68 OBSERVATIONS OF A RANCHWOMAN 



get along with them very well ; but every- 

 thing they touch thrives, the reason being, I 

 think, that they were wise in their generation, 

 and bought only four or five acres of land, 

 with the result that they require comparatively 

 little water, easily obtaining a sufficiency, and 

 that they do all the work except hoeing, etc., 

 themselves. Ergo, when in the driest summer 

 season one enters their leafy domain, behold 

 there are no complaints ; everything is pros- 

 pering, and, indeed, they do seem to grow 

 everything. It is a veritable little paradise 

 for the eyes of a woman weary of coping 

 with thirty acres, water rights that are but 

 an unseemly jest, and Mexican labour. To 

 net $500 (about ^100) clear off so small a 

 ranch every year, and that without the annoy- 

 ances that add burden to burden, is a result 

 not to be passed by with contempt. To have 

 no losses, moreover, implies still further gain. 

 Then there are the bee ranches. For those 

 who like bees, there at once opens a profit- 

 able and light form of employment. For 

 my part, I give my beehives a wide berth ; 

 but, fortunately, there are enthusiasts in this 

 culture as in most others. A bee ranch has 



