Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1882-01-07
From the Boston Journal

Fifty years ago and more the farmers
were simply farmers and nothing else.
They depended almost wholly on the
products of their farms for their living.
They raised nearly all the supplies for
their own tables, and largely for their
clothing, which was manufactured from
the raw material in their own 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 In
dian corn were extensively used. In
those earlier days flour bread was, with
large numbers of families, dignified
with the name of 'cake," and consid.
cred luxury for use on extra occasions,
when company was entertained A
story is still told in one of our old
Rockingham County towns, which illus
trates this fact. A heightened gentle
man, known as the Squire" called at
farm house one day on some business,
and when he had finished his GRAND,
and had remounted at the door, the
good housewife, wishing to impress the
I Squire with the dignity and thrift of
her family, said to him, esquire, won't
You stop and have some -four bread and
butter" thinking it now too late for
him to accept her invitation. To her
chagrip, the doughty Squire replied.
"Thauk you, marin, l don't care if /
do. and promptly dismounted and en-
tered the house.
/ The poor woman could only explain
! that to her surprise she found the -four
bread all ont, and offered him the best
| size had, some Indian hammock When
n boy the writer has often seen il the
house Of a ueighbor string of these
bannocks, eight or ten in number, set
broad fir place. there being room left
then il enc corner for him to sit and
look straight mp the chimney into the
blue heavens. There was very little
market for farm produce in those days,
except IN the larger towns, and long
! journeys had to be made, mostly to
such as were known as "Seaports "-as
there were no interior towns of suf-
tclent population to be centres of such
trade. The principal of these seaport
towns that comes within the recollection
OF the writer, as places of great i'm
portance, We're the three ports, namely,
Newburyport, Portsmouth and Port
land. To these towns such things as
the farmers had to spare were taken to
exchange for the "store goods" which
they needed. 1t is true that there were
stores here and there in the country
situated at the ''Corner"-or the Cen
tire" or the Parade" At these stores
a few groceries were kept, prominent
among them being molasses, tobacco,
/ ccdfi il and rum, the last the most i'm
| portant OF all, as it was in universal de-
mand, aud WAS sold and bought openly,
the best people considering the purchase
and sale of it Il legitimate and respect
able trade. Every farmer kept flock
of sheep, and wool constituted large
proportion Of the clothingof the family.
/ It was carded, spun and woven at home,
and made into garments for both sexes.
The best clothes for the men and boys
were made OF what was called "fnlled
/ cloth. This was made at home, of the
finest material, and taken to the mills
/ known n 'Tulling mills" where it was
/ put through a process of thickeninQ,
I dyeing aid finishing The women used
/ TO wear gowns of cloth which was called
pressed wooden" This was simply
homemade flannel, taken to the mills
above named, and pressed, 50 as to pre-
selt a glossy surface
Every farmer had a small patch of
flax. This was pulled and spread out in
rows on the ground, "rotted," ard
then broken" and "swingled,' and
was thus prepared for the combing.
carding, end tho "!ittle wheel, " rs the
/ little machine was called on which the
flax was spun, to distinguish it from
/ the larger machine for spinning wool.
It was woven into cloth for table covers.
toweling, sheeting and shifting. The
! " tow, which was the coarse portion
/ comhed out on the "hetchel, was spun
into 4 coarse yarn OF which a cloth was
made for summer suits for men and
boys. The tow shirt, so commonly
warn, was, when new, an instrument of
torture to the wearer as it was full of
prickeiing spines left from the woody
part Of the stalk.
There have been wonderful changes
in all these respects. Now, compare
lively few farmers engage wholly in the
cultivation Of tho soil as their business
Many are engaged in the wood and lum-
Der trade some are buying and selling
cattle and horses many are specula-
tors in q general way; others are en-
2uged in some mechanical or manufac-
tuning business in addition TO farming,
especially shoemaking. In nearly all,
if not ia all. the towns in Rockingham
County, the men, young and old, work
on shoes in the winter time, taking their
work from the % shoe towns" (notably
from Havcrhill Mass.). A new bust
mes, bY which a great deal of money
is brought into the country, is the
keeping Of Summer boarders Now
the farmers buy al their flour; and
buy also very large quantities of corn
for their stock aud swine. Some little
wheat is raised here and there, and per-
haps this crop is increasing, as it is
found to DO Better in recent years than
for some time past, but ii is hardly APP
probable rs n supply for bread. Far
mers purchase all their clothing, and
the mems wear is generally bought
ready NADIA thing unknown in the
olden time.
The tailor Of the old days, with his
goose, travelling from house to house,
10 make mp the clothes for the men and
4 hovs-or 10 cut and fiji them for the
cossiping tailoress - to completes
not known to the present generation.
The Old fashioned shoem3ker, who used
to perambulate the country round with