DAIRY MEETING. I29 



loaves, bannocks and Johnny cakes. Ham was the pan meat 

 during summer, and fresh meat abounded from the beef and 

 hog killing time at the holidays, until the weather became too 

 warm for its keeping. Comparatively few of them wore under- 

 shirts or drawers until sixty or seventy years ago, and good 

 woolen stockings and cowhide boots, well greased, were the foot 

 coverings through the cold and wet of winter and spring. The 

 family lived in the great kitchen with its open fire, which was 

 sometimes fed with dry quartered wood and sometimes with logs 

 of green beech, birch and maple from which the sap ran and the 

 steam hissed as they threw out their health-giving heat. The 

 best room was the mother's "holy of holies," and not for every 

 day use. The boys slept in the open chambers, under the rafters, 

 with only the boards and shingles between them and the stars 

 and storms. The day's work was from sun to sun in summers 

 and much longer in winters. Haying time lasted six weeks, and 

 mowing in the meadow by starlight in the early morning was 

 common in my boyhood days. Necessity made almost every 

 man a mechanic, and with his axe, auger, chisel and saw he built 

 his houses, barns, carts, sleds, plows and ox yokes and thanked 

 no workman but the blacksmith for a helping hand. Amuse- 

 ments and recreation were furnished by the trainings and muster 

 days, and the singing and spelling schools ; while the two ser- 

 mons on Sundays, at the meeting house, furnished food for 

 thought and conversation the rest of the week. 



The Bible, almanac, dictionary and weekly papers were the 

 appliances upon which our fathers' education was grounded. 

 The hardness and simplicity of their lives developed strong 

 bodies, and freedom from overheated houses and enervating con- 

 ditions kept them clear from disease. They lived under low 

 pressure, and had time for digesting the mental lessons they set 

 for themselves. 



The demands upon them caused them to work out the ques- 

 tions of life for themselves and produced strong minds and 

 skilled hands. The old New England men and women were 

 among God's best creations and their environment fitted them 

 for the part which they performed in the development of this 

 great land of ours, better than any other people with whom they 

 came in contact could have done. 



