22 



CORN. 



On the warm rich loam of his interval the first minister 

 raised corn as the Indians before him had done. The first day 

 of May, old style, corresponding to our eleventh of that month, 

 was then the day for planting it. But this rule was not strictly 

 observed. In 1746 he planted his corn on the 7th and 8th, and 

 in 1780 still later, on the 20th. 



Soon after corn was up, it was " weeded," and some ten or 

 fifteen days later it was " moulded," or slightly embanked. 

 Later still it was " hilled," -by a farther elevation of the embank- 

 ments. Thence onward to harvest time it required no farther 

 labor. By the middle of October it was carted to the barn and 

 husked. 



Then huskings were social occasions as well as useful ; enjoyed 

 by the young and old of both sexes. To the more sedate they 

 commended themselves on account of the large amount of work 

 quickly and easily accomplished ; to the young men and maidens 

 on account of the opportunities which they afforded for merry 

 meetings together. The penalty or privilege, whichever in any 

 particular case it was, attached to the finding of a red ear, was 

 gallantly paid and blushingly accepted. 



Against the date of Friday, October 12, in the minister's 

 diary for 1764, we find this brief entry, "At night had a husk- 

 ing." Some of the ladies here present, if any such there be, 

 who were young fifty years ago, can interpret that entry to 

 their more youthful sisters, far better than the dignity of this 

 staid occasion will allow me to do either verbally or otherwise. 



RYE, WHEAT, BARLEY, AND OATS. 



Rye, wheat, and barley, no longer very largely raised on our 

 New Hampshire farms, were annual crops on that of the first 

 minister. Winter rye, as he tells us, was sown in October and 

 reaped early in August. His winter wheat was ready for the 

 cycle at the same time. He also raised barley, sowing it in 

 1746, on the 14th day of April. In 1764 he sowed his oats on 

 the 19th of this same month. 



