CHAPTER VIII 



OPENING OF THE WOODBINE TRACT 



OEVERAL parcels of land for the new colony 

 had at once been offered and my husband's first 

 duty, as superintendent of the enterprise, was to select 

 the right one. With Herman Rosenthal, who was to 

 be in charge of the New York office where applicants 

 were received, Selig Rosenbluth and Dr. Kaplan he 

 visited several, among them the 3,000 acres in southern 

 New Jersey that is the Woodbine Colony of today. 



It was cheap land, but, apart from that consider- 

 ation, the Committee had other reasons for making 

 the choice. For purposes of raising fruit, vegetables 

 and corn it was very good. My husband told me that 

 although there were undoubtedly better localities inso- 

 far as marketing facilities went, and richer soils, the 

 Committee would rather spend the difference in prepar- 

 ing the land for the future farmer, enriching it accord- 

 ing to modern scientific methods. The Woodbine 

 Tract was bought August 11, 1891. 



My husband, with twelve picked "pioneer farmers," 

 left for Woodbine. None of the men had much money 

 and hardly one of them could speak English or knew 

 anything about farming. What is today a thrifty little 



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