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Show I "I REMEMBER" SYTIttOLDTtMJRS r From J. B. Chandler, So. Boston, Virginia: I remember back in the . early Eighties before wire was manufactured for use in fences. My father, we boys and the hired hands on our farm ten miles west of the new Kerr Lake in Mucklen-burg Mucklen-burg County, Va.. cut large trees, split the ten-foot lengths into rails and built rick-rack fences five feet high around large portions of the farm. In these enclosures we kept cattle, cat-tle, sheep, swine and geese. Second Sec-ond to the production usefulness of the eows were the sheep, often used extensively as lamb and mutton roasts. Also, every May a large number were herded into pens and sheared. We washed the wool and when it was dry, re- moved the trash burrs. Jucn oi this wool we carded into 12-in. rolls about finger sire. These rolls were then spun into thread on a spinning wheel (which I still own). We then dried it in the desired de-sired colors and my mother and sister would knit socks for the men and knee-length stockings for the women and children. They also wove beautiful bed blankets and cloth from which were made petticoats for the ladies. Of course this could nol be done without a warp made the same way as wool thread, bul for strength and durability was made of cotton grown on the farm. The seeds were picked out by hand and on cotton picking nights each member of the family was allbted a certain amount to pick before retiring. The cotton thread had to be dyed before use. The dye was made by boiling the hanks ol thread in a solution obtained by boiling the inner bark taken from sweet gum trees which produced a greyish color. (Sent ecntrlbatUn thi column W th Old Tlmr. Commonlty Fres Servtct. B. , Frunkfort, KenUckr.) 1 |