American Family Educator

THIS is a practical age, and the one who accumulates more than the average amount of wealth is envied by his acquaintances, and pointed out as a man who has made a success of life.

The following ideas are offered to those who desire to increase their incomes, and to those who are dissatisfied with their present employment, and wish to turn their attention to new fields of endeavor. It is not claimed that all the plans offered will be of use to each individual case. A clerk in a Chicago department store could hardly hope to make a fortune raising sheep, and a farmer in Dakota would probably meet with failure should he attempt to establish a sewing school, but it is hoped that each one who reads this chapter may find some hint that will prove of financial benefit, and lead to the enlargement of his bank account.

If you have a garden, arrange to supply the local merchants with fresh vegetables during the season. Or, better still, make a house to house canvass in your nearest town, and arrange to call daily during the season with fruits and vegetables fresh from your garden. Here are the six articles which grocers say sell for the largest profit.

1. Asparagus.—Arrange it attractively in small bunches. The white variety is considered the most palatable.

2. String Beans.—Nothing is easier to raise, and the demand will exceed the supply.

3. Peas.—When in the pod they are not particularly attractive, but very young peas when shelled and taken to market in bright tin pails are irresistible.

4. Green Corn.—A great luxury. The first on the market commands fancy prices.

5. Tomatoes.—The larger the better. They command a good price, and as a thrifty vine will bear fifty, the profits are very large.

6. Fresh Strawberries.—Pick them fresh every morning. Put in boxes so that they will appear attractive, with two or three unusually large ones on top, surrounded by a few leaves. Always give good measure, and your customers will wait for you.

7. Dairy Products.—Butter, eggs, milk and cheese, all these yield immense profits to the one who understands the dairy. If you have facilities for keeping hens, you can add greatly to your income.

8. Big Peaches.—When ordinary peaches were selling at twenty-five cents a bushel, a grower received $2.00 a bushel. This is how he did it. When the fruit was as large as a hickory nut, he employed a large force of laborers and picked off more than one-half the fruit. The rest ripened early, grew large, and was of excellent quality. His net profit that year from eleven acres was between $3,000 and $4,000.

9. Pickles.—As many as 150,000 cucumbers have been grown on one acre of land, and at the low price of $1.50 per thousand this means $225 per acre.

10. Beets.—Even when sown a foot apart, it is possible to grow 80,000 beet roots on an acre of ground. They easily command $1.00 per hundred, and deducting one-half for expenses, there results a net profit of $400.

11. Horseradish.—The root requires but little cultivation. Instead of selling it in bulk, grate it yourself, put it in fancy bottles, and sell to consumers.

12. Tobacco.—Where tobacco can be raised, farmers have abandoned nearly every other crop. The profits are enormous.

13. Tree Nursery.—The expense of a tree nursery is almost nothing beyond the first investment. An acre of ground will hold about 44,000 small trees. The average price is about nine cents each. If you can make a market, there is wealth in the business.

14. Onions.—In some sections of the country, as high as one thousand bushels to the acre have been raised. They seldom sell for less than seventy-five cents per bushel.

15. Apples.—A man in New England said that after forty years' experience, raising all kinds of crops, he found his apple orchard brought him a greater profit than any other crop on his 200 acres of land.

16. Christmas Trees.—If you live in a section where evergreen trees abound, cut the smaller ones a few weeks before Christmas, and ship them to the city. Christmas trees sell for from fifty cents to five dollars, and you can cut thousands from a single acre. Wreaths made of holly and ground pine also sell rapidly.

17. Double Vegetable Culture.—A New Jersey farmer has conceived the idea of grafting tomatoes on potato vines, or an air crop on a root crop, thus raising vegetables at both ends. This is an idea for growers who have only a limited space, and where land is high.

18. Growing Nuts.—Land that is not available for ordinary farming purposes may be utilized for growing nuts. The crop requires but little care, and there is a constant demand at good prices. The chief pomologist at Washington, D. C., says: "The cultivation of nuts will soon be one of the greatest and most profitable industries in the United States."

19. Bees.—Pure honey is always in demand. Here is one man's experience: "Last year I marketed ten tons of extracted honey, and three tons of comb honey, all from 154 colonies. I received an average of ten cents per pound, or a total of $3,600. The space employed was 1,386 feet, or somewhat less than an acre."

20. Geese.—A man bought a gander and three geese. From the geese be received yearly forty eggs each in two litters, or a total of 120. He found that from this number of eggs he could safely count on seventy-five per cent of matured chicks, or ninety goslings. The weight when fattened was 855 pounds, and at twenty cents a pound he received $171. The cost of keeping was $46. Profits, $125. Of course, the sum varied from one year to another, but this was his average for five years.

21. Cheese.—About $1,500,000 is paid yearly by the people of the United States for imported cheese, which is no better than the article manufactured at home. There is never a question about a market for this product, and the profits are very large.

22. Fresh Eggs.—Eggs bring more than twice the price in winter that they do in summer. By keeping your hen house warm, you can have fresh eggs to sell all the year.

WOMAN'S WORK.

23. School Store.—If your home is near a large school, it should be easy for you to establish a profitable business with very little capital. There are many articles needed by scholars that you can manufactured yourself, and as your business expands, constant addition to your stock will increase your profits.

24. Noon Lunches.—Many parents would rather pay a small sum than be put to the trouble of providing their children with a lunch. Put it up in paper bags, tied with a bit of ribbon, to give it an attractive appearance.

25. Make Book Covers, pen wipers, colored inks and school bags. Ink may be made by boiling one and one-half pounds of logwood with sufficient water to leave a residue of two and one-half quarts. When cold, add one and one-half drams of yellow bichromate of potash, stir thoroughly, and the ink is ready for use.

26. Temperance Drinks.—Sell root beer, ginger pop and lemonade. You can make these yourself at a trifling cost.

27. Ham Sandwiches.—Boil a ham, cut into thin slices, and place between slices of bread. Tongue may be served in the same way.

28. Doughnuts.—These are very tempting to children. Make them fresh every day. Fancy cakes, pies, etc., will increase your sales.

28. Toilet Articles.—As your trade increases, add toilet articles, home-made fancy work, and other articles of a similar nature. If you please the children, there is no reason why their mothers should not be your patrons also.

29. Pork and Beans is a very popular dish. Bake them, and put them in small crocks. You can easily secure a steady family trade.

30. Tomato Ketchup.—If you have facilities for raising your own tomatoes, you can make it at a very small expense, and almost every one will buy the homemade article, in preference to that sold in the stores.

31. Peanuts.—Buy in bags, and roast them in your oven. The profits are considerably over 100 per cent.

32. Pop Corn.—Pop it in large quantities, add molasses and salt, and flavor with some popular extract. Make it up in balls or fancy shapes. Profits are very large.

33. Mucilage.—Dissolve gum-arabic in water until the whole is of the consistency of cream. Add a few drops of sweet oil to prevent it from souring. The cost is comparatively nothing. Put it in bottles labeled with your name and business address.

34. Sewing School.—If you are an expert with the needle, organize a school for teaching plain and fancy sewing. Advertise your enterprise, and you will soon have the work which many mothers have neither the time nor the inclination to do.

35. Repair Shop.—Hotels, boarding houses and bachelor apartments have constant calls for some one who can sew on buttons, mend gloves, repair torn clothing, and, in fact, do all kinds of work with the needle. Arrange with the managers of these places to make regular calls, prepared to do the work.

36. Office Lunches.—Put up a light lunch in paste board boxes. Call at office buildings and factories near the noon hour with your stock. If your lunches are neat and low priced, you will soon have a large number of regular customers.

37. Hair Dressing.—The dressing of hair is an excellent business for women. This can be done either at your own home, or at the residences of your patrons.

38. Mending and Cleaning.—The mending and washing of fine laces is a work that requires expert knowledge, but when it is once learned, it is a very profitable employment.

39. Shopping.—If you live a short distance from a city, many of your friends and neighbors will willingly pay you a small fee to shop for them. When you have secured a number of regular patrons, so that your purchases are of importance, merchants will allow you a reduction in prices, which, in connection with your commissions, will add quite a little to your income.

40. Soap.—The process of making soap is an easy one, and there is always a demand for the fancy toilet article. Very little capital is required to embark in the business in a small way, and the possibilities are unlimited.

41. Birds.—Breed and sell canary birds. One lady with eighteen pairs netted $500 in one year.

42. Cleaning Eslablishment.—Cleaning feathers, velvets, furs, gloves, silks and other delicate articles offer many opportunities to one who understands the business. If you can take grease spots from carpets, stains from table covers, thumb marks from books, and scratches from furniture, you can find plenty of work to do, at good pay.

43. Saratoga Chips.—Here is an example of what may be done with a single good article by one who knows how. One woman has an income of $12.50 a week secured by selling Saratoga chips to the people of the town where she lives.

44. Fancy Lamp Shades may be made of colored crepe papers. They are very cheap, and look almost as well as silk. The art of making them is not difficult to learn, and the profits are comparatively large.

45. Pet Dogs.—The right kind bring fancy prices. King Charles spaniels, French and Japanese poodles, and Yorkshire terriers will always sell, and the cost of raising them is slight.

46. Home Hothouse.—Many people will buy plants already started who would not go to the trouble to buy seeds, slips and pots. There is also a demand for cut flowers at all seasons. Have a cellar for rooting and a south room for sunning. By advertising what you propose to do, you will surely get customers.

47. Preserves.—There is no one who does not prefer the home article to that sold in the stores. Equip yourself with fruit, sugar, cans and preserve kettles, buy fresh fruit, or better still, raise it if you can, and you can sell all the preserves you have the facilities for "putting up."

48. Needlework.—Buy linens stamped with designs, and give your spare time to decorative embroidery. If you have talent in this direction, you will have no trouble in disposing of your work at good prices.

49 Fancy Needlework.—Watch the bargain sales advertised in the papers. Buy ribbon, silk, laces and velvet remnants, which can often be secured at a trifling cost. You can make boas, ruchings, berthas, draped collars, etc. Every woman wants these things, and will buy them if they can be found in the colors and styles desired.

50. Labor-Saving Utensils.—Secure from a wholesale dealer samples of articles for the kitchen. Test them until you thoroughly understand their use. Then start out among your neighbors. A housewife will purchase anything that will lighten her labor if it is not expensive.

51. Nurses.—Hospital nurses command from $15 to $25 per week. A course of study is necessary, but the field is inviting for women who have tastes for the work.

52. Women Physicians.—A medical journal says: "There is a real necessity for women physicians; there are many ladies who prefer them, and in some cases will consult no other. There are now over one thousand lady physicians in the United States, but the number will soon be doubled, and even trebled. Several of these lady physicians are making over $2,000 a year. One of them says: 'I have several well-to-do families whom I charge by the year. I charge $200 if they are people who are considered well off, less if they are poor.'"

53. Vocalists.—A lady with a good voice is certain of making a comfortable living; fortunes have come to many. The demand is wide and various. If your taste does not incline to the stage, there is a field in the church. All large churches, and many small ones, have paid choirs.

54. Flower Seed Packets.—Buy quantities of flower seeds of all varieties. Put them in small envelopes, a few seeds in each, and advertise that you will send samples for a penny a kind, ten for six cents, twenty-five for fifteen cents, fifty for twenty-five cents, etc. A large mail envelope will hold fifty or more of the smaller ones containing the seeds.

55. Selling Books by Subscription.—This is a profitable work and one in which any person past the age of eight or ten years can engage. It needs no special training or no especial talent. The "selling of books" has been the stepping stones of more great men and women than any other one employment. Daniel Webster paid his second term's tuition at Dartmouth by canvassing for De Tocqueville's "America." In the rooms of the Kassacluisett's Historical Society may be seen a canvassing book used by Longfellow, on one of the leaves of which is his first draft of his poem "Excelsior." Prince Bismarck, when a student at Heidelberg, during a winter's vacation, canvassed for one of Blumenthal's hand books. George Washington tells how prior to the Braddock defeat he sold, in the neighborhood of Alexandria, 200 copies of Bydell's "American Savage". The reason for this is that good books are educators. The work, though hard, is elevating, ennobling and helpful. Dr. Spurgeon said: "There is no other business so honorable or beneficial to mankind as the business of selling good books." The great American divine, Dr. Talmage says: "I always feel like taking off my hat to the book agent. He is doing more good than I can ever hope to do." Besides the good one can do, the work is profitable. The best books to-day are sold only by subscription. In days gone by, the subscription book man thought he could palm off any old book on the innocent public, but to-day all this is changed. The best authors place their books in the hands of subscription book houses for sale. Subscription book men are wide awake, they at once put these books in the hands of agents and in one year alone often as high as seven and eight hundred thousand copies of one book alone are sold. Histories, biographies, atlases, dictionaries, etc., etc., find their way into the most common of homes. Thus it is that the boy and girl on the remote mountain side and obscure valley is to-day as well read as the lad and lass of our large cities. Books are the educators, agents are the reapers. If you have a friend who needs employment recommend him to a good subscription publishing company and get him started on life's pathway.