I EARN $20 AN HOUR...RAISING VIOLETS

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It really isn't difficult to buy these containers wholesale. Just contact the garden product suppliers in your telephone book, tell them you're going to be raising plants and buying supplies on a commercial basis, and ask for commercial prices. You should be able to purchase three- to four-inch white or green pots for from three to ten cents each, and two-inch propagating pots will cost you only a penny or two each in quantity.

And maybe you won't even have to buy your pots at all! Some commercial growers make a habit of using their smaller propagation containers once and once only before throwing them out, Such pots, obviously, can be yours for the asking. If you chance across such a source of supply, however, do thoroughly wash the used containersinside and outwith soap and water to kill any harmful disease germs, bacteria, or parasites that might be transmitted to your violets.

Violets will grow in many different kinds of soil, but they prefer a loose and easily drained medium. You'll save money if you whip up your own ... and a good mix is made from two parts topsoil, one part sand, one part vermiculite, and one half part peat moss .

You can dig the topsoil yourself front any area where the ground Is fertile and no chemical herbicides have been used to kill weeds. Or, if you have no access to such a spot, you can purchase the soil from a garden supply company. . . not a retail store. (Retail stores have pretty displays and small amounts of stock at high prices. Garden supply houses have dusty old displays and large amounts of stock at low prices.)

The sand (make sure you buy only slat, free sand), vermiculite, and peat moss should also be purchased wholesale from a garden supply company. Buy a bag of each (that's the least you can purchase wholesale and you'll probably use it all up sooner than you expect anyway). And do make sure you get either "brown Canadian" or "German" peat moss . . . the fine, black peat moss from Michigan is too acid and should not be used on violets.

I find it most convenient to just pour out two bags of soil, one sack each of sand and vermiculite, and a halfbag of the peat moss onto my basement floor , . . and then turn the whole pile with a shovel until it's thoroughly mixed. Once prepared and rebagged, of course, it last forever and I have only to dip out a potful or more of the preparation as I need It,

The photo in the middle of this page is courtesy of terVehn Interiors, Flat Rock Carolina... a decorating firm that frequently brightens its clients' rooms with African violets which it has grown itself. To the right are patented "Ballet" violet starts sold by George J. Ball, Inc.... and 10-week-old blooming plants grown from them. Another of Mrs. Fink's growing benches is shown immediately above... and the lovely display of violets to the Fight is, again, courtesy of terVehn Interiors, Inc., Flat Rock, North Carolina.

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