Connecticut western news., 1911-02-02
IN THE OLDEN TIME
LContinued from page l.l

thirties and forties.
 Speaking of Warmers butchering un- der trees reminds me that he used to buy sheep and lambs of my father and kill and dress them under an apple tree, hanging them on one of it's many branches, some of which were very large, growing out six or seven feet from the ground, horizontally in all directions to great length, others growing per pendioularly to good height, making in all think the largest apple tree ever saw. Thinking of this tree reminds me of its fruits and the use it was put to. Its fruit was very abundant. and smooth as an egg excepting at the ends where the stem and blossoms grew. It was sweet and particularly adapted for mak- ing boiled cider apple sauce, which is made by boiling the prepared apples in boiled cider until soft. and putting away for future uss. If made strong enough it will keep some time. Some of The News readers may not know how this kind of cider is made, which is not cider at all. but Is made by taking the fresh apple juice aud boiling it down as they do sap in making maple sugar, from fifty gallons to ten, or if wanted stronger, to five gallons, This will keep for years and is good for many uses, particularly ln making minoe pies and apple sauce. Died apples, preserved pears and small fruits made up with sugar pound for pound, which were called preserves, were considered as necessary supplies in the family, as such thing as canned fruit was not known sixty or seventy years ago. Preparing apples for sauce and drying required considerable time and labor, and 1 remember we used to have apple bees by inviting the young people in to spend the evening and help in pairing apples, which were very pleas ant occasions and remember that be- sides pairing apples the young people did considerable buzzing which was not always disagreeable.
 have said before that my fathers family consisted of father, mother and eight children, so you will see we could have an apple bee of our own at any time and we had them many times dur tug the autumn, At that time there was plenty of fat pine knots i'll the woods and fields, which we used to gather in dry weather and store for future use. In those days we had no stoves but large open fire place with hole in one corner opening into large ash pit built of stone so there would be no danger of fire If there should be live ooals--in the ashes. This pit was in the cellar; in one side of it was an arch through which the ashes could be drawn putin the sane way they draw out lime from the kilns, In the fireplace was pair of hand-irons and on one side near the top a strong iron crane hung so it could be swung outward, on which were hung hooks of different lengths for hanging pots and kettles used for cooking purposes. If in cooking, anything in these kettles should need to be examined the crane could be swung outward away from the fire and back again without danger of being burned. The proper fuel for such a fire place is, first, a good sized stick or log, called backlog, placed at the back side; above this a smaller one, and a still smaller and so on, then placing one end of the irons against the back log across which place a good sized stick called a fore stick, leaving a space between this and the other wood in which place kindlings and any other wood of de- sired size and light from underneath. This fire when well going will often give light that one can sec to read by.
 When we had our apple parings we bro Ight in some of our fat pine or pine knots and placed them in the fireplace, and when they were lighted, besides pro- ducing some heat they would give out more light than many candles and make the room seem more cheerful and save us the trouble of leaving our work every few minutes to snuff tallow dips, When we were ready for operations father would bring in his large basket of apples and placing it at the right of the fire. place would get his machine aud seat himself beside the basket, the other members of the family seating them selves in semi-circle before the fire. Then father would proceed to pare the apples with the machine. which always left 8 little of the skin at both ends. He would pass them to the one next in order who would pare off the ends and pass them to the next who would cut them into quarters and pass them on to the others who would cut out the cores, and if intended for drying they were passed to one who would string them. which was done by using alarming needle and strong twine Of suitable length which, when it was filled and the ends were tied together, was ready to be hung out in the sun to dry if they Were intended for sauct. When the cores were taken o,,t tIaxy ...ara for In,