ime on land was either on horseback or afoot for the roads
were too bad to admit of the use of wheeled vehicles.

All the cooking in those days was done at old-fashioned fireplaces and
the utensils included a gridiron, toasting iron, frying pan, iron
kettle and a number of pots and pans. The dishes used in the farm
houses were mostly of pewter and their number limited.

A broadcloth coat or a beaver hat was a valuable asset which might be
handed down to the second or even the third generation. A decent
broadcloth suit would cost a man as much as he could earn in three
months at the current rate of wages, after paying his board;
consequently the early settler did not often indulge in the luxury of
a new suit. Leather breeches were commonly worn, and from their
lasting qualities were an economical garment.

The money handled by the early settlers was quite insignificant;
nearly all transactions were of the nature of barter. Corn and furs
were the staple articles of trade. The value of corn varied
considerably, according to the season, from 4 shillings to 8 shillings
a bushel, the average rate 5 to 6 shillings. Half a bushel of corn was
the equivalent of a week's board. The ordinary rate of farm wages was
2s. a day except for such work as mowing, framing, hoeing corn, and
raking hay, for which the rate was 2s. 6d. a day. The wages of a woman
servant were 10s. a month and as all articles of clothing were very
dear compared with modern prices, they became excessively so when the
rate of wages was taken into account. It took a whole month's wages to
purchase a pair of stays and two months wages to buy a gown. A pair of
silk mits cost 5s. 6d. and a lawn handkerchief 6s. 6d. Calico was
charged as high as 6s. a yard and cotton wool at 6s. 6d per lb. As a
rule everything that had to be purchased out of a store was dear,
while the prices of country produce were exactly the reverse. Butter
sold as low as 6d. per lb.; lamb at 2-1/2d. per lb.; beef, 1-1/2 to
3d. per lb.; geese at 3s. each; fowls 1s.; potatoes 1s. 3d. a bushel.

Dr. Hannay quotes the following as a transaction on the part of Mr.
Burpee, which would be regarded as unusual at the present day:

"September 30, 1778.

"Took a hog of Mr. Joseph Howlin of Burton to fat, the hog weighs
now 113 lbs. and I am to have as many pounds of pork as he weighs
more when I kill him.

"Dec. 1st, 1778, killed Mr. Howlin's hog. Weighed before he was
killed 181 lbs."