3°8 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



November, 1906 



Miss Daisy is the fifth, and has immediate charge of the day's work on the farm begins at five o'clock. That hour 



cows, which are never less than twenty in number, and which finds the six girls enjoying an early cup of tea in the spacious 



she has completely under her control. She is proud of being kitchen of the house. They wear long blue overalls cut 



a certificated milkmaid, having won two prizes at Agricultural tightly to the figure, the skirts reaching to their ankles. Boys' 



Hall, London. boots, large, shady hats and white lace at the neck, fastened 



1 '.wart comes sixth on the list, and is the eldest brother to with a neat brooch, complete their working-costume. Once 



the girls. He is carpenter, wheelwright, mechanic, plumber, tea is finished they scatter to their tasks. Poultry, calves, 



H 



e gives a 



"One of the most useful implements on the farm," the girls 

 say, and no doubt with the utmost truth 

 helping hand to every one as occasion 

 calls. Norah is the seventh, a tall 

 young girl of fifteen, who 

 makes herself genera 

 useful in all depart- 

 ments, and often 

 enough in every one 

 of them. She is 

 every one's right- 

 hand helper within 

 doors and without, 

 and not the least of 

 her accomplishments is 

 that of cooking, her di 

 ners being admirably pre- 

 pared and served with the dis- 

 tinction so generally characteristic 

 of English meals, and which even these 

 busy workers do not dispense with 



Homeward Bound after the Day's Work 



horses, colts and pigs are fed; there is milking, skimming and 

 scrubbing dairy-utensils; stables and cow-sheds are 

 cleaned out and left tidy for the day, 

 and a good beginning made by 

 seven o'clock, when the call 

 for breakfast brings them 

 within doors again. 

 Then the field- 

 work begins. One 

 sister plows the land 

 for roots; another 

 rolls the corn; an- 

 other hoes. Much 

 cheerful laughter, 

 ^" whistling, singing, the 



reciting of favorite pieces 

 of prose and poetry, and 

 endless good-natured repartee 

 enlivens the busy scene and turns the 

 hard work into a veritable family festival 

 of good nature. At ten o'clock all hands 

 Alan, the youngest child, still goes to school; but before knock off for lunch, for which a quarter of an hour is allowed, 

 he sets out in the morning, and again on his return in the Dinner comes at twelve, and follows the healthy custom of 

 afternoon, he cheerfully does anything that is required of the American trades-union in permitting a full hour's respite, 

 him, and this, you may be sure, is always something useful Tea, that most British of all feeding customs, is taken at 

 and something necessary to be done in this busy household of four, and wherever the girls happen to be — as likely in the 

 workers. hayloft as any other place. 



And then there is mother, "just mother," the girls fondly This cheering episode marks a change in occupations gen- 



say, who has taught these brave young hands to do so much, erally, for the animals must be fed again and the cattle, 

 and whose own patient work 

 for her children has so long 

 been unselfish and loving. 

 She has general charge 

 within the house, and many 

 of the creature comforts of 

 the farm are due to her 

 thought fulness and own per- 

 sonal work. 



In springtime an ordinary 



Afternoon Tea in the Hay Loft 



dairy and poultry attended to. Then, at six 

 o'clock, some more work in the fields, which 

 continues until eight, or, if hard pressed, 

 until dark, which, as all the traveled world 

 knows, comes later in England than in 

 America. Ami then, to home. The work- 

 ing-clothes are put aside, and work as well, 

 and a group of well-dressed young ladies 

 comes upon the scene. Music, piano, man- 

 dolin, banjo, guitar, flute, as likely as not, 

 is at once proposed, and all is harmonious 



