Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1882-03-30
OLD-TIME FARMERS.
A Time when Every Agriculturist
Had his Own spindle. Loom, Mill,
and Was His Own Tailor and
Butcher
Boston Journal.

Fifty years ago and more the farmers
were simply farmers and nothing more.
They raised nearly all the supplies for
their own tables and largely for their
clothing, which was manufactured from
the raw materials in their homes.
Wheat was much more generally grown
then than now, but not in sufficient
quantities to furnish bread for the
household. Flour was rarely bought by
the barrel, and barley, rye and Indian
corn was extremely used. In those ear
lier days flour bread was, with large
numbers of families, dignifed with the
name of "cake", and considered a lux
ury for us on extra occasions, when
Company was entertained. A story is
still told in one of our old Bucking-
ham county towns which illustrates
this fact. A heightened gentleman,
known as the esquire" called at farm
house one day on some business, and
when he had finished his GRAND and had
remounted at the door, the good house
wife, wishing to impress the Squire
with the dignity and thrift of her family,
said to him: esquire, wont you stop,
and have some flour bread and butter p
thinking it now too late for him to &C.
cept her invitation. To her chagrin, the
doughty Squire replied: "Thank you,
marin, don't care if / d." and prompt
ly dismounted and entered the house
The poor woman could ouly explain
that, to her surprise, she found the flour
bread all out, and offered him the best
she had, some Indian hammock. When
q boy the writer had often seen in the
house of a neighbor a string of these
bannocks. eight or ten number, set up
on tins IN front of the fire in the broad
fireplace, there being room then left in
the corner for him to sit and look
straight up the chimney into the blue
heavens. There was very little market
for farm produce in those days, except
in the larger towns; long journeys had
to be made, mostly to such as were
known as seaport" -as there were no
interior towns of sufficient population
TO be centres of much trade. Every
farmer kept flock of sheep, and wool
constituted a large proportions of the
clothing. 1t was carded, spun and woven
at home, and made into garment for
both sexes. The best clothes for the
men and boys were made of what was
called "fulled CLOTH" This was made
at home CT the finest material, and
taken to the mills known as the "full-
ing mills" where it was put through a
process of thickening, dyeing and fin
ishing. The women used to wear crowns
of cloth which was called "pressed
woolen." This was simply HON emade
| flannel taken to the mills above named
and pressed, so as 10 present glossy
surface.
Every farmer had small patch of
| flax. This was pulled and spread out in
rows on the ground ''rotted" and then
"broken" and "swingled," and was thus
prepared for the combing, carding and
the "little Wheel as the machine was
called on which the flax was spun, to
distinguish from the larger machine
for spinning wool. 1t was woven into
cloth for table covers, toweling sheeting
and shifting. The "tow," which was
the coarse portion combed out on the
''hetchel," was spun into coarse yarn,
of which cloth was made for summer
suits for men and boys. The tow shirt,
so commonly worn, was, when new, an
instrument of torture to the wearer, as
it was full of prickling spines left from
the woody part of the stalk.