Part 9 (2/2)
BY ALICE MARY KIMBALL
When she decided to be a far, popular, unusually fond of frocks and fun She had been reared in the city She didn't know a Jersey from a Hereford, or a Wyandotte from a Plymouth Rock
”You'll be back in six months,” her friends said
Four years have passed Mrs Charles S Tupper still is ”buried” in the country Moreover, she is supplying eggs, chickens, honey, and hooods to those of her for to pay for quality
”Far,” said Mrs Tupper, ”is the ideal vocation for the woman who feels the e and a home
”I never wanted a job so keenly as when I found h to do to keep me busy After I'd swept and dusted and prepared meals for two, I had hours of time on my hands The corner bakeshop, the laundry, and modern conveniences had thrust upon ineer whose work takes him to various parts of the Southwest In his absence I felt strongly the need of filling up , useful way
”I didn't quite like the idea of spending all , woed to be a real partner tothe fa it
”We had a few thousand saved for a ho to decide where to build One day it flashed upon me: 'Why invest in city property? Why not a little farm? Then we'll have a ho'”
The idea alow on a 10-acre farm in Westdale, Missouri, an hour's drive fro capital for the enterprise and Mrs Tupper has found congenial work as fararden are Mrs Tupper's specialities Her side lines are a pig and a registered Jersey cow
She looks after the poultry, works in garden and apiary, and milks the cow herself She eet a start in learning to farm,” Mrs
Tupper explained ”I visited farms and studied the methods of farmers and their wives I asked lots of questions
”I didn't have any old fogyisht to the agricultural college and the state poultry experi in the country supervising the building of the bungalow, I read and digested every bulletin I could get I' bulletins I subscribe for several farreat deal from the practical experience of the people aboutto the rules and directions of governricultural experts, which e stanored old rules for poultry and bee-keeping”
Mrs Tupper's chickens are hatched in incubators, hovered in a coal-heated brooder house, fed according to experiment-station directions, and reared in poultry houses built frons From the first they have been practically free fros Even in zero weather and at ti pullets more than pay their way
”Bees responded as readily to proper treatment,” she said ”My second season I harvested 265 worth of co not a half-dozen tihbors were inclined to joke at first at her appetite for bulletins, her belief in experts, and her rigid insistence on pure-bred stock and poultry They admit now that her faith has been justified
If Mrs Tupper had trod in the orn neighborhood ruts, she would have marketed her produce by the country-store-coain she did not Froe of far to sell, she put on a good-looking tailored suit, a becoloves, and went to the city to talk to ulti dressed appropriately--not expensively or ornately--is a valuable aid to the farm saleswoman, Mrs Tupper thinks
”If a salesman coive hi,” she said ”I ainst him the instant I look at hi appearance would be as valuable an asset to ed bonds It would mean a favorable first impression and open the way to show samples and make a sales talk
”If I tried to interview a prospective custo badly or that my shoes were shabby, not only would I be tiest to the city buyer the very slipshodness and lack of reliability he fears in buying direct fro on attractive saht honey to town in ht drip down the side of a package hten away a careful buyer Likewise, I do not illustratesales talks with a sample dozen of odd sizes and shapes It is needless to add that goods delivered to customers must be of the same quality and appearance as the samples, and that one must keep one's promises to the dot A little well-directed enterprise will land a custoood service can hold him”
When the current wholesale price of honey was 3 a case, Mrs
Tupper's comb honey has been in demand at from 20 to 30 cents a pound She disposes of every pound to private custorocery store which caters to ”fancy” trade She sells eggs from her 400 Anconas at fro its patrons who bring in eggs and ”take theured that if a trade concern, it would help the farm business She christened her 10 acres ”Graceland Far that leaves her place She had cards printed bearing the name of the farm, its telephone number, and its products
Graceland Farm is also emphasized on letter heads
”Prompt attention to correspondence is an easy ested ”A typewritten letter on letterhead stationery, mailed promptly, creates a pleasant impression on the s or a trio of chickens