Another interesting event of the past year, in the Negro business world, has been the opening of the $100,000 cotton-oil mill at Mound Bayou, Miss., a Negro town which was founded by Isaiah T. Montgomery, an ex-slave of Joseph Davis, brother of Jefferson Davis. This Negro enterprise shows what Negroes can do when they pull together and turn their disadvantages into advantages. Nineteen years ago, J. H. Blodgett began his up-hill climb with $1.10 in his pocket and a suit of underwear in a paper bag. Further, he was arrested as a tramp for wearing a straw hat in winter time. Today, he owns 121 houses in Jacksonville, Fla., having a rental value of $2,500 a month. Blodgett got his start as a railroad window washer at $1.05 a day. He and his wife worked hard, saved their money, and finally built their own home. He declares that there is no excuse for young, able-bodied Negroes to waste their time in hotel work at $20 to $30 a month and tips when they can grow tomatoes in Florida at $1,000 an acre. What is a correct formula for success on the farm? Henry Kelley, of Belen, Miss., who has been hard at work since 1873 and is now worth some $50,000 offers a reasonable one: “Industry, economy, education.” Kelley started out independently in 1886 with 520 acres of land which he cleared as quickly as he could. He built a home, and by degrees established a good business in cotton ginning, grist milling, and log sawing. Then he began to build tenant houses and to deal with his own people in the spirit of the Golden Rule. Today, he works 1,750 acres and has fifty tenants. His payroll ranges from $800 to $1,000 a month and he has work for his hands “from January through December.” He produces about 500 bales of cotton each season. He has no trouble, on account of his color, in doing business. His Mississippi white friends, he says, have always been good to him. Kelley is a hard worker still. His day--and that of his hands--is “from sun to sun.” J. T. Kirklin, of Columbia, Mo., started in 1873 as a handy boy on the State University farm and received thirty cents a day. Out of his own wages he had to board himself. He was glad to keep his job because he was learning how to farm scientifically. In 1903 he began to take first prizes, in competition with white farmers, for his fine strawberries, carrots, watermelons, and garden truck. His first market wagon was an ordinary wheelbarrow. Later he bought two buggy wheels and made a wagon--a push cart. While some of his own people were laughing at his crude outfit, Kirklin was saving his money and improving his small truck garden. Today he is worth $20,000 and is a quiet and respected citizen.