Year: 1863

Such an appetite was a constant mar
vel. Pietro nearly ruined himsel
buying meal, yet the detestable inn
kept up a constant squealing, ant
raced from one end of the pen to tn,
other, as if an evil spirit possessed
him. If there was a day when the
COW did not break bonds, that day the
pig was sure to get out. This was the
cause of the first dissension between
Pietro and myself.


You would have a cow" he said
reproachfully.


And you would have a pig" re.
torted.


The pig ate all summer most raven.
ons'y. and in the fall died suddenly
was glad of it. 1t would have been
economy if the little monster had died
sooner.


All the trouble had with the COW
in proprae persoaes was, however, moth
ing in comparison to my trials in max
ing butter. ....


Nothing can be easier than to
make good butter" said Pietro "you
have only to keep your utensils clean
and sweet"


| agreed with him, and went obout
my work with will. At the end of a
week / had nice jar of cream. Iput
1t into the churn, and began very
cheerfully. At the end of ten minutes
lifted the cover expecting to see the
golden globules. Not a globulc
Then | churned half an hour determin-
ed to make sure this time. Still no
butter. At the end of three hours
thought it might be too cold, and
put in some warm milk. Three hours
more and | concluded it must be too
warm, and put in some cold milk.
Still and always it appeared refracto-
ry. The next week the butter came.
but it was SO soft it was impossible
to work it. And this was the usual
order. Sometimes it wouldn't come,
and when it did come it wasn't good
for anything. AS Pietro remarked,
" 1t was not a compensating expert
ment." When the haying season
came on We concluded to have a man
We did SO, and after he had worked
two or three days, my husband re-
marked that the work seemed to get
on slowly. Would | look after the
man a little | looked after him, and
found that his time was agreeably di-
verslticd by sitting in the shade OF the
apple trees and talking to the labor
ers in the adjoining field. An addi-
tional variety was the hourly coming
10 the house to ask for luncheon and
drink. | reported to Pietro, and our
young man was obliged to take him
self to another place.


At the close of our three years lease
we were wiser people. Our conclu-
sion was, that farming to a novice
was not remunerative. If we made
a great deal of butter, the market was
glutted and prices down. Had we it
to buy, the price had reached its maxi
mum. One year we sold our apples
and peaches as they hung upon the
trees. The purchaser let half of them
decay, and we did not receive a mole
ty of their value. Next year we
would be wiser and sold them by the
quantity. There proved to be four
times as many as we anticipated, and
the buyer made a small fortune by his
venture. If the cherry trees blossom.
ed abundantly, the fruit blighted be-
fore it was ripe. The curculio destroy
ed the plums. The dry weather de-
stroyed the Strawberries. The chick
ems ate up all the currants. The
frost came before the tomatoes were
ripe. The grape vines were all sum.
mer coming out, and when they did
come, it was too late for them to do
anything. If we had a superauity OF
anything we couldn't sell it. We pro-
posed to return to the city in the au-
tumn. The romantic side of country
life is charming, but it's prosaic side
is annoying enough to compensate for
its charms.