The morning call., 1893-11-19
What They Are Doing in
California.
SUCCESSFUL in AGRICULTURE
A Growing Interest in the Subject
of Farming as an Industry
for Women.

writing from North Dakota. relates bitter
experience. and she. too, asks what is the
outlook in an agricultural way for women
in California. 81 must get away from
here" she writes. ''or starve. l burned
my entire crop of corn for fuel last winter,
and this year have not even corn TO burn.
l have pulled through five years on this
place. but cannot live through another
winter"
There is a growing interest in the sub
ject of farming as an industry for women.
l have not seen the returns from the
census of 1890 on this particular line, but
according to figures gathered by the Gov
eminent in 1880 there were then some $780,
600 women engaged in agricultural pursuits
in this country.
A consensus of their experiences would
be interesting reading, and doubtless its
variety would be great enough to
impart to it more than the usual amount
of spice found in such reports. The tales
told would be diversified enough for the
lightest reader. What an interesting ex-
perence meeting might be held. for in
stance, between the woman in North
Dakota, who burns her corn for fuel, and
the woman in Southern California, who
buys corn TO feed to the chickens that she
sends to the market at top prices the year
round.
In proportion to the population there
are probably more women engaged in
farming in California than in any other
State. The reasons for this are many.
Our climate, for one thing, is favorable to
them. The women who come out here
alone are for the most part Of an enter
prising nature and turn naturally to bust
ness ventures. There is. moreover, some
thing about the land in California that
| attracts the new conner. Men who never
dreamed of farming in their Eastern homes
come out here to engage in mercantile
| business, and instead go to ranching.
| Country life in this State is different from
rural existence anywhere else in the cOun-
| try. 1t attracts a wholly different class of
| people from those who seek 1t In the East.
| Its comforts are greater. its opportunities
| larger, and, despite the spaTser population,
| the greater distances between places and
| the inconvenience one would naturally
| suppose attendant upon life in new
country, there IS nothing OF that ter
rble isolation that is sucn a disheartenin G
feature OF ranch life in this Middle West,
or the narrowness OF outlook aud the petit
ness of detail that characterize existence
on farm in the Far East.
| i remember fifteen years ago, iE pros
| porous farming community within seven
miles of large city, the amaze and in
| credulity, not TO say indigD ation that was
awakened among the farmer folks for
miles around by the ambitious freaks of
| one family who had resided there for
some sixty years. The young people of
this family had been visiting in California
for SIX months. They were wealthy peo-
| pie, as Eastern farmers count wealth, and
on the return of the travellers the family
| homestead was rem odeled. A bathroom
was added TO the other modern cOnven-
fences and a windmill and farmhouse were
put up. People came from miles around
TO view that windmill and comment upon
| the people Who were too lazy to do their
own pumping and carry water when they
| desired bath. They were 10th to believe
| that windmills and bathtubs we're mat
ter of course 'Out in Californy," and while
some of the farmers wives were forced to
admit that hot aud cold water faucets in
the sink were possibly more convenient
| than pumps and reservoirs on the kitchen
stoves, still such luxuries were enfeebling
and effeminate, il not downright ire
| ligious.
OF the women who have gone into farm
| ing, OK one description or another, a long
and well-kn0wn list of names could be
given. Some of them have even won fame
beyond the Rockies, for the extent and
success OF their operations, as Mrs. TheO-
dosla Shepherd of Ventura, who is well
known in the East as cultivator of Cali
fornia flowers, seeds. bulbs, palms aud
orchids. and Mrs. Strong of pampas-plume
| fame. Besides these there is Mrs. Z. p.
Buckingham of Vacaville, one of our pio-
neer women orchardists. who has prob
ably made as much money from her land
| investments and agricultural ventures as
| any woman in the State. Mrs. Bucking-
| ham is not only successful orchardist,
but an enthusiastic and convincing speaker
on the subject OF ranchiDg for women. The
fruit shipped from her place at Vacaville
ALWAYS commands good prices and is we'll
known in the Eastern market.
In hot( rtd c.
Jose, is another successful agriculturist.
The problem Of how to bring Up four boys,
| left fatherless az a tender age, was solved
by Mrs. Mcbride by purchasing thirty
| eight acres of land at "the Willows" in
the Santa Clara Valley. and setting it out
in orchard Mrs. Mcbride knew nothing
whatever of orcbarding when she began
this work, but enthusiasm. energy and
good sense go long way in fitting a man
or woman for usefulness, and it was not
| long before she was an expert on all mat
tiers pertaining to the orchard. She did
her own pruning and all the orchard work
was done under her careful supervision.
| Now, after a lapse Of dozen years, she
| has one of the finest orchards in Santa
! Clara County, returning her a handsome
income each year. Her boys have grown
up into habits of industry and thrift. and
their lovely home is one of the most charm
ing and attractive in all that beautiful
| region. Mrs. Mcbride, who was an in
valid when she first came to California, is
now q well, happy woman, who is en-
thusiastic in the recommendation to others
of her method of solving the problem life
presented to her when she was left a widow
to care for her four boys.
Mrs. Jennie Starr of Yuba City, Suffer
County. is another enterprisiDg woman
who turned to ranching upon being left a
| widow. Almost wholly unfamiliar with
the requirements of such work Mrs. Starr
at FIRST deemed it almost impossible that
she should undertake the task that lay be-
fore her, AS she began. however. TO
realize that the responsibility of family
and the management Of sixty acres of
orchard and vineyard rested upon her she
went to work with firm determination to
make success. II succeeded" she says,
far beyond my expectations. 1t has been
hard work, requiring good management
and careful econ omicai business Qualifca-
tons, ont it is my experience that as a
general thing women possess these equally
with men. The work Is healthful, refined
and preferable. so far as l know, to any
indoor employment, and out here. with
California's glorious climate to help and
encourage her, L see no reason why a
woman should not make orchard or vine-
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