HAPPY HOLLOW FARM 177 



that we'd be likely to make something out of 

 two or three of them anyway. That seems like 

 a prudent line of conduct, doesn't it? But we 

 didn't tackle any special product on a com- 

 mercial scale. Looking back over these years, 

 I'm certainly glad we didn't. 



And why? Because, once we had started on 

 such a program, before we knew it we'd have 

 found ourselves all "balled up" with a number 

 of wholly unrelated projects, each one calling 

 for special knowledge, special equipment, spe- 

 cial care, and each carrying, beside its promise 

 of possible profit, its own private and particu- 

 lar veiled threat of loss. The inexperienced 

 man who plunges on any specialty usually 

 must pocket losses instead of profit while he's 

 getting experience. The production of any 

 perishable crop in quantity for market calls 

 for skill in growing, and also it demands keen 

 attention to marketing. We have known many 

 an enthusiastic beginner to be overwhelmed 

 and utterly discouraged by having on his hands 

 a big perishable crop he didn't know how to 

 dispose of. 



We don't intend always to leave such crops 

 out of our reckoning. Sure as shooting, before 

 long I'll start my vineyard of fancy table 



