Pin-Money at Home

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Mountain View, California · May 27, 1908

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 34, No. 22.

Pin-Money at Home.

Your call for articles on pin-money brings to mind the efforts of one girl who had not only earned money thru her own efforts to give her schooling for two years, but also helped at home during her father's illness.

During a visit to a general store, a lady was making inquiry for ferns. The dealer said he had frequent calls for ferns, but was unable to supply them, as few people cared to take the responsibility of their raising. This was the start she needed. Writing to her uncle, she explained her plan and asked the loan of twenty dollars. The answer came full of encouragement and accompanied by the draft.

Not a few hours were spent in studying fern catalogs, which resulted in an order for a hundred fifty plants, at ten cents apiece. The express on them amounted to a dollar and a half, and the remainder was invested in jars. Seventy-five plants were potted at once, the rest being left bedded in tubs. She tended them carefully, keeping them sufficiently moist, and occasionally added emulsion. A notice was inserted in her home paper, the same bit of information given to those of neighboring towns, to the effect that she would take orders for ferns to be distributed the first of September. The best of success rewarded her first efforts, sixty-seven dollars being cleared. By this time she had had considerable experience, and on the next growth she netted even more. This particular girl went from this small beginning into something larger in floral culture.

—From the Girls' Own Circle of "The Circle" for February.