George Washington Carver (Part 2)

Carver did many things to pay for his expenses. He sold hominy which he had made, and sometimes ironed clothes for classmates. He found an old stove at the city dump and brought it home to cook meals for his friends. He used old wrapping paper for notebooks. "Don't throw anything away," he would say. "Everything can be used again." After he graduated , they asked him to teach biology to the beginning students. Later he was asked to teach at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Carver started studying diseases which were attacking the farmers' crops. He also did a lot of experimenting to find new ways to use different plants. He made more than 300 products from peanuts. He even made soap and ink from peanuts. From sweet potatoes, he made 118 products, including flour and candy. He made 75 products from pecans and even made a building material for walls from cotton stalks. He had many good ideas.

Later in his life, Thomas Edison offered him $100,000 a year to come and work for him, but he thought he could do more good at Tuskegee. He made his students work hard, and he insisted they do each experiment right. If they told him they had done something "about right," he would say, "Don't tell me it's 'about right.' If it is 'about right,' then it is wrong." Money, stylish clothes, and fine cars were not important to him. He thought the truly successful person was the one who had learned to serve others.