The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1910-01-28
MONEY N VIOLETs.
Two New York Girls Make Suc-
cess on Very Small Capital.
Operate Farm That Brings Them
$4,000 YearIy-First Invest in Hot
bed Sashes and Afterwards
Build Greenhouse.

!
year netted us more than $4,000" de-
clared a young woman who raises VIC
| lets for the New York market. My
| sister and ! began the business about
| four years ago with a capital OF less
| than $50 and about as little expert
ence as girls who have lived in the
country all their lives could have
about anything growing in the ground.
Our first investment was in II I'm.
| glazed hotbed sashes three by six feet
at 70 cents a sash. BY glazing the
whole lot ourselves the cost came 10
$40
TT was in the autumn that we be-
gan. While glazing was going on we
devoted our evenings to studying up
varieties. We soon learned that we
must choose between the Marie Louise
| and the Lady Hume Campbell, as they
were quoted as the only double variety
suited to commercial growing
AS the Marie Louise violets were
the most popular in the New York
market and it was there that we in
tended to market our flowers, of
course we decided on them. Early in
March we invested $40 in cuttings OF
that variety and Logan work in earn
est,
Following the advice of a success
full violet grower we potted these cut.
tings in two-inch pots in mixture of
~ cd "a,
parts garden soil Besides mixing
thoroughly we sifted this soil to make
sure that there were no Jumps. We
then set the pots in frame In the
garden and covered them with four OF
the sashes. There were about 1000
pots In all, containing what we have
since learned were very poor cutting9
indeed.
While waiting for the cuttings to
root we had our frame built into
which they were to be set permanent
ly, This frame was only rough bon
six feet wide by So feet long, IL
inches deep in the back and half as
much in front. The lumber cost w
three dollars, and we paid man g
dollar for the half days work OF build
ing It,
The frame was placed on a fertile
spot in the &c den. Over the surface
of the soil we spread well-rotteG
stable manure to the depth Of three OF
four inches
1T required all my sisters and my
spare time for about a month to wori
this in and get the soil to our satisfac
ton. By that time It was the middle
Of April and our friendly violet grow
er made trip of i've miles to de
termine If our cuttings were ready
for planting.
Acting on his advice we selected
the largest for planting first. leaving
the small ones for the last Va
knocked them carefully out Of the pots
and set them in the frame eigh
inches apart in six-inch rows Thii
soon brought us to the end Of ou
space with almost half our plants
most of them quite small, still in the
pots
There was nothing for 1t but tt
build another frame and get more
glass. AS our cash was running low
my sister and | decided to dispense
with the carpenters services and dc
the building ourselves. This we found
easy enough and by the end Of the
month we had the satisfaction Of set
ting out the last of our young plants
These being very small we set then
only six inches apart in five-inch rows
Our next step was to make suit
able shade against the time when the
plants would need protection from the
direct rays of the sun. This we con,
structed ourselves by fastening laths
to wire clotheslines with double point
ed tacks We selected this means OF
protection because the screen could be
easily rolled up when not in use.
Our plants began to bloom about
the middle of September, and though
we kept the blossoms closely picked
we did not attempt to sell them until
the first week in October.
I'VE picked the flowers early in tho
morning and after putting them up in
lunches of 80 each carried them at
once to the florist For our October
crop we received only 40 cents a hun.
dred and in November IS cents.
During October we built our first
greenhouse. 1t was 60x20 feet and by
helping with the work in every pos
sible way we managed to reduce the
cost from $50, the first estimate given
by the carpenter, to s65
"The plants were lifted from the
frame and set in beds in this green.
house early in November and so well
did we do the work that none of them
stopped blooming At Christmas we
picked nearly 1000 blossoms. which
we sold at 80 cents a hundred, As
our greenhouse had been built on Dor
rowed money you can imagine how
glad we were over this particular
sale"