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How to Make
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Miss Elizabeth C. Campbell determined that her shop must be "cute and unique," and must cater to customers buying in small quantities. On leased land, she built a small asbestos-shingled shop of quaint design, painting it gray and green, and trimming it white. Then she bought a glass electric-refrigeration showcase, secondhand scales, and a cash register, and installed shelves to display packaged merchandise. The investment for building and equipment was $2,000. The shop carries a full line of accessories and animal remedies in addition to fresh horse meat, condemned beef ground ready for use, and other foods for dogs and cats. The number of customers averages 375 daily.

Miss Campbell advises that one of the first considerations in establishing such a shop is a location near the source of supply for fresh meat and in a neighborhood of people willing and able to buy.

The owner must have a genuine interest in pets and take an interest in showing owners how to feed their animals better and with more variety, at low cost. Of course the shop must be kept clean and attractive. This kind of business, which is not exactly a home business (it could be if your zoning laws didn't object), might be expanded to handle a full line of pet supplies and toys.

Canaries are easy to raise, for although the birds need to spend about 50 per cent of their time in the sunshine, they are not temperamental. And they eat weeds, such as shepherd's purse and plantain, fruits and vegetables—but no parsley, please.

If you wish to go into breeding canaries for pin money, you should obtain one or two pairs and start in a small way. The breeding season is from about the middle of February to June, and a year-old female averages five to six chicks the first year. The two-year-olds do better, with eight, and canaries will continue hatching young right up through the sixth or seventh year. There are few casualties, and, contrary to the average belief, it isn't necessary to have the aviary in a specially heated room, for canaries can stand the cold down to 55°F.

Many breeders specialize in one type of canary. A Chicagoan gave up his job in a watch factory to devote full time to breeding German Rollers. A Newburyport, Massachusetts, widow spends an hour a day on her pin-money canaries—more in the breeding season. It takes only an hour to clean and feed her three hundred canaries.

The plain yellow singing cull brings the lowest price, and although it still satisfies many bird lovers, breeders are trying to obtain a red canary. This, so far, has not been achieved, but the salmon pink and apricot birds are fast becoming common.

They are disposed of through friends, local advertisements, and local stores, or are shipped express to wholesalers. One Ohioan ships as many as one hundred dozen a year to New York and averages five dollars apiece for these common yellow culls. The new apricot-tinted birds bring much higher prices, retailing at from fifteen to thirty-five dollars a bird, depending upon the intensity of the color and the singing qualities.

Sales run highest in November, at Christmas and Easter, and on Mother's Day, with pairs of breeders selling from December to March. One room in the house with a southern exposure is all the space needed to start an aviary. Cages of plywood may be built at home and the wire fronts purchased.

Each November finds canary lovers gathering in New York for the annual canary show, and anyone living nearby who wishes to breed canaries should try to go. The R. T. French Company, of Rochester, New York, will mail you a free booklet on the care of canaries. The trade journal is Canary World, published in Kansas City, Missouri.

It would cost a little more to buy a breeding pair of parakeets, but the dividends are greater; these birds, natives of Australia, are amazingly intelligent and can, even in a week's time, be trained to talk. Some have been known to have a vocabulary of as many as 150 words, and they'll sell for much higher prices (up to seventy-five dollars) than the canaries. You can teach a parakeet to talk by playing the same record over and over again, or by repeating the same two or three words again and again. Only the males talk!

The Melrose company ships to would-be breeders in every state of the union. They advise all beginners to start small and breed up their own flocks until the flock reaches the size to produce the income needed. No heat is required for a winter squab house, and it is a year-round business. "Squabs are poultry. Chickens, fowls, ducks are poultry. Why be satisfied breeding ordinary stock when Royal squabs sell for higher prices?" they ask. Squabs are the young of adult pigeons. The Department of Agriculture says, "No other domestic bird or animal can make its meat product in so short a time and repeat seven or eight times a year."

Each dog is put, for safety reasons, in a small individual kennel as soon as he arrives at this bathhouse. When it is his turn for a bath, he is taken onto a rubber-ribbed nonslippery ramp. First his ears are stuffed and his eyes soothed with an oil to keep the soap from smarting. Next he goes through jets spraying water, with three sudsings and three rinsings before he is proclaimed clean. After this comes a vinegar rinse to make his coat shine, and then, after a strenuous hair brushing, as a final touch he is given a once-over with perfume.

The charge for this service ranges from one to two dollars, depending upon the dog's dimensions and barbering; an extra flossy service, which kills the fleas, costs extra.

This is the only canine washing service that I know of run by women, and yet it is a natural for them. One should not start such a service unless she has a pretty good knowledge of the dog world; this could be acquired by working in someone else's kennels for a period of a few months. There is no better way to learn a business than to work at it before you start your own. A dog bathery would mean an investment of a couple of hundred dollars for equipment, and of course there would be no point in starting such a beauty service except in communities having many well-to-do dog owners.

Mrs. Jayne first made a pair of rabbit-fur mittens; she believed these would be the garment quickest to sell, but she found they weren't too easy to make, and looking back she recalls that it took her three days and the ruination of fifty pelts before she achieved her first salable pair of mittens. Now it takes her twenty minutes and two pelts. It was not long before Virginia Jayne was turning out parka hoods, muffs, ear muffs, stuffed toys, carriage robes, and fur halo hats. Mr. Jayne makes the children's fur coats, which sell for approximately twenty-five dollars.

Rabbit skins bring about a quarter, but after tanning they are worth just twice as much. With this in mind, the Jaynes added a tanning service to their fur manufacturing business and now rabbit breeders all over the country ship them their skins to be tanned. The Jaynes send the skins out to a tannery in bunches of five hundred to a thousand, and include their own rabbit skins to be tanned. In such large lots the charge for tanning is much smaller, and all the breeders profit by it.

Later, the tanned skins are graded according to sizes and fur quality. Then a garment is cut out from skins of proper size and texture, tacked to a board with the leather side treated with a spray that keeps the fur from stretching or shrinking. After this dries the fur is ready for its stitching to become a coat, or mittens, or a parka.

The Jaynes are convinced that the rabbit business has hardly been touched in this country. They believe that "the industry has been held back because of promotional stunts and extravagant claims as to the profits in the industry."

It is a matter of educating the public and having more intelligent breeders, say the Jaynes, who go on to quote the government statistics that 90 per cent of the fur coats sold in this country are rabbit fur under seventy-two different trade names. Less than one per cent of the rabbit fur used in men's good felt hats is raised in this country, with much of it being imported from Australia.

The West is much more educated to eating rabbit meat than is the East, with the county of Los Angeles alone raising and consuming 3,600,000 fryers every three months.

The Jaynes plant is called Domestic Rabbit Products, and their progress is shown by the fact that each year they add another machine to their plant. Their products are sold in forty-four of the forty-eight states.

Mrs. Jayne says that, for beginners, she heartily recommends the government bulletins on raising rabbits; but she listed these trade journals: (1) Small Stock Magazine, Lamoni, Iowa; (2) American Small Stock Farmer, Fair Lawn, N.J.; (3) Rabbit Raiser, 519 N. Western Ave., Los Angeles 4, Calif.

Some of the government bulletins on raising rabbits are: AHD 83, "Sore Hocks in Domestic Rabbits"; AHD 84, "Selection and Preparation of Rabbit Rations"; AHD 86, "Winter Nest Boxes for Rabbits"; AHD 89, "Value and Use of Rabbit Manure"; AHD 103, "Feed Costs of Producing Young Rabbits to Weaning Age"; AHD 107, "Angora Rabbit Wool Production"; AHD 108, "Inheritance of Woolly in Rabbits"; AHD 109, "Malocclusion, or Buck Teeth, in Rabbits"; and AHD 112, "Common Diseases of Domestic Rabbits." All of these may be obtained free (at this writing) from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D.C. In all requests be certain to mention the series (AHD), the number, and the titles of the publications desired, and list them in numerical order. FB 1730, "Rabbit Production," may be purchased for fifteen cents from the same address.

The government bulletins stress the production end of rabbit raising, while the trade journals listed above will give you many hints on marketing your products.

Send a dime to the same address for "Effect of Various Factors on Grades of New Zealand White Rabbitskins." Ask for A 1.4/2:789. Also look into your state extension service bulletins; they may have one on raising rabbits in your locality.

The Jaynes have a reputation as the leading tanners, at least in the East. As I queried one rabbit grower after another as to where they sent their rabbit skins, many of them replied, "There are some people named Jayne at Thomaston, Connecticut, who buy them."

Other breeders told me that Sears, Roebuck and Company are good to do business with and give top prices for the raw, untanned skins. I saw one small farm building full of white New Zealand rabbit skins stretched to dry on forms; these were being shipped to Sears, Roebuck. Many growers specialize in the heavy New Zealand white rabbit as only the pure white rabbit can be dyed any color.

It would take an outlay of about one hundred dollars to begin to raise chin-chins. Since one buck will serve up to ten does, the average beginner should start with one trio (two does and one buck) plus two or three additional does. The most economical way is to build your own hutches, and do so before your rabbits arrive. Other growers can show you how to do this, or you can buy hutch plans from the Willow Brook Farm.

General Mills (San Francisco, Detroit, or Chicago) puts out a free booklet, "The Larro Rabbit Guide," which states:

Rabbit raising is a business which can be operated in a small space, and which requires only a limited capital to start. For example, a rabbit farm requires less investment in equipment than poultry, and one person can handle as high as two hundred breeding does. Feed costs vary, of course, with markets, class stock, management and feeds used. The turnover on the investment is usually rapid, and the income from meat on rabbits alone may range approximately from fourteen to sixteen cents per pound, live weight, depending upon the market demand and locality. In addition to the income from meat, millions of dollars flow during the course of a year from the sale of breeding stock, and sometimes from the fertilizer. The fertilizer produced by rabbits is valuable and can often be sold profitably.

This does not mean that all a rabbit grower has to do is to invest his money, and then sit back and wait for profits. Like any other business, rabbit raising demands good business methods.

The beginner should investigate his market carefully to determine whether it is for meat or fur. This can be determined by questioning local pickup men (rabbit buyers), fur buyers, your local meat markets, restaurants, hotels. In the case of the small herd owner, he may develop his own customers from among individual householders in each community, who buy direct from him. Responsible commercial buyers will be glad to give references as to their business dealings and current prices. Generally speaking, raising rabbits for meat purposes has been a more stable source of income than raising rabbits for fur. There is a steadier demand for rabbit as an item of food, and the fur market is guided by the whimseys of feminine clothing fashion, and is apt to fluctuate, but rabbit fur is widely used in the fur trade, and rabbit pelts have a distinct value and play an important part in the rabbit grower's income. Over half of all the fur used in America comes from rabbit, either a natural color or dyed or processed in imitation of higher-priced furs.

Rabbit furs are used in the manufacture of felt for hats, fur trimmings, fur garments, coat and glove linings, toys, jackets, robes, table and furniture covers. Only a small percentage of the millions of rabbit skins used in this country are produced here, so there is plenty of opportunity to expand the rabbit fur industry.

I found that the companies selling rabbit feed cooperated to a great extent with the breeders. One company gives signs to advertise the breeder's business, while another has designed a carton in which to sell the rabbits. It is a well-known fact that many a food product that formerly occupied but a small position in the market has rapidly grown in popularity when it has had the advantage of attractive packaging. The rabbit breeder's market automatically improves when it is packaged so as to counteract the consumer's natural aversion to the appearance of a dressed rabbit.

With this very brief information on growing rabbits, where do you begin if your appetite has been whetted at all? Start today by writing to all the places mentioned above, and get as much information as you can before you invest a nickel. Get out and talk with anyone who knows anything about rabbits. Get books on rabbit growing from the library and note their publication dates. You don't want passe methods. Read every word in the booklets.

One reason why I have given so much space to breeding rabbits, whether for food or for their pelts (naturally if you sell the pelt you try first to sell the meat for food) is that, of all the rabbit breeders I met, there wasn't one who appeared dissatisfied with his trade.

"The production of Angora rabbit wool as a sideline offers an opportunity for persons otherwise employed, and for those who are sufficiently experienced the business may be developed on a commercial scale," says George S. Templeton, Director, United States Rabbit Experiment Station at Fontana, California, who adds, "Inexperienced persons interested in raising Angora rabbits are advised to study the business well, beginning in a small way, with three or four does and a buck, and increasing the herd as experience and the market for the product dictate."

Detailed drawings and bills of material for constructing rabbit hutches and their equipment are given in Farmers' Bulletin 1730, Rabbit Production, which may be obtained from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington 25, D.C.

Young rabbits are sheared or plucked at eight weeks of age, and every ten to twelve weeks thereafter. Some angora breeders like to spin wool and knit yarn into garments for home use or for sale. Spinning can be done on an old-fashioned spinning wheel. Others prefer to market the wool to organizations or individuals who are in a position to collect quantities large enough to sell to the mills. Some of the organizations giving information on buying wool are the American Angora Rabbit Breeders Cooperative, Palmer Lake, Colo.; The Angora Woolen Products Cooperative, Malta, Mont.; and Gilchrest Angora Center, East Haven 12, Conn. Some dealers sell raw wool on a commission basis or exchange Angora yarn for it.

Circular No. 785, "Angora Rabbit Wool Production," from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Bulletin AHD 107 with the same title are free, and reading them is the first step in acquiring knowledge on raising Angoras.

The American Angora Rabbit Breeders Cooperative, at Palmer Lake, Colorado, advises anyone interested in raising Angoras to write without fail to the U.S. Government Experimental Station at Fontana, California, for Bulletin 202 and all other literature on rabbits, especially Angora rabbits. The American Rabbit and Cavy Breeders Association, 4323 Murray Ave., Pittsburgh, Penna., has a book on standards on all rabbits.

Vera Messier, of the Hi-Ho Rabbitry at Raymond, N.H., who successfully raises Angoras for profit, explained how it happens that the Angora breeders have their own cooperative to buy their wool. The cooperative, according to Mrs. Messier, came into being through necessity. When it was formed back in 1938 the growers were receiving $3.60 per pound for number one wool. At that time there were no good cash buyers, and after shipping the wool, breeders waited for months for returns. After the cooperative was formed, growers began to receive an advance on wool shipments which enabled them to feed and care for their stock until the wool was sold. There are now 6,000 members of the cooperative, and 4,000 of them ship their Angora wool to Palmer Lake, Colorado, to be made into cloth, shirting, and blankets.

The largest breeder of cavies on the West coast is J. E. Love, of Compton, California, and when I asked him to tell me the "lowdown" on raising guinea pigs at home for profit, he replied:

"Cavies are one of the very best of our small animals. They make the best of pets, do not bite, and may be handled safely. In fact, they like to be handled. The gestation period is sixty-three to seventy days; babies are born with their eyes open and fully furred. As soon as they are dry, they are up and running around the pen—sometimes eating like the older ones.

"They come in all colors, but the best are what we call solid colors, the pine white (albino), black, red, cream, lilac, chocolate, and the agoutis, which are silver gray with pure white bellies or golden, a brownish color with black trimmings and golden-red bellies. Breeding each color straight makes a very beautiful setup for a caviary.

"Demand for these little animals has always been very good—with a slump now and then, or what we call fluctuation. . . . It is during these times that a person must hold his head and not get panicky, for panic is what causes bad times. The breeder should hold onto his cavies when prices start to move downward, which is not very often—only about once every eight to ten years, and then only for a short time.

"A person can make a very nice living with these animals. If he has a ranch or farm, there is no problem at all except for building a small shed; if living in the city or on a small lot he would need a shed or garage to protect the little animals from all kinds of unusual weather conditions. A single garage can easily house five hundred breeders and with this many anyone should make at least $2,500 net a year. Of course, the individual's ability to hustle green food, such as grass trimmings or any vegetable trimmings, is important. They must have a certain amount of green food each day. I don't give my cavies any water; other breeders do. It depends upon the green food given.

"Cavies can be kept outdoors in certain parts of the country. If so, they must have protection in case of bad weather. They must be kept out of the hot sun, winds, snow, and drafts, as well as being protected from dogs and predatory animals. . . .

"There are laboratories all over the country that use these little animals. Also there are brokers; these generally handle cavies for several laboratories and buy from those smaller raisers who do not breed enough cavies to go out and get a market of their own. Pet stock magazines, which are published in different parts of the country, are full of advertisements—both from people wishing to sell laboratory stock or breeding stock, and those wishing to buy all you can raise.

"Cavies are used for experimental research work—by hospitals, doctors, and laboratories to make serums from the blood of the animals. These scientists do not use them for vivisection work. Our own government is one of the largest users of cavies, and it has laboratories all over the country. The veterans' hospitals in all parts of the country are raising most of their own cavies and use them in determining what to do to help the veterans on the way to recovery.

"I am always happy to write any reader who wants to know more about raising cavies."

If Mr. Love has made you want to know more about raising guinea pigs, you can join the American Cavy Breeders Association and get their latest guide book on cavies. The secretary is Walter S. Kirsher, 1431 S. 26 St., Kansas City, Kan. Carworth Farms, Inc., New City, Rockland County, N.Y., sells an illustrated booklet called "Cavy Management." You should get a sample copy of Small Stock Magazine, published at Lamoni, Iowa. This is one of the best of the animal breeders' magazines and you will, if you go into breeding any small animals, eventually want to subscribe to it.

Bulletin AHD No. 97, "Raising Guinea Pigs," may help you; order (free) from the United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Administration, Bureau of Animal Industry, Beltsville, Md. This Agricultural Research Administration says the only way to find out if you can sell your animals is to "contact the large hospitals and laboratories in your immediate area. Frequently such institutions are desirous of dealing with a dependable source close at hand." The Department of Agriculture does not purchase guinea pigs, white mice, or white rats and has no animals for sale or for free distribution.

A few of the institutions which have, in the past, purchased guinea pigs for experimental and other purposes are Gradwohl Laboratories, 3514 Lucas Ave., St. Louis, Mo.; Lederle Laboratories Division, American Cynamid Company, Pearl River, N.Y.; The Gopher State Caviary, 862 Atlantic St., St. Paul 6, Minn.; and the National Institute of Health, Rockville Pike, Bethesda, Md.