PLAN No. 543. LAWYER TRADES FOR 80-ACRE FARM
A young lawyer, just out of college, located in a northwestern city of about 75,000 people, and, though his practice was not large during the first few years, he made a fair living.
An old, dilapidated frame house, within a mile and a half of the business center, was offered at a low price, there being a mortgage on the place for $1,800. The owner being anxious to get rid of the mortgage, offered to sell his equity for $50, and the lawyer bought it. Then he mastered his pride, went to work and cleaned up the premises thoroughly, and spent $150 for painting and other improvements, and moved into it with his family. It then looked like a new place, and a number of trees with a good lawn gave it a very attractive and home-like appearance.
After he had lived in the house a few months, the owner of a farm within a few miles of the city, who wanted a home in town, and greatly admired this particular place, offered to trade the farm for the lawyer’s equity in the city residence. The farm was worth $5,000, but had a $1,500 mortgage on it, and the lawyer made the trade, taking the farm, subject to the mortgage. The city house had cost him $200, while his equity in the farm was $3,500 or $3,300 ahead of his cash outlay.
Forty acres of the farm thus acquired were covered with a good growth of timber, which not only provided the new owner with all the fuel he would need during the rest of his life, but also enabled him to pay the interest on the mortgage every year through the sale of extra wood from fallen trees, etc.
There was an excellent 5-room house on the farm, surrounded by about six acres of orchard and garden, all in exceptionally good soil. He spent about $100 in fixing up the house and grounds and used the place as a summer home, going to and from his office in the city each week in his automobile.
He hired a young fellow in the country to plow, plant and cultivate the orchard and garden, and to sow the thirty-two acres in wheat, which brought him about $1,000, while the cost of having all this work done did not exceed $250. Part of the garden he planted in sugar beets and potatoes, and having bought a small grinder and cider press, he proceeded to make his own sugar, vinegar, cider, etc., while with the grinder he ground up sufficient of his own wheat to supply his family with the highest quality of whole-wheat bread, breakfast food, etc. As for his meats, he raised a few dozen chickens during the summer season, and had spring frys in abundance, besides plenty of eggs. He also bought a couple of shoats at a low price, which cost nothing to raise, but which produced enough hams, bacon, pork and lard, when killed in the fall, to supply himself and family for almost a year. His milk, butter, tea, coffee, and other groceries did not cost over $100 a year, so that on his wheat crop alone he realized a net profit of $650, in addition to something like $200 worth of canned fruits and vegetables. Besides, the health of the family was greatly improved through a residence of a few months in the country.
PLAN No. 544. COTTON SERVICE—U. S. SEE [PLAN No. 217]
PLAN No. 545. KEEPING EGGS FRESH FOR A YEAR
Methods which are claimed to be infallible for keeping eggs fresh indefinitely are almost as numerous as the eggs themselves, yet many of these methods, while more or less expensive are far from reliable. However, a Denver poultry man, who had tried all the various ways of preserving eggs, finally adopted a method of his own, which has proved very successful.
Placing a dozen or more strictly fresh eggs in a wire basket, he dipped them in boiling water, deep enough to cover every egg, and held them there while he counted six. He then let them dry and cool, and packed them in oats, in a keg or barrel with oats on the bottom and between the eggs. Then he added a layer of oats and a layer of eggs, alternately, placing the small end of the eggs down, until the barrel was full, then shaking it slightly so that the oats would settle all about the eggs. Some of these eggs were not used until a year afterwards, when they were found to be as fresh as the day they were packed.
Having proved his method a success, he at once advertised to sell the method for 50 cents, and derived an income of $1,200 a year, in direct returns, while the profits on his own supply of eggs, thus treated, were increased almost 40 per cent, as he could keep them until prices were high.
PLAN No. 546. CROP WORK FOR U. S. SEE [PLAN No. 217]
PLAN No. 547. INCREASING THE SIZE OF FRUITS AND VEGETABLES
If orchardists and gardeners were assured that they could almost double the size and greatly improve the flavor of fruits and vegetables, by a very simple and inexpensive plan, they would willingly pay almost any price for the information.
A fruit grower in California discovered this method, used it with good results in promoting the growth of his own products, and made a large amount of money by selling the secret to thousands of others engaged in the same line.
His method was to water his fruit trees and vegetables with a solution of sulphate of iron, and the effect was amazing. The size and flavor of those thus treated were vastly increased and yielded almost twice the revenue formerly derived from the same products. He also treated flowers in the same way, and was surprised to learn that it gave them a peculiar brilliancy of coloring, as well as an exceptionally healthy aspect.
Having fully demonstrated the efficacy of this method, he advertised in a number of agricultural and horticultural journals, announcing his discovery, and offering to send the method to any one for 50 cents. The returns were surprising, and his receipts from this source amounted to more than $2,000 during the first twelve months.