Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1894-03-01
FEMININE RANCHERS.
California Women Who Have Large
Orchards and Vineyards.

California Women Who Have Large
Orchards and Vineyards
DO you know" said a delicate
young woman the other day in the
hearing of a New York Sun reporter.
I believe 1 Hill go out west and take
up farming"
"You?"
Yes; why not? I shall never get
well if I keep on as 1 have been doing.
| live in a tiny hall bedroom up four
flights Of stairs. Here at my studio
have three flights to climb If /
could get out into the country, live in
the open air, and have the inspiration
of developing property of my own, l
think l should be well inside of a
year.
! The tired little artist is only one of
a multitude Of women who have turned
their thoughts toward farming. Horace
Greeley said: go west, young man!'
Necessity now gives the same advice
/ to many a young woman. The San
Francisco Call of a recent issue con-
! tains an interesting account OF the
are called, of the golden state. The
| California atmosphere is said to, in
duce Incidence, but, if So the women
ranchers are industrious exceptions.
In proportion to the population there
are probably more women engaged in
farming in California than any other
| state. The climate is favorable to
! them, and country life there is different
| from rural existence anywhere else in
this country. Its comforts are grea ter,
its opportunities larger, and there is,
none of the terrible isolation which
is such a diSheartening feature of
ranch life in the middle west, or the
narroWness of outlook and pettiness> of
detail Of farm life in the east.
One Of the women who have won
fame by the success of their agricul-
tural experiments is Mrs. Theodosia
Shepherd of Ventura, Il cultivator of
California flowers, seeds, bulbs, palms
and orchids. Then there is Mrs. Strong.
of pampas plume fame, and Mrs. e. p.
buckingham of Vacaville. Mrs. Buck
ingham is a pioneer woman fruit raiser,
and has, probably made as much money
on her ventures as any woman in the
state.
Mrs. George Mcbride, who lives near.
San Jose is another successful rancheT..
Mrs. Mcbride solved the problem of
how to, bring up boys, left fatherless>
at an early age, by purchasing thirty
eight acres of land in the Santa Clara
valley, and setting it out in fruit. She,
knew nothing Of orcharding (Which
seems 10 be the California; term for tie
business; but energy and good sense.
made her an expert on al matters per-
tanning to fruit raising. She did all
| her own pruning. Mrs. Mcbride, who
was an invalid when She went to Cali
fornia, is now q we'll and happy wom-
an with handsome income.
Mrs. Jennie Starr, of Yuba City
Suffer county,, is another enterprising
| woman who turned to ranching upon
being left widow. She has sixty
acres of orchard and vineyard, and she,
knows all about pruning, grating,
budding, trimming, and everything
that is done to- vines or trees She has.
been in the business three years, and
pronOunces it Just the sphere for a.
woman who, likes the country and is
willing to give up some of the trif1ing
things of life and go to work with a.
will"
Mrs. Shepherd of Ventura began
with neither capital nor experience,
but has built UP a fourishing industry
and does a large wholesale business
with eastern and foreign seedsmen.
Last year Mrs, Shepherd raised $500
pounds of seeds of sweet peas alone.
Mrs. Lucy Underwood Mccain, wild
ow of the late Judge Mccain of Santa
Cruz, makes speciality Of small fruits,
such as strawberries, raspberries and
others. She sells all her fruit in Santa.
Cruz where it commands the best
prices. Another woman rancher is Mrs.
Freda O. Bunting Of Centerville, in
Alameda county. Mrs. BUnting's
father was q famous fruit grower, so
it seemed quite natural that she should
mack a success of her fine orchard
of over forty acres. During the season
she is constantly in the orchard, pick
ing, attending to the shipping and
keeping a close watch on all the work
Telegraph communication between her
office and the city keeps her Informed
as to the markets, so that she can take
advantage of every rise in the prices.
other California women who have
made a success of agriculture are Mrs.
Emily Robson, an olive grower Of
Auburn; Mrs. Kate Warfeld Of Glen
Ellen; Mrs. Brooks of Palm Springs,
who has a house also in Oakland, and
brings down the earliest figs in mar
ket and sells them at 70 cents pound.
and shipped grapes to Chicago and
sold them at S1S5 a ton; Mrs. Eliza
Hood, a successful wine grower; Mrs. !
Barroilhet of San Mateo. who raises
flowers on her 40 acres, and sells
them at fancy prices, and Mrs. Whit (
tell who has large rose ranch near
Los GatOs.
LIZARDS NOT CHAMELEONS. !