. The story of agriculture in the United States. ial times was notallowed to tempt Satan by any show of idle hands. Hecould not hold one of his fathers clumsy plows, but hemight ride on the beam and thus help to keep it in thefurrow. There were always the garden to be. weeded andthe stock to be fed. He drove and herded the cattle andsheep, worked at the wood-pile, and helped his fatherbuild rail fences. More enjoyable, though it some-times became tedious, was the work of guarding the corn-fields against the pestering squirrels and crows. Thefoxes that dug the fish out of the corn hills and the
. The story of agriculture in the United States. ial times was notallowed to tempt Satan by any show of idle hands. Hecould not hold one of his fathers clumsy plows, but hemight ride on the beam and thus help to keep it in thefurrow. There were always the garden to be. weeded andthe stock to be fed. He drove and herded the cattle andsheep, worked at the wood-pile, and helped his fatherbuild rail fences. More enjoyable, though it some-times became tedious, was the work of guarding the corn-fields against the pestering squirrels and crows. Thefoxes that dug the fish out of the corn hills and thewolves that attacked the sheep had to be trapped. Probably the greatest fun came in the spring, whenthe sap ran, and the maple sugar camp was the scene ofmuch busy employment. This was the Puritan boys 6o AGRICULTURE IN THE UNITED STATES sole camping out experience. Maple sugar savedmuch expense in the buying of West India cane sugar, asalso did wild honey from the great hollow trees that theboys learned to find by following the flight of A Maple Sugar Camp Another springtime occupation was the making ofsoap. The barrels of wood ashes were leached by havingwater soaked through them. At the bottom of eachbarrel was a hole through which the lye dripped. Mixedwith grease and fat, this was boiled down in a hugekettle over a fire built out-of-doors. The product wasgood homemade soap, both hard and soft, for differenthousehold uses. In the fall the cider mill was set going; at the sametime barrels of apple sauce and apple butter were madefor winter use. The pigs were killed and the sausageswere stuffed. Everyone has seen pictures of the old New Englandfarmhouse, with its rambling wings, sloping roofs, andmany gables. In the center was the huge chimney; thefireplace occupied much of one side of the living room. COLONIAL AGRICULTURE 6i Here the cooking was done and here the family gatheredin daily worship. Around the fireplace, too, were car-ried on the many occupations that hel
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectagriculture, bookyear
