Speaker: Usually they had a big camp for the- for the main men and uh, for the- the- the workers- ... And then they- they'd uh, for the teamster's? they had a- what they called a teamster-shack. ... And the- the teamster's are alone and uh the cookery, it was- it was by itself. It was a big cookery.

Speaker: Kingston? I have a son living there, for one thing. Interviewer 4: It- what- what river is it on? What's- is Kingston on a river? On the water? Kingston. Speaker: What's this- no I did hear them calling the name of it. That goes down through into the States, don't it? Interviewer: I think so. Speaker: What's- no, I've often heard it said, l-- is Lake-Superior? Interviewer: No, I think that's farther down. I don't think it's that far. Speaker: I couldn't tell you.

Speaker: And take it- fr-- from down across the line here. They're over here, tourists in the summertime all up to that country. We cross here in the fall hunting. Way up through the- Interviewer: What- what do you mean across the line? Speaker: Ah in the States. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: With moose hunters an awful lot of us come over moose-hunting. Interviewer: Mm. What state are they- ? Speaker: W-- well it's states just along the border. New-York-State and down across.

Ah- there was an eccentric on the back and you had different- different sieves for wheat or, ah, rye or oats or- and you put them in there and, ah, they- this took all the weeds out of, ah, the, ah- the, ah, grain. Then of course they got the big threshing mill and they cleaned the grain and, ah, first they were steam power, then they were diesel and, ah, then today we have the combine. They cut the grain and thresh it and, ah, bag it and- all in one process.

Speaker: We'd have the s-- we'd have the threshing mill and all the straw and then they unchaffed it out in there. Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: But, ah, we didn't- the- the place above- above the cattle for the- for the mow. But now the hay, somebody called them- I forget what you called them. Lofts.

Interviewer: When you- when you grew the oats, what ah- what- after- after you'd cut it, what would you do? Speaker: Well, it went into stooks and then we had to get a threshing mill and thresh it.

Stooped them 'til they dried out well, and then we u-- they usually drew them in, stored them in the barn 'til the threshing mill came. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Tell me, ah, how the threshing mill worked and what happened there.

Interviewer: Mm-hm. Tell me, ah, how the threshing mill worked and what happened there. Speaker: Well, the threshing mill, it took about ah, fifteen, twelve-fifteen, we usually had quite a few men, sometimes seventeen or eighteen, because Dad neighboured with quite a few other farmers around, and he didn't want to be scarce of help.

, then there was feeding the mill the sheaves, and ah, carrying the grain to the granary. And I think that covers most of them. [0:20:35.1 ] Interviewer: Mm-hm. What, ah, what ah mode of power ran the um- Speaker: It was a steam engine we had most of the time, while we had the threshing mill. It was heated wood and um put in the engine and then the water warmed or boiled and the steam ran the engine. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Some of the crew would be special. Speaker: Look after- Yes. Usually the man, whoever owned the threshing mill, had the two.

Interviewer: the different parts. Speaker: Well, all right, there's the bridle. Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: And there's the lines. Interviewer: Uh-huh. Speaker: This'd be the- the breast collar. Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: And the traces. This is the britchen. And the backen (?). Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: And this other strap that goes up over his head comes down to his back, and that was the check.

Speaker: Yes, that's just it. That's a horse and single buggy. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And ah yeah, this is the (inc) here, and ah this is the breast-collar and the traces. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And that's the bridle. That's just the same as- as the breast-collar- what they call a breast-collar. Interviewer: Yeah. Speaker: Just the hitching up here, and this little tail-strap. Interviewer: Yeah. Ah- Speaker: And that's the halter for the head ...

Speaker: It- well, in- in a buggy or a cutter there were shafts. Interviewer: Oh yeah. Speaker: Horse went in between them. And then it, um- they went up and there was a loop on the harness. Interviewer: Uh-huh. Speaker: Shafts went through those loops and there's traces from the harness back and- Interviewer: Did you have a buggy in- ? Speaker: Oh yes.

Interviewer: Yes. Uh, if you were driving one horse, on a buggy, what were those two wooden things on the front in which- Speaker: Those were the shaves, yeah. Interviewer: How did you fasten the horse to the- Speaker: Well, you backed them into the- into the- of course they have uh, traces and you have a- you have a place where you put them on the end of a- of a whippletree, a little whippletree. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: And then for a team they had uh, what they called a pole- Interviewer: Oh, yes. Speaker: And then they had two whippletrees, one one each side ...

Interviewer: ... ah, what- where- where would the horse go in- relative to the shafts? Speaker: Between the two shafts. And then there was ah- what the hay was or-something, and there was little places for the shaft to go in on the harness. And then a whippletree, a single whippletree. And the traces were hitched to the whippletree. Interviewer: Mm-hm, which kept the animal attached to the- to the buggy or the cutter. Yes. Um, what was the name of the piece of harness that was on the horse's head? Speaker: Ah, bridle.

Interviewer: Yes. And what did the driver hold? Speaker: Their lines. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Ah do you know the names of- the name of any of the other pieces of the- of the harness? Speaker: Harness- there was a collar, and um- and ah, hames, the hames were attached to the- to the traces that hitched to the buggy. And then there was the back pad- but I don't know what that's called around. And then um- the tray- ah, no there was ah- another affair attached to the shafts, too.

Interviewer: What about when you, ah, ah, the- the- put them near the- near the barn or something? Is it- did you put them in a bigger- bigger pile there, or? Speaker: Piled it all in a mow. Interviewer: Uh-huh. Speaker: Half the size of the barn. You-know, tramp it in. Interviewer: Which? Speaker: You'd tramp it in with your feet. Get much in. But, ah, you don't throw it in with the fork, no, they'd take it in with the hay fork.

... well the horses pretty well went themselves, you just uh, put the reins onto the uh, um, wagon someplace and uh, mother would- would drive, plus when my father would put the hay onto the wagon, mother would tramp it down to see that she could- and place it-

... Dad neighboured with quite a few other farmers around, and he didn't want to be scarce of help. That one man would have not a lot to do. So he had about eighteen men, and um, there was men on the straw, to tramp it and build it in the barn, or on a stack, if it was going to be stored- if there was too much and wouldn't fit in the barn, and then there was somebody to cut the bands on the sheaves, band cutters ...

... my uncle by marriage was in- ah, building the straw around, even- and he looked- and he thought that it was the dust was in his eye, and 'twas a ball of ah, fire, right in the straw, in the barn, and he just ran and jumped right on it and tramped it out.

Interviewer: Um, what did they thresh with, before the machines came on? Speaker: The tramper. Well, no, with the flail. Interviewer: Uh-huh. Speaker: That- the flail was- yeah, two sh-- one stick, and then a short piece of a stick tied to that, and you'd flail it. And then there was a tramper followed that. That would- run- ah, that was powered either by a- ah, an oxen or a horse. Or probably two. I've seen- I've seen them- seen them run with a horse and an oxen. Interviewer: Mm-hm. Speaker: Or two horses, or two oxen would do it either. That was what they called the tramper.