, and a large number of other men have earned
$2,000 and $3,000 in the same length of time. This is an occupation
which, under certain conditions, is admitted to be just as suitable
for a woman as a man.

The newspapers have poked a great deal of fun at book-agents, and
their ridicule has, doubtless, deterred many a person from following
the occupation. A young man, a book-agent, once wrote for advice to
the editor of a New York paper. He said that he had followed the
calling for some time, and that he made, the year round, from $50 to
$60 a week. He liked the work of travelling from place to place, but
he had doubts as to whether his calling was a respectable one. Would
it not be better for him to get some other employment? The editor
promptly informed him that the work he was doing was not only
respectable but exceedingly useful; that many persons were glad to
see him present to their notice the new and useful books he was
endeavoring to sell; that his earnings were exceptionally large, and
that it would be a long time before he could hope to earn as much in
any other business. By all means he should remain a book-agent.

It is said by the publishers of books that women make excellent
book-agents; they cannot hope to make as much money as the very best
male agents, but if they have the necessary qualifications they can do
very well. The prerequisites required can be summed up under four
heads:

First of all, a woman must have pretty good health; if she has not,
she will not be able to go through the necessary amount of physical
exercise involved in the work. But it is not necessary that she shall
be perfectly sound in body. Many a woman enters the business because
she has a delicate constitution, and because she believes that the
exercise she will be obliged to take will do her good. And if her
ailments are not too serious, she is seldom disappointed in this
respect.

Second, she must have a great deal of what business men call "push,"
and what some people might term impudence. She cannot afford to be
nervous about going into stores, offices, and houses, and offering
what she has for sale. Nor will it go well with her if she is
bad-natured, and shows temper when she is not greeted cordially by the
master or mistress of the house. She must have smiles and pleasant
words for those who do not buy as well as for those who do.

Third, she must be a good judge of human nature, and on this one
commandment, probably, h