state; pomological society. 105 



know how to milk a cow, hold a plow, or harness a horse, but 

 he was well educated and smart and he worked with a will and 

 intelligence all summer, and by September had decided to take 

 a course in agriculture at Orono and will then buy a farm and 

 go into small fruits and poultry. Quite frequently during the 

 summer he received letters from acquaintances who had heard 

 what he was doing, asking for information as to the possibilities 

 for earning a living on a farm, and asking his advice as to 

 whether they had better give up their situations and go into the 

 country. But in most cases they were people who had families 

 and had saved nothing, or their health was impaired, and they 

 were utterly ignorant of farm work. 



It is not safe to advise such people to give up a situation and 

 try something new, if they have never had any experience. 

 Many people have gone into the poultry business in that way, 

 simply from reading poultry articles in which the profits were 

 figured large and the work small. Nine people out of ten make 

 a failure who do not begin small and work up to it. 



Why, you and I would not dream of going into the city and 

 buying out a store or factory and trying to run it, without any 

 past experience. We know we should fail. 



And so it is to the women and girls already on the farm or in 

 the village that I am giving this advice. You have had some 

 experience along these lines all your lives. All you have to do, 

 is to have a little more courage and perseverance to branch out 

 a little at a time and add to your business as the way seems 

 clear. But don't wait for opportunities, hunt them up. 



The trouble is, the farmer's wife or daughter thinks she can 

 go into the poultry or preserve business and also do her regular 

 household duties, and she finds it too much. No woman would 

 expect to teach school, or be a stenographer or bookkeeper and 

 also do the housework for a large family. If she expects to 

 m.ake a business of flowers, fruit or poultry, she must expect 

 to put the same hours, work, capital, and business principles 

 into it she would into other kinds of business. Of course they 

 can be carried on in a small way in connection with a woman's 

 housework, but then she could not compare it as a business 

 with what she might earn in the city. 



Let the city man and woman take their vacations in summer 

 while you are working away among your chickens and gardens. 



