p. 17 | Farming in Chile by F. W. Bishop

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 1, 1910

Farming in Chile

By F. W. Bishop

It was in the year 1894 that Brother T. H. Davis and I left San Francisco, Cal., for this country. We came to bring the truth to these people, and now there are at least two hundred Sabbath-keepers in Chile. We have sold hundreds of English books along the coast, and many German books in the German colonies. Thousands of small books have also been sold to the natives.

Besides selling books I have worked at farming; and during the ten years spent in this work, I have done very well. This is a good country in which to live. The climate is like California. Once in about ten years it snows for an hour or two. There are about eight months, more or less, of dry weather in this part of Chile. The rainy weather, which is our winter, begins in May and ends in August.

I have just sown six sacks of wheat and ten sacks of oats. The fruit harvest has just passed. On the farm I rent there are about fifty large pear trees, and about two hundred fifty apple trees, all bearing as nice fruit as can be found anywhere in the States. We also have plenty of cherries and plums. The ground is good for all kinds of vegetables. This year I shall plant about ten sacks of potatoes, and a sack of corn. There are no snakes nor wild beasts here, and no fevers.

We live in a German colony; and Germans, or those who speak German, could get along well here, and could learn the Spanish easily. There are no English people in this part of Chile. But we must live among the natives if we wish to understand their ways and language.

Wages are very low. Farm hands work for about twenty-five cents a day, with board. This is no country for poor people; those who have some money can make more, but for those who have nothing it is hard to live. Land around here is worth about one thousand pesos a square; that is, a piece of ground measuring one hundred twenty-five meters on a side. Not far away it is much cheaper.

To those who would like to know more about Chile, I would say that I shall be glad to give any information in my power. In sending a letter of inquiry, be sure to use a five-cent stamp; otherwise it costs considerable to get it out of the post-office. Address me at Los Angeles, Chile, South America.

F. W. BISHOP.