INTRODUCTION 3 



They follow the lines of least resistance and catch up some 

 sort of trading. They sell papers, perhaps, or peddle eggs 

 from the country on commission. In one neighborhood, for 

 instance, a lad, last winter, became agent for a brand of 

 chocolate. In the business district, among prominent men 

 whose offices he visits at stated intervals, he soon worked up 

 a regular route. In accordance with a watchful father's coun- 

 sel his small business is conducted with an exactness that 

 might represent thousands. 



From the viewpoint of just one boy this experience is ad- 

 mirable. But the field should be surveyed as well from a dif- 

 ferent angle. It is plain that in such cases the youngsters are 

 becoming in truth small shopkeepers — in a word, middle- 

 men. Each day they gain a little more skill and a little more 

 interest in negotiating cleverly between producer and con- 

 sumer. This is exhilarating. They do not realize, nor do we, 

 that they are being inevitably sucked into the ever-rising 

 flood of middlemen. 



Of producers and organizers, on the other hand, the world 

 has always had too few. This fact' is thrust upon us a dozen 

 times a day. We owe it, therefore, to our young people to 

 give them at least a try at some occupations that are genu- 

 inely productive. Afterwards the successful working out of 

 some real sort of breadwinning is easy. Described in the 

 language of the seedsmen : Seeds for this variety must be 

 sown very early, in order that the roots may strike deep. 

 Later the plants require little or no care. These plants when 

 full grown are hardy ; they bear wonderfully, and, though not 

 gaudy, are unsurpassed in beauty and in flavor. 



When, however, young people have raised salable fruit, 

 flowers, or vegetables, by all means let them enlarge their 

 horizon by going with their own produce to market. In this 

 way they can study supply and demand, prices, and other 



