MEMORIES OF THE 



become mixed and saturated with the hog-pen product. At 

 planting time this mixture was drawn in a wagon-box to the 

 field, where we took it with large, flat or scoop shovels and 

 carried it from hill to hill, putting a good, big handful of the 

 mixture in each hill, and poking it off the shovel with the bare 

 hand. It was not the sweetest scented work in the world, but 

 made a sure crop. 



The pumpkins were planted with the corn, and made good 

 feed for the cows and hogs in the fall, to say nothing of the 

 famous pumpkin pies. 



Between planting and hoeing there were a few days in which 

 no farm work crowded. These were utilized, among other 

 things, for repairing the roads and thereby cancelling the road 

 tax. The pathmaster set the time and "warned out" those 

 assessed. 



To the young men and boys this was the jolliest job of the 

 year, and they made it a kind of play spell, instead of serious, 

 hard work. All calculated to have a good visit, compare notes, 

 tell stories and gossip to their hearts' content. They had been 

 busy all through the spring, each with his own urgent work, 

 and had seen little of one another, so this ''working on the 

 road " might be called a sort of round-up and review of the 

 spring business and news. 



The pathmaster kept the time and credited it in days' work. 

 A man or big boy who could hold a plow or scraper counted a 

 day; a small boy, one-half day; a team, wagon, plow and 

 scraper, one day each. They came late and quit early. If it 

 was hot or the pathmaster was very clever, considerable of the 

 time was spent under some convenient shade-tree beside the 

 road. While the time went on and the men and horses rested, 

 the wagon, scraper and plow went right along working out the 



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