Inside the frame he nailed cleats to hold shelves made of strips or lath, strong enough to bear the weight of milk bottles, butter dishes, meats, etc. The door he made of a frame covered with the wire screen, using light hinges and a catch to hold it in place, and letting part of the outing flannel form the covering for the door.
The refrigerator was then complete, except the placing of a large pan or jar on top of it filled with water. The top parts of the outing-flannel cover which had been laid in the pan, quickly absorbed the water which was carried down all sides, and it was the evaporation which then took place that kept the contents of the refrigerator as cool and fresh as though they were in one of the high-priced ice refrigerators.
The entire cost of the material for making one of these refrigerators at the beginning did not exceed 75 cents, but later, when he bought in regular quantities, the cost was very materially lessened, and they sold as fast as he could make them for $3 each. He could easily make seven or eight a day, and at a profit of $2.25 each he did very well.
A few ads. in the papers circulating through the country, as well as the smaller towns, were all he needed to create a demand, for when farmers found they could buy a refrigerator at that price, which would do the work without a pound of ice, they sent in their orders by the scores. Besides, hundreds of city people bought them as well, because they saved ice bills, and kept foods in good condition.
PLAN No. 379. RAISING BELGIAN HARES
Few people realize the profits to be derived from raising Belgian hares, when the small amount of capital and labor involved is considered.
But a 16 year-old boy in the northwestern part of the state of Washington had a very good idea as to what could be made in this small industry, and he went to work in a systematic way that his seniors might well imitate.
Starting with one male and three does, he was surprised to learn that under ordinary circumstances a doe will produce six litters in a year, with an average of six young in each litter, and that usually one-half of them are does, or eighteen does a year from one animal. It was still more surprising when he found that the three does of the first litter had three litters the first year, while two litters may be expected from the second litter. At this rate, there were sixty-three does at the end of the first year, as well as sixty-three bucks all from one hare; and multiplying this by the three does he started with, it gave him a total of 878 hares from the four he began with.
His 189 bucks averaged eight pounds of meat each, or 1,512 pounds, which he sold at 10 cents per pound, or $151.20, and he still had the 189 young does, the three old ones and the original buck.
He had selected the Golden Bay strain in purchasing his original stock, as that is generally recognized as the best of all strains, and his judgment proved correct, for, no matter how many of these hares he raised, he had calls for more than he could supply.