Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1884-08-28
AGRlCt LTuRAL MATTERS.
nHAr Asa qAs oIHLs 40 DOg



BHATARB IN "a Urls 40 DOs
1he 9ueation Answered tn Part by
couple OF North Carolina Misses.
4.What shail We do With orr girls Z"
ss5 Bill Arp, IN the Atlanta Constiti,i n.
have hesrd great many fathers SEX
that question. DON'T Jnesa rich fathers,
who have no anxiety about their
daughters, but | allude 10 the folks in
themiddls wsllzu Of life whose daughters
have had au education aud The fathers
have nothing else 60 give them. What
is poor slrl 70 do when ehs quils school
or comes home from college It IL right
hard for hcr TO descend from the beautiful
hights Of astronomy and the fields OF
history And Botany and the chambers OF
music down To the drudgery of house
keeping and sewing and dsrniug and
patching old clothes. But suppOae she
IS good, duliiul girl, and ia wiiling to
do that and more, the question ie what
does 1t amount to, snd can't she do better
Can't she take hold OF something that
will exotic her ambition and Inherent her
and make her some money Girls are
human, and they want TO do something.
Glrls who do not marry, aud hose
fathers are poor, will need some money
after while when the roses begin 10
fade on their cheeks. Some are indie
pendent enough to 80 TO millinery and
dressmaking, but this gives employment
to but few. Some paint flowers and do
fancy work and sell what they make, but
mot many have the gift OF genius In that
line, and 30 the question still comeB up:
What can the clever country girls do 10
make living for themselves and feel
independent.
Not along ago vas in eastern North
Carolina, and found the question answered
in some places found some nice, well
educated girls oultivating small fruits
and vegetables for market They didn't
pillow the ground, but they planted and
hoed and weeded the crop. saw an acre
Of strawberries that twl sisters had
planted, and they mAde a frolio of Il /;
that is, they went at it with will, and
took lively interest in II, aud they
gathered 1900 quarts and said they
would get Thousand more, and they
packed them in little baskets, su 4 the
little baskets into crates, and sent them
north, and their sales averaged sc cents q
quart. Their total expenses for hire Of
help and cost Of baskets and freight to
market were 5000, and this left 81 600 for
their work and watching and constant
care. Well, those girls are proud aud
independent. Their father had five acres,
and he Wss making money-a good
deal OF money, never saw
= nicer business for one so simple and
sure. The land was poor and sandy, the
rows three feet apart; when the plants
get well set, plow opens iuTrow close
by on each side, and this fnrrOw
ia nearly filled with cotton seed, after
that the vines are mulohed with straw,
that ia all. | never asw vines as small
and berries as numerous. l counted 240
on one plant. They lay on one suothar.
This vine had been picked three times,
and there were 240 left. They frequently
p4eked quart from three plSuts and left
RAINY not rips. They pick until o'clock
In the morning, and the girls averaged
IL quarts by that time. They begin
again at In the afternoon and get Is
quarts more. When they hire pickers
they pay q cents for girls and 2 centa
for boys, for the girls arc more careful
and do not mash the berries nor spill
them, and do not eat every big nice one
they come ACROSS.
got crop Of rsspberries just behind, and
they will make 5000 or $500 of them and
they are growing eurrauts and goose.
berries, and talk about going Into pota-
toes, beans, grapes and Sll that. Well,
why not Fruit growing is nice buai-
ness for girls, and 80 is vegetables. Those
girls have the advantage Of cure, fOr the
market is nearer, but have never seen
the time that nice strGwber,ies could not
sell OF home for 20 csnis, sud that will
make lots Of money. And then, again,
the exercise is good for their hsqlth, and
the occupation SO oleanly ard delicate Il
suits their nimble aud delicate hugsrs SC
we'll. Woman was the fret gardener We
read about--that Ia to say, she was the
first to pluck the fruit, and hsve always
thought she ought to have been forgiven,
for her first thought when she found The
fruit was good was to give her husband
some. But he, like Rn old rascal, went
and laid all the blame on her, and tried
to get out of the sorspe. Nov there Is q
chance for our girls 10 make some moray.
Let them try small patch, sey one.
fourth of an acre. Plant out la AueuB,
and have q good crop Of fruit tie aezi
spring. II can be done. heard a Nash.
vile man say that two years ago there
was no such business around Nashville
as growing berries for northern markets,
but now there are 1 30 bu5hes shippei 4
day from one town, the town 81 franklin,
and they Melted 20 cents u qaart or So {
bushel and the Rifls did most OF the
work. wish the dear creatures were
all rich enough to live without WORK
when they felt like IL, aud | never gee
ladies or girls Of culture and rsdnetaen,
doing drudgery but what 1t shocks my
humanity, sud want society eatsb
lished Tor the prevention Of cruelty tc
angels. But work {, the common lot ioi
man, and for woman, too, Aud ! reckon
they are happier for it.