Three generations

THE DAIRY AND POULTRY YARD 113
dainty equipment of house and children, were so far
things of the past.
She rose again between five and six in the morn-
ing, and at once appropriated more than the
mistress's share of the work of the farm, of which
her husband knew little and for which he cared less
to begin with. His whole hopes and energies
were centred in the coal-work. She established
her dairy on a considerable scale. Poultry farms
were unheard of in those days, but she took care
that her poultry-yard should be remunerative. She
had her women - servants to milk the cows and
churn the cream, to feed the pigs and calves. The
profits of the first belonged to her department, and
to it also appertained the roasts and hams which the
pigs yielded. As for the calves, she loved when she
could to pass them over to my father to fill an empty
corner in his purse.
In connection with the welfare of the calves under
her supervision, one of the pleasures of the children
of the family was to be taken with her to see the
calves get their supper, just as another indulgence
which mother and children shared was to stroll out
in fine gloamings to see the ewes and their lambs
walking and trotting in procession back from their
pasture to the " reed," or barton. The offices were
in a very dilapidated condition, which there was no
money to remedy. They were near enough to the
mansion-house for the breath of kine and sheep to
be felt on occasions, while a low from the cattle or
a bleat of a sheep broke the silence at intervals.
My mother made up the butter, and helped to make
the cheese. A greater ordeal than any other in a matter
which could not be entrusted to such subordinates as
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