Page 123 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

eighty feet long, tier upon tier, a solid acre of violas blending myriads of
colors. As the cut flowers are ideal for decorative purposes the entire output
is marketed to San Francisco florists. Some of the plants are sold but Mr.
Davis makes no effort to sell them. At first people begged for a plant for their
garden and cheerfully paid $5.00 for one. Prices now range from 50 cents up.

Sixty varieties are under cultivation but the grower works continually on
them and each year a new one is added. Getting new varieties is not exactly
simple. It sometimes takes a thousand seedlings to produce one worth
cultivating. To bring out a red one is Mr. Davis’ ambition.

As a new variety appears a name suggests itself. A pure white with gold
center, for instance, is called Shasta after the Shasta daisy, the Rainbow is
radiantly colored, and one brownish purple is named Othello. Another purple
suggests “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling,” and is naturally Colleen. Then
there’s Cocktail; its browns and yellows indicate the reason.

There was no backsliding in the viola business during the depression. Mr.
Davis went right on selling all he and his daughter—his only assistant—could
raise. Like anyone who has found his right work, he’s happy in it. A wiry,
sparse, gray-haired man with a skin as bronzed as his khaki breeches, he
conducts you through the grounds with quiet contentment. If you ask him
whether he is kept busy, he answers: “Oh yes, I generally work ten hours a
day and sometimes fifteen or twenty.”

A Map Salesman Learns How to Raise and Sell Broilers

T

HOUSANDS of people have started poultry farms. But not everyone has
been successful. One who did succeed was Howard Whitely, a salesman for a
map publishing company. During the years he had been a special
representative for the publisher, he had made a good salary and had saved his
money. The doctor told him he had to give up his job and get outdoors in the
sunshine as much as possible. So he decided to buy a 15-acre farm near
Indianapolis. The former owner had tried to make a living by growing