The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-06-26
IN ALAND OF LITTLE POVERTY
SMALL FARMS PAY ALONG
THE CHESAPEAKE SHORE.

Lrabls Lnurisa % NJ Norsh Are, IN
Every CabiR-CaNh Not PieuRiful
but hcEss Enough for Neerultis..
n you draw a line through the point.
that mark the hsadof navigation on Tho
streams % the Chesapeake hasin Won
win outline an AREA in which. outside Of
considerable cities and their snburh.
real poverty IL almost unknown. THIS
tidal country includes In who'll or In
part sixteen counties Of Maryland and
about a. many Of Virginia. Ths who'll
area is perhaps 5000 square niles, and the
population outside Of oities il possibly
10000.
In the whole area no farm il ten miles
from a steamboat landing. and In mostof il ,
half the farms border a naviEabls strsam.
In some Of these counties the jaik are
much Of the time empty or nearly empty
and In most Of them the pOorhOusss have
| few inmates. The richest man In one OF
the exclusively rural counties IL tputed
| 70 b. worth ZOO. and he has no poor
nsighbOrs. Vios and misfortune Aere,
a. elsewhere. bear fruit. but no able
bodied. industrious man n unamploNd
many days In the year. and in much Of
the region Il Ia 10 easy 70 earn acme sort
Of a living that even thu idle and imprOv-
ident are seldom In serious want Thsre
aFo tales Of men who earn In . fishing
season Of Mix weeks or two month"; enough
10 maintain tAsir families In comfort
the whole year. aad Of others who from
beginnings Of this kind have bsoOus
rich according 10 local standards in less
than twenty years.
Food Of every hind except beef and
mutton h cheap In this country Tor The
greater part Of the year. To the man
with a hook and line or q boat and nst
or oyster tOngs. fab. oysters and the
like cost nothing more than the catching.
A negro boy with tho crudost appliances
can draw out OF the water the family
dinner In the course Of an hours fishing.
A man and a boy with a moderately sea-
worthy boat and a pair OF oyster tong
can earn decent wagss seven or eight
months in the year catching oysters,
and something all summer long between
fishing and Grabbing.
All over the lowands In the southern
half Of this region spring vegetables and
fruits begin 20 be ready for the table in
early April. and tho gardens are still
yielding in late October. Asparagus IL
on the tables Of cabin dwellers whils II IL
Atill the luxury Of the rich in New York.
and strawberries retail at three or four
cents a box when they fetch from 10 to 20
in city markets. In the spring you may
buy at the fishing shore a thousand her
ring for az little as y. and for .? or q
family may buy and cure the winters
supply Of salt fish.
Tomatoes at wholesale are 81 to - ton.
and a few cents will buy enough tomato
plants In the spring 20 give any family
with a garden patch enough for summer
eating and winter preserving.
An up and down the streams and Tor
miles inland every family. whether
occupying a big farm or a mere home
patch. HAS chickens. ducks. geese. tur-
keys and guinea fowl. u the water does
not yield ready money the housewife
takes some Of her poultry 20 the nearest
steamboat hnding and ships them 10
Baltimore Nothing Ia too small to h.
turned into cash at need. Sometimes Il
IL a yoarling pig. sometimes two dozen
mpNlrAt skins, sOmetimes hall a dorm
quail shot In the edge OF the woodland.
sometimes only a bag Of ohestnuts. The
jewellers on the several score inhabited
Islands Of the Chesapeake are sometime
80 well content with the wealth TO h. drawn
out Of the teeming waterA that they hardly
/ take .the trouble 20 cultivate the sol
I some Of thess stands are FAR more densely
peopled than the neighboring mainland.
and even freer from any sign Of poverty
/ The islanders marry early, build their
/ little homes close beside those Of their
fathers and turn with cheerful cOnfiiencs
/ 20 the waters a. the source Of income.
! Soil Ia Of all kinds In this comparativelv
small area. from the light. warm uand ot
/ the Eastern Shore counties Immediately
| bordering the bay 10 the still CLAWS Of the
counties farther inland on the Western
Shore. In some OF the latter COUNTIES
| the soil has been exhausted by years Of
| tobacco culture. Thousands of tons II
I fish dried and ground into manure have
/ fertilixed the land bordering the hay
/ and she rivers, 20 that some % il Is pro-
ducing better crops to-day than any time
since the seventeenth century.
The lure Of the waters makes Il hard
for farmers 70 keep good hired labor. and
great farms are breaking up into areas
ANAL enough To be cultivated by a single
/ family. These farmers have within
twelve or fifteen hours by rail or water
urban populations aggreEating more than
/ T. so 900 that need the products OF tho
/ Chaaapaake farms All over the southern
COUNTIES Of the Eastern shore wheat has
given way TO small fruits. potatoes. sweet
and white and tomatoes some of tho
| Virginia counties Of the Western Shore
have learned that peanuts pay better than
/ grain.
| N has BEEN discovered within a dozen
years that some of the lands in the Chesa.
/ peale basin are a. well fitted for apple
growing a. those Of Oregon and other
| regions famous for their apples. Stories
are told OF one farmer almost ON thu edge
Of the Chesapeake basin whose apples
| fetch $40 a barrel and sell in competition
with those Of the West. Fifteen years ago
this mans orchards were mere sapling,
/ for IN this country apples come into bear.
ing not in ten or twelve years hut In ar
or eight
Those who have watched the economic
DEVELOPMENT ~ tho Chesapea ke iarin
/ for thirty or forty years believe that no
matter how the cities Of the Atlantic
coast may grow in the future the return
/ 90 the farm has come In this region The
l increased price 81 living in citie- has
/ baen reflected in the increased value n
well situated farms IN. the Chesapeake
basin and In greater profits 10 the farmer
Every year somebody 10 hitting upon
Ia profitable crop or a profitable ECONOMY.
Sometimes Il 10 a kind % duck that thrivess
| well on the edge ~ a tidal stream and
/ fetches a good price In the city markets