{ title: 'The Otsego farmer. (Cooperstown, N.Y.) 1885-1910, November 27, 1886, Page 1, Image 1', download_links: [ { link: 'http://www.loc.gov/rss/ndnp/ndnp.xml', label: 'application/rss+xml', meta: 'News about NYS Historic Newspapers - RSS Feed', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-11-27/ed-1/seq-1/png/', label: 'image/png', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-11-27/ed-1/seq-1.pdf', label: 'application/pdf', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-11-27/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.xml', label: 'application/xml', meta: '', }, { link: '/lccn/sn87070110/1886-11-27/ed-1/seq-1/ocr.txt', label: 'text/plain', meta: '', }, ] }
Image provided by: Fenimore Art Museum
-; style. ertten expressly for Tor the Orésuo , *. sy Mor. .. Within a stately; brown stone front. _, _ Dwelt Angeline, the fat, .. Whose father was unkind 'twas satd, > ___ 'And kept her pris'ngr gr there. & And why wad Angelina so kept? | / 'What had the maiden done, . That she should ne'er skip 'long the stroot Beneath the bright round sunt , She'd nothing done, but her dear \maw\ Who'd dressed in fashlon's helght, ._ Had found a death $1 corsot strings Thro' drawing them too tight. 'The father was near crazed with grief, And swore by Lord and Son, His daugh ir naught of style should know - T)“ she twenty-one zip/Jr uhonldthe see a mllllner, , r men pnfl hack dresses, |- F “artist An all kinds of © should/hang her silken tresses. She should not know of \bloom of youth,\ Or.belt a half- yard wide, Nor stookings striped: \Forsooth he cried, \They're worse than all beslde.\* But when she wasa woman grown, Ah 1 then his Joy to see A lovely daughter by his side, Fair, oblld«like, gay and free. One who, all thro' her.childhood days, Had known nofaint gr gulle, Norlearned the thousand diffrent ways 'There isto put on style. - 'And so he kept her close shut up Till twenty-first bivthday, Then friends Invited in to sup, Of whom none sald him nay. + And then, while they-were gathered round, He orled: \Bring forth the girl, And, friends, you'll see what woman's like When kept from fashion's whirl.\ Straifhtway a servant brought the maid. From out the lonely. cell, And placed beforé the wond'ring guestr- 4A perfect female swell, Whose dress, oh, shooking to bohold ! Was pulled, oh, pulled way back, And in that dress to walk and ait She'd learned the ready knack. On finger she wore large seal ring, On faco was lily white, A pair of stookings, striped and clocked Oft gleamed and flashed in sight. A body.nearly cut in twain || {Like hornet minus wings) Showed plainly that sho'd struggled with The deadly corset strings. The father honor stricken gazed, Then sunk in mute despair, A upward toward her poll, Ho saw she'd banged her hair. xomaL, Tho' girls to keep from fashlon's wiles You fullbfnlly may tty, Youlll have- your trouble for your pains- Thoy'Il live in style or dls. Farm Sopics. Reminiscences of Farm Life of Olden Times, Stories, &c.--No. 48. Written expressly for Tire Orsxoo Fanxzn, BY i maken. OLD THME THANESGIYINGS. Being as we are a New England Yankee, It is not strange that we take more than ordinary interest in Thanksgiving days. Its love was naturally born within us, our patents belhg both of New England birth The custonvoriginated near their childhood homes, sind at the time of the marriage of ode grand parents it\ bad me: one of 'the mhflahedlnnlmfiomofflllhemtem states. A trie Yankee would sooner let pass un- noticed Christmas, New. Yeats and the. Fourth July; all of them-then miss the annual November Thanksgiving, | Itfs so interwoven Into the customs and habits of, the true Yatkee, that it has becomeafized | We should doubt a returning Thanksgiving days; all otha' causes com- € ghoperly this day. Aboveall m trulyhsda reason to observe it. \liffiseenfilfint‘fa we pay legs attention 'thank whs formerly done. towards: making it a time of family. reunion. With Ats iganing in that particu, ly bonds\ of nfor | dessen. | WThe'nuptial:tle on the' average fails to bind with the same. chords of\ love and fmtemaLfeellnges of 01d . Diverces - ;ud4emmfiemsmmommon= The -number proportionly: of* celibatés are in creasing, Such. are some: of 'the changes which a life-time of observation seems to indicate, In olden times/Thanksgiving often bro't togeflxgtall the members of an entire family atits annual return for years. 'The sons and the daughters, with their children, would annually assemble at the old home: each returning Thanksgiving day ,-f 'and thus renew their love of home and kindred, and keep alive those fires of fraternal friendship which tend so much to perpetuate and im- prove the Joys of life. These old time Thanksgiving family re- unfons are ever pleasant to memory, | It is a delight to call them forth from the hidden archieves of the mind, *We are thus enabled to pass in 'review as they then appeared to us, the family and descendants of the patriarchal home ofour grandsires. We thus by memory again see The aged couple in the ripe years of an happy old age, the sons and their wives, the daught— ers and their husbands, together with a group of grand-children, in all the vigor of life, friendship and love. Happy days of old. Blessed is the memory of old time Thanksgiving family reunions. We will try to draw a pen pleture of one in the old household of our grandfather, to whom we | have so often alluded. Would that it was possible to.paint for other eyes, the scenes which miemory recalls for our own. One of the greatest joys of life is the memory of pleasant times of past days thus spent, It was about 1828, Our grandfather was then about 45 years of age, ruddy and ro- bust, and weighing probably about 240ibs. Grandmother wasabout two years younger, one of those happy, jolly creatures, who makes everybody participate in their.own' continual overflow of happiness, even if against their will She was of medium statue and weighed probably about 180Ibs. What she lacked in avordupois, was more than balanced by excess of good nature. The old farm house had three large rooms wpon .the lower floor, beside bedrooms; storeroom and pgutry. Each of the large rooms had an immense fireplace, when compared with those of modern date. | Be- side that of the kitchen was an oven of huge dimensions, from whose cavarnous 'depths more good things were wont to come forth, then from any modern private baking arrangement we have seen. The four sons and four dnughters of this pair were at that time all married, lind living within a circle of fiye or six. miles. One son and his wife was at the old home- stead. Our home was upon a farm one side of our grandfather's while the- farm of Uncle John joined it upon the opposite. Unelo Huit's farm also joined our grand- father's upon the south. 'The. remaining children, the daughters and their hasbands und families wero each upon their farms within a distance of about two and one- 'half miles. We have thus pprtlcnlsfly described the family location, thatit may be seen with what ease nt that time our family circle could be gathered together under the pa- reptal roof, They aro now scattered. over twelve states and in the Cansdas. Only two of the grandchildren live within sixty miles of the old homestead. One of them 1s its owner, - The day or two preceding Thankegiv- lug a wonderfal stirring could be observed about the parental farm house. The fattest chickens-lost. their heads,: the plumpest [turkeys their plunisge, and the pigs, and thelanibs; ofter too were prepared for a thank:offeringfbr that day. - The aid of some ever ready nelghbor’ihelpwas celled. {nto astist Pumpking ples, apple pics, berry ples, cherry ples, biscuit, bread and | cake, Blunt-newer style, would come Torth at slxted periods from, the: deepths , Ix of wreck even; done to as appealing f . fulmes . ~The early rnlny‘n‘f‘“ ert daywaammmeemmrmggmwme: - Fh mmmm - \With té now in observing Thin | the, only mem The sone gll Hy thg Wwithiirlittle; youngest as | ent Thanksgiving About &. dozen of the finally—whose w farms did not Join: spaternnlhomestesd [th fa gr mile. .of their. parents, ~The eldwi 'of. the | a chrldmg yas 41 years éld 'The |I | 28; at thes dnte'og our pres- \ haye'proved permanent‘nnd lasting to their children came with- their pnren to the gathering. ' all of our party. At: least thirty five guests were. present, . of which. twenty-A¥o-were ). children, . We bave here a party, tour oi whom ate about sixty-five yéatsiof age- our grand parents and graxidfather's broth- er and. his wife. 'Three over: forty years old; one an aunt and two uncles by mar- riage, The 'balance of the company of aunts and uncles ranging between twenty- one and forly years. Their 'childréntbeing from. sovénteen years down to the bshe in arms. . Buch were the ages of ourthanksgiving guests. All in health, All: clothed in clothes of mostly home-made manufacture. All in the beet of spirits, joyful and happy.. While the party were assemifiing;, the prep- | arations in the kitchen were, progressing finely, 'The turkeys were hung upon iron rods with a hook upon its lower end and a. few links of chain at their upper end fast- ened to hooks above .the mantel so as to admit of easy adjustment .at the right height for the perfection of the work. 'The chains were connected to the rods by a swivel, so that the bird or other roast could be, turned at will, and all arranged so that it could he moved to or from the fire as was necessary to secufe the right heat. Whoever has tasted & turkey or roast of any kind, and does not decide that no way equals the old style, 'before an open fire, in the flavor or perfection of its work, has never seen our grandmother's kitchen or eaten at her table, It is true that wonder- ful changes have been made in the culina- ry art; but all changes are not improve- ments. It has ever been a marvel how our mothers and our grandmothers arrived at the perfection in cookery which they cer- tainly did, with the rude way they were compelled to perform- the work, 'The old brick oven was in the hands of an artist simply perfect for its use. But to cook before an open fire, boil, roast, bake, fry, and perhaps do them all at the same time, and avoid roasting ones self, was the perfec- tion of the culinary art. 'The mammoth chicken plo was always a donspicuous part of the Thanksgiving difiner. So too was a dish of Boston baked beans. The roast pig, standing upon the large pewter platter, polished like burnish» ed silver, was in those early times an instl. tution of to menn pretensions, The big pans of doughouts and the platters of fried turnovers were never missing at those din- ners. M As the culinary arts were pearing com- pletion, the long table was spread with pomo-made linen which would rival tire snow for whitencss. - 'The plates and plat ters were properly arranged. No well to- do fimily in thoso-days was without its britaniy or powter ware, | To keep them of a polish which would equal burnisHed all- ver In its lustre, was the pride of the-good Steel knives. and . Aorkswere the style fis those times, but \they foo fiere scoured and pollehedlikesaflvered inirrge. kind in. universal use 1a fo.the some of themwith@rmhs _ Ons o'clock ardives and dinner, the feast is ready. \All the: adult-po of the party are seated st tho'table: - The stomachs of the younger portion ofthe orf rather potions. from the full. bowls of donglinats will be a Joyous timg for when their elders. ~Children were flew . Tamy 2a thar. am Wain wes beperect Emu; muzzle &,. I thy teu fed speck atone ae A brother of our grandfather. who lived © near by with his family, formed portion | children by birth and marriage, and.grgnd- |. [structive lessons which were ever sure. to. The chalte we well‘xexhember were of &)\ better Blass of firm- hotuses, made with | JOY smooth . split\ botftoms;~bigh \backs and guests Have already received many liberal | é and turnovers, but even then theymmk if u do not have to wait the convenienoe off} posterity. atl d - Themme alter dinner was spent in con- ily. failed. to: take an interest in- and become . well: informed, upon all eco; feal. politic» 4 'of the time: Nots p itlcian. in the late-use. 'of, the name Among them, but each. well informed upon all questions | pertainingfmall political issues. ©, Among the women not a word: was heatd about: the shortcomings d deficlencie# servants. Household help was wot then ss now, a matter of domestfc annoyance .or concern, The dunghtersmf those having s surplus of them, thought it no diggrace to engage in any. and all kinds of household work and- domestic mani- facture, and all such were treated-as were the llke members of the family where they were employed, We children .al¥ays enjoyed these social gatherings, both. for our own enjoyment and for the pleagure of listening to the in be received. | Scarcely a~thing in science or art, as then known, but our grandfather could give us all. required information, He was a living encyclopedia of universal knowledge. found useful information obtained in these family chats. | Often have the many truths there learned, been demonstrated in actual experience and observations, The examples and teachings of honesty, truth and uprightness, was univeralin-that family circle. - A promise made was a bond for its execution.\ It was sure to be ful filled. - No inordinate desire for great wealth, no worshiping of gold, | Independ- ence, as the reward for toil gratified their ambition and supplied their wants. Each family owned a farm, and each thus had / a home field of Jabor.~ Although the sons were all good mechanics, yet each carried on a farm. , But two of the children either by birth or marriage still remain, and they are oc- togenarians, | The others all at the end of long and useful lives sleep with their fath- ers. - Those of us, their posterity, who're main will soon follow thers. | If our life's work Is as well done, our mission as well filled as was theirs, all is well. Fifty-eight years have nearly passed- fifty-soven thanksgiving days come and gone, suce the one we narrate. 'The de scendents of the friends thero met are scat- tered; but the same causes> which then ex- isted for thankegiving together with a host of additional reasons are still left t us. Our grundfathers and fathers, noble as their work was, little dreamed of the re- sults that would. be so soon accomplished by. the master minds and willing hands of those who should follow them. Little did they anticipate the noble productions their posterity would bring to bear upon mod- effi civilization anid sdclety, | Littledid they hope for such changes in annihilating time and space se-these last fifty years have brought forth, “Thnthapplmm 'and love 'of life has at wedo fiot fora: moment contend. 'That moral} riatures; our sympathy for and ; fan Bas \Often through life have wel. all' kept pace: with opr civil admcemmt . each a a would be done ~No legal force necessary. . Non prohibitory statutes-desired. It: we' All communications on tnmlhg. igaid poultry raising, promptly answered iw f - “mm co not un As grass is our prmclpal crop. and also New York it stands first on the list ‘4'Out |grass drop. this year was a good one, ong: farm «for many years,. portiolis of 'the meadows cutting , two tons to the nere, In? vmlyupuu 'the-young-eveny to wwwc young another. generation would see\ the curse wiped out. . It is strange that-s0 many will-travel.a road whfch gids onlyin yuin, -and thit so observable to all. Thanksgiving 'day should never pass | without a practical remembrance of the needy.and. unfortunate, No phase of so° clety'is free from much, Wenaturally pos- sess 'an instinctive love for our race. It. is bynisn suffering. The humanity of man- ing are known, there human sympathy ex- tends. Itis a nobleattribute of our nature. ethood. > ~We should all resTve, and: carty such resolve into perpetual execution; that from this thanksgiving day, we will gach lead purer lives, Rave higher atms, do.our race more lasting benefits, so that when the silver cord is loosed.and, the golden howl is broken, and life draws to its close, we may we have trodden. *'Think-not the good, 'The gentle deeds of morty Lhon hast done, Bhall dfe forgotten all; the poor, the prisoner, The fatherless, tha trundle\. and the widow, Who daily own the bounty of Thy hand, * Shall ery to hedven, and pull a blessing on thee.\ o----@¢G -- Now Lisbon Farmers' Cloth; rather small. was chosen President pro tem. . rep_orts of committees who bad experi- mented with different fertilizers for poté- seed potatoes. same result as those cut lengthwise. his report, but will hand me one soon, plo? was ground of only moderate fertility acre. per cent. by weight, were stall. thsmthelng, hear alike. powble. & 'a sourcé of Joy. nsvkéll 'as duty, to alleviate kind is universal, Where want and suffer- It binds us in one bond of unbroken broth- The first meeting this season of the New Lisbon Farmers' Club was held Tuesday evening, Nov, 16th. The attendance was In absence of both the Pres- ddent and Vice-President, J. C. Hollister The business before the meeting was toes, aud the different ways of cutting Of the committée on fertilizers two were |\ present. J. C. Hollister had no copy of Chas. Benington reports as follows: The last year fodder corn was grown on it, fer- tillzed with barn-yard manure, was plowed last spring, (no manure used expect that put in the drills or rows), then well har- rowed and furrowed with a plow, rows three feet apart. Seed potatoes were all of the famo variety, good sized ones, and cut two or three eyes to the piece, these were fifteen inches mpart, and the fertilizers scattered the whole lerigth of the drill. Nine rows were measured off, each 83 fect longs making cach tow one four-hundredth patt 'of an' Rots No. 1, received wet hen manure at (the. rate of 32mm. per sor: Value of manure about $10.00 por acre. ¥ielded at} » [the:rate of 245 bushels per acre, about 12¢ This Tow wasa better poll fhan the others,'all |- which'do ey wellvior ap upland farm.. _ Weprnc'llce on grass lands in winter, Hauling xoanure ns fast cas it accumulates. By: mien-sans it is taken to the: field when. we \haveibut: liitle: élse to - do, and it fs on the land ready-m oewnshed. info the soll by the spring. rains Ar, Corn comes next in: impor‘dnce’ We . had about two acres this year, “hlch’yield- ed one hundred and seventy-five C very fine corn, not over: ten bushels of soft cord in. the lot.. The variety is one whi has been raiged on this farm for 'twen { years, Itis a large eightrowed flint var ety, with a very small cobb arid ° many of the cars ten to twelve inches long.. i On potatoes we don't take any back:seat. . From.three-fo of an acre we harvest» - ed over two hundred bushels.,\ There were: ' six varieties planted, the White Elephant out-yilelding thenrall; one-eighth ofan sere > of 'this variety ylelding fifty bushels, - The land was stubble ground, on: whichiodder corn had been. raised the year. before, and ° look back without regret over the pathways quite strong. The fertilizer Used was hen manure, ashes and: plaster; made: nto\ a comipost, and about a handful put into the hill. ' The oat crop wasa fair one' notwith- standing about half of the. ground: was wet, which retarded thecropgrestly. We drill them in with about two: pounds of phosphate to the acte, asvearly in the season'as the ground can be worked. Our winter whent yielded twenty-three \bushels to the nere of the finest wheat I ever saw, It is of the Landreth variety and well-suited to this. section. It is of rank growth and very hardy, Our grow- ing crop this fall looks very fing. Tn the above list Ihave not enumerated. the garden: products, which isa separate branch of our business. 'They comprise about ten acres of. ground rev- Only one of the latter committee was enue of one-half of that received {mint-he present, viz: Eugene Bemis, did not get his report io full, but he had largest and best, quality and greatest quantity from good sized potatoes cut to twb eyes on a piece. Those cut crosswise giving the entire farm,. Although many can boast of a larger yield of some particular..crop, when theif wholo crops aro averaged, it is not many that can give a better showing than the above. COUNTRY ROADS IX WINTER: 'The majority of country rogds are at *|one time or another during the winter blocked bysnow drifts, The ouly tines , exempt .are those constantly. traveled, or which He on. the sheltered side of @yalley. /The clearing away of our forestshss given the wind a clean sweep, and where a knoll or fence ofi‘c protection. . Itis impossible to build some réads wheto. they will not drift. 'Those mnnlngnorm and south are generally worse than those running in other directions, but if the wind happens to be in the right quarter, any road which is tightly situated will bo pillcd to the fence tops: The only way to [provent road§ drifting Is to cleat away the , |feuce entirely, of Build a fers bubliitle protéction for\ olden dmwthc nowlalls 'three to four feet deep C the whola nelghborh hurled through space to. find: odgnlent >
