PLAN No. 90. CATERING FOR LODGE PEOPLE
A young woman living in a town of a few thousand inhabitants, where there were many fraternal societies, all having large memberships, found she had an opportunity to make a good income by catering to these societies.
She was not only a very skillful cook, but had excellent taste in the preparation and arrangement of repasts, and at the same time possessed an exceptionally pleasing personality.
She distributed among the officers and members of all the lodges in her town a number of handsomely designed and printed cards announcing she was prepared to serve light luncheons for their social meetings, at a certain price per plate, and would assume full charge of the entire entertainment.
Her first engagement was for a large gathering of lodge people, on the occasion of a visit from one of the supreme officers of the order, and so well did she carry out the elaborate program, and so exquisite was the luncheon and its service, that this gave her a good reputation for this work. After that no social affair of the fraternalists was considered without first engaging her to take charge, and the income she derived from this source made her a good living each year.
PLAN No. 91. GROWING MUSHROOMS
If you have a cellar that is not in use, you have the foundation for a good living in the growing of mushrooms.
Dig up the space you desire to use for this purpose, digging it deep, and pulverize the earth thoroughly. Then add a quantity of fine, black dirt, rich in phosphates, with a liberal amount of some good fertilizer. Then water the prepared bed thoroughly, and put in the spawn, which you can buy very cheaply almost anywhere. Your mushrooms, when well started, will produce a crop every month, but from September to May is the season when they bring the highest prices, ranging from 75 cents to $1.50 per pound, at hotels, cafes, etc. Give them considerable attention, especially at first, keeping them well watered and giving them plenty of air, but not too much light, and keep the temperature at from 60 to 70 degrees the entire time.
One person we know of, from a bed of 4 feet long by 3 feet wide, and three bricks of spawn, eight weeks after starting, produced two and one-half pounds of mushrooms every two days, or about nine pounds a week. At an average price of $1.00 per pound, this brought an addition of $9.00 a week to his regular income, and required but a few hours of his spare time in the growth of the product. By doubling his space, he could have doubled his profits from this source, and $18 a week from a “side line” is a sum not to be despised, especially when it involves so little labor and time, requires no capital and carries with it no risk of any kind.