gs, the whole
family with carriage and riding horses and servants, sometimes
three or four such gangs at a time. We had thirty-six stalls for
horses and only used ten of them for the stock we kept there. Very
often all the rest were full, and I had to send horses off to
another place. I have often sent a wagon-load of hay up to the
stable, and the next morning there would not be enough left to make
a bird's nest. I have killed a fine beef, and it would all be eaten
up in a day or two."

The final extinction of old-time hospitality in Virginia came not from a
death of hospitable intent, but from an entire vanishing of the means to
furnish entertainment. And the Civil War drove away even the lingering
ghost.

Many general customs existed in the early colonies which were simply
exemplifications of neighborliness put in legal form. Such were the
systems of common lands and herding. This was an old Aryan custom which
existed many centuries ago, and has ever been one of the best ways of
uniting any settlement of people, especially a new settlement; for it
makes the interest of one the interest of all, and promotes union rather
than selfishness. Common lands were set off and common herds existed in
many of the Northern colonies; cowherds or "cow-keeps" were appointed
and paid by the town to care throughout the summer for all the cattle
owned by the inhabitants. This was an intelligent provision; for it
saved much work of individuals during the months when farmers had so
much hard work to do, and so short a time to do it in. In Albany and New
York the cowherd and "a chosen proper youngster"--in other words, a
good, steady boy--went through the town at sunrise sounding a horn,
which the cattle heard and knew; and they quickly followed him to green
pastures outside the town. There they lingered till nearly sunset, when
they were brought home to the church, and the owners were again warned
by the horn of the safe return of their cattle, and that it was milking
time. Sometimes the cowherd received part of his pay in butter or
cheese. In Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cowherd Rice, in 1635, agreed to
take charge of one hundred cows for three months for ten pounds. The
town also paid two men or boys to help him the first two weeks, and one
man a week longer; he kept the cows alone after that, for the
intelligent cattle had fallen into habits of order and obedience to his
horn. He had to pay threep