CHAPTER THREE

The shipbuilding industry provided employment and a market for tim- ber and agricultural produce, not only for the new settlers in Lot 12, but also for those who had already settled in Lot 13. From 1877 on, owing to depletion of suitable timber and the advent of the iron ship, the wooden ship industry went into a rapid decline, until forced to close down in the early 1890’s. The last ship built at the Bideford Shipyards was the Meteor which was launched in 1892.

Men who had earned a living cutting timber, building ships and sailing them could no longer earn enough money to feed and clothe their fami- lies. Some left the Maritimes to find work elsewhere. Others turned to fishing, farming and other occupations. Some farming had been carried on ever since the first land was cleared with potatoes being planted around stumps. Early farming methods were very difficult and labour intensive. Ground was broken up with a grubbing hoe. Seed was broad- cast by hand. Hay and grain were cut with a scythe and gathered with a hand-rake. Grain was threshed by beating it with a flail and cleaned by tossing it into the air and letting the wind carry off the chaff. Oxen were used for farm work, later fattened and used for beef. Pigs, which ran wild through the woods in summer, were caught in the fall and used for food. Sheep were raised for wool and mutton.

Women milked cows, made butter and cheese, sheared sheep, washed the wool, and dried it by spreading it on the grass and bushes. It then had to be carded and spun into yarn for weaving into cloth and blankets, or for knitting sweaters, socks and mitts. Some families owned carding imple- ments, spinning wheels and looms for weaving. Wool from black sheep made grey yarn. White yarn, made from white wool, was used in its natu- ral color or dyed a darker color using bark from trees or other natural dYes. The cloth was made into clothing, either by the woman of the house

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