1883.] 
AMERICAN A (1RICTJLTTJRIST. 
13 
PRIMITIVE SOAP-MAKING. —A SCENE IN NORTH CAROLINA. 
Dravjn from Life , by J. S. Hodgson, and Engraved for the American Agriculturist. 
The above spirited illustration was recently- 
drawn by our artist, from an actual scene in 
Jackson County, N.C., though this method of 
soap making prevails generally through the 
Southern States. Miss Susie D., a pretty maid¬ 
en of seventeen, whose father owns about 20,- 
000 acres of timber land, is a great favorite in 
those parts. While Per accomplishments are 
not of the varied description found in Fifth 
Avenue boarding schools, she excels in all 
those home attainments which are so service¬ 
able and practical among farmers. She has 
gone over from her own home to assist a 
neighbor in soap making. The leach or hop¬ 
per, which is seen in front of this rustic cabin, 
comprises about fifteen rude boards placed 
together, as in the engraving, and contains 
several barrels of ashes. Susie is filling it 
with water from a neighboring spring. When 
the iron vessel into which the lye runs is 
full, the lye is emptied into the large kettle, 
fully 6 feet in circumference; then it is 
boiled down for several hours, with the fat 
and other ingredients. The soap is almost 
entirely made for home consumption by 
people generally through the South. The 
house in the background is made of North 
Carolina Poplar, sided with rough boards, 
covered with Black Walnut shingles, and 
contains only two large rooms. This build- 
