T^he RURAL NEW-YORKER 
697 
) 
A Day at Elmwood 
An Early P.egtxxixg. —Five o’clock! 
Cold and dark and dismal, fires down, a 
raw wind sweeping in through the open 
windows. But who minds the cold of 
.'Spring, now that the long, hard Winter 
is past? So we ri.se cheerfully and begin 
to save daylight by burning acetylene. 
Daddy calls the children, and craftily 
adds: “New calf down at the barn, fel¬ 
lows,” knowing well that if he said a 
German Taube it wouldn’t as.semble them 
any quicker. Daddy goes first to the 
horse barn and looks after the team, then 
he and the two girls do the milking. 
There are only 10 cows, but each cow’s 
milk is weighed and recorded night and 
morning, and the yearly record kept in a 
book made e-xpressly for that purpose. 
All IlAxns at Work. —Nine-year-old 
“Buddy” brings up water for the break¬ 
fast and puts on an extra kettleful for 
the calf feed. After the calves are fed he 
sweeps out the alleys so Daddy can feed 
the grain, and then throws down hay for 
the heifers, which Sister scatters for 
them. Then Sister brings up a big pail of 
milk for the house, carries water to the 
hens and whips the rugs from the kitchen 
and dining room. Big Sister feeds the 
hens. This takes so little time that 
mother had to hustle some this morning to 
have the breakfast ready. There were 
fires to start, bread to mold into pans, 
baby’s bottle to fix and feed (be is more 
ambitious about getting up now than he 
will be later), and the clothes from yes¬ 
terday’s ironing to fold and put away. 
Then we have breakfast, and with a very 
thorough discussion Kif the inew calf. 
“Going to raise her?” inquires Buddy, 
hopefully. “No, I guess we better sell 
he and Big 8ister arrive, ready to do noon 
chores and eat the noonday meal (Oh, 
very ready for that last!)' Horses are 
watered and fed. hay thrown down for 
the cows, hens given fresh water and fed, 
eggs gathered, pigs fed and water carried 
to the calves, and then we try out those 
war muffins. 
Tiik Bural Mail.— Before the dish¬ 
washing is fairly accomplished the mail 
comes. (M’hen I’ostmaster General I>ur- 
leson raps at the Pearly Gates let us hope 
8t. Peter will marshall all the underpaid, 
overworked rural carriers and their worn- 
out. dejected steeds, show him his handi¬ 
work and reward him accordingly.) jMail 
time is perhaps the brightest .spot in the 
day’s routine. The daily paper comes 
first in importance, and the war news is 
eagerly read and commented upon. An 
order for hatching eggs, a letter from a 
distant friend, some magazines and a 
seed catalogue with gorgeous covers m.-ikes 
up today’s packet. Little Brother has 
been sitting contentedly on the floor, but 
now in a frantic effort to reach kitty’s 
tail as she passes, he loses his balance and 
the world has come to an end as far as he 
is concerned. After due comforting he is 
settled in his cart, and we somewhat re¬ 
luctantly take up the day’s tasks again. 
Afternoon Work.— Daddy and Big 
Sister go back to their sap boiling and 
wood gathering. Mother puts on a big 
loaf of brown bread to steam for supper, 
some rice is washed and set cooking slow¬ 
ly for a pudding, and the setting of eggs 
carefully selected and packed for the post 
tomorrow. The market eggs are sorted 
and packed, for they, too. must go to¬ 
morrow, and half a dozen windows of 
blooming plants watered. Then the 
mending is taken up again. The chil¬ 
dren return fi-om school, .and b.ahy. who 
The TAne-up at Elm wood 
her,” says Daddy, whereupon a whole bat¬ 
tery of hostile glances are aimed at him. 
Doing Chores.— After breakfast, the 
morning being cold, everyone s(a*med in¬ 
clined to stay by the stove, but chores 
were waiting, school time coming, so 
everyone “got busy.” F.ather mixes up 
his pail of pig feed with warm water, 
feeds pigs, splits wood and cleams and 
harnesses the team. .Sister waters the 
cows, Buddy fills two big wood bo.vey 
(thanking his stars, with every step, that 
Spring is here). Big Sister sets beds air¬ 
ing, washes di.shes and puts up diniK'r, 
and iMother sweeps the d<)wnstair.s rooms, 
bakes a batch of war cookies and gives 
baby his bath, l.itth* .lister has been 
taking care of baby. Now comes 10 min¬ 
utes of scrubbing, toothbrushing and hair 
combing, and the three children depart for 
school, half a mile away. A Limiliar 
covered wagon has driven into the yard, 
so they return, determined to see if Fath¬ 
er really means to let the calf man have 
the new baby at the barn. Tin' ‘'calf 
man” is a friendly soul, and tai'dy pui)ils 
have to make up time after s<‘hool. but 
they feel well repaid for the wait when 
the big w'agon passes on without bos.sy. 
Sugar Making. —^Mother strains a big 
kettle of maple syrup and puts it on the 
stove for the final boiling and clarifying, 
and Big Sister leaves for the woods to 
make and keep a fire under the sa|» kettle. 
Daddy has suffered for years with rheu¬ 
matism, and has to rely on the small 
folks for many chores that ordinarily 
would not fall to their lot, hence Big Si.s- 
ter is out of school during the sugar¬ 
making. 
The Noon Meal.— The day has grown 
warmer, and I can hear the trickle of 
water running in the cistern as I work at 
my “fancy yvork.” a big basket of holey 
stockings, worn overalls. buttonless 
waists and rent frocks. The bread is 
baked, the syrup ■skimmed, strained and 
bottled, beds made and the noon lunch 
prepared. Wheat-.saving necessitates ex¬ 
tra baking, corn and rye mufiins being the 
saving for this meal, with home-canned 
string beans, baked potatoes and such 
other living as the farm affords. Mean¬ 
time, the Man of Wrath has cleaned out 
stables and taken his load to the field, 
gathered up old m.-iterial for sap fire.s, 
loaded in a supply of house wood, and now 
misses them sorely during the d;iy. goes 
nearly wild with delight. Little Sister 
takes charge of him. while Mother feeds 
and wat**rs the flock again and gathers 
the eggs. Buddy dons overalls and frock 
and put on water to heat for his beloved 
calves, and fills the kitchen wood box; 
Sister waters the cows and gets things 
ready Lir milking, and Father and Big 
►Sister come up from the woods with a 
can of fragrant syrup. How good it will 
be on pancakes next Winter! 
The Evening C’irct.e. —The rest of the 
chores are done up in “jig time,” and 
after supper the wlnde force turns out to 
gather .sap. Then the lamps are lighted. 
Daddy takes his papers, Buddy and Little 
Sister start a game of dominoes and si 
lively argument over a name for the new 
calf, Mother prepares Little Brother for 
bod, and the girls wash and wipe the 
dishes and di.scuss the day’s English les¬ 
son. It had been “Lady of the Lake” to¬ 
day, and when right in the midst of it 
Buddy used his handkerchief rather vig¬ 
orously, a ghostly voice from the pantry 
imiuired, “Malcolm, was thine the blast?'” 
The girls are reading “rollyanna” (for 
the fifty-second time) and “Bebecca 
IMary.” As I review the day I wonder if 
the need for a physical trainer in the 
country schools, at $1,200 per year, is 
really pressing. 
Bed ’J'ime. —All too .soon. The books 
and games are put away and the small 
folk flock upstairs. Father lights his lan¬ 
tern for the “last round.” IMother has a 
short seance with account book and diary. 
The rooms are, as my grandmother used 
to say, “set to rights.” the last small 
chore is tended, the last light turned out, 
when a subdued wail floats down the 
stairs. Little Sister has toothache. Bot¬ 
tles are hunted out of the medicine cab¬ 
inet, the hot-water bottle filled and peace 
returns above stairs. The commonplace 
day is done. No knightly d<'ed, no heroic 
task; just the littlest, homeliest things 
that must be done over and over, till the 
reiteration irks, yet no doer of great 
things is more privileged than we to enjoy 
the beauties of nature, a sound night’s 
sleep, or an unexpected recreation. There 
is some comi)ensatlon to us in the thought 
that if we “doers of little thing.s” shirked 
there would be less <'f great things to do. 
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