The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-21
SECOND SECTION.
WOMAN MAKES FARMING PAY
m CkS, TURKEYS AND BEES ES-
PECIALLY PROFITABLE.


Finds. begin ON Too Large q Scale.
My experience teaches me that a
can earn a living on a small farm. provided
che Ia not too much afraid Of an occasional
rough job" said Mrs. Jane G.. Barrow of
Connecticut, 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. l have in all
only about four acres and only one Of theee
four is available for planting and buildings.
seven years ago when l moved in | was
without %csOital. the place was much out Of
repair, and | was forced to go into debt
to get money to pay for groceries enough
10 keep me and my two children until the
farm began to make returns.
Il had bought with the farm thirty stands
OF bees and there were just one dozen choice
clrrant bushes. That was my whole stock,
and | cannot say that the outlook was very
encouraging. With a part Of the borrowed
money ! bought five ducks and one drake
one setting of White W~yandotte eggs and
six pairs OF pigeons.
In the past year | raised on one-fourth
Of the one acre tina l devote to poultry,
bees and small fruits between one and
two thousand ducks. They were sold when
they were between threeand four months old.
They averaged in weight about four pounds
and my whole crop Of feathers was a little
more than o u hundred pounds. Every
duck WAS ordered before IL was Matched,
and l am sure I could nave secured orders
for as many more had / been able to supply
them. Duck feathers and down. while not
as good as those plucked from geese, when
properly cured, always are in demand and
bring a go'd rrioe.
"0n the other three-fourths Of my acre
] now have 900 currant bushes, 50 rasp-
berry bushes. 100 white Wyandotte chickens.
% white Holland turkeys, 90 pairs Of pigeons.
with their houses and flying pens, and rs
stands Of bees. Tn bees and currant
bushes are the increase of those bought
with the place and have proved themselves
worth all the money and time l have de-
voted to them. The currants were in
creased by saving the p~runings and planting
them az cuttings. And perhaps | shoult
say that I a v 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 l secured not because
there was any actual need but because
believe that crossing a strain Is better for
the domestic fowls. In the past year I
sold of forty-two broilers and seventy
five grown chickens. As yet have sold
only a few eggs. and those we're at fancy
prices for settings. From my pigeons I
sold 400 pairs Of squads and a few par Of
old fellows for breeding. I am fond OF
pigeons snd 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 | ave been fairly sue
cessful with pigeons have made much more
money on my ducks and | find them easier
to dispose of.
My turkeys are a venture of only four
years standing, but so far have proved
almost IA remunerative as the ducks. Like
the white chicken, there is a ready sale for
every pound OF feathers and down taken
from a white turkey. I AVE almost de-
cided that there is more profit in raising
white turkeys for market than any other
fowl. h prices that my turkeys brought
last autumn made ne open my eyes. Having
so few. | paid special attention to fattening
them. As they were all extra size and
under a year old I got the very top notch
in price, but even IL | raised them by the
thousand I should always expect to have
them the same. ! see no reas son why a
woman with a large enough piece of land
should rot he able to raise a thousand
turkeys and have them all as good as my
few dozen.
That is where money is to be made on
farms around New York. Boston and Phila-
delphia. The demand is for the exception
ally fine product. II I tried only to raise
medium ducks or turkeys | have no idea
that ! would find such ready sale for either.
As 1t is I see to il that my poultry is the
very best. It takes very little more trouble
10 raise a perfect fowl than it does a good
one. and | am not a bit sure that il doesn't
take just about the same. Considering
the difficulty you have in disposing of the
inferior article I am sure it does.
As for the honey that my bees make I
don't know that l have a right to take any
credit to myself. for they are pastured on
my neighbor's fields. I feed them in the
winter, but in the flower and grain season
they fly out and help themselves. l see to
the hives. see that the queens are sound and
prolific and take the honey. While il lie
heavy work, lifting and moving the hives
and frames, where a woman is fond Of beesI
should think II would he an occupation
Of which one could become very fond. For
the time and money expended OF them l
find bees almost as good an inve stment as
ducks.
Perhaps l should say that | raiss only
the green food for my poultry. All the
dry food | buy in the market and at market
prices. If I had a larger acreage perhaps
] could make the business pay more by !
raising my own grain. Until my children
have finished school I shall not think Of
adding to my plant. Perhaps even then
! shall peg along on these same four acres.
! have proved that I can make a place Of
this size pay. and there is always danger
Of overriding.
From my observation IL Is the inclina-
ton TO begin on too large a scale that causes
more failures among women beginning n
new work than any other one reason. IL Is
seldom that a woman Is willing to begin
at the bottom and eli NIB the ladder one
r ing at a time. They seem 20 he willing
only to begin in the middle and take the
rest Of the climb in leans. That tx the