CHAPTER XIV 



Faies op the Pioneebs 



AS soon as the pioneers of this country had any- 

 •^~*- thing worth showing in the agricultural line, 

 they began holding fall fairs. In the first half of 

 last century they began and there were big yellow 

 pumpkins, monster Swede turnips, gate-post man- 

 gel wurzels, log-cabin quilts, home-made blankets 

 and cloths, and bread and butter in liberal quan- 

 tity on display at those earliest fairs. The people 

 of that day did not so hanker for agricultural boss 

 trots. You see, most of them drove or had driven 

 oxen, and speeding up was not then considered so 

 absolutely necessary to existence. 



The fall fair of earlier days was the greatest 

 social event of the season. That was the one day 

 of the year when the farmer's whole family came 

 to town and, usually in their only conveyance, the 

 lumber wagon. The boys would be fitted out with 

 red-topped boots on Fair Day, and the mother and 

 her daughters would look around and see what the 

 town folks were wearing. The whole family would 

 be clad in home-made clothing and, doubtless, 

 looked healthy and happy, despite the fact that a 

 fashion-plate had not been consulted when their 

 wearables had been fashioned. News of changes in 



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