common-place when it came to hauling in the potatoes. Like other advancements in farming, the harvest has become mechanized.

Turnips (in this area) was a crop that was used mainly for cattle feed. After a heavy frost, the turnips were pulled, thrown into a horse-drawn cart and dumped into a ham or house cellar. They were chopped by shovel or put through a pulper. Mangles were also used in the same manner.

A round of cheese would be bought when the factory closed for the season. At this point the milk was separated, by a separator or the use of a creamer, which was a container used to let the milk stand and allow the cream to rise to the top. The cream was churned into butter which was well salted and put into crocks for the winter months. Apples, berries and pumpkins were made into preserves. A barrel of salt herring and a bundle of salt cod were usually put away. A grist of wheat would be taken to the mill to be ground into flour. Earlier, the women, that had sheep on their farm, would wash the wool and then use carding combs to clean it and later use the spinning wheel to make yarn and the loom to make their blankets. With the establishment of woolen mills, except for washing, this task was done by machine.

Begining in the 30's many of the people in the area used the cold storage facilities at Milligan & Morrison to keep their meat frozen. Before this, animals had to be butchered when it was cold enough to keep the meat fiozen. Chicken, ducks and geese provided a source of flesh meat.

Winter, After the chores were done, many days were spent cutting wood and lumber.

Before the age of electricty, some houses in the area had an “ice-box”. This was an “appliance” that was used to keep some items cool for a longer period of time. Ice would be hauled from “ice ponds by horse and sleighs, then stored by placing a thick layer of saw-dust on the floor of the ice-house, placing blocks (16 t024 inches square) of ice about 6 inches apart, putting more saw- dust between and over, then starting over again until enough ice was in storage to last until next winter.

Some households had a well, which was a hole in the ground lined with stone and used for water as well as for keeping perishable items cool for daily use. This structure was protected by a well house and was equipped with a winch and a bucket to raise and lower the items into and out off the well.

“Mussel-mud” was used to condition the land. Presently lime-stone is used for this purpose. Farmers would set out with teams and bob-sleighs in the early morning for the frozen rivers where mud-diggers were set up, returning with their loads to be spread on the land.

This was also the time to do some Visiting.

Chores

Some of the chores that we have today are the same as in years gone-by. However, there are many that have disappeared such as; carrying water from the spring or pumping water for house use as well as for the animals. In the early years, laundry was washed in the brooks, later on it Was washed in water that was carried in and heated in the tank, which was part of a range stove. Other chores included, carrying in wood and kindling, milking cows, putting down hay and straw to feed and bed animals, feeding pigs and hens, gathering eggs, filling lamps with oil, cleaning lamp Chimneys and emptying chamber pots and pails. As most households in the area had a horse, a cow, a sow to raise young pigs, some hens, ducks and geese, these chores were a must for a

majority of the people.

ll