The Place Of Sheep On New England Farms Classic Reprint

Author : Edwin W. Sanborn
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780267480166
Total Pages : 26 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (81 download)

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Download or read book Social Changes in New England in the Past Fifty Years (Classic Reprint) written by Edwin W. Sanborn and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-02 with total page 26 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Social Changes in New England in the Past Fifty Years Early in the century, each farm, like the community, was self sustaining, The independent farmer was indeed independent. Food and clothing are both grown on the farm. He made his own sleds, brooms, medicines, vinegar, soap, ox-yokes; some times his own tools, rope, shingles, boxes, barrels, and furniture. He drew sweetness from rock-maples and dipped light from tal low. He got his pins from the white-thorn bush in the pasture. He grafted trees and painted buildings.' He would like to see anything he couldn't do. The congenial practice of swap ping helped him to be independent even of money. The home spun idea was the key to everything in life and character. Clothing being made at home, the flax grown and the sheep raised corresponded to the number in the family. Little money was needed; and, there being little money and little knowledge of the outer world, there was small temptation to extravagance. Everything centred in the home. A hundred associations, now things of the past, solidified family life. A farmer setting out for church in his broadcloth coat might notice the very sheep whose greeting would remind him that he was wearing the wool at Second hand. He would pass the fields where his straw hat and dinner basket had grown, and where the linen of his wife's go-to meeting gown had blossomed. The leather of his boots had been grown and perhaps tanned on the farm. The striking of fire from a flint and drawing of water with a sweep were picturesque rites, a communion with the localized spirits of fire and water, which were cheapened as matches were carried in the pocket and pump handles bobbed in the kitchen. The modern system of division of labor has brought the New England farmer many comforts and advantages, and mocks him with a vision of many more. Supplies and appliances better than were made at home are laid at his door, and many are wonder fully cheap. The Standard Oil Company has taken charge of candle-dipping. Factories at Lowell and Fall River maintain a continuous spinning-bee. The trouble is that they all want money. Before he thinks of buying comforts or luxuries, there are certain fixed charges to be met, for taxes, labor, commercial' fertilizers, and groceries, with demand for tools, machinery, harnesses, wagons, and a hundred other things. In the scheme of specialization where comes in the specialty which is to bring the New England farmers their share of the medium of exchange? Those who have not emigrated have answered the question to some extent by leaving the rougher lands for market gardens, poultry, fruit, and dairy farms; but the result of changed condi tions has been the disappearance of the agricultural New Eng land of fifty years ago. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.