The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1885-07-01
JEWS AS FARMERS.
Three Hundred Russian Exiies Who Are
Doing Pretty Well i'm south Jersey.

The colony Of Jewish refugees from Russia
established three wears ago on LOO acres of
land near here. writes Vineland. " j. cor
respondent To the New York Sun, purchased
by the Hebrew Immigration Society, of New
York and the Jewish Society of London. has
Outlived the harClshipS of its first years. and
l. beginning to be a prosperous community.
The land Is Il rolling sea of little scrub oaks,
four or five feet high. punctured with erect
dead pine trunks. Scattered here and there
among the hills and hollOwS of tee tract the
sixty frame shantieS in which the cOlonists
live are hardly noticeable. The little patches
OF field, on which the grubbing up of oaks has
exposed light, sandy soil that every breeze
raises in q clOdd of dust seem mere occasion
al scratchings up OF the face of the barrenS.
There are no streets. no churches no flores,
mills or factories, nor any other indication
except the scattered houses that 900 people
are there.
Since the first year, when all lived togeth-
or i'm barracks the land has been divided.
Each family has about fifteen acres. Each
plot cost the societies from $50 To 800 and
the occupant i to pay for il onc-half the
cost. They must pay > per cent. wear
upon this price. and this interest is credited
upon the principal, 80 that they practically
have thirty-three years in which to pay for
their homes. Under this arrangement the
culonSts take more interest in their work.
and although they were all natives OF cities.
tradcSmen, artisans and mechanics,
and knew little of farming. they have
got their small cearings into fair
state Of cultivation. and will this year raise
All abundant crop Ot strawberries. rst~pberries
and blackbcrrieS These small fruits are all
that the land can be made to produce profit
ably. Finding the colony in the wilderness
i like looking for a fOur-leaved clover. A
query addressed 10 the open door of a white
washed shanty apparently several miles from
anywhere yesterday: us there a Russian
Jew colony anywhere arOund?'' brought out
ilaxcn-haired man. dark wife with red
handkerchief hoOd-faShion on her head and
two children. Smiles were the prominent
characteristic OF the group. The man talked
English. The rest jabbered.
''Ne-es-a; theeS eeS Get.
Are YOU one OF them
eYe-es-a" with double-sized sinile
How YOU getting along nowadays
''COO-OOm-a cen an see" and the wife and
! children repeated the invitation in Russian,
while the man led off the visitors horse to a
\ convenient tree. Inside the one chair was
| carefully wiped with towel before the visitor
I vas allowed To sit down. The man sat a
I bench and contemplated bowl of milk and
/ some bread on the table He hoped the
gentleman would excused him if he went on
/ with his dinner; BE had To get back To
work-a. While the wife and children smiled
/ contentedly with reflected satisfaction of
I
| and window, between bites and smiles, in
! his slow. uncertain English the man said the
! sixty families in the colony were getting
along firSt-ratc now. with the money
: they got from their berries and from working
/ for other berry growers in summer and chop
/ ping wood in winter. They liked the coun-
| Try vera moo-ooch; oh. 10 mOo-OOch better
than cen Russia" They were all going to
vote a soon a. they got their papers. They
have no church, but the rabbi holds services
around in the houses every Saturday. Their
children all go 10 a district school. The wife
neighbors jabbered apparently approving
! comments a. this information was given.
When the bread and milk and the informa-
ton gave out the whole party stood outside
and smiled a. the stranger drove away. the
| wife insisting on shaking hands as she said
! .'too-oOm-a-a agee-enl
Further on slender, dark colonist, with a
bfogue like "Nillain Macavi'' in called
! Back" said he was cloak-maker, and
dclphia and made them up. All he and hi.
family could earn was S1.50 day. Wo-ould
I like to go back 10. RoOsia? 'Oh, wo-ould
/ j, he exclaimed. in answer 10 a question
and then his English gave out for a while
bud where iSh de mooney he resumed
'Ah. no, ! zhall die hcrel We zhall all di,
herc And are vroom de citiesi And
the maker Of cloakS looked mournfully away
over the scrub-oak loneliness and went bach
To work.
The owner 81 the sole mill and store in tn,
vicinity said the colonists were doing wei
considering that they had been ignorant o
agriculture. They were orderly honest ant
industrious. and would make he thought
good citizens. They never quarreled Will
their neiglibnrs. and rarely among themselves
aud always paid their debts.