88 AUTOBIOGRAPHY 



the grain. One man, on his knees, placed the 

 sheaves in well-arranged parallel rows and by 

 hitching along pressed them down as the line ex- 

 tended; but even so, the grain would settle and the 

 peaks would have to be refilled from the ladder. 

 A modern curb-roof would have eliminated much 

 of the old roof structure, would have nearly 

 doubled the capacity of the mows, saved labor and 

 obviated the pain of picking thistles out of the 

 knees and hands. It is interesting to note that 

 many of the low barns of Central New York built 

 on the old model, are now being enlarged upward 

 and improved by using the curb-roof construction. 

 I have long since learned that we husked the 

 corn, dug the potatoes, and picked the apples too 

 late in the season, for we and they often suffered 

 from the fall blasts and the approaching winter. 

 There were times when I would have gone the dis- 

 tance of a block out of my way to avoid the sight 

 of one of those jumbo apple trees. Imagine a 

 twenty foot ladder reared against one of those 

 great trees which grew like forest trees because 

 of the store of plant food in the virgin soil, and at 

 the upper end, in that cold northwest wind, a lad 

 with numbed hands grasping the ladder with one 

 hand and the apples with the other and you 



