AGRICULTURAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 75 



dogmatic narrowness, the Christian atmosphere 

 of that old church helped much to hold that vigor- 

 ous, fun-loving, intemperate, pioneer people within 

 reasonable bounds, and sometimes it made heroes 

 of them. 



AGRICULTURAL AND ECONOMIC 

 CONDITIONS 



I remember not only the outdoor pleasures, the 

 singing schools, and the revival meetings, but also 

 the working life when no fun relieved the monot- 

 onous tasks. Our farm consisted of 100 acres 

 of good land and was a mile long and fifty rods 

 wide, on the lake side. Its inconvenient shape 

 was the result of a well-conceived plan to have as 

 many farm-house sites as possible near the lake 

 shore. Originally, it was covered with a pro- 

 digious growth of hardwoods mostly beech and 

 sugar maple. The slope from the back end of the 

 farm to the lake was gentle and regular, there was 

 not much rock and the newly-cleared land pro- 

 duced a wide range of edible fruits and plants. 

 The soil, however, contained too much clay for 

 easy tillage, especially when moisture was lacking; 

 but it was not a stubborn soil if tilled at the right 

 time and not tramped when too moist. 



