a pound. These pigs at the time of the local pig club show were worth 15 cents a pound, at market prices, making a profit of 4¹⁄₂ cents a pound, averaging a net return to each boy of $11.97 over cost of all feed--a total gain for the club of $275.31. Now see what the corn club in the same community has done: Thirty-three boys, 16 and under, each cultivated one acre in corn, according to instructions furnished by the county agent, produced an average of 53.1 bushels to the acre at $1.40 a bushel selling price--$74.48--making a total production for all of $2,457. Cost of raising the corn was 27¹⁄₂ cents a bushel, or a total cost of $477.51, leaving a clear profit of $1,980.33 Now add to this the pig club profits of $275.31 and you have a grand profit for the boys of $2,255.64 from thirty-three acres of land and twenty-three small pigs. If boys can do this well what can a man thoroughly trained in farming do? The government will supply you with unlimited literature on farming if you write to them, and will give you much other assistance if you call on them. PLAN No. 729. TEXAS BOYS MAKE MONEY FROM CALVES “I have bought a $50 Liberty Bond and intend to use the balance to help in paying my expenses at the A. and M. College the coming term,” was the answer of a boy in Nolan County, Texas, when asked what he would do with the profit from the sale of his two prize-winning calves. This boy, a member of an agriculture club conducted by the United States Department of Agriculture and the Texas A. and M. College, exhibited two calves at the Fort Worth Fat Stock Show. His steer calf, a little over a year old, and weighing 950 pounds, brought $149.62, besides winning $25 in prizes. The cost of feed and other expenses was $85 for each calf, leaving a profit of $103.14 on the two, besides the $50 in prize money. Another entry at the Fort Worth show was that of a 15-year-old club member from Sweetwater, whose calf, fourteen months old and weighing, after shrinkage, 1,060 pounds, sold for $169, after winning $20 in prizes. This young exhibitor believes in good stock, and has bought a registered Hereford calf with the proceeds. PLAN No. 730. COW PROVIDES MUSIC LESSONS In Pottawatomie County, Oklahoma, lives a little girl who won in 1916 many prizes for farm club-work; enough in fact, to buy a calf. She sold the calf, which had grown into a cow, for $80. She plans to use the money for music lessons this winter while she is attending high school. She is proud that she is able to pay for the lessons by her own work. [Illustration: Plan No. 730. The Country Girl’s Friend] PLAN No. 731. REAL ESTATE MAN BUYS SNAP This man was engaged in real estate for years and stated that his best profit was made from special propositions that he discovered during the year. Probably during the year he would find five or six different places that were exceptional purchases. He put but very little money in these investments as a rule, and would prepare them for early sale. He would paint the dwellings, arrange the yards, and put in trees, if needed, and if it was a farm he would wholly renovate the farm from one end to the other, painting the buildings and re-arranging the entire place. Some times it would take a year to get the farm into shape. He states that by this method, he earned as high as $2,000 to $3,000 a year. His wife has been a very valuable assistant to him in this work, as she arranges the shrubbery and the general decoration of the house and yard for him. PLAN No. 732. HE BOUGHT AND SOLD MERCHANDISE STORES IN THE COUNTRY TOWNS When this man was in the university he took a literary course, but after finishing his college work, he took to business and enjoyed it thoroughly. He found quite an opportunity in the small country towns surrounding a northwestern city. He said the electric railway and railroads and automobile highways were becoming such a factor within a hundred miles of this city, and the advertising in the daily paper was practically putting out of existence the small town merchants. He said this was so manifest that many merchants were compelled to go out of business. Where he made his profits, was to buy the merchandise of these local merchants. He knew the value of their stock without making an inventory of the goods. He told them he would buy on his own judgment. Oftentimes on the purchase of the stock itself he would make more than $2,000. He would then start in, fixing up the store, rearranging everything about the place, putting in more new stock, and, as a result he made a few sales. He conducts the business for about a year and having obtained all the advantages and profits that a new store would enjoy, he gradually sells out and closes up the business. Often while holding these stores he is enabled to make an exchange and thereby realize a nice profit. He has secured three or four stores, far removed from the paved road, railroads and electric lines, and these pay well. One plan he has adopted is when he goes into a new community to start a weekly newspaper. Through this he carries all of his advertising and the news of the community. I saw him about six months ago, and he has made in six years more than $30,000 in this work. His farm lands and four stores insure him a good income. This is a good business in the surroundings of any large city. PLAN No. 733. GIRL FROM SMALL COUNTRY TOWN EARNS HER WAY THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL She earned her way through high school by placing an ad. in the Sunday Newspaper, stating that she would be glad to exchange, for her work, room and board, as she desired to attend school and wanted to be with a respectable family. This method is followed by hundreds of girls from the country and when the summer vacation comes, she does certain farm work, whereby she is enabled to make some extra money, and in this way, makes enough money to pay her expenses while she is at high school. Families that have a couple of small children are glad to avail themselves of such an opportunity, and often a girl finds a good home. PLAN No. 734. GRAIN SUPERVISOR. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 735. ATTORNEY USES INFORMATION BUREAU IN HIS CITY 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. [Illustration: Plan No. 764. When the Well is Dry They Know the Worth of Water] 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: “From November 1, 1914, to November 1, 1915, we sold $300.00 worth of eggs and $60 worth of old hens, besides raising 350 chickens. We think that what we eat of eggs and chickens pays for their keep. From January 1 to September 1, 1915, I sold $90 worth of butter and sold a calf for $15, besides what butter, cream and milk we used. We raised a thoroughbred Jersey cow that began giving milk September 1, 1915, and she made forty pounds of butter before she was two years old. We raised two hogs and sold them for $32.50 and raised one for our own use. We raised beans, sweet corn, carrots, and vegetables between our young apple trees, and sold from our ten acres $600 worth of produce, besides the eggs, poultry, butter and pork.” PLAN No. 768. BEEF CATTLE PROFITABLE A farmer of Davenport, Washington, says: “I am satisfied that I can make the beef cattle business pay me a nice profit. Starting with three head of beef cows worth $225 and buying $721 worth of cattle in two years, which I kept on cheap pasture most of the year and fed only a small amount of hay for three months in the winter, I sold $827 worth of butter and cattle in the two years and had stock remaining worth $1,360. My net profit in the two years, exclusive of labor and feed, was $1,241.” In the West everything is being done to encourage diversified farming. Many farmers buy their own butter, etc., which to Eastern farmers seems strange, but wheat has been so profitable in the West that these farmers were content. PLAN No. 769. HOGS AS SIDE LINE This farmer living near Ritzville, Washington, says: “My net profit, exclusive of labor, for handling hogs as a side line one year was $532.33.” This is a good illustration of what opportunities the average farmer has of developing more profit on his farm. It would take a pretty good business in the city to handle side lines that would produce such a profit on the first trial. PLAN No. 770. NORTHWEST FARMER BELIEVES IN DIVERSIFIED FARMING In the Northwest much of the land is summer-fallowed every other year, and when the land can be put to profitable use those years it means much to the profit end of farming. Here is what a man did near Colfax, Washington. His statement is as follows: “Four years ago I fenced my ranch with hog-tight woven wire fence and purchased a bunch of hogs. The first year I sold $1,400 worth of hogs and have averaged $2,000 per year ever since. I also purchased some sheep and found that by running them between harvest and summer-fallow I was able to keep down the weeds. I made a profit on my sheep in both wool and mutton. I believe that if diversified farming is followed, sixty to eighty acres is enough for one family in this locality.” PLAN No. 771. WHAT A FARMER DID FOR HIS LAND Here is his statement: “It is my intention to abandon the practice of summer-fallow altogether here by growing peas and other crops that can be grown to advantage on the land. To-day, May 23rd, we are cultivating our peas, and after one more cultivation they will be ready to lay by until harvesting. A piece of wheat planted on ground cultivated to peas and hogged-off last fall, stands four inches higher than any other wheat on the place. I believe in alfalfa, clover and peas and the stock to consume them, in order to return the manure to the soil.” Thousands of acres of land in the past few years have been put to peas and a good profit has been obtained. PLAN No. 772. WESTERN FARMER’S EXPERIENCE He lives in the Palouse farming district in the State of Washington and makes the following statement: “In 1915, fifty acres of wheat planted on corn land gave me $1,000 after all expenses were paid. This was more than double the returns from fifty acres of land that had grown wheat continuously or been summer-fallowed. The same year fifty acres of corn brought me $600; that is, from corn, potatoes, beans, etc. I sold seed corn to neighbors, to poultry raisers and sold corn-fat hogs, and had left all my feed for two cows and five horses for a year. My fifty acres of wheat on stalk land, the neighbors will tell you, is the finest field to be found in this section of the country.” PLAN No. 773. COWS RETURN $200 A YEAR One of the best examples of what can be done with dairy cows in the Palouse country, State of Washington, is this farmer who started with $300: He built up a herd of Jerseys and mixed Holsteins and Jerseys, after paying for his land, a few years ago. After three years, an inventory of the stock, equipment and improvements showed a total gain of $13,425, which has accrued to him over and above his living expenses. One year’s crops from 140 acres of Palouse land were 200 tons of hay, 550 sacks of oats and barley, 100 tons of ensilage, 400 sacks of potatoes, and about $250 worth of fruit. Most of the crops were turned into milk, of which 44,700 gallons were shipped, and brought back a return of $8,940, an average of over $200 for each cow milked. PLAN No. 774. COWS HELPED HIM This farmer left North Dakota and located in the State of Washington. He states: “I bought sixty acres of white pine and cedar stump land adjoining the station of Matchwood, about six miles from Sandpoint, on a 10-year payment plan, and in February, 1915, we moved up and began work on our place. We bought two Jersey cows. The first year, with a few days work on the outside, we were able to make a living from our two cows and about 35 laying hens. We were able to put up about twelve tons of good clover and timothy hay that we got with a hand scythe around the old logging roads, where it was growing wild. “The year 1916 will be my first year with any crop to amount to anything. I have cleaned up in the past year about twenty acres, have thirteen acres sown in grain and clover, about seven acres to grain and root crops, and have thirty acres seeded among the waste timber and stumps for pasturage. My place is fenced and cross fenced, and I have running water on the place. In the past year we have sold over 500 pounds of butter, at an average of 30 cents per pound.” PLAN No. 775. WOOL CLIP $1.00 PER HEAD This man, living at Odessa, Washington, kept 1,200 sheep out nearly all winter at strawstacks and grazing, the only expense for feeding being thirty-five tons of alfalfa at $10.00 per ton. He clipped about a dollar’s worth of wool per head and sold 300 head at $4.75 to $5.25 per hundred weight. He says: “I made a very nice profit and believe that nearly all farmers should keep a band of sheep.” The dry atmosphere, combined with the absence of heavy dews, and the generally favorable climate, make the Big Bend a natural poultry country. Disease is kept down to a minimum and the fowls themselves thrive. The high price for eggs in this market makes the returns unusually attractive. Turkeys, always difficult of successful raising, seem to be in their natural climate in the Big Bend, and those who are now in the business claim that the country will become famous for its annual shipments of the great American bird. Figure out the amount for yourself, and, if you live in the city, figure what net profits your business paid last year, then deduct from that the cost of food and clothes, rents, pleasure trips, amusements, etc., and you will be surprised at what you have left. But remember Mr. Farmer’s net profit is above his living, which is the very best. PLAN No. 776. FARMER LIVES NEAR COLLEGE Many farmers in the West will not trouble themselves with stock, but this man shows how expensive an idea this is. This farmer living near Pullman, Washington, has demonstrated that dairying pays in the Palouse country. He owns 240 acres of land two and one half miles from town that he values, with improvements, at $100 an acre. Because of the size of his farm he raises quantities of wheat and other products for the market, but his main income is from butter. He makes this on the farm and sells it to the consumers at an average price the year around between 35 and 40 cents a pound. “Much of my land is in grass and alfalfa,” he says. “We market two nice bunches of hogs each year, raised on the skimmed milk from the dairy. Half as many heifers as we have cows are matured every year and added to the herd to take the place of the cows sold. Veal and poultry and eggs all bring in money. I raise thirty acres of corn a year for the silos. This land is then sown to fall wheat. Rearing the family, near the splendid schools of Pullman, and with the state college in sight, has a lot to do with the satisfaction we get out of life.” PLAN No. 777. CUT-OVER LAND FARMER This farmer purchased a farm ten years ago near Newport, the county seat of Pend Oreille County, Washington. He bought 268 acres at $23 an acre. The farm is on the bench land where the soil is a sandy loam, particularly suited for growing vegetables and grass crops. Here is what he says: “After the cordwood has been removed, the slashing and burning of the rubbish and brush, leaving the ground free of everything except standing stumps, should not cost over $10.00 an acre. It is my own experience that it has not cost that much. Most of it I contracted at $7.50 an acre and on two different tracts the contractor made over $3 a day. The slashing should be burned in the fall whenever possible and a mixed pasture grass sown in the ashes before the heavy fall rains. No cultivation is necessary, as the light ashes make an ideal seed-bed and a heavy, rich pasture is assured the following season.” PLAN No. 778. TAUGHT HIS WAY THROUGH COLLEGE This young man was a school teacher, but became convinced that he would study law and wished to make it his profession. He had no money, was an excellent speaker, and enrolled in the university for one year to complete this course. At the end of the year his money was gone, and the next year he taught, and he continued in this way until he finished his university course. While this is a hard method, every other year leaving the college and spending it teaching, yet he made his goal, and many a teacher can do the same. PLAN No. 779. SOLD LAW BOOKS AND THUS PAID HIS UNIVERSITY EXPENSES In every large university there is a good opportunity of purchasing books at a small price from the out-going classes, or the class at the end of each semester, and selling the books again to new students entering for the following semester. This young man started to make his expenses in that manner. He bought books at a very small price and sold them at a very large price, and thus was able to build up a large book business at the university. He now has several rooms filled with books for incoming classes, and is in a position to give good advice as to the class of questions that may be asked from the various examinations in the different departments, as he keeps a carefully collected list of questions when the term starts. He has some of these typewritten and made into pamphlet form for sale. He also has a stenographer, who takes the lectures in the different classes so has them for sale to the students who are unable to take them down during their class work, or for those who have been inattentive. PLAN No. 780. THE WAY HE MADE GOOD IN THE ASSESSOR’S OFFICE It is generally conceded that one of the hardest offices to fill, is the office of county assessor. No matter how hard you may try to please the public generally, on assessment of their property, you will find delegation after delegation appealing to you to make change in their assessment, and you will find many of your dear friends who really insist on being treated in a special manner and different than the rest of the other people, they want you to discriminate as to them. This young man had trained himself for the law and had practiced a few years. He decided before going into politics to try-out serving in this office for a time. After rendering his service for a number of years he was announced by his friends for this office and won. He made up his mind that when elected he would handle this office in a way that it would reflect credit in after years. He had noticed many people, when directing these offices, had failed, largely on account of their lack of will power to stand by what they absolutely knew was right. If an assessment was made on property and a delegation appeared before him, he would take all the blame, if there was any, and would go into the matter and have it settled once-for-all. After a short time people began to find out that the assessor had a mind of his own; that he knew what was right, and when any matter was taken before him they understood clearly if their contention was right he would do all he could to assist them. He followed this policy throughout his term of office. Another thing he did after election was to call together all his assistants and made it clear to them that they were to serve the public in the best possible manner, and to be courteous at all times; and that the public was a final judge as to their ability to serve them and that he was only an instrument through which the public could give its approval or disapproval. After a service along the lines which has just been suggested, he was re-elected to several other offices in the county, which is a remarkable record. As to building up any political machine, he did not do this, but of course his friends and those who supported him were given preference in his appointments, and they were loyal to him. PLAN No. 781. THIS MAN BECAME COUNTY CLERK He was a very likable man and had served in public office for a number of years at the court house, and he in this way became generally acquainted throughout the county. He decided to run for the office of county clerk, and was successful. As soon as he was elected he called together his assistants and made it clear to them that in this office application was one of the important parts of the service; that he wanted them to serve full time; that they were serving the public, and that nobody should be impertinent or short in their answers and should be most courteous in every way. In fact, he made it clear to them that if they were unable to render service in this way that they had better leave and, that they would be removed at any time when the time came they could not treat the public right, because, he stated, the public was their final judge. The clerk himself was not a man given to very much talk, but he made it a point, when the attorneys called to speak to them kindly and give the greatest consideration regarding any matter they desired information. This was granted to all attorneys, irrespective of age or qualifications. The attorney handling the smallest business would receive the same consideration that the most wealthy among them--they were all equal in his office. He also knew that if he was to be re-elected, or desired to win further political preference, that he must start his campaign when he first opened up the office, and this was his campaign: rendering the best kind of service that lay within his power. PLAN No. 782. ATTORNEY VISITS BROTHER-ATTORNEYS After graduating from his college he called on attorneys, in the town where he was reared, and obtained the best possible advice from them. He inquired as far as he dared into what they did to make their practice a success. Oftentimes attorneys do not know the plan they have followed, but upon visiting with them you will soon discover that they have followed some general plan of action. If the plan is productive of good profits put it down as a lesson for yourself. This attorney continued this practice for years. He always made it a point to know all of his fellow attorneys and keep in touch with their advancement from time to time. At least once a year he would lay aside a certain amount of time to call on all the attorneys, and especially find out, if possible, what kind of business they were doing and what new ideas they had in that particular community for the advancement of their profession. He states that each year he obtained points which meant a great deal to his practice, as well as winning the friendship and good will of his fellow attorneys. He states that there was hardly a year that he did not receive something which meant five or six hundred dollars to his practice. Some suggestions as to keeping up the business that came into his office, or that his charges were not sufficient, or he failed to use business methods in this or that. PLAN No. 783. GIRL MAKES LIVING BY MAKING TABLE FAVORS AND DECORATIONS OF PAPER She purchased several rolls of crêpe paper of different colors at 15 or 20 cents per roll, and this she experimented with until she became very proficient in the making of various table favors. And, as a matter of fact, she became expert in making all kinds of decorations for tables. The next thing for her to do was to get the business which would enable her to make profits and keep her busy week in and week out. She watched the papers very carefully, noting all of those who were giving parties at their homes; she made a catalog of all the socially-inclined people, and then made it a point to call upon them personally and arrange to make them decorations for their next party. She also called upon the restaurants and stood ready to make any special design they desired on certain occasions. She solicited this work a month ahead so that it would not all come at one time and make it impossible for her to give them what they desired. For example, Halloween, Saint Valentine’s Day and other days when the restaurants desired many of such decorations, she took these orders in advance and was prepared to deliver them when the occasion came. [Illustration: Plan No. 783. She is Content Because Her Work is Well Done] From this work she averaged more than $25 a week. This is a good business for any girl in any city of 50,000 and over, and much money can be made in this work in towns of smaller size. PLAN No. 784. ARE YOU COMPETENT TO BE A PATENT ENGINEER, DRAFTSMAN, ETC? At the present time, in the city in which I reside, there is a great opportunity for men skilled in this profession of patent engineering and drafting. They obtain all the way from $.75 to $1.00 an hour for their services. Men capable in this work should get in touch with patent attorneys. PLAN No. 785. A GOOD WAY TO START THE PRACTICE OF LAW This attorney was educated in an eastern university, and after completing his course decided to start in a small town in the State of Vermont. This town was a county seat and had some 2,500 inhabitants. The first year he netted more than $2,000. He started in with a partner, and during his twenty-five years of practice always had a partner. He believes this is the best way, as a great deal of law is learned by such association. He says an attorney can obtain a start in a small town much earlier than in a large city. He has an opportunity from the very beginning to show his ability. It is up to the attorney who goes to a small town to make sure that he knows as much about the law as possible, and should devote himself to careful study. His efforts will be noted by the Court and if the Court and the Bar generally of a small community, see that he is in earnest and has the material in him, he will find that he will get good support from all, especially by the judges in his community, as they like to help the young lawyer make a success. In the large city, he says it is different. If he cannot stand he must fall; nobody takes any particular interest in him. He has no opportunity of displaying the qualifications he possesses. He may live and die in a large city and be a Daniel Webster and nobody know it. He found after this association with the court of this county seat and the supreme court of the state that he obtained a class of business that was the very best, and he found that he knew the law better than his brothers in the city as every lawyer realizes that all the law is not in books, and the association with lawyers of high ability is the best instruction a lawyer can have. In this little town, all of his cases were in the superior court and he had many cases that were heard in the federal court, and from this practice he derived a good income. He found in the city that most of his fellow attorneys of the same age never had the opportunity of going to the federal court. Most of their practice was in the justice court or police court. PLAN No. 786. WHY NOT BECOME A PATENT ATTORNEY I have known this attorney for years, and my acquaintance and conversation with him has enabled me to learn much from the experience that he enjoyed as a patent attorney. It is a profitable field as well as an extremely interesting one. People generally realize that it is very difficult to get a patent through in the Department of Patents, but usually the examiner has many departments under him, and the various departmental heads go into all kinds of matters which would seem to the average person as unnecessary, and, in some cases, that is really the case. It is here that the patent attorney comes in. There are people who are patent assistants, which is different from patent attorneys. They advertise and obtain much business. They are not lawyers, are not educated as lawyers and have clerks who work under them who are less qualified than they, but the attorney has a great advantage over these people, for he himself has been trained as an attorney and is familiar with the rulings of the court and has many advantages when it comes to drawing up the petition for the person desiring the patent. Oftentimes before patent papers reach the examiner the owner becomes discouraged and withdraws, and the examiner is not troubled further. Another thing is the drawing-up of the petition, which contains a drawing and specifications, claim, etc. The drawing of a patent claim is a science, and is entirely governed by court rules. It is probably the most difficult legal paper to draw that is known. A great deal is required of a patent attorney. He should know something about mechanics and chemistry and even electricity. A very important thing to a person desiring a patent is, that the inventor must by all means understand the device upon which he is trying to obtain a patent. His information must be sufficient to assist the attorney. The attorney who desires to be a patent attorney realizes that the universities and colleges of our country do not give much which would be of assistance to one in that field, so the attorney mentioned in the foregoing account found that there were certain correspondence schools’ lectures put out which went into detail and were effective. These lectures will cost in the neighborhood of $30.00, and are entitled Correspondence Schools for Patent Law and Practice, put out by a Company at Washington, D. C. Every examiner, you will find, has on his desk a book which contains 507 mechanic movements. The knowledge of this go to test whether or not your patent will be accepted. It will be further necessary for you to have a Correspondent at Washington, D. C., and this you can secure by writing. This man will make a search for you and obtain the classification number of the patent and will forward you a half-dozen or more printed copies along the same line as your patent covers, and this will be an index to you as how to proceed in your own particular case, and will serve a great opportunity for you to give real assistance to your client by showing him how far other men have progressed in the same field as his invention and often he will be able to see the various mistakes they made and where he has improved it. He sometimes may also obtain a new idea which will determine the success of his own proposition. Now to get the business it is not understood as very good practice to advertise for this work. However, if you give that work your earnest attention in a city you will find your fellow-lawyers will send business to you, and soon, with the service you are able to render, you will develop a business. PLAN No. 787. REAL ESTATE PUT THEM THROUGH COLLEGE The university was close to a large city and these boys determined to get a legal education, so they went into the real estate business and developed a small business which would pay their expenses. One was in the office, while the other did the outside work. They finally made arrangements for a stenographer. Their business continued to grow until in a short time they both enrolled in the university and took up the study of law. They did not miss a class, and maintained a high standing throughout their college course. During their university course, their real estate business grew to great proportions, and before they had graduated they were very well to do. PLAN No. 788. FARMER WINS SUCCESS This farmer, who lives in eastern Washington, tells an interesting story of making a profitable place of his twenty acres of logged-off land: “When I bought my land six years ago, I only had $15 to pay down, no team or anything to commence with, but I had faith in the land and I commenced to work. “The first year I did not do anything on the land except to build a house, and I had to work out to support my family. The next winter I slashed and cleared some land in addition to cutting wood for a neighbor. The next year I broke up 8 acres with one horse and set out 375 apple and other trees, raised potatoes and other garden truck and bought a cow. The next year I raised garden truck and my wife and I ran a restaurant in the Y. M. C. A. in Spokane. The next year I broke up three acres more and planted this with the other land to potatoes, turnips, grain etc., working out as much as possible. Last year I sold $100 worth of crops from my eleven to twelve acres, raised grain enough for my two horses and two cows, and vegetables enough for my family; sold butter amounting to $100, and broke three acres more and sowed it to winter wheat. “I have my land about paid for and have a good frame house of four rooms, a shed, barn, plenty of farm machinery, and about fourteen acres under cultivation. The stumps are not all out yet, but I hope to burn them this year, and get a few more acres cleared up sufficiently to break. I find, after burning the brush, that timothy and clover will do well by sowing in the fall in the ashes in time for them to get a start, and the following year the same grows sufficiently for good pasture. In a year or two the stumps are rotted, so that the cost of clearing is very much reduced and at the same time the pasture is making good food for my cows; and if a small patch is cleared to furnish feed for the winter months, two or more cows will help very much in solving the problem. Of course, chickens have helped us, my wife doing the work with the chickens and milking the cows when I was away earning money. With the large amount of work to be obtained in this country, a man need not be idle any part of the year.” This is a good illustration of what a man with practically no money can accomplish. PLAN No. 789. CURING A FARM OF THE CRAMPS It seems a hopeless piece of work to try to bring back a farm when from over use its ability to produce is gone. The party in this article lived for years in the city and knew but little concerning soil until a real estate man sold him a farm of 42 acres. After his house was up and about one-half of his farm implements purchased he found that his land would not produce very much. His 20 acres of corn made about 8 bushel to the acre. His peas did fairly well. He had just enough to winter his stock. However he made up his mind to stick. Government bulletins were secured, farmers institutes were attended, he asked the neighbors questions. He made his land his special study. That year his wife taught school and he put in the winter hauling. After the cowpeas he put in wheat which 10 acres produced 100 bushels for which he received $100. He started in to enrich his land. Catch crops were raised and turned under to put humus into the soil and fertilizer was freely used. He had sandy loam which he claimed needed a great deal of petting. For six years he sowed rye and crimson clover in every acre of corn planted and plows this under in the spring for late potatoes, and follows that with wheat. After the wheat was harvested he sowed cowpeas or soy beans and plowed them under in early winter. He uses some of his wheat straw for bedding which he mixes with manure and later is used as fertilizer. The balance of the straw is scattered in the wheat field during the winter. Here is what the over used soil now produces: 50 to 60 bushels of corn to the acre. 20 to 25 bushels of wheat to the acre. 150 to 200 bushels of potatoes to the acre. This farmer now owns 100 acres and rents another 100 on which he has an option to purchase. He summarizes his success as follows: Hard study Some hard work Vegetable matter put in soil Potato crop Other products made to pay farm expenses. PLAN No. 790. BACK LOT MONEY Millions of dollars are lost by people in cities not using their back yards for poultry. There are thousands of acres of idle land that could be made to return a dividend. The thrifty Japs make every foot of soil produce. They farm mountains and hills that Americans would not touch. The Americans are wasteful, but since food has become so high they see that the land is the source of the bread of life, and we find many using their back yards for gardens or poultry. Many raise a garden, and when fall comes buy pullets and keep them for winter eggs, selling the pullets in the spring, thus raising two crops off the same ground. By right methods, poultry and eggs are easily produced in back yards at a good profit. The day is coming when not only vacant town lots, but all back yards will be producing something of value. In some cities many have a few chickens on the roof. CANDY AND CHICKENS A man who conducts a candy kitchen in a large city has 400 hens in a building back of his store. These hens are kept in this building on both the first and second floors. He devotes two hours daily to this flock and they bring him in an income of $1,000 a year. The egg yield is due to comfortable quarters and a special system of feeding. He gets much feed at a low cost in this large city. He buys stale bread and skim-milk from creameries at reduced prices. He buys lawn clippings from the town boys at 5 cents per bushel. When the days are short he turns the electric lights on. He says the hens have to have a long day in which to work to turn out a good egg yield. He gets his highest prices for eggs during the winter, and it is at this time that he makes the most money from his hens. He has the White Leghorns. No roosters are kept among the flock to annoy the people by their early crowing. Opportunity knocked at this man’s door and he heard. Opportunity is where you find it. Axiom has it that once, at least, opportunity knocks at every door, but for every time it knocks to make itself known, a hundred times it lies unobserved, while you pass unknowing. I wonder if any of you have heard Russel Conwell’s great lecture, “Acres of Diamonds.” If you have, you will always be the better for it, for therein he shows how we overlook our present opportunities for the things just a little farther off. GET A HOBBY We need to open our ears for the jingle of coin which is in our back yards. Every man and every woman should have a hobby as a kind of recreation, occupation, something to enthuse over. Anyone with time hanging heavy on his hands is a misery to himself and a nuisance to other folks, and the best medicine for the disorder is a hobby. A hobby lends itself to the means of all, for just a few dollars invested by the humble amateur or as many hundreds by the wealthy man. You may not have an “acre of diamonds” as per Russel Conwell, but you have a small gold mine which you may work, right in your own back yards, if you want to. PLAN No. 791. BECOME WIREMAN FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 792. BECOME VETERINARIAN FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 793. BECOME WEIGHT AND MEASURE ASS’T. FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 794. ONE DOLLAR A DAY During a recent vacation I saw a little girl seven years old sitting on a bench at the farthermost end of a golf course. By her side was a pail of water and a basket of red-cheeked apples. As the men playing golf passed this child, nearly all of them took an apple and a drink of water and placed upon the bench a nickel or sometimes a dime. I was told that the child often takes in a dollar a day for this service. How many families there are situated like this little girl who have not thought of making money through their proximity to a golf course or some other park or playground. How would a basket of ripe peaches, grapes, apricots, pears or plums be to a thirsty or hungry person, with even a few cookies tucked into a corner of the basket? These purchasers would not be likely to haggle about the prices they paid. If there are no particular gatherings of people near your farm, as was the case of the golf club, you have overlooked the opportunity of putting up a placard or sign near your house, stating that you have ripe peaches, apples, pears, plums, fresh eggs, or other farm products for sale in small or large amounts, and letting one of the children take charge of this place. PLAN No. 795. HOW TO GET CUSTOMERS This is a question that is most important to the farmer. All his profits depend on his ability to secure customers. The following experience will save much time as well as money to the farmer. Here is a successful method which has been followed by a group of farmers who joined forces to market their crops. The same plan can be used by the individual farmer as well. This group of farmers named one of their members to act as the Secretary Treasurer. This man attended to all soliciting by mail and distributed the first orders and all following orders were filled by the member who shipped the first order. The first question was how to get the names of prospective customers. A rate and telephone book were secured. The classes they thought would be most easily interested were written to. Their reason for using the phone book was that a person should be so connected in a business and social way with the city as to have a phone before they be given consideration. This list others trusted and such people they too could afford to trust. With this list there was practically no loss. To such, a general letter was sent outlining their service--what they had to sell and what they would have for future delivery each month in the year. These letters in about 10 days were followed up with other letters giving a special group of products. The different seasons of the year are considered. It may be canning time or near Thanksgiving or Xmas. If it is near Thanksgiving, then a list of dressed turkey, an assortment of fancy vegetables, hams, honey, nuts and pecans. And the prices are such as to interest the consumer. The farmer has not the overhead expense of the middle man--hence they can give a much better price. A card file was kept which gave complete information as well as prospects and customers. Card gave names, address, business connection, salary and rating of each person. When a customer is made out of the prospect a red slip is attached to the top of the card, and a number is given, it corresponding to a page in order book where shipment record is kept. This office is conducted by the Secretary Treasurer. When orders come in for which they cannot themselves fill, they hustle out to other farmers and purchase the product and thus fill their customers orders. In connection with this article read over the parcel post service and apply same to your shipments. PLAN No. 796. SHEEP PROFITABLE A Kansas farmer made money in 1917 when the corn crop was unprofitable and here is how he succeeded. Four years before he visited a fair where there were sheep and these were the first sheep he had ever seen so he bought three. A few days later he traded one shote for another sheep and in a few more days he gave up his Jersey cow for seven five-year old ewes and eight lambs. Soon he had gathered a flock of 59 sheep, including ewes and lambs of all ages, sizes and shapes. His interest grew until he had collected about 1000 head of sheep which averaged 30 lbs. to the head. He allowed them to graze in a pasture of alfalfa and when this was gone he fed them at the rate of 2 lbs. of feed per head. In 100 days he nearly doubled his money. He took out the scrub ewes and wether lambs and fed them 55 days. Those he fed on corn weighed 72 lbs. per head and brought seven cents per lb. The spring of 1917 he purchased 500 head. When the grass became too short he turned them into the corn to take care of themselves until November. His investment of $8,000 through these sheep grew to $17,600. He has about 1,000 sheep and when the ewes have a good milk flow and do well he does not feed, otherwise he gives them oats. He says: “I believe it is best to use self-feeders, feeding alfalfa-meal, corn chop, corn and kafir, or corn and barley mixed. I tried such a mixture with 100 head and for two days fed alfalfa-meal and corn mixture in the proportion of 2 lbs. of alfalfa for one pound of mixture. The next three or four days I fed half and half. The fifth day there was less meal, and on the sixth day I was feeding two-thirds corn chops and one-third alfalfa-meal. It took fifty-five days to feed them out. I did not keep track of the gains they made, but they did exceedingly well.” This Kansas man is of the opinion that 1,000 head is all one man should handle since the lambing season takes all his time. PLAN No. 797. BECOME WEIGHT CLERK FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 798. WAREHOUSE INVESTIGATORS FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 799. BECOME WATCHMAN FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 800. WHAT SHE DID WITH CHICKENS This lady in Spokane, Washington, kept an accurate account of the cost of her poultry and reports the following average results per year: Number of eggs per hen 105 Price received for eggs $0.37 Cost of feed per hen $1.74 Profit per hen from eggs $1.60 Total profit per hen, including eggs, fries and poultry sold $2.13 This is what you can do if out of employment or want to make your back yard and shed produce profit. The above figures are reliable. The example of what other people have done is the best argument in the world that you can do as well. These people do not bear charmed lives, but they are people who do not take a little discouragement as a barrier. The government stands ready to help you with excellent literature on this subject. Write to the Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. [Illustration: Plan No. 801. Profitable Birds] PLAN No. 801. SQUABS Do you wish to raise squabs for a living? If so the first thing to do before you waste a cent is to gather all the information possible about this. Drop a letter to the United States Government and they will give all the information they possess about squabs. Read all you can find on this subject; also visit someone already in the business. When you begin it is best to start small, say 5, 10, or 20 pair which you should purchase from a reliable brooder who will guarantee that the pigeons are perfectly mated, and that he will take them back in 3 months if not satisfactory. The age of your pigeons should be 2 to 3 years old. If you have 10 pair of brooding pigeons you should give them a rat-proof room, 6 to 7 ft. by 5 ft. and about 6 ft. high. If larger it would be better. Breeding quarters should have access to a wired flying cage the same width and 16 ft. long by 8 ft. high. Cover cage with one inch mesh galvanized wire netting so that the sparrows will not give trouble. The breeding quarters should have at least 20 nesting boxes for 10 pair of pigeons. Store boxes will do--not less than 10 to 12 inches square, with a 4 to 6 inch strip fastened on front to keep the little ones from falling out also to give privacy during incubation. Or if you wish, earthenware or wood fiber nest-bowls may be used, with partitions one ft. square. The outside cage or flight should have a shelf running the length of the cage where the birds may exercise and parade. Put in bottom of flight about 2 inches of ashes or gravel so it will be dry. Feed the birds in the breeding place and keep the grain dry. Also provide water in the breeding house so that birds will not soil the water. Bath pans must be outside in the flight. Have pigeon loft face south, with plenty of light and air but free from drafts. Windows should all be on the south side. Pigeon house should be one ft. to 18 inches above ground to avoid trouble from rats. To protect against cold in the winter have floor made double, bottom of rough board and top of matched flooring. This is much warmer than concrete. Ten pair of pigeons in 6 months will produce about 30 to 40 squabs. If you wish squabs for breeders remove them from parents when 6 weeks old. Put in pen 1¹⁄₂ ft. square and twice as much space outside. It will cost about $2.25 to feed a pair of pigeons and 6 pair of squabs until they are 4 weeks old--which is the age to market them. If the sale price of the 6 pair is $3.00 you would realize a profit of 75 cents per breeding pair. PLAN No. 802. 52-ACRE MICHIGAN ORCHARD Fourteen years ago the first of March, I purchased twenty-five acres one-half mile south of Bangor, Michigan, and two weeks later moved onto it from Illinois. Two years after moving onto this farm I set out an orchard of 500 trees, planting them twenty feet each way. This orchard was set to Duchess, Yellow Transparent, Wealthy, Grimes Golden, Snow and Jonathan. This orchard was cultivated each year until the first of August, then a cover crop was planted and turned under the following spring, until it was six years old. Then it was left to go into a natural seed, which is blue grass and red top. These trees had made such a wonderful growth that they were large enough to bear a good crop at six years old. This orchard has been mowed each year since going into sod, and at harvesting time when the trees were six years old we took $340 worth of apples from the orchard, or $68 per acre. From that time on this orchard has been doing better each year, and when nine years old we made $90 per acre from it; at ten years $100 per acre, and the past season, at eleven years old, we sold $1,200 worth of apples, a return of $240 per acre. This orchard is protected by timber on the west and north sides. It is sandy loam soil. The first trimming these trees received was when they were six years old, and from that time on they got an annual moderate trimming and received thorough spraying. Our spray has been lime sulphur and arsenate of lead. We found that we could not grow wood and fruit spurs at the same time, hence no trimming was done until the trees were large enough to bear. PLAN No. 803. BECOME WAREHOUSEMAN FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 804. BECOME TRANSPORTATION ASSISTANT FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 [Illustration: Plan No. 805. Climbing with the Goats] PLAN No. 805. CLIMBING WITH THE GOATS Two men, both traders of rare ability, one had land located in the Ozark Mountains, Douglas County, Missouri, and the other owned level but dry land in the West. Each thought his land so poor that he could not lose in the trade. The party whom we are most interested in took the Missouri land. When his taxes were due he visited his land and found he had received in this trade some very beautiful scenery. In places it was so rough that he had to hold on to the trees to keep on his land. The party showing him the land told him that this was good land for goat raising. This gave him an idea--goats would clean the land, build the soil and they required but little attention. And the goats would thrive in such a country. One advantage the land possessed was a good supply of water. Thirty days after receiving this idea he put over fifty goats on the land and fenced his several hundred acres. In five years his herd of fifty goats had grown to four hundred, he now owns 1300 acres. The goats cleaned all under brush and kept all sprouts down and deadened the timber. The goats had prepared this land so that orchard grass, native blue grass and clover was planted and grew in such abundance that the owner was able to take care of 100 head of cattle in addition to the goats. The owner went into partnership with a party who receives one-half of the increase of the goats and cattle. He states that no man will find land that flows with milk and honey now, but that cheap land with a good supply of water offers a great opportunity to a young man with a herd of goats and a little money to run him for a couple of years. In his 1300 acres he had some good land in the valleys where he raises alfalfa and clover. PLAN No. 806. NEGLECTED ORCHARD PAYS PROFIT C. F. Mason, of Hickman Mills, Missouri, has made a fortune from a forty acre apple orchard that the neighbors swore could not be made to pay. Up until the time Mr. Mason took hold of its management, this forty acres had never been known to pay more than $200 per year. His profits the first season totaled $2,000; the next year, $2,500; the third season, $8,100, and in the eight seasons he has rented this tract he has banked more than $40,000, in spite of the fact that he had gone up against two pretty disappointing seasons. [Illustration: Plan No. 806. Plow Deep While Sluggards Sleep] It was 1910 that Mr. Mason quit the trail of the grip to rent this forty-acre orchard. When he went to the owner and asked if he could rent it, they were delighted, for they thought they had discovered a new brand of fool who was willing to part with his time and money. Mr. Mason made his own terms the first year; since then he has made so much profit with the orchard that the owners have been very fair in their terms, since he had converted a millstone into a bank. The second day after the contract was signed the renter with a force of men went into the orchard, consisting of fifteen-year-old trees, and the battle for a crop started. The trees were then in bloom and the work had to be done in quick order. It was. The first year the profit of $2,000 permitted the back-to-the-lander to purchase equipment needed to handle the orchard along practical lines. The topnotch production was reached in 1912, when more than 15,000 bushels were harvested, selling for $8,100. More apples were sold from the orchard in 1918. In 1914, due to drought, the crop was reduced to about 9,500 bushels, which sold for $6,000. RECORD OF SPRAYS Mr. Mason says that 10 per cent of the orchards in Missouri and Kansas produce 90 per cent of the apples of a marketable type. His aim from the start was to have as near a 100 per cent producing orchard as possible. “I sprayed first in the spring at cluster bud time,” he says, “when the first leaves were about the size of a mouse’s ear. That was primarily for scab. I used one-gallon of lime-sulphur solution to twenty-five gallons of water. “I sprayed the second time just as the blossoms were dropping. That was for the codling moth. I used one gallon of lime-sulphur to forty gallons of water, with two pounds of paste arsenate of lead, or one pound of dry arsenate. The third spraying was the same as the second, and was applied two weeks later to control the curculio. The fourth spraying was done about the first week of July, using the same formula as in the second and third applications, to control the second brood of codling moths and side worms. If cankerworms are prevalent I use three pounds of paste arsenate of lead, or half in dry form, to fifty gallons of water. “That is the spring spraying. If the San José scale is present, the trees must be treated in winter, after the leaves drop and before they make their appearance in the spring, spraying once with a strong solution of lime-sulphur in proportion of one part of lime to ten parts water. This application is very good.” CULTIVATION AND PRUNING Mr. Mason believes in cultivation for apple profits, since he has demonstrated that his section of the country demands this treatment. “Cultivation of an orchard is just as necessary as cultivating corn and other crops,” he says. “Moisture must be present in the ground and the weeds must be kept down to prevent drinking up the moisture and fertility the trees need. The surface must be thoroughly tilled, too, to permit the moisture to enter the ground. Fall plowing of orchards has many great advantages. “Another very important thing is the pruning. Remove the surplus wood and clear the tree out so that the sunlight and air strike it. Never cut out so much the sun will strike the big limbs. Don’t do all the pruning at once. Pruning should extend over a period of years. All cross limbs and limbs that are in the tree’s way should be removed, not all that are in your way. “Pruning is an art. I advise all orchardists who want to engage in the business, as a business, to take a course in horticulture, either in some recognized agricultural school, or take a broad course at home. Watch the trees and their needs--study them closely. Each tree might require different treatment. In one tree we pruned properly in our orchard, the size of the apples was doubled over former years. The value of the apples was increased, as was the color and flavor.” Mr. Mason starts spraying young orchards early, especially the first year. He says to do so prevents fungus from getting a start. He sprays the young trees in the winter also. “It is not advisable to set young trees out in an old orchard,” continued Mr. Mason. “We tried it and failed. The trees either died or just simply refused to live. I put new trees on fresh soil that has been rotated in various crops for at least five years.” PLAN No. 807. BECOME TESTING ENGINEER FOR U. S. SEE PLAN No. 217 PLAN No. 808. A SYSTEM OF FARM RENTAL Many farms are ruined because their owners have not understood the drawing up of a proper agreement and thereby including proper safeguards. Many retired farm owners are located in the various small towns and cities with nothing to do who have rented their farms for cash and they have nothing to do but worry about the way the farm is going back. Many tenants follow a soil mining plan--get out of the farm all that is possible today and let tomorrow take care of itself as tomorrow the owner will have it back. The following kind of a rental system has been followed with good results: This owner rented his 400 acre dairy and stock farm and it paid him in 1917--7.89% on a $25,000 investment, after all expenses had been deducted. At the same time his land has improved in production and value. Under this plan the tenant’s share amounted to $2,838.60 while the net earnings of the owner was $1,974.12 which was exclusive of his personal, managerial labor. The lease contained the following conditions as to owner: Active management of farm rests with the owner. Financial and business operations are handled by owner. Owner furnishes all seed and one-half of fertilizer. All horse power, machinery and equipment. All feed except one-half ensilage which tenant furnishes. Twenty-five to thirty dairy cows and one registered bull. Tenant receives one-third of gross income and owner two-thirds of gross income. Which includes one-third share in all young stock. TENANT Provides all labor which consists of own service and two hired men by the year and labor necessary for harvesting and housing crop. Bears one-third of stock loss. Pays 6% interest on one-third of value of cows. Keeps machinery and equipment in good condition and pays for necessary repairs. All buildings to be kept in good repair. Holds in check all weeds and filth along fence rows and in field. Pays one-third of cost of delivery of milk to city distributers. Furnishes one-third of fertilizer. Furnishes one-third of thrashing and silo filling bills. LEASE COVERS Apportionment of undivided property or improvement if at any time contract should be terminated. Runs for 10 years but may be terminated at the end of the year. If tenant does not live up to agreement, farm automatically returns to owners complete control. Owner can then hire such labor as is necessary to carry on business to end of year at which time lease will expire and tenant’s heirs or assignees would be paid their net share of the income due after expenses are paid. The renter likes the plan for the following reasons: It gives tenant residence for 10 years. No expense for frequent moves. Live stock as dairy cows gives tenant income each month. Tenant capitalizes his labor. Tenant on farm long enough to gain the advantage of added benefits from live stock farming and the application of stable manure to fields. The owner likes it for the following reasons: The land is improved constantly. Allows him to engage in other business and follow farming evenings and Saturdays. Plan urges tenant to do his best to make grain and milk crops as large as possible. Plan assures the owner that the live stock and farm equipment is well cared for. The best tenant is a young married man experienced, competent and who likes the farm and wants to own a farm himself some day. PLAN No. 810. BUILD AND SELL FARM HOME CONVENIENCES The Agricultural Department of the United States put out a booklet in which are given the following ways of making Farm Home Conveniences. The farmer can by building these home articles save much money, but city people can also profit by doing the same. There is no reason why men who are handy at making such articles cannot follow these plans set forth and manufacture one or several of same and thereby derive a comfortable living by selling them. Large fortunes have been made from most of the articles herein set forth by individuals or companies in the country. Along with each article a form letter should be prepared concerning the article made. PLAN No. 811. THE KITCHEN CABINET For plans 811 to 828 inclusive we are indebted to the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture Contribution from the States Relations Service A. C. TRUE, Director A carpenter without his bench loses much time in getting the right tools and in putting them away. A chemist cannot do systematic laboratory work without a well-arranged desk. A kitchen cabinet is just as important to the housekeeper as the bench to the workman or the laboratory desk to the chemist. With it the housekeeper can sit comfortably down with her whole kitchen workshop within easy reach. It saves walking to and fro to gather up this thing and that, to prepare the food. Every kitchen should have a stool of the right height to enable the worker to sit at her work at the cabinet. The cabinet must be made of good wood, well seasoned. This is the most important consideration. Poorly seasoned wood warps and swells and is a constant annoyance in opening and closing drawers and doors. A convenient sized cabinet is 6 feet 3 inches high to the top of the closet, 31 inches high to the top of the table. It is 21 inches deep and 48 inches wide. The part of the cabinet below the table should contain flour bin, large drawer, rack, and dough or pastry board. The bin is fastened to the frame with loose-pin hinges. By removing the pins the entire bin can be removed, cleaned, and replaced. The bin can be lined with tin to make it moist, insect, and mouse proof. The dough board should be made of wood that is tasteless and odorless and should be fitted well in the opening just below the table. A batten is tongued and grooved on each side of the board to prevent it from warping. The roomy board can be used for small utensils. The open space below the drawer can be occupied by the kitchen stool or the home-made fireless cooker when they are not in use. [Illustration: A time and labor saver.] Pie pans, lids, and covers have a most convenient place in the rack below the drawer. A drop table 21 inches wide and 19 inches long increases the table surface. This table is supported by inexpensive folding brackets. The upper part of the cabinet consists of a closed compartment, three drawers, three open shelves, knife rack, and a row of screw hooks for hanging utensils. The closed compartment is for package goods and large utensils. The drawers are for kitchen linen and other things needed in daily use. The lower shelf is 5 inches in depth, while the upper shelves are 7¹⁄₂ inches. On these shelves are kept coffee, tea, sugar, and spice jars. Three inches below the lower shelf there is a strip 1¹⁄₂ inches wide which holds the screw hooks. The knife rack is made by sawing slashes 1 inch deep in a piece of material 2 inches wide. [Illustration: Fig. 1.--Kitchen cabinet.] PLAN No. 812. THE FIRELESS COOKER Fireless cookers are now being made and used in hundreds of country homes. What is more pleasing to the farm woman than to put her dinner in the fireless cooker before she drives to town to market her products, and upon returning find it ready for serving? The fireless cooker offers several advantages. The first economy of time, as the housekeeper may leave the food cooking without worrying about the results while she is engaged in other household duties or visiting her friends. Some foods are improved by long cooking at relatively low temperature. The texture and flavor of tougher cuts of meat, old, tough fowl, and ham are improved by slow cooking. Cereals, dried legumes, and dried fruits are more palatable and wholesome when cooked for a long time. Soups and stews are delicious when cooked in the cooker. Baking, however, can not be done very conveniently nor satisfactorily in the ordinary homemade fireless cooker. [Illustration: Fig. 2.--Materials assembled for making a fireless cooker.] In some sections of the country economy of fuel must be an important consideration. The food for the cooker may be started on the wood or coal range when the morning meal is being prepared. In warm weather the use of the fireless cooker and a kerosene stove means not only economy of fuel, but also comfort. The food to be cooked is first heated to boiling point on the stove in the cooking vessel and then this vessel, covered with a tight lid, is quickly placed in the cooker, where the cooking continues. The cooker is so constructed that the heat does not escape. For long cooking it is necessary to place in the cooker under the vessel a hot radiator. A soapstone is the best radiator and can be purchased at most hardware stores for 50 cents. A stove lid, a brick or disc made of concrete, heated and placed in the cooker, may serve as the radiator. Directions: A tightly built box, an old trunk, a galvanized-iron ash can, a candy bucket, a tin lard can, and a butter firkin are among the containers that have been successfully used in the construction of fireless cookers. The inside container or nest which holds the vessel of hot food may be a bucket of agate, galvanized iron, or tin. This nest must be deep enough to hold the radiator and the vessel of food but not large enough to leave much space, as the air space will cool the food. The inside container must have a tight-fitting cover, and straight sides are desirable. The packing or insulation must be of some material which is a poor conductor of heat. The following materials may be used and they should be dry: Lint cotton, cotton-seed hulls, wool, shredded newspaper, Spanish moss, ground cork, hay, straw and excelsior. Sheet asbestos ¹⁄₈ inch thick and heavy cardboard have proved to be the best lining for the outer container and the wrapping for the nest. Heavy wrapping paper or several sheets of newspaper may be used for the lining of the outer container, but the nest should be wrapped with asbestos or heavy cardboard to prevent the hot stone from scorching or burning the packing. [Illustration: Fig. 3.--The completed fireless cooker.]