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OPPORTUNITIES IN HORTICULTURE
by J. R. Hepler
Radio and newspaper columnist and Associate Professor of
Horticulture, University of New Hampshire

Horticulture is a prolific field for the part-time farmer or the person who wants to pick up a little extra money. There are unlimited opportunities because there are so many lines that can be followed. A person can grow fruits, flowers, or vegetables for a local or a roadside market, or plants of many descriptions, seeds, and bulbs for local or general distribution. He can gather and sell Christmas greens or make wreaths and other Christmas novelties.

The field is unlimited, provided the person who wishes to profit by it has the initiative to start the project, the foresight to pick the product that will grow well, the push to carry the project through, and the ability to market the product.

The 4-H Club program has helped tremendously with young folks in providing them with a program that is feasible; a program that points out the opportunities and how to take advantage of them. Many of these youngsters grow up to become the farmers of the future. There is, for example, the project of growing lettuce, cauliflower, and other cool season crops in northern New England. There is a potential market in our larger cities for these crops amounting to the product of many acres, but the older people who farm in our North Country at the present time are largely potato growers and dairy farmers. They have not learned to do the exacting job necessary to grow a good crop of lettuce or cauliflower, and consequently have no patience with it. It will only be by training younger folks, or importing people who know how to grow these crops, that we can take advantage of these prospective opportunities.

As to what can be done, Let's take a single case. I know of a family of boys who reached the working age during the depression. The father had a position that paid him only enough money to keep the family going, and he felt that the boys should learn how to work and that they should also learn how to carry on a business and be dependent upon themselves. At their father's suggestion they planted a garden, raised vegetables, and sold them to the neighbors. One of the boys built a market wagon in which he displayed ten or fifteen kinds of choice vegetables from the garden and sold them from house to house twice a week, Wednesday morning and Saturday morning. As the boys got older, they raised larger quantities of vegetables in their spare time, culminating, in the first year, in a five-acre field of potatoes and squash. These boys had what money they required for their modest needs; clothes, sports goods, musical instruments, and trips; and, in addition, they saved between $1,500 and $2,000 each to help pay for their college expenses.

I also have in mind a family of girls who raised and sold enough strawberries to buy clothes and other necessities. They might have earned more money by baby-sitting or working for other folks, but they had their own business and they sold their product on a roadside market. They soon established a reputation for high-quality strawberries that, with proper encouragement, could have been developed into a well-paying business. As it was, the money from these strawberries practically supported these girls during grammar and high school.

I might also mention the case of a family that was very poor in worldly goods but rich in horticulture experience, a family that had the green thumb. They lived in a rather poor house by the side of the road and about one hundred yards from a sandy knoll covered with birch and other weed trees. The father cleared enough for a fair-sized garden and then bought three or four pigs for winter meat. He fenced off another quarter of an acre for the pigs next to this garden. The pigs killed all the vegetation and cleared the land for him outside of the stumps and the large rocks. Then, in the fall after the pigs were butchered, he borrowed a pair of oxen and moved the large stones off this garden plot. In successive years, by using this practice, he has increased his garden from a plot an eighth of an acre in size to one that covers two or three acres, and since he has considerable fertilizer from his hens, his cow, and his pigs, he can raise excellent vegetable crops on this land. The whole family is interested in the garden and looks forward all the time to working in it. They get a large part of their living out of the garden, and it is to them a greater source of enjoyment and comfort than the movies, riding around in automobiles, or the many so-called amusements.

The teen-age period of youngsters is very short, perhaps too short to grow apples or even a crop that requires three or four years, like asparagus. Often, however, an asparagus bed may be started by Dad and looked after by the children. The fruit trees may be pruned and sprayed by the youngsters and the extra product harvested. This relationship has been worked out in many cases.

A small greenhouse provides another excellent source of income. The work can be done in spare time. Hot beds and cold frames are cheaper than a greenhouse, but they are more difficult to handle. A small sash greenhouse can be built for a comparatively small amount of money and used during March and early April for growing early cabbage, cauliflower, tomato, pepper, lettuce, and onion plants and even muskmelons, watermelons, and squash for early use. An energetic person at a comparatively small cost can do all the work in a small greenhouse, such as watering, ventilating, and transplanting. It can be heated during the spring months with a coal or wood stove, perhaps supplemented by electrical heating wires, which can be run for a small amount of money.

With proper initiative, a youngster or a grownup can use all his spare time profitably and enjoyably with fruits, vegetables, flowers, plants, Christmas decorations, perennials, and many other products. There is a potential market for almost everything that is well grown and attractively packed. The only limit is the time the small operators can devote to it.

Billy's father, Professor J. R. Hepler, who wrote the introduction to this chapter, developed the Tiny Tim plant and Billy, unknown to anyone, decided to sell the seeds. Writing to a large New York firm, he offered them the seeds at eighty dollars a pound; they immediately purchased a pound in reply to Billy's letter, which carried a hand printed letterhead reading, "The Billy Hepler Seed Company." Billy signs himself "Secretary and Treasurer."

Tiny Tim seeds, planted in August, are transplanted into pots and the plants are then grown in the house. They produce tiny fruit about an inch in diameter making not only a bright Christmas plant, but producing nourishing, delicious tomatoes.

This year Billy has had printed a small, professional appearing catalogue. A single sheet of paper folded three times, it features a picture of Billy standing before a pile of various types of squashes, and the caption of the cut is, "Billy Hepler, America's Youngest Seed Grower." In addition to the Tiny Tim tomato seeds, the catalogue offers popcorn of the rainbow and popinjay varieties. Note Billy's colorful names; Billy doesn't miss a trick.

He also lists four varieties of sweet corn; seven of tomatoes; thirteen of string beans; two of squashes and three of watermelons. He often starts a description of a new seed with: A Billy Hepler Seed Company Introduction.

Billy grows all of his own seeds and when it comes time to harvest the tomatoes Billy hires his schoolmates to help him. The tomatoes are picked whether they are rotten or not because, according to Billy, even the rotten ones give good seeds. Billy averages eight hundred pounds of tomatoes to a thousand plants. This doesn't sound like very much but the fruit is very tiny. The Tiny Tim tomatoes are put in a barrel and Billy, with his rubber boots on, stamps and stomps on them until they are mashed up "real good." Next he adds water and lets them ferment for a few days, after which the pulp is removed and the seeds, which have settled in the bottom of the barrel, are taken out to dry. First the seeds must be cleaned in six to eight washings to remove the dirt or acid. Next they are laid on paper to dry; paper is more absorbent than the screens that most seed growers use, says Billy. A particularly recalcitrant seed has to be dried by means of an electric fan, but for the most part the sun does the job. The only time Billy ever had any seeds sour on him was this year when an automobile accident laid him low with a broken leg.

Not far from where I write this lives a man who specializes in mums. He has an acre of the colorful blooms and during late August and the fall months of September and October, it is a pleasure to ride by this colorful field. A sign says that plants are sold (unpotted) for seventy-five cents. He sells many plants this way, but think how many more he could sell at a dollar apiece if he would pot them and take them to stores in the three small cities all within fifteen miles of his garden.

For every person who likes to stop and shop at a roadside stand, there is one who never finds enjoyment pulling up at the side of the road to make a purchase; nor would they think of walking into a florist shop to buy a plant. This market is never reached and although flowers are sold on many a street corner in Europe our florists are slow in trying to reach the larger consumer market. Florists are at fault in not educating the public to use flowers in their everyday life. In Europe the poorest dinner table will have one flower to grace it; here in the States we consider flowers ornaments to be indulged in only on special occasions. This is especially true in the Northern states; in California and some of the Southern states, flowers are sold in markets.

I mention growing mums because they are extra welcome when all other flowers have spent themselves; and no flower pays greater return in color profusion for the small amount of labor involved. But there isn't any good in growing them unless you get them out for sale to many outlets.

Gardeners often overlook the many varieties of early blooming chrysanthemums, such as the Butterball and the Eugene A. Wander species; they come into bloom as early as mid-August in most parts of the country. In September you could be selling Red Velvet, Mrs. Pierre S. Dupont, Avalanche, and Charles Nye varieties.

Those who live in the Northern states would do well to invest only in the early blooming varieties since, because of frost, the later species do not do so well in less temperate climates. However, since the plants multiply so fast and the investment is so small, even the most Northern of outdoor florists would want to have some of the October varieties of Ruby Pompon and Olive Longland. While in bud, before the frost arrives, these varieties can be potted and sold.

I have stressed the chrysanthemum, not because it is the only plant open to specialization, but because it comes at a time when everyone is more receptive to buying a plant and cut flowers. In bunches the chrysanthemum makes beautiful bouquets, and the blossoms last as long as two weeks.

But whatever plant or cut flower you decide to specialize in, either for your pin money or for full-time profits, get your flowers out to the consumer. Even the chain stores could well sell flowers or plants for you in their supermarkets. It may be that this is done in some sections, but I have never seen it; ironic it is to find in these giant emporiums everything from pills to bacon, but nary a flower. You can buy everything for the meal except the centerpiece; I am suggesting that you get busy, if flowers are your love, and supply this centerpiece. Government bulletins of interest to any flower entrepreneur are "How to Profit as a Retail Florist" (Business Aid 277), and "Sales Promotion by a Florist" (Business Aid 299); both are free and may be obtained from the Department of Commerce, Washington 25, D.C.

This young Chinese gave up a thriving laundry business to grow the juicy Mung Bean Sprouts. He installed, in his cellar, a heating and hot-water system to enable him to grow the cultures of the beans that go into the chop suey and chow mein dishes served in Boston. The sprouts are also a tasty vegetable when used in salads, and his future plans include selling these sprouts in grocery stores as well as to restaurants.

The beans are purchased, dried and shriveled and, half filling metal cans, are then intermittently sprinkled with water; it takes just five days for the beans to sprout and swell to the top of the can, and there they are, seventy pounds to each can, ready to be sold. All orders are taken in advance.

It would take a steady stream of orders from many Chinese restaurants to make this home business feasible, although a San Bernardino, California, housewife has a list of customers among housewives who buy her home-grown soybeans. She says the great advantage is that they grow in such a small space and that their growth is so rapid that the end of only three to five days sees the completed growth or explosion of the dried bean into a full, brown, tasty sprout rich in vitamin C, phosphorus and potassium. The sprout is not disengaged from the bean, but both are sold together. Many commercial firms can the bean sprouts, but the home-grown variety are much firmer and more palatable.

The Department of Agriculture puts out a booklet, "Soybeans and Soybean Products as Food" (Misc. publication No. 534), and the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics, also in the Department of Agriculture, will send you "Cooking with Soy Flour and Grits."

Pressed between layers of cellophane, the single clovers, with anywhere from four to nine leaves, are sold at a dime to a quarter apiece, and soon he hopes to sell and ship the plants as well. He firmly believes the multiple clovers will aid the farmer by producing more feed to the acre than does the ordinary three-leafer.

Although this is a pin-money venture for the Maine man, a Californian devotes full time to such work, and has a large staff working for him on his four-leaf-clover farm. His first order was for a half-million four-leaf clovers to be used on greeting cards, and an insurance company, seeking good will, ordered a million clovers to fasten to its business cards. Practically all novelty jewelers insert the lucky four-leaf clover in some of their novelties.

Although many small mail-order businesses sell Christmas greens, I have never seen them sold in the stores in boxes, and I wonder why not. Surely this distribution could be easily handled by anyone with any means of delivering the boxes to department stores and gift shops. Boxes should contain as many varieties of greens as possible. Land might be leased for the season for the purpose of gathering and selling the greens by anyone who was interested but did not have land of his own. Greens can be gathered weeks in advance of the holidays and stored in the open, on the north side of the house, covered with leaves or evergreen boughs, to be broken up later into smaller pieces and packed. I think I'd start with a small package, the first year—one which I could dispose of quickly in grocery stores on a small 20 per cent basis; grocery stores often do not ask so large a commission as do gift shops, since they work on a smaller margin; and they do sell Christmas trees, so why not Christmas greens? As for boxes, your local florist may have some obsolete ones he'd be happy to dispose of; instead of this expense, you might simply tie the branches up in large bundles.

A Christmas centerpiece is always a good seller but you have to make an original one; the log with the candle stuck in the middle has become too common. You will have to plan what to make in terms of your local greens. If you plan to ship them out of the state, at any time, ask your post office if they must be inspected; some states demand this, due to the spreading of wood scabs.

White pine cones, when chemically treated and packed in colored net bags, sell well at Christmas time. The best of the chemicals are copper chloride and copper sulphate. A flame series ranging from greenish-blue, bluish-purple, to purple when the cones are tossed in the fire can be obtained by treating the cones with these two chemicals. Buy the salts in finely ground or pulverized form from the drugstore. Then, to treat one bushel of cones, melt half a pound of paraffin wax, the same type that you use to seal glass jelly jars. Mix with the melted wax two ounces of copper chloride and two ounces of copper sulphate. The paraffin wax is very inflammable and should be melted over low heat, preferably in a glass or metal container, over a pan of hot water, or in a double boiler.

The cones can then be put into a large container lined with newspapers. You can use an old whisk broom or a stiff brush to sprinkle the wax mixture onto the cones, or you can dip them into the mixture or pour the mixture over them, stirring them thoroughly so that all the cone surface will be treated. The wax hardens immediately and the treated cones may then be put into a gaily colored bag and stored in a cool place until needed. The wax will not melt from the cones at ordinary room temperature.

Next she found a house-to-house salesman of foodstuffs who, also on a commission basis, agreed to carry her mint, jellies, and sauces. Then she began to take orders from a caterer for extra-large-sized containers for his banquets.

Every empty glass jar in her cellar and in her neighbor's, too, was used. On these jars she pasted, for a label, a big mint leaf of light green paper with the title written in dark green ink. These labels were stuck on with white of egg. (If you ever make jelly and use pectin, don't forget to put it on your label; it's a pure-food-law must.)

Some of the jellies—the fastest selling kind—had apples added. All jellies sold from fifteen to fifty cents a jar, depending upon the size. The vinegar used in the mint sauce was made from the apple peels used in the jellies and sugar.

The mint lady's next step was to put on her lawn a sign reading, "Hot or Iced Mint Tea, Sandwiches." Motorists stopped and came up on the broad screened porch where they found a swing at one end and at the other, a table on which was a big wooden chopping bowl filled with water and fresh mint. Hot or iced tea with crushed fresh mint, open sandwiches of steamed homemade brown bread spread with homemade butter, cheese, and a slice of mint jelly were the only things served at this tea room. Fifty cents was the charge for the tea and three sandwiches, and many ordered "seconds." The motorists also bought heavily of the mint jellies and sauces, and asked for the brown bread and homemade cheese.

All in all this lady made about five hundred dollars from her otherwise valueless mint bed the first season, and she could have increased this considerably had she tried to sell her mint at the many other markets in the other two cities within twenty-five miles of her home.

To grow water cress you would need to live near a large city (within sixty miles, that is) and have or rent a stream easily accessible to the road. It may be that your region has all the water cress it can use. The only way to find this out is to cover the markets. Finding none, ask the retailers if they would purchase any, and if you get enough positive responses then approach the wholesale jobbers of fresh produce; they too will get a commission, but your sales will be many more, and with a perishable product you will want to get it out in quantity, and fast.

There is one man who has made a fortune out of water cress. Ed Dennis is top man in the country's water-cress business as he sells more than half the country's commercial sales of cress to the amount of nearly 4,000,000 bunches every year. To produce this prodigious quantity, a hundred acres of ponds scattered through Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Alabama, and Florida are required. These varied locations permit production the year 'round.

Before the crop is planted, the water is drained from the artificially built ponds, and the earth cultivated and fertilized as it would be for any other crop. Planting is simple. Tops of plants are scattered into the ponds, into which two inches of water has been allowed to flow. In a few days, the tops take root, and the water level is raised. Once the cress starts growing, the ponds are filled with six to eight inches of water.

Given sufficient sunshine and rain, the crop is ready for the cutters in three to four weeks. One planting may produce as many as five crops in one season. Cress cutting is a science all its own. Some of the cutters, like Crum Gregory, have worked in the cress ponds for thirty years. Gregory grasps the cress in his left hand, and with a sharp knife slices the correct amount for a bunch, ties a string around it with his right hand, and tosses it back over his shoulder—all in practically one sweeping motion. This he does some three hundred times an hour—and he can do five hundred when the pressure is on. Most of the cutters work the year round, traveling to the southern ponds for the winter crop.

Once cut, the cress is washed, iced, and shipped to market in wooden boxes. At his northern packing plant, Dennis has a box factory that uses 200,000 board feet of lumber a year. More than 1,000,000 pounds of ice go into these boxes yearly along with the cress.

Mr. Dennis puts no geographical limits on his water-cress interests. Before the war he flew to Mexico and convinced the Mexican Secretary of Agriculture that that country should embark on a cress-raising program to add vitamins to the people's diet.

Mr. Dennis says he won't be entirely satisfied with his status as the King of Cress until he has Dick Tracy or Superman eating it as Popeye eats spinach!

In spite of the great scope of the Dennis water-cress market, I haven't been able to buy a bunch for years. Mr. Dennis does have a big business, but if you live in an area where cress is unobtainable you may be able to supply the local market demand for this nutritious, vitamin-filled salad and sandwich green.