Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 118, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 May 1919 — Women Make Success of Intensive Farming [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Women Make Success of Intensive Farming

By ROBERT H. MOULTON.

ERE is an Idea that M French skill and thrift discovered, that English common sense adopted and that Amerlcan intelligence and enr"Ttl terprise may I"- counted I I upon to develop for all there is {n it It js the last word in the conservation of natural resources and the science of efficiency as applied to the land. At Thatcham, Berkshire, one of the imiddle counties of England, a woman !has shown what it is possible to accomplish with but a couple of acres of I land' By the most scientific kind of iintensive farming she has been able Ito meet all the running expenses, including the outlay for ground rent, apparatus of all sorts; garden tools, fertilizer and all other incidentals. Moreover, she has been able to live well •and to have sufficient leisure to enjoy Ithe surplus of her income. She has (driven the farming industry with a pleasurable vim and never has been put In the unenviable position of beiing driven by her business. It was in France that this highly profitable industry was learned. On ■ the outskirts of a little village a (Frenchman’ was discovered, assisted by his wife and children, raising $2,500 worth of garden truck annually on a single acre of land. Think what that means in a country like France, where the cost of living is low and the proftits are, as a rule,, small! The English woman readily took in the significance of this, and Induced the successful small farmer to initiate her into the mysteries of the business. (In Thatcham she enlisted as her assistants several of The more intelligent and enterprising girls. The first thing was to lease five

acres. Later they discovered that they had inade a mistake in renting so much, for they found that but two acres were all that they could handle. The. five acres they proceeded to make richer than even old Dame Mature herself had ever dreamed possible. Stable manure was what they used. The cost of this fertilizer was very slight. They bought it at a nearby farm and hauled it themselves. This was distributed, not a square inch of the soil escaping. s A peculiar clause was Inserted in their lease. The landlord for the moment hesitated over this, as it was so unusual. This provided that the tenants, at the expiration of their lease, should have the privilege of digging up and removing the soil to a depth of 18 inches. This provision is only a fair one, as the renters had reworked the soil to too. high a degree and had added too much new material to justify its reverting to the landlord. Stable manure was used exclusively, the women declaring that it gave most excellent satisfaction. The American grower, however, might do well to investigate as to the best sort of fertilizer to employ for the forcing of garden vegetables. Three Crops a Year. At the Thatcham farm three crops are raised every 12 months, and these crops, mind you, are on the • market ahead of the season. This is the secret of the big profits.' 4 A palisade of zinc plates inclose the whole field. These are sunk info the ground and are for the purpose of thoroughly cpnservlng all the nutriment. For the first planting, large bellshaiied glasses, called “clochers" on the European continent,'are employed. When the plants, after proper exposure to the sun, haVe advanced far

enough in their development, they are transferred to regular glasscovered frames. Lettuce is one of the important crops. Five plants are grown under each clocher. Cauliflower is also a favorite crop; even carrots are found to be quite profitable. The plants thus selected. It will be noted, are of the hardy sort, and with ordinary care there is but

Httle danger from frost. Protective mattings made of willow wands, of the flexible branches o bushes, or of Straw or hay, are used to maintain a sufficiently warm temperature in time of biting winds and nipping, frosts. There are no paths. Space is too valuable. All the fertilizer is taken thither in baskets and the vegetables are carried away by the same means. Manure, zinc plates and the “clochers” had to be purchased. Practically everything else, however, was made or done by the individual efforts of the women. For the frames of glass they bought old photographic negatives at a low price. Many women in England are imitating the experiment at Thatcham, which can now be hardly called an experiment. It is amazing what prices can be obtained for fine fresh vegetables marketed out of season. A tremendous advantage of an enterprise of this sort is that aside from the small capital required at the outset, no labor need be hired. The owner of the little farm can do all the work herself; and it Isn’t hard work, either, or, at least, the eort of work that takes the bloom out of the cheek and overburdens young shoulders. It’s the sort of work that should make every captive in the big office or store in the big cities turn wistfully toward it as a means of escape from profitless drudgery to an opportunity to acquire a decent competence. This advantage, of course, need not be pointed out to the country girl. She'knows the value of it, or, if she does not, it is her misfortune.