The Smiths’ house at Newton.

Converting a pine tree into cash.

At Orwell: the trees left in a ravine.

The sawmill.

The woods not for strolling.

Potash.

A bear eating a sheep.

The Smiths built themselves a comfortable solid warm house; but they never finished all the rooms inside. The walls were of thick pine planks, halved or rebated, like the hull of a ship. Some of the rooms were properly plastered; some were merely lathed; but the vast "other end” showed the smooth planks; and the upper storey was an open loft . [p. 22]

Their land was good and its virgin soils not yet exhausted. Many pine trees remained and they were easily converted into money. When one of these old men at last found that he had need of a doctor, he cut down one of the pine trees, hauled it to the mill which was now near at hand, had it sawn into boards, and sold them for thirty dollars. [p. 22]

The north and south branches of the Orwell River joined within the area, flowed In a deep wooded ravine and met the tide where it was crossed by a bridge. Upon this stream were three mills. Heavy timber grew upon either bank. The stream now runs through gorges where with an unerring instinct the early settlers built their three dams, through woods where trees have grown to immense size, protected by the high banks that prevent their removal.

The middle mill sawed timber with upright saws set in gangs. The circular saw had not yet been imported. In that mill from earliest times was sawn the timber from which many ships were built in shipyards that extended down to deep water.

The stumps of the pine trees which these two [pitl-sawyers cut and sawed are yet to be seen in the woods.

Trees were cut and sawn into lumber from which houses were built. (pp. 40-43]

To stroll on a forest path with motive ulterior to the purpose of passing through was “to lurk in the woods”. [p.58]

The making of soap in the house demanded that the coarser kinds of grease be saved for a whole year, since soap could only be made in the spring. That was the time when potash was at hand. In the summer soft wood was burned. In the winter the ashes from the hard wood, which alone yield potash, were saved in a barrel, and in the spring, the alkali was leached out with water. In the meantime, the factories were at their insidious work, and supplied "concentrated lye”. The ashes were wasted. [p.104]

The Master’s wife, when a girl, came upon a bear in the woods, eating a sheep. She

picked up a stick for her protection, and felt quite safe, but did not attack the bear ”as the sheep was already dead”. [p. 167]

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