o a surprise.

First, I had no plough to turn up the earth; no spade or shovel to dig
it: well, this I conquered by making a wooden spade, as I observed
before; but this did my work but in a wooden manner; and though it cost
me a great many days to make it, yet, for want of iron, it not only wore
out the sooner, but made my work the harder, and performed it much
worse. However, this I bore with, and was content to work it out with
patience, and bear with the badness of the performance. When the corn
was sown, I had no harrow, but was forced to go over it myself, and drag
a great heavy bough of a tree over it, to scratch it, as it may be
called, rather than rake or harrow it. When it was growing and grown, I
have observed already how many things I wanted to fence it, secure it,
mow or reap it, cure and carry it home, thrash, part it from the chaff,
and save it: then I wanted a mill to grind it, sieves to dress it, yeast
and salt to make it into bread, and an oven to bake it; and yet all
these things I did without, as shall be observed; and the corn was an
inestimable comfort and advantage to me: all this, as I said, made every
thing laborious and tedious to me, but that there was no help for;
neither was my time so much loss to me, because, as I had divided it, a
certain part of it, was every day appointed to these works; and as I
resolved to use none of the corn for bread till I had a greater quantity
by me, I had the next six months to apply myself wholly, by labour and
invention, to furnish myself with utensils proper for the performing all
the operations necessary for making corn fit for my use.

But now I was to prepare more land; for I had seed enough to sow above
an acre of ground. Before I did this, I had a week's work at least to
make me a spade; which, when it was done, was but a sorry one indeed,
and very heavy, and required double labour to work with it: however, I
went through that, and sowed my seed in two large flat pieces of ground,
as near my house as I could find them to my mind, and fenced them in
with a good hedge; the stakes of which were all cut off that wood which
I had set before, and knew it would grow; so that, in one year's time, I
knew I should have a quick or living hedge, that would want but little
repair. This work took me up full three months; because a great part of
the time was in the wet season, when I could not go abroad. Within
doors, that is, when it rained, and I could not go out, I