The times-herald. [volume] (Burns, Harney County, Or.) 1896-1929, 1918-06-08
AN old TIME FARM
And the Methods That Were In
Use In the Year 1840.
DAYS OF THE SIMPLE LIFE.
When All Kinds Of ciethIns Were Made
a. Home, When Eggs Geld For q
Shilling q Dozen and the High coss
Of Living Was Not q Blg Problem.

!" 1N"b WAe wv S'b 'ro"'0"'
In view OF the modern dny high cost
OF living and OF the many wonderful
&,anccs made In the last century the
railroad, telegraph, the ocean cnblc. the
telephone. the automobile and fnrm
and labor saving machinery OF all
kinds and the amazing changes these
Inventions have necessarily wrought IN
all directions IN almost every walk OF
life-lt may bc Of interest 10 recall lly,
Ing conditions on a farm In the year
1910.
The farm have In mind consisted OF
200 acies. Tie stock was flccn cows
yoke OF oxen. twenty sheep. an old
white horse. dozen pigs, iifty hens,
ten geese. u few ducks aud II tlcck of
turkeys.
The farm produced practically every
thing the family consumed, both cloth
Ing and food The sheep furnished the
wool. which was cardcd nt "a "fulllng-
mill and made into rolls for spinning.
At home IL was spun into yarn and
woven on hand loom. For beds II
was left white; for clothing II was
dyed any color desired. A competent
housewife co,nd make dyos OF loxwood.
indigo or cochineal The white and
black wool were mixed TO produce
gray like the Confederate uniform.
There were no ready made clothes;
all clothes were made Ia the home
There was no woven underwear. Stock
lngs were knitted at home as well ns
mittens and tippets. Caps with eur
laps were of rabbit skin. There were
no shoes In the winter boots came iip
to the knees.
Several cows were killed each year.
There was tanncry near by. where
the skins were tanned. A shoemaker
made our boots They were usually
too small aud gave much trouble and
pain.
The fax. cut and laid down until the
liber loosencd from the woody part.
was put through hcckle worked by /
hand aud thCp spun and woven. This
strong linen cloth was used for sum.
mer clothing. towels, etc. The seed
ans saved 10 make tlaxseed tea ta med
IcineJ or poultice for bruises
For food we had everything needed
fresh meat. potatoes. beets. cnbbagcs.
parsnlps. pumpkins for pies. apples.
which lnsted from fall 10 spring: elder.
which gave us vinegar or produced q
cider champagne.
Half a dozen pigs killed Ia the fall
gave Us plenty OF ham and bacon. lard.
and salt pork 'fhe haIns and
bacon were hung up In the sinokeiouse.
4 small building with no opening OK.
,cpt the door. small dire produced
more smoke than heat. but gave the
inms and bacon very delicious flavor
There were plenty OF chickens for
casting and potpies and eggs. turkeys
or Thanksgiving and Christmas, occa.
ionally u roast goose with apple sauce
From the cows milk we made both
,utter and cheese. Whit butter aud
heese the family did not consume was
old In nearby village. Butter usual.
y brought i2Il cents pound. Cheese
vas also made nj home. ns there We're
Ielther creameries nor cheese facto
les. Cheese was sold at 3 10 cents a
'ound. All eggs not used went 20 the
'lllagc store nnd brought 10 cents to ~
ents dozen
Every farmer made HIS own soap. N :
vas called soft soap II was soft. but
cry strong. aud took the dirt or your
ands nad face very thoroughly aud {
ONE skin also unless you were careful
q your ablutions.
Little wns heard OF the world at
lrge. Twenty miles from the railroad
be great four horse staGecOnch came
very day, bringing the malls. There
'ere few newspapers or magazines
he telegraph was unknown. The At {
lntic cable did not succeed until 1896
here were only twenty-three miles OF ,
abroad In 1880.
All the wonderful agencies which
ave added 10 the power OF man In the
'st century VIII not be lost. but Will
Q added TO constantly. The many
roblems OF the modern day high cost
living cnn only be solved by time
nd the efforts OF our greatest Minds
YarDer Miller In New York Times. I