The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1886-04-01
Pioneer Life-NO. 3.
BY DAVIS MACKLEY.

In year or two the pioneer began
to raise other grain besides corn. He
had about an acre in fax, and as that
was ont of the way and off the ground
in ample time for turnips and buck
wheat he had nice crop of buck
wheat When fr,sts began to set in,
he reaped the huckwheat with a sickle
aud stood it up in little shocks until
it became dry, when he threshed it.
A pen was built of fence rails some
two or three feet high, sheet spread
in it, on the ground, and the top of
the pen covered with rails. The grain
was very easily threshed, and the
shocks were carefully carried out and
set upon the top of the pen, and then
beaten down with fail, or even with
a long stick. The straw was eaten
with much relish by horses, cattle and
sheep. The grain was winnowed same
as wheat, to be described hereafter.
Buckwheat cakes were made and
eaten much in the same way as at the
present day.
Quite considerable quantity Of rye
was raised, and mostly made into
whisky. Sometimes rye bread was
used. but it was very poor bread
dark, tough, and it had an unpleasant
smell and taste. 1t was grounc into
coarse flour, called chopped rye, and
mixed with cut oats, and fed to
horses.
Oats were quite extensively raised,
and used to feed horses. This was
very long before the cradle came into
use, and the crop was cut with the
sickle. A sheaf of oats cut with an
ak, on the end of large trough, and
a quart of chopped rye mixed with it,
and hot water poured on it, made
good feed for horse. After a time
the cutting box came into use, and
was great improvement over the ak
and the end of a horse trough.
The pioneer soon commenced rails
ing oats for horse feed. When ripe,
he cut it with sickle. That was be-
fore the day Of the scythe and cradle.
A portion of his cleared ground was
sown in wheat. There was much un-
certainty about the wheat crops as
there was about the corn crops. True,
this did not arise from outside attacks
Of squirrels, coons and birds. In the
first place, wheat was very liable to
freeze out in the winter, in the new
loamy soil. In the Spring and early
Summer, it was liable to the attack
Of the Hessian fly; later, spot and
rust come, and when the grain was
full, and more generally after it was
threshed, the weevil was very destruc-
tive.
When harvest time came, the wheat
was reaped with sickle. A man
could reap an acre day. The wheat
was bound in sheaves and stacked.
A threshing floor was made by scrap
ing the soil off piece of ground some
10 to twenty feet across. A dozen
sheaves were laid down, six in row,
and six on the other side, with the
heads together. With fail they were
beaten, then turned over and pounded
until the grain was about all out. It
took from three dozen to six dozen
sheaves to yield bushel of wheat.
owing to the quality of the wheat
The tanning mill had not then
come into use, and a large, coarse
sieve, made of wooden splits, and
called riddle, was used, and as the
wheat and chaff came through the
riddle, two men with folded sheet
famed the chaff out. When the
pioneer raised more wheat, much
larger threshing floor was made, and
the wheat was tramped out by riding
horses around upon it. There was
often cookie and cheat mixed with
the wheat. Cookie was round black
seed, and was taken out by a sieve,
which let the cookie through, but re-
tanned the wheat.
Cheat is a strange vegetable. 1t
was always matter of argument
whether cheat was an independent,
separate plant, growing from seed, or
whether it was wheat prevented and
turned to cheat. | have been Of the
opinion that it is only wheat. The
pioneer was scarce Of roughness and
grain, and often ran short before
Spring, and would pasture his wheat
field in the early Spring. I have
noticed that wheat thus pastured had
a large amount of cheat. The grains
Of this weed did not appear to have
any germ, or vital principle. Farm
ers always differed as to whether cheat
sowed would grow, and produce cheat
again, some contending that they
had tried it, and it did grow; others,
that they had thoroughly tested it,
and that it would not grow.
Cheat injured the flour, and the
pioneer would pour the wheat in
tub of water, and the cheat being so
much lighter than the wheat, it would
float ON top Of the water, and was
skinned off with the hands.
Before the rye or wheat was quite
ripe, some Of the straw, above the
upper joint, was clipped with shears
the heads clipped off, and it was then
bleached and plated (plaited) and this
was sewed together into hats, and
into bonnets. When made