Plan No. 117. Sweet Potato Slips by Mail
“I had always believed that only a resident of a big city could engage in mail order business,” said a successful Eastern Washington farmer, the other day, “but I have learned from my own experience that this is not true.
“Last spring I began to realize what a great demand there is for sweet potato slips, and believed there would be money in supplying this need, so, in February, I bought and “bedded” 100 bushels of sweet potatoes, and in May the first lot of slips was ready for the market. Between that time and July 1st I disposed of 500,000 slips, at an average price of $1.50 per 1,000, and then realized that if I had specialized on a certain brand of potatoes, besides the regular line, my profits would have been much larger. When it is considered that only a few months’ work was involved, I regard the returns as very satisfactory, for my net profits on the entire transaction were $540. By enlarging my scope of operations next year, I expect to do very much better, and then have the greater part of the year left, to devote to other purposes. I believe thousands of other men can become successful mail order operators by specializing on some similar line.”