The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-10-27
Woman Makes Farming Pay.
Mrs. Jane c. Barrow Has Made Good Living Out OF
Acre OF Connecticut Land

Ny experience teaches me that a
woman can earn living on a small
farm, provided she is not too much
afraid Of an occasional rough job"
said Mrs. Jane c. Barrow of Connec-
ucut, who for the past seven years
has made a comfortable living and
sent her two children to school on the
earnings of a four-acre farm
1T is surprising how much an acre
OF land can be made TO produce 1
have in all only about four acres and
only one Of these four is available for
planting and buildings. Seven years
ago when | moved in I was without
capital, the place was much out of
repair, and I was forced to go into
debt TO get money TO pay for groceries
! enough to keep me and my two chill
dren until the farm began TO make
returns.
| Il had bought with the farm thirty
| stands Of bees and there were Just
one dozen choice currant bushes. That
was my whole stock, and cannot say
| that the outlook was very encourag-
ing. With a part of the borrowed
money 7 bought five ducks and one
| drake, one setting Of White Wyandotte
eggs and six pairs of pigeons.
In the past year I raised on one
! fourth Of the one acre that I devote
! to poultry. bees and small fruits be-
/ tween one and two thousand ducks
/ They were sold when they were be-
| tween three and four months old
| They averaged in weight about four
| pounds and my whole crop OF feathers
/ was a little more than four hundred
I
! fore il was Matched, and I am sure I
could have secured orders for as many
more had I been able to supply them
Duck feathers and down, while not
as good as those piucked from geese.
when properly cured. always are in
demand and bring a good price.
ION the other three-fourths of my
acre now have 500 currant bushes so
raspberry bushes, 100 white wyandotte /
chickens. q white Holland turkeys. so /
pairs Of pigeons, with their houses and /
flying pens. and 75 stands of bees. The /
bees and currant bushes are the in !
crease Of those bought with the place
and have proved themselves worth all /
the money and time have devoted to I
them The currants were increased 4
by saving the prunings and planting
them as cuttings. And perhaps I /
should say that 1 have from time TO
time sold several dollars worth of the
young plants.
The chickens are all from that one
setting of eggs with the addition of
three new roosters. These I secured
not because there was any actual need
but because 1 believe that crossing a
strain is better for the domestic fowls.
In the past year I sold off forty-two
broilers and seventy-five grown chick
ems. As yet I have sold only a few
eggs and those were at fancy prices
for settings From my pigeons I sold i
400 pairs Of squads and few pair OF
old fellows for breeding. I am fond of
pigeons and like to see them and hear
their cooling. but before many years I
think shall get rid of my stock and
use the ground for ducks. While
have been fairly successful with
pigeons have made much more money
on my ducks and I find them easier
to dispose Of
MY turkeys are a venture of only
four years standing. but so far have
proved almost as remunerative as the
ducks Like the white chicken, there
is a ready sale for every pound Of
feathers and down taken from white
turkey. I have almost decided that
there Is more profit in raising white
turkeys for market than any other
fowl The prices that my turkeys
brought last autumn made me open
nv eyes Having so few. I paid spe-
ciaI attention 10 fattening them. As
they were all extra size and under a |
year old I got the very top notch in
price. but even if I raised them by 5
the thousand I should always expect
20 have them the same / see no
reason why a woman with a large
enough piece of land should not be able I
to raise a thousand turkeys and have
them all as good as my few dozen
THAT is where money is to be made s
On farms around New York. Boston T
and Philadelphia The demand is for
the exceptionally fine product L
-ried only 10 raise medium ducks or
turkeys I have no idea that I would 9
ind such ready sale for either. As il
$ I see to it that my poultry Is the l
-erv best. IT takes very little more
-roI,b1e "a raise a perfect fowl than IT IS
soes a poor one. and I am not a bit
.ure that II doesn't take just about 8
he same. Considering the difficulty
-ou have in disposing of the inferior
.rtiele I am sure it does
AS for the honey that my bees
make 7 don't know that I have right ..
. take any credit TO myself. for they
- nastured on my neighbours fields q
fAa5 them in the winter, but in the
ower and grain season they ny out A
nd helm themselves. I see 70 the
ives. see that the queens are sound
nd prolific and take the honey. Wine Il
i heavy work lifting and moving
- hives and frames. where woman Il
fond Of bees I should think Il would
= =, oceupa ton OF which enc could -
ecome very fond. For the time and
,onev expended on them find bees
most as good an investment as "
1cks. s
IL The green food for my poultry
y 4be drv food I buy in the market
n Al market prices. If had
rrer acreage perhaps I could make
= business pay more by raising my
- p~ain- Until my children nave IA
- scbool shall not think Of