Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 19??-1918, 1917-01-30
AN old TIME FARM
And the Methods That Were In
Use In the Year 1910.
DAYS or THE SIMPLE LIFE.
When Al Kinds Of closhirs Wsrs Made
N HsWss. When Eggs Gold Fer .
Shilling . osss1 and the Nigh csst,
d Living Wss Net Dig Problem.

- "s ""sV ebUs ~s's wv
shiIllns . osssH and the High csss
+" Living wss No: Dig Problem.
In vlcw Of tho modern day high cost
Of living and Of the many wonderful
advances made In the last century the
railroad. telegraph. the ocean cable. the
telephone, the automobile and farm
and labor saving machinery OF all
kinds and tho amazing changes these
inventions have necessarily wrought In
al directions In almost every walk OF
lifc-it may bc Of interest TO recall Nv.
Ing conditions on farm In the year
lStO, fg Hiilh
The farm have In mind consisted Of
300 acres. The stock was fl,ieen cows,
yoke OF oxen. twenty sheep. nm old
white horse. a dozen pigs, fffy hens,
ten Hecse. n few ducks and q flock Of
turkeys.
Tho farm produced practically every.
thing the family consumed. both cloth.
Ing and food. Tho sbeep furnished the
wool. which was caried at "fulling"
min and made into rolls for spinning.
AZ homo II was spun into yarn and
woven on . hand loom. For beds Il
was left white; Tor clothing II was
dyed any color desired. A competent
housewife could make dyes Of iogwood.
indigo or cochlneai. Tbe white and
black wool we're mixed 10 produce .
gray like the Confederate uniform.
There were no ready made clothes:
al clothes were made In the home
There was no woven underwear. Stock.
inss wese knitted st homs ~ well ~
mittens and dppets. Caps with ear
laps were Of rabbit skin. There were
no shoes. In the winter boots came MP
10 thu knees.
Several cows were killed each year.
There was a tannery near by. where
the skins were tanned. A shoemaker
made our boots. They were usually
too email and gave much trouble and
palm. e
The nax. cut and laid down until the
nbcr looscned from the woody part
was put through heckle worked BY
hand and then spun and woven. This
strong linen cloth was used for sum.
mer clothing. towels, etc. The seed
was saved 70 make aaxseed tea u med.
lcincl or poultics for bruisea.
For food we had everything needed
fresh meat. potatoes. beets, cabbagcs.
parsnips. pumpkins for pies, apples.
which lasted from fall 10 spring. cider.
which gave rs vinegar or produced .
cider champagne.
Hair Q dozen pigs killed In the fall
gave Ne plenty Of ham and bacon, lard
sausages and salt PORK, The hams and
bacon were hung up In the smokehouse.
Q small building with no opening ex.
ccpt the door. A small flre produced
more smoke than heat, but gave the
hams and bacon a very delicious flavor.
There were plenty Of chickena for
roasting and potpies and eggs, turkeys
Tor Thanksgiving and Christmas, occa.
sicnally roast goose with apple sauce.
From the cove milk we made both
butter and cheese. What butter and
cheese the family did not consume was
ssld In nearby village. Butter usual.
" brought i2is cents q pound. Cheese
was also made at home. As there were
neither crcameries nor cheese facto-
rics. Cheess was sold at . toe cents q
pound, All eggs not used went 20 the
village store and brouebt 10 cents to ~
cents dozcn. tfflit
Every farmer made his own soap. II
was called soft soap. II was soft, but
very strong. aud took the dirt OF your
hands mud face very thoroughly and
some skin also unless you were careful
In yonr ablutions.
Little was heard of the world at
large. Twenty miles from the railroad
the great four horse stagecoach came
every day, bringing the mails, There
were few newspapers or magazines.
The telegraph Was unknown. Tho Az.
lantic cable did not succeed until 1895.
There were only twenty-thres miles Of
railroad In 1880. '1we'Ns N.ce
All tho wonderful agencies which
have added to the power Of man In the
last century will not DO lost, but will
bo added to constantly. The many
problems Of tho modern day high cost
Of living can only be solved BY time
and the efforts Of our greatest mlDdt.--
Warner Miller In New York Times. DTt