Rocky Ford enterprise., 1908-06-05
Winter Days

vember the "shuckers" had started
in to strip the corn fields, and the
tattoo of flying ears had sounded
DULY through the distance for many
days. Down in the woods the fame
of the red naples had dw.ndled away
to ashes. tine torches of running vines
and sassafras had been smothered by
the frosts, and the grass curled and
crisped to more rusty brown as the
chill winds swept by. Only the blue
jays. crows. hawks and an occasion
al redbird were seen. except when
quail burst from the thicket or corn
field to whizz over the space between
them and the thickest cover.
In the edges of ravines that en-
croach on corn fields. and on pasture
slopes and in woods adjacent the hick-
ories and walnuts, stripped of their
leaves. showed somberly. On the
ground under them the nuts lay. and
even in their branches. especially the
limbs of the hickories, a myriad nuts
clustered and clung. In some timber
there were butternut trees, and under
these the butternuts lay, conically
sheathed in thick and oily green COW
erings. We had located a number OF
promising trees, and as soon as the
frost had dropped the nuts. We were
early with bags and sticks, and besieg.
ed these forest fortresses. The wal
nuts were easiest gathered. but as
they were encased in their heavy
hulls. like the butternuts. It was
quite a job TO get them ready to be
carried home. By laying them in
. piles. and pounding them with n thick
stick. and then tramping on them with
hob-nailed shoes, the hulls could be
nearly all worn OF. and then by re-
moving the rest with our hands the
process was completed.
But despite the use Of old gloves,
our fingers and hands quickly took on
the stain Of .walnuts, and long before
We had gotten n bushel of them we
were quite ready to lay aside the
bunslesome gloves and go to work
bare-handed. A lovely mahogany tint.
warranted to last for months. now
developed on our hands. and We were
careless OF it SO long as the bags
became heavy with spoil. The hick.
ory nuts were gathered easier. as the
frosts for the most part had shaken
the only difficult thing about hickory
nutting was to climb the trees and
shake down those nuts which still
clung to the trees. As a shell-bark
or scaly-bark hickory has bark which
juts sharply down and out, climbing
tree OF this kind is much like climb
ing liberty pole wound solidly about
with barbed wire. However, with
much laceration OF trousers and
''overalls" the feat was usually ac.
complished. Around the hickory tree
the fox squirrels divided the honors
with US. and We saw them nearly
every day during the late fall months
getting ready, like We were, for win
ter.
When we got our store of hickory
nuts. walnuts and butternuts home
land did the long and the short haul
part of that part myself. we
spread them out in the garret and
dried them gradually until they were
Just right for cracking To go up
into a windy garret on a cold winter
day and bring a big bowl of assorted
nuts down into the kitchen. is some
thing which is nearly indispensable
to the eternal fitness of things on
a farm. Where we were. along the
river, there were also pecans. and
we had over a bushel of these packed
away with the rest. waiting for the
"blowy" days.
Apples we had gathered and bought,
and We had these packed away in bar.
rels in the cellar. The sound ones
had been carefully selected. and every
once and awhile We up-ended these
barrels (at least l did and sorted
them over by candle-lIght so as to get
out those which showed signs OF rot
ting. One apple which has begun to
get bad will quickly contaminate the
ones which are in close contact with
it. Like apples, like men. We had
Jennatins. Ben Davises. Northern
Spys. Winesaps. and some others.
We had put away a little klndling In
the cellar for emergencies, but for
the most part our fires, both in the
kitchen stove and the front room
stove, were going all winter. night and
day. We used soft coal, mined within
half a mile Of US, and costing two
dollars n ton delivered. The whole
country in that part of the state is
honeycombed with big and little veins
of coal, and as one travels along the
roads. in every direction will be seen
the little plank entrances TO the
mines, some of these mines being
mere holes in the ground. We had
wood. too. for variety, and this was
split up stove-length size. and corded
away In a dry shed. Wood was rs
cents a cord.
With the cellar packed with vege.
tables and apples, with a barrel OF
cider in one corner, "doctored" so
that 1t would remain sweet all win
Ter. and not get hard with coal.