w heading.
On the night of November 11 the shredders came and set up their great
machine on the floor of the forage barn, ready to commence work the next
morning. There were ten men in the shredding gang. I furnished six more,
and Bill Jackson came with two others to change work with me; that is,
my men were to help him when the machine reached his farm. We worked
nineteen men and four teams three and a half days on the forty-three
acres of corn, and as a result, had a tremendous mow of shredded corn
fodder and an immense pile of half-husked ears. For the use of the
machine and the wages of the ten men I paid $105. Poor economy! Before
next corn-shredding time I owned a machine,--smaller indeed, but it did
the work as well (though not as quickly), and it cost me only $215, and
was good for ten years.
The weather had favored me thus far. The wet August had put the ground
into good condition for seeding, and the dry September and October had
permitted our buildings to be pushed forward, but now everything was to
change. A light rain began on the morning of the 15th (I did not permit
it to interrupt the shredding, which was finished by noon), and by night
it had developed into a steady downpour that continued, with
interruptions, for six weeks. November and December of 1895 gave us rain
and snow fall equal to twelve and a half inches of water. Plans at Four
Oaks had to be modified. There was no more use for the ploughs. Nos. 10
and 11, and much of the home lot were left until spring. I had planned
to mulch heavily all the newly set trees, and for this purpose had
bought six carloads of manure (at a cost of $72); but this manure could
not be hauled across the sodden fields, and must needs be piled in a
great heap for use in the spring. The carpenters worked at disadvantage,
and the farm men could do little more than keep themselves and the
animals comfortable. They did, however, finish one good job between
showers. They tile-drained the routes for the two roads on the home
lot,--the straight one east and west through the building line, about
1000 feet, and the winding carriage drive to the site of the main house,
about 1850 feet. The tile pipe cost $123. They also set a lot of fence
posts in the soft ground.
Building progressed slowly during the bad weather, but before the end of
December the horse barn, the woodshed, the granary, the forage barn, and
the power-house were completed, and most of the machinery was in pla
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