Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1916-04-13
Some Profitable Hobbies
1-sUBJECT FOR SCIENCE
BY Frederic J. Haskin

washington, ~. ", Apli o. 49,
long ago. the experimental work con
Quoted by the scientists of the public
health service in San Francisco was
interrupted by their inability to Sc
cure further supply of white mice
and rats for laboratory use. The wife
of suburban physician. hearing OF
the incident, conceived the idea OF
raising white mice and rats for the
medical profession and incidentally
making pin money for herself. She
bought few Of the rodents. set ur
a breeding establishment, and durin
the first year made more than enoug
money to buy all her clothes.
Rats and mice and guinea pigs are
in constant demand by universities
hospitals and laboratories for expert
mentation, yet comparatively few per
sons are engaged in raising these ami
mails and the supply is always running
short. The white guinea pig, for ex
ample, is necessity to every scien
tific laboratory in the work of propa
eating and testing anti-toxins. The
San Francisco case is only one OF
many important experiments retarded
because the animal needed was rot
available. When the public health
service was carrying on it's cholera
work in New Orleans the surgeon in
charge was compelled to scour the
whole country before he could get a
sufficient supply of white guinea pigs
to continue the experiments. This
proved very expensive, as the lowest
price paid for any was fifty cents plus
the express charges, and for some the
price was dollar apiece.
With this large and permanent sci.
entiic market for animals it is curious
that more people have not followed
the example of the San Francisco
woman and started side line of rats
and mice or guinea pigs. AS bust.
ness by itself it would probably not
prove profitable. but the original in.
vestment is 80 small and the amount
CT time required so negligible that as
a siGe'ine It could hardly fail to be
successful Gui1ea pigs. for instance,
yield greater returns when raised as
an adivrct to a small truck farm be-
cause they REQUIRE lot of green food
which is supplied by the waste of the
farm. but is rather expensive if pur-
chased itself. The loose leaves of
cabbage, the tops of carrots, and the
inferior roots not worth punching are
food on which the guinea wakes fat
One Long Island woman started rails
ing guinea pigs for the Rockefeller in.
stitute in order to enhance the income
derived from her small truck farm
The animals proved the better invest.
ment and now she uses the truck farm
to enhance the value of the guinea
pigs.
The guinea pig is usually raised in
hutches or cages similar to those used
for rabbits. If possible, there should
be some arrangement by which the
floors may be removed and cleaned
daily, for it is necessary that the ami
mails be kept sanitary and healthy if
they are to be distributed for medical
use. A hutch three feet long, two feet
deep and eighteen inches high will
accommodate one boar and three
sows and still provide room for them
to move about freely. The guinea
pig produces from two to five filters
of offspring year, each litter aver
aging at least six.
Both rats and mice are raised in
small wire cages, the floors of which
should be scrubbed daily. They need
plenty of fresh water, but food should