SUCCESS AND FAILURE 



say that no one should be advised to under- 

 take mushroom culture on a commercial 

 basis who can not present good evidence of 

 his special competence to go into this work. 

 It is true that relatively little capital may 

 be required where it is unnecessary to build 

 houses for the purpose. It should be re- 

 membered, however, that practically all 

 capital invested in materials aside from 

 houses is used up in the production of the 

 crop; that is, it is recoverable only through 

 successful yield. We may consider a person 

 qualified to undertake this work (i) be- 

 cause he is interested and not merely because 

 it is supposed to offer a fortune in a few 

 years; (2) after successful experience on a 

 small scale and after serious study of the 

 conditions required for commercial work; 

 (3) after careful observation of the market 

 demands or possibilities and an equally care- 

 ful computation of all costs involved. 



I do not depart from the spirit manifest in 

 many letters received when I say that the 

 following excuses are frequently offered for 



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