The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1901-01-06

sword or pistol was a recognized custom
FOO Years ago, and it was we'll along n
the nineteenth century before public
opinion forced the Iaw-malling bodies to
declare tie sender of a challenge 10 fight
criminal.
Seeds were expensive, as there
were no seed farms and stores 100 years
ago. There, were no agricultural journals.
and UNDERSTANDING was often spoken of
with contempt. With the exception of
- few valuable essays on field husbandry,
- there We're no attempts to encourage inn
proved tillage
K The first settlers had an idea that
america would produce the crops of In
dia, of which they thought this country
~S-as a part, and many years of expert
Inent were passed in trying TO produce
;tea,. coffee, olives, dates, figs, etc, which,
OF course. resulted in failure.
The yield of crops was small because
OF Indifferent culture, besides there was
no market for the surplus. Grain was
cut with sickle, and corn shelled 10y
.i}and; the scNthe and cradle and corn
.sheller had been invented and twine-
binders were undreamed of.
!" There were no threshing machines
Wheat was threshed out on the barn
1loor with fails or trodden OUT with
5hurses. a farm laborer considered him
self we'll paid with TWO shillinga q day.
Rotation of crops was not thought OF.
eand the value Of fertilizers was little I'M
-derstood.
The people up to the present century
5maintained themselves in rather poor
way Greater success was attained II
the milder southern colonies than in the
northern ones, where the people devoted
- themselves to the fishing Gnd shipping
;interests and trade. The pillow and other
farm implements We're of the ludest kind.
The first iron pillow was not patented
until 1877, and it is said that some farm
ers refused to use it because theyfeared
it would poison the ground All the
=, plows of colonial days, indeed OF all
preceding times, never turned fulroW,
but only stirred the ground, hence they
were difficult to draw besides doing their
work imperfectly.
At the time of Washington the South
.ern colonies were the richest and most
Iopulous, where plantation life preserved
ariStocratic forms, and the English law
of the eldest son of inheritng land eX-
tended until after the Revolution. Clan
distinction gradually grew up, especial
~ m the SOUTH between LIlS IlCl1 l0i4o
owners and the white laborer.
Tobacco was a source of much wealth
in Virginia, where the planters became
an aristocratic class The produce OF
the Mount Vernon plantation was care
fully managed by the proprietor and tie
barrels of -four and meal bearing the
brand of George Washington of Mount
Vernon, We're entered in the ports of the
West Indies without inspection.
Leather breeches, checked shirt a
red flannel jacket and cooked hat form
ed the dress of working man. Stove
SiPe hats were unknown. A felt broad
bTim, a cooked hat or a coonskin cap
was considered good enough for ANYBODY
A New England girl was not allowed
- be married until she could bake loaf
OF bread and cut it in smooth, even slices
while it was still warm.
There was no unity of language in this
country. Dutch was spoken in New
York as much as English; German might
be heard in many of the Pennsylvania
settlements; and Scandinavian was COM
mon along the Delaware. Gaelic was
spoken along the North Carolina noun
-tains. French in South Carolina, Spanish
In Florida and west of the Mississippi
river and English in Georgia and New
England states.
A century ago less was known Of the
country west Of the Mississippi than is
, known Of Africa today The Rocky
mountain region was the center Of the
great American desert, and perhaps the
uheXpressed thought alone was in the
mind of the most progressive American
statesman that it would ever become
part of the United Sta taS SDaiI1 1Uoo
master of South America, the West In
dies and a big slice of North America.
Morse had just printed his geography,
and it was a-crude and primitive publica-
ton.