Page 148 - One Thousand Ways to Make $1000

From a small start with 200 fish in 1900, Eugene Shireman has developed the
famous Grassyfork Fisheries at Martinsville, Indiana, and has raised over
75,000,000 fish. Grassyfork Fisheries consist of 1,500 acres of gently rolling
hills and give employment to 125 persons. There are 615 ponds as well as
216 hatching tanks. The ponds and tanks are terraced so that they can be fed
with a continuous circuit of fresh water from the numerous springs located on
the property.

One hundred and sixty thousand carefully selected goldfish are reserved as
breeding stock at the Grassyfork hatcheries. Branch shipping points are
maintained at Chicago, Illinois, and Saddle River, New Jersey. From
Martinsville the goldfish are shipped via a fleet of tank trucks. From Chicago
and Saddle River the fish are shipped to the customers, via express, in
peculiar, globe-shaped shipping cans. In addition to the goldfish, the
Grassyfork hatcheries also raise some forty varieties of toy tropical fish
which have recently become so popular, such as Gouramis, the live-bearing
Guppies, Helleri, and other species. As these fish are less hardy than the
common goldfish, the tanks in which they are raised are located indoors in
greenhouses. An important part of this business is the aquatic plant
department. About sixty varieties of water lilies are raised, besides
perennials, marsh and bog plants, and all the other items necessary, to add
beauty to pools and rock gardens.

The price for goldfish runs from a nickel apiece for small common goldfish
to $25 apiece for the relatively rare Moor “telescopes.” The most interesting
goldfish and also the most valuable specimen ever seen in America was the
famous Liberty Bond fish which was exhibited during the World War. The
colors of this fish were red, white and blue and it was used to attract crowds
during Liberty Loan drives of 1917 and 1918. The value placed on it at that
time was $10,000.

There is still a big market for goldfish among merchants and other business
men who use them as premiums. The L. Fish Furniture Company, of
Chicago, built its business, one of the largest in the world, that way. Fish
furniture is sold on the installment plan. When a customer gets her account
almost paid up, she is called upon by a salesman who presents her with a