STATE HOHTICUL'I'UKAL SOCIETY. 347 



same work. Even the principal oi' the high school in so large 

 and enlightened a city as Cleveland, Ohio, asserts that men 

 should receive better salaries than women lor teaching, because 

 they will not work for the same. They demand more, therefore 

 they should receive more. 



We hear much about the avenues that are open to w^omen at 

 the present day, but look at the subject as we may, they have 

 not an equal chance with men. Besides being shut out of many 

 occupations by physical incapacity, and working for inferior 

 pay in many of those in which by superior fitness and faithful- 

 ness they have gained a foothold, .they find themselves elbowed 

 by men, even in those avocations which belong especially to them, 

 as, for instance, millinery and dress-making. 



But there is a pursuit in which very few women are as yet en- 

 gaged, which offers more advantages with fewer drawbacks than 

 any other to which she can turn her attention. This is the cul- 

 tivation of small fruits. The leading characteristics of this 

 work are such as to recommend it especially to women. 



It is not laborious; does not require great physical strength, 

 and yet it furnishes proper and plentiful exercise for both mind 

 and body. There is but little heavy work connected with it, 

 and that little can be hired. It does not require much capital. 

 But little land is required, and no expensive implements. When 

 the business is begun in a small way, and gradually increased, 

 there is scarcely any expense worth naming. 



Fruit growers meet with less competition than almost any 

 other class, and next to none from coarse or ignorant people. 

 Their products generally meet with ready sale, and here, for 

 once, woman has an equal chance with man. When she sends 

 fruit to market no one demands it for half price because it was 

 grown by a w^oman. 



Fine fruit sells on its own merits, and while it has no fixed 

 value like w^heat, a good article is always in demand at a pay- 

 ing price. No advertising is needed to sell it, and no money is 

 spent in building up a trade. It can be grown in any part of 

 the country, and there is a market for it wherever jDeople live. 

 The demand for fruit is not based simply upon its being delicious 

 and attractive; it is a real need. The human system has a natu- 

 ral appetite for the combination of acids and sugar that is found 

 in berries. 



When we think of the thousands and millions of people who 

 live in cities and raise nothing, we partially realize the extent 



