The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1905-11-30
Women Who Earn Money on the Farm

| Women Who Earn Money on the Farm
Much has been said and written Of
the boy and the farm. and of methods
and means wherewith to check the
constant movement of the young men
toward the cities Yet we hear little
of plans to keep the girls on the farm.
With the ever-increaSing list of oppor.
tunities open to women in the business
and professional world. the rural com.
munities are being as swiftly drained
of the best Of their young women as Cf
their young men. Where one remains
at home to take an active interest in
farm life. ten so forth to swell the
army of teachers. stenographerS. book
keepers. clerks and factory hands-the
living tribute money yearly demand, '
by the great centres OF civilization.
One great factor in producing this
movement is that the girl Oh the farm
too often has no money of her own.
but is dependent upon her parents for
clothes and spending money until she
marries. Many girls leave home for
hard and often uncongenial work in
an office or factory simply because il
offers them 4 chance of having money
Of their own.
There is, however. an opening for
girls upon the farms, which. to those
who have a taste for out of door life.
should prove more healthy. more at
tractivc. equally remunerative and less
confning than many professions COM
monty adopted by women. Some OF
the lines which appeal particularly to
women and along which women are
to-day securing fair incomes. are poul-
try-keeping. Dee-keepinS. piseon-rais-
ing. either fancy breeds or squads;
flower growing. either out cf doors Sr
green house work; forcing OF early
vegetables. orcharding and the raising
Of aromatic or medicinal herbs. There
is 10 reason. also, why women should
not own and operate successful grain.
dairy or fruit farms.
Within my own circle of acQuaint-
ances three women have gone extern
sively into poultry keeping, another is
successfully managing fair sized
greenhouse, and another runs small
fruit farm, with strawberries as it prin-
cipal crop. A girl just graduated from
college is going into partnership with
her brother in large fruit raising VEN
ture. Three OF the women have been
successful teachers. and several are col
leGe educated One girl. the daughter
Of prominent New York business
man, became interested in a wornout
Vermont farm. which was classed as
a losing number in the list of the fam
ily'S goods and chattelS. since both
father and son had tried their hands
at managing it. She took a course at
an agricultural college. begged and re-
ceived the farm from her father, and
within two years it was giving fair
dividends to its new manager.
Not all girls, of course, care for the
farm or for farm life. but give those
who do chance. Let them have some
thing Of their own, OF which they pear
all the expense of running, and from
which they receive all the income. If
they are interested in crops or vese-
tables let them have a plot Of ground,
teach them how to till it. help them
secure labor and show them how to
market the produce to advantage. If
they like poultry give them flock of
two hundred or three hundred hens.
Make your girls take an interest in
farm life by giving them something to
be interested in, and there will be few
er permaturely old women coming
home to rest, broken down by the ner.
vous strain of the schoolroom, or the
long hours and close confinement Of the
| office.-Philena B. Fletcher, in the New
York Tribune.