SEGMENT: CROPS, FOOD & MEALS, & TOWNS
John Keith>UIS Collection K-M>UIS Collection K-M, Segment 1
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- CROPS
- Raised corn, oats and wheat for main crops, and timothy hay for horse and cattle feed. Fed cattle with oat straw and fodder. Raised calves, but did not feed for market. Describes the process and ingredients of making fodder. There were no choppers or silos at the time. Father had 110 acres and rented farming ground. Father did farming alone before Mr. Keith was old enough. Went to town - Sorrento - only 2-3 times in winter. No commercial feed. Fed hens whole corn with no supplements. Hens laid only enough for the family.
- FOOD & MEALS
- Kept food in the basement. Stored potatoes for eating and seed, baked apples, and canned foods. Mother used glass jars. Describes the tin cans and clay jars used for storage. Buried apples and potatoes in the ground in straw and sometimes fodder to keep them from freezing in the winter. Bought sugar and coffee in town. Traded whole wheat for whole wheat flour at the mill in 50-100 lb sacks for 6 months. There is still a mill in Mt. Olive that makes bakery flour. Kept flour at head of stairs on a shelf near where the children slept.
- TOWNS
- Bought "winter clothes" and sometimes overshoes in town in the fall. Shoes and socks got wet without overshoes, but they would dry them over the woodstove at night. Rarely went to town as a child. Went to town a Saturday before Christmas every year and spent 15-20 cents for mother's present. Recalls buying a pickle dish for mother. Sometimes got a quarter to spend at the ice cream suppers held at the church. A bottle of pop was 5c and ice cream was 5c. Had a small property tax back then. Used the money for clothing ordered from Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Ward, and picked it up in Walshville. Had first mail carrier in 1900. Walked, took the buggy, or rode horseback the 4 miles to Walshville.