The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's WorkPenny, Virginia
General
The Employments of Women: A Cyclopædia of Woman's Work
Penny, Virginia
Women -- Employment
extensively.
=129. Gardeners.= The strength and energy of people, in northern
climates, have led them to excel in the rearing of fruit--not in
imparting a more delicious flavor, but in the quantity, the fulness, and
the size of the fruit. In the balmy air and under the sunny sky of the
South, vegetation develops more rapidly and more luxuriantly. He who
adds to the list of beautiful and fragrant flowers, or improves some
variety of fruit, enlarging, or rendering it more luscious, will be
remembered as a benefactor. Gardening is a pleasant and healthy
occupation to those that love outdoor life. A woman can no more be
healthful and beautiful without exercise in the open air, than a plant
can when deprived of air and light. We learn, from Mr. Howitt's "Rural
Life in England," that "there are on the outskirts of Nottingham, upward
of five thousand gardens, each less than the tenth of an acre. The bulk
of these are occupied by the working classes. These gardens are let at
from half a penny to three halfpence per yard." German women are often
employed, near cities, to weed gardens, gather vegetables, and other
such work. "In Hereford, England, there are no fewer than six annual
harvests, in each of which children are largely employed: 1, bark
peeling; 2, hay; 3, corn, 4, hops; 5, potatoes; 6, apples; 7, acorns.
Add to these, bird keeping in autumn and spring, potato setting and hop
tying, and the incidental duties of baby nursing and errand going."
=130. Makers of Cordial and Syrups.= Women who live in the country, and
have small fruit, would find it pay well to make cordials, berry
vinegars, &c. There are some establishments where it is made, and women
are employed to gather the fruit. The people of the Southern States have
depended on the North for these articles, but we presume a change will
be wrought. The abundant growth of small fruit in the South will enable
the South before long to meet the demand. We think there will be many
openings of this kind, in the South and West, for many years to come.
Some manufacturers of ginger wine, bitters, syrups, cordials, and grape
wines, write: "In reply to your circular we say--We do not employ any
women in our business, although we indirectly furnish employment for
several hundred, during the various fruit seasons, in gathering most
kinds of fruit, which we use in our business. Many of these fruits are
wild, which we buy at a specified price. The gatherers control their own
time, and their earnings will vary from fifty cents to $1 each, per day.
It would probably require the labor of about six hundred for six months
of each year, in gathering the amount of fruit which we use. But as we
do not directly employ them, or know anything about the general business
of those thus employed, we are unable to give further particulars."
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