The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-09-28

probably have weigh ssveu of esght nun
drd poupds.
when tho hoys bad come hack Ne cbos'
. heeh, and found limb az another ue'
standing nesr bv. from ~hich 10 suspens
tie artm.r Tue block ~s shra a'tachcs
10 the middle Of the mspw log, and u ~si
hsulsd W clear of ihe grossd, 90 that Y
.sang st = height Of about four feet rhsr
when the tsil.repe vas tied 20 the anal
end our improvs@d battssicg-rsm ~s'
ready Tor use. The girls spread the shesi'
under the beech. Tom and HslsteAd oessi
pulling II The sail-rope. Addison and J.
standing beside the log, undertook 70 guide
H.
Al ars,, TN . full swing Of ten or twelve
feet was obtained, we s,eered II clear ol
The teech uuuh Then when fall momentum
vas raised, we iurped tho course Of u
slightly nd let II 20 against the beech.
The big t.se shook 10 every limb and
t~ig, ard do~n came the hef efcscats In =
,ho~er. We shout,d aid chf~rrd,
Good enough Addison sxclsimed. This
| 10 the way 10 gather beechnatl Ton and
Hsl.iesd declared that shis> one stroke
b-onght down peck Of nua
| The sheck was repeated several tim"s, 40
long ss nuts fell freely, snd 'ncldently ~e
no, &c, 4 that At the place where the ram
struck the beech trunk and outer ssp.wood
were broken 10 q pulp.
This one tree was all that We had time
for that afternoon. The sun Was getting
low we had soon to be on our wav home.
Resides, we had not sheets enough to catch
the nuts, more than half Of them had been
| lost smoDg the dry lev 8. But clearly
tie bsttering-,am IVES a success. We de-
tcrmined to take another day, bring more
sheets, and gather each a busbel Of beech
nuts.
1t was time to pick those Baldwins. We
were well aware Of that fact and II troub-
led Us. 10 Msine there is no predicting
what may come 10 the wsv OF cold weather
after the flrst week In October. We de-
cid d to risk another day for beechnutting.
however. That evening the three girls col
Iected all the spare sheets At both farm
houses, aud sewed or bssted twenty Of
them togsther with darnlng. needles and
twine to form one great "spread," which,
when extended on the ground beneath a
beech, was long and broad enough to catch
nearly all the nuts that fell
In those Sars we were all OF MS very
keen tn make money to pay our expenses
at Wayuor Academy. Tom and Catherine
felt sure thst an nncle of theirs. who WAS a
grocer, living In Boston. would fod mar
ket for our beechnu's these ruts were 'hes
sold at retail there at ten cents pint. Our
ambitions rose 80 fast and hopefully that
Kate Edwards got up at Ave the next morn.
ing to write letter 10 this uncle, Henry
Edwards We were all sstir early, and bad
the farm chores done In time tn start for
Beech Ridge again few miru.es after sun.
rIse.
We dragged the battering-ram near two
other boeches that stood close together,
and suspended 1t 10 the branch of large
hemlcck. Meanwhile the girls had been
unrolling and extending their great spread
Of sheets under one OF the beeches. 1t was
ready to catch the nuts when we set the
ram in operation; and again that hollow
sounding PUNK resounded through the for
est, followed by rattling shower.
This morning the nuts fell even more
abundant)y than on the previous afternoon
At least peck was caught on the spread
beneath that first tree, aud think that we
g. cured about as many from all the beeches
which we batted.
By the time we felt obliged to set OF for
hbme we had fully eight bushels Of beech
nuts gathered, about five bushels Of which
had to be left there 10 the woods on the
spread, to be brought out In bags the M 1t
morning on the back Of one OF the farm
horses. By this time We had grown so
absorbed Ia beechnuttipg that We not only
took another day for n, but had the hired
man help Us.
Nor was that the last day, for have to
record that we were o. carried away by the
new venture that the Baldwin orchard was
neglected for six days. until q great rain.
storm came on and put an erd to the beech
nutting crsze.
10 all we had gathered about thi' u three
bushels Of beechnuts. Thirty.one bushels
Of these were subsequently put up 'p bar
rels---old northumberland sent TO Boz
ton. And when the grocer uncle to whom
we consigned them made his returns, be
remitted three dollars bushel, or ninety
three dollars
The rain.storm ended In q fairy Of sleet
and snow, and those Baldwins were still
reddening the orchard The o'd 'quire had
not vet ccms home, but grandmother had
been In q disturbed state Of mind about the
apples for more than week.
The weather WAS itill thick, and every-
thing out-of doors was sostinR wet; but on
the morning Of October l6.h We set on for
the Bald YIN orchard with load OF empty
barrels. baskets ard our spple-horses a.
soon as II vas light enough TO work. For
We knew that II The rain.siorm cleared with
high winds from the northwest, ~ 10 the
csse ususily At this season OF the year, most
Of the BsidwIns would be on the ground
within twenty-four hours. 10 that case the
crop would be unit for barreling.
The old squire never allowed bis name to
be put on . barrel Of pumber one Baldwins
II so many A. three apples 10 II had blown
n he tree, or had been shaken Oh. Every
spple must b. hard-picked, and every bar
r.l must be faced and packed. ard very
leaf and txix excluded TIE old sqaire's
re putasion for winter fiu't stood high be
took nolest pride 10 II. The buvers never
started the head Of barrel that he'd bis