Page 120 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

protect their property. All they had was a lot of courage and as much ground
as they required to raise the things they needed. And Mother Earth did not
disappoint them. What they planted grew. The live stock which they brought
from England multiplied. And by barter and trade, they laid the foundation of
the New England Confederation—that group of states north of New
Amsterdam which has since become known as New England.

Any American who has a patch of ground, no matter if it be only the back
yard of a city lot, is infinitely better off than his Pilgrim forbears. At least he
has close at hand a market for what he raises. He has the benefit of a medium
of exchange, so that he can sell the things he raises for money. He enjoys the
security and protection of the armed forces of the state in which he lives. He
does not have to get out of bed in the middle of the night to fight off
marauding Indians. And if he can devise a way of raising things that are in
demand, he can expand his activities until he has built up a large and
profitable business. No other country of the world, unless possibly it might be
Canada, offers such opportunities to the man who is not afraid of work and
who has a desire to raise things to sell.

Under our present complex system of living, however, it is important that
careful consideration be given to what you raise. It is not just a matter of
planting corn and potatoes, as it was in the days of the Pilgrim Fathers. Corn
and potatoes may be a drug on the market in the community in which you
live, so it might be much smarter for you to raise something else. What that
something else ought to be depends upon a lot of things. It depends upon
what you are best qualified to raise; it depends upon what you would enjoy
raising; it depends upon the needs of the people to whom you must sell the
things you raise, and upon what can most profitably be raised in the particular
locality in which you operate. A widow in Victoria, British Columbia, made
thousands of dollars raising tuberous begonia bulbs. She started raising the
bulbs as a hobby in the back yard of her Victoria home. Today, she has a big
business and the begonias are shipped all over the world. Much of her
success was due to the mild climatic conditions of that part of Vancouver
Island. It does not follow that you would be as successful in a community less
favored by nature.