Page 121 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

In the same way there is a man in Florida who raises alligators for leather. He
used to hunt them in the Everglades, but found he could make more money
raising them. By raising them himself he was able to get skins of just the
right age and size, which is quite important. This man has made a great deal
of money raising gators. But in order to conduct such a business successfully
you have to seek a locality which is favorable for the growing of alligators.
An alligator farm would not go in Maine, but a mink farm might do
amazingly well. So one of the first things to consider when you set out to
raise something to sell is to fit your product to the climate. Then, too, give
consideration to style changes. A chap in California spent a lot of money to
start an ostrich farm. He made a great success of ostrich farming so far as
raising the birds was concerned. But soon after he got things going well,
ostrich plumes went out of style and he went broke.

People who have not had much experience in raising things are inclined to
look with favor upon various land development schemes. As a rule these are
not practical. Some years ago a company was formed to plant and develop
7,000 acres of orange trees on Lake Pontchartrain, within the limits of the
city of New Orleans. The land was cleared, drained, and planted in five-acre
groves. They were sold to people of moderate means in the North. The
development company undertook to plant the trees, and cultivate the groves
until the trees reached bearing age, then they were to be taken over by the
grove owner and personally operated. In theory the plan had many
attractions. But it turned out to be a failure because the scale of operation was
too big. When a freeze comes in a climate like New Orleans, an orange
grower living on his land can get on the job and take precautions against the
frost, either with oil heaters or smudge pots. It is an individual responsibility.
There are today a number of small orange groves in lower Louisiana which
produce remarkably fine oranges, but almost without exception the owners
live on the groves and are in a position to go into action quickly upon the first
frost warnings. While there have been instances where these development
schemes have worked out successfully, as a rule it is much better to put your
money in an improved place of your own rather than in a big scale
development.

The price of farm land is still low, but it is steadily increasing in value. Many