The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-08-03
Another Letter from DIR. Goldsmith.
CARLSBAD, Bohemia
July 3, 1874.
BOHEMIAN FARMS.

BOHEMIAN FARMS.
Dear Sir: The general look of Bohemia
is very much like that of Vermont.
Though as billy it has a smoother, more
cultured look, and this comes chiefly from
cvenness of the woods. They, as you are
aware, are plantations clear to the noun
tain topsin the widest gorgos ON the
most precipitous hill sides, all are planta-
tons, and therefore the trees in each
division of the land of uniformmgc and the
forests of equal density in all its parts.
There are no great old monarchs of the
wood with clustering groves-and there
fore the outlines of the forests are as
smooth as the outlines of grain field.
Two things you miss however, and these
are brooks and fences. Some few there
are of both, but they look sad and lonely
as though out of companonship.
HAVING.
The hay harvest is pretty much over. To
a Yankee it is amusing to watch the pro-
cess. The grass is all cut by hand with
a straight-snathed scythe-the blade short
and tapering gradually from very broad
heel to dagger,like point The raking is
done by women, with wooden
hand rakes like ours. They rake
the hay into an immense hay
cock, three of which would make
large two-horse wagon load. A wagon
very much like ours is used for getting in
the hay But never pitchfork One
man takes up what he can hold in his
arms and hands this to another standing
on the floor of the wagon-boX. (The box
is always a rack like that they bring down
waste ehair-stuif wood from Marshalls
mill in Mendon.) The second man, roll
ing the hay into kind of bundle, slows it
away on the foremost end, and thus builds
up the load higher in front than behind.
RYE AND POTATOES.
Rye is not yet ripe, nor will it be for ten
in rows and at the last hoeing are ridged
up as with us (here always with shovel
plow), but the top of the ridge is lett
level and about eight inches broad. In
hocing for the first and second time the
weeds are dug up with narrow hoes not
more than three and half inches wide,
and every weed is pulled up by the roots.
The crop is laid by about ten days before
the blossoms appear.
FARM WORK.
Farm work is done mostly by women and
cows. The milk is carried in baskets on
the shoulders of the women to town, and
| this for three or four miles. Chickens,
geese, ducks, vegetables and indeed every
kind of farm truck is thus carried
to town, that is if the farmer
is rich one and hires women or
owns them. A peddler of eggs or poultry
may have dog working along side of his
wife and daughter or following women
he may have pair of dogs, OF sometimes
the farmer has his little wagon hauled by a
pair of dogs while his women carry the
baskets. You see that if the stock is large
he must come to town to receive the money
| Tor the marketing.
HOW DO THEY LIVE?
We'll, as near as | can learn about thus:
The work people who do not come to the
market go out to work about sunrise at
eight they eat (Which they have carried
with them) piece of rye bread and little
butter (they never salt butter here) They
are never given so much that any is left
uneatcn-you can always count on that.
At twelve they have some bread and fresh
curds or piece of pickle. At night bow
of soup-a potato soup, or rye soup, Oh
caulinower soup--and piece of bread.
The bricklayers or other mechanics work
ing in the village, TO his bread and pickle Gu
cumbcr sailed generally addsa glass of beer
Once week, on Sundays, they have {
piece of meat. This is the way they livt
for have seen il with my own eyes.
Merchants tradesmen and the better.to
do class live better. The people from whom
we hire lodgings here are linen diapers
The breakfast is cup of coffee and tw'
small rolls of bread-hardly equal TO tw'
common biscuit. AT 10 IN cup of SOM
soup-tbin and watery-two leaves Of let
tuce-a large table spoonful OF boiled ric
aid piece of soup meat, which Nigh
be equal in value to the leg of SINAI
chicken. Between 10 and a glass Of bee
and slice of bread and butter-and TO
tea some tea or coffee, and perhaps som
domestic cake or bread and butter, or brea
and cheese.
PRICES OF LIVING.
All food is dearer than with us-brea
and meat twice as dear. To live here q
we do in America, would cost twice q
much True, the people live on less none
than we do, but they eat to live-not liv
: to eat. They eat the cheapest kind c