Weekly hawk-eye and telegraph. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1855-1857, 1857-01-21
A New England Farmers Homestead
Half Century Ago.

Hail century Ago.
/ take as an example, that OF our neighbor,
f. P, who had been tailor, but having
tlriyen in his affairs, and now advanced to the
age of some fifty years, had become q farmer
such career, by the way, being common at the
time; for the prudent mechanic, adding to his
house and his lands as bis necessities and his
thrift dictated, usually ended as proprietor OF
an ample house, fifty to hundred acres Of land,
and an ample barn, stocked with half-a.dozen
cows, one or two horses, flock of sheep, and
general assortment of poultry.
The home of this, our neighbor P, was
situated on the road leading to Salem, there be-
ing wide space in front occupied by The wood
pile, which in those days was not only matter
ofgreat Importance, hut OF Formidable b.tk.-
The size of the wood-ple was indeed in some
sor. an index to the rank and condition OF the
proprietor The house Itself was low edihce,
forty feet long, and of two stories in front;
the rear being what was called a break6ack, that
is, s!oping down to height of ten ieet; this
low part furnishing shelter for garden tools,
and various household instruments. The whole
was constructed of wood the outside being of
the dun complexion assumed by unpainted wood,
exposed to the weather for twenty or thirty
years, save only that the roof was tinged OF a
reddish-brown by fine moss that found susie
nance in the chestnut shingles. 80
To the left was the garden which In the pro-
ductive season was wilderness OF onions, squash
es, cucumbers, beets, parsnips and currants, with
the never failing tansey for bitters, horse-radsh
for seasoning, and fennel for keeping old women
awake in church time. a sprig of fennel was in
fact the theological smelling bottle OF the tender
sex, and not unfrequently OF the ,i,en, who, from
long sitting in the sanctuary-after week OF
labour in the field-found themselves too strong
" tempted to visit the forbidden LAND OF Nod
would sometimes borrow sprig OF fcnnel, and
exercise the iend that threatened their spiritual
welfare
The interior of the house presented a parlour
with plain, whitewashed walls, homemade
carpet upon the floor, calico curtains at the win
dow, and mirror three feet by two against the
side, with a mahogany frame; to these must be
added eight chairs and a cherry table, of the
manufacture of Deacon Ilawey. The keeping
or sittingroom had also carpet, a dozen rush
bottom chairs, table, &c. The kitchen was
large, fully twenty feet square, with fire place
six feet wide and four feet deep On one side,
it looked upon the garden, the squashes and Gu
cumbers climbing up and forming testoons over
the door; on the other view was presented
of. the orchard, embracing first circle of
peaches, pears and plums, and beyond wide
spread clover-feld empowered with apple-trees
just by was the well, with its tall sweep, the
old oaken bucket dangling from the pole. The
kitchen was in fact the most comfortable room
in the house !; cool in Summer, and perlumed
with the breath of the garden and orchard; in
Winter, with its roaring blaze of hickory, it was
cosy resort, defying the bitterest blasts of the
season. Here the whole family assembled at
meals, save only when the presence OF company
made it proper to serve tea i'll the parour.
The chambers were all without carpets, and
the furniture was generally of simple charac-
ter. The beds, however, were of ample size,
and well filed with geese-feathers, these being
deemed essential for comfortable people.
must say, by the way, that every decent family
had its flock of geese, ofcourse, which was pick
ed thrice year, despite the noisy remonstrances
of both goose and gander. The sheets of the
bed, though of homemade linen, were as white
as the driven snow. Indeed, the beds of this
era showed that s1eep was a luxury, well I'M
derstood and duly cherished by all classes. The
cellar, extending under the whole house, was
vast receptacle, and by no means the least i'm
portant part of the establishment. In the Au-
tumn it was supplied with three barrels of beef
and as many of pork, twenty barrels of cider,
with numerous bins OF potatoes, tnrnips, beets,
carrots cabbages. The garnet, which was of
immense dimensions, at the same time displayed
a labyrinth of dried pumpkins, peaches and ap-
ples-hung in festoons upon the rasters, amid
punches OF Summer sayory, boneset, fennel, and
other herbs-the floor being occupied by heaps
of wool. fax, tow, and the like.
The barn correspondent to the house. 1t was
a low brown structure, having abundance of
sheds built on to it, without the least regard to
symmetry. | need not say that it was well
stocked with hay, oats, rye and buckwheat.-
Six cows, one or two horses, three dozen of
sheep, and an ample supply of poultry, includ
ing two or three broods of turkeys, constituted
its living tenants.
The farm need not describe in detail, but
the orchard must not be oyerlooke ed, This con-
sisted of three acres, covered, as, have said,
with apple-trees, yielding abundantly-as well
for the cider-mill as for the table, including the
Indispensable Winter apple sauce-according to
their kinds. In the Spring apple is
one of the beautiful objects in the world. No
tree or shrub presents bloom at once so gorge
GUS and so fragrant. just at this time it is the
paradise OF the bees aud the birds--the former
filling the air with their geltle iaurmurs, and
the latter celebrating their nuptals with all the
frolic and fun of a universal jubilee. How of
ten have .ventured into Uncle Josey's apple
orchard at this joyous season. and stood entranc-
ed among the robins, blackbirds, woodpcckers,
buebirds, jays and orioles allseeinins to me like
paymates, racing, chasing, singing, rolicking, in
the exuberance of their joy, or, perchance, slyly
persuing their courtships or even more slyly |
building their nests and rearing their young
Peter Parley's Recollections. 'i" "a 7l5
New yenr,S s-ortrc TENNIS