The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1905-09-28
sgscnsurs Asp A BArrGaiHc'
RAM

the ncst 81 their nechnus, aeofss sns
h,Kas.
la ssw Easlsnd the beech.uees Usually
prod nee oniy fe~ Tcs;tsred burs annual
iy. fre. ularly. orcs 10 t~o OF three year.
lhsre IL Z small yield Of ruu. onee II
even or eight years there sa crop ~hict
mar be termed fairly abundant; but it u
only after ioeg, rnesrtain period that tn
great rrodlgsl .beeehnut year occurs.
Some Odd people ay that this &C 'mss OF g
10 i~,nly .one yssrs, but there 10 no Ger
tainty ~ to this. Il comes when nature u
rcsdy.
There are then 90 msnv nuts ~ 10 seer
q sham. ful wa,ie. 40 many that the millioni
Of squirrels can make DO beadway harvest.
irs them. Thousands OF bushsls OF ths
small but delisiou, kernels rot under the
sodden mats OF decsying leaves.
At the farm that autumn Of 1869 We wers
not swsre what the forest beecbes were
~, psrIug until some Of the boys began to
20 II into The great wocds" after par
rridse,, early IN S ptember. Round the
neIds srd pastures the beech growth had
been Gu. away when the land was cleared,
but on the slopes OF the long ridges to the
north and west OF the farms there were
Thousands ~ old-growth beecbes.
It's q big beechbut year. the returning
hunters said. The woods are full OF beech
nuts i.You never saw anything Ike 1t; and
the squirrels are thicker than mice in q
corr Glib!
Work on the farm 10 always pressing at
bsi vesting G. time, particularly on farms like
ours, where there are large apple-orcharis,
By September 9th the potatoes were dug
and the corn all In. but not husked, and
the .home orchard" gathered. But all the
tall plowing had stlll to be done, and the
baldwin orchard on the Aunt Hannah
lot," WAS sliil eddeDing 10 the autumn sun
,blne. There were at least three hundred
barrels Of winter fruit over there to be
hs nd. picked, sorted and bsrreled, ready
for market before the weather turned cold
enough to frctze spples.
Moreover, the old squire wasaway 10 the
northern part Of the state that sutumn, /,
looking after his numbering operations for
the coming winter. We bad but one hired
man, and much OF the work, % also the
responsibility, fell to u --.he three boys at
home.
But we planned .hrewdly for tpsre day
for beechr utling up in the great woods, and
beliye that il was on the morning OF Octo-
ber "a that we set tf remember that
there was q white frost on the grass, the
leaves we're falling, and the blue jays cry
ing about the bare corn.felds, as they al.
ways CRY on these early autumn mornings.
Two youthful neighbors, Tom and Cath
crime Edwards, accompanied us, and that
made seven In the party, for besides Addi-
sop, Hslstead and myself, our two cousins,
Theodore and Ellen, who then lived at the
farm, went with US. The girls had brought
baskets In which to carry home the nuts,
and a lur cheon. As II 1t were yesterday, |
seem still to see the sturdy figure Of Tom
Edwards, marching ahead Of the others.
with large "beetle' over his shoulder for
besting on the trunks Of the beeches to jar
down the beechnuts. Few Of the nuts had
az vet fallen. The ripened burs, however,
had already opened, and the nuts needed
but brisk wind to bring them down.
Folded In the baskets too, the girls had
brought several sheets to spread under the
trees, to catch the be, chnuts as they fell.
For sfter a thick coat Of dry leaves covers
the ground It IL difficult to fnd these little
three cornerd nuts.
But At fret we did not have much sue
Gees. Not many Of the nuts had fallen, and
the trees were 80 large that by beating on
the trunks with the beetle or the poll OF an
az we could not make the nuts drop. More
over, these betches were too big and tall
TO allow Us to climb and shake each brarch
BY itself.
Out Of breath, Tom at last threw down
the beetle.
O,-h-h! he painted. No use pounding
on such trees A. these II would take q
batteripg-rsm TO jar then And ! rcollect
that Addison, hearing this, stopped, and
stood regarding Tom thoughtfully and
then looked at the great beech trunks, ~
one will when ponderins new idea.
How ~ss It that they made the batter
log ram we r.sd Of In old iimesf be asked.
Mime ef US knew much, II anything, o.
bstterlng rams, although we had read IN
the old squire's volume Of "Josephus" that
the Roman general, Titus, when he besieg-
ed and took Jerusalem, made use OF bat.
terIng.ram to batter down the walls OF the
city, and that every stroke caused univer-
sal consternstion" among the Jsws. Ac-
cordne TO an old picture, II was huge
beam, having bnz head Ike ram. II
WAS suspended at the center BY cables or
chains TO high frame, and had long tall.
rope, by means Of which several hundreds
of soldiers pulled It back, and then let Il
20 against the wall.
I.upposs that II WAS the trunk Of big
tree, . hundred feet long and three or four
feet IN diameter, sa!d Ton. Isuppose that
|; was the biggest tree that they could d d
anywhere.
We coald no. handle such log I. ,bAf,
Addison remarked. Bat We could msrage
4 smaller one, II We had II bure ap so that
We could s~ing Il bsck and firth.
Well, It Ia easy enough to cut small
tree. said Tom. Let's d. y We could
hans 1t up TO the limb, sfanolbsr tree near
the bes ch tha, We wan'ed % J.r.
We we're taking over this project all the
white the girls were Ia lag cut the lunch
con. Addison hal xrssped the Idea; be
v.s always very apt al contrivins new de-
vices A. The fam. A small tree ruuk
would Ansxer he purpose, but ropes or
chains we're nsed,d 10 suspend and swing