In July the farmer prepares new land for wheat
8
MY OLD HOME
growing — first clearing away the bushes and then plough-
ing it up roughly to expose as much of the surface as possible
to the air and the rays of the sun ; this land is later
on harrowed and sown with rape, which affords summer
pasturage for cattle and also fertilizes the land. I forgot
to say that we had very large stables, in which over thirty
horses could be comfortably housed. We each had our
riding horse, and a great many of course were also
employed for farm work ; the roads being heavy we seldom
drove with less than four horses in a cart, and eight in our
large four-wheeled conveyance, a sort of coach on four
wheels.
We had about fifty milch cows on the farm, and the
dairy work was more irksome than at the present time,
when every one has a cream separator and sends the cream
to the nearest “ creamery.” The supervision of the dairy
was left to one of the daughters of the house — the churning
and washing-up being done by a very capable coloured
woman, while we creamed or skimmed the pans of milk
— set in rows as each day’s milk came in. What lovely
cream and butter it was ! Every week the surplus was
sent for sale to Cape Town, generally to regular customers.
As the farm labourers and herds had to be fed daily, a
sheep was killed every morning, and often a stall-fed ox ;
the herdsmen on the out-stations, and their wives, lived in
comfortable cottages and gardens, near the kraals, which
were bedded down with straw, and fences of thick layers of
rhenoster bush made a warm shelter for the animals on
cold nights.
These men had regular rations given them of
one sheep, about 30 lbs. meat, 2 lbs. coffee, salt, and
thirty fish — salted haarders (a kind of mullet caught in
9
MY OLD HOME
quantities at Saldanah Bay, and sent round to the farms
by people who bought them from the fishermen).
If a new piece of vineyard had to be planted, the ground
would be deeply trenched in August and got ready for
planting, which was done about the end of the month. The
ground for putting in melons was also trenched and pre-
pared. On a large estate where there were horses, sheep,
cows, ostriches, vineyards, poultry and pigs, there were endless
things to be seen to, the many buildings had to be kept in
repair, wire-fencing to be put up, and so there was much to
interest and occupy both men and women. We had a post
three times a week from Cape Town, the advent of which
was hailed with great delight, and the current topics of the
day were generally discussed at meal-time, when the whole
family met. We, daughters of the house, being our own
dressmakers, had lots to do, and writing or reading aloud
alternately made the time pass all too quickly, when it was
too hot for gardening or riding.
Page 5
Presented as published in 1902. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
In July the farmer prepares new land for wheat
growing — first clearing away the bushes and then ploughing it up roughly to expose as much of the surface as possible to the air and the rays of the sun ; this land is later on harrowed and sown with rape, which affords summer pasturage for cattle and also fertilizes the land. I forgot to say that we had very large stables, in which over thirty horses could be comfortably housed. We each had our riding horse, and a great many of course were also employed for farm work ; the roads being heavy we seldom drove with less than four horses in a cart, and eight in our large four-wheeled conveyance, a sort of coach on four wheels.
We had about fifty milch cows on the farm, and the dairy work was more irksome than at the present time, when every one has a cream separator and sends the cream to the nearest “ creamery.” The supervision of the dairy was left to one of the daughters of the house — the churning and washing-up being done by a very capable coloured woman, while we creamed or skimmed the pans of milk — set in rows as each day’s milk came in. What lovely cream and butter it was ! Every week the surplus was sent for sale to Cape Town, generally to regular customers.
As the farm labourers and herds had to be fed daily, a sheep was killed every morning, and often a stall-fed ox ; the herdsmen on the out-stations, and their wives, lived in comfortable cottages and gardens, near the kraals, which were bedded down with straw, and fences of thick layers of rhenoster bush made a warm shelter for the animals on cold nights.
These men had regular rations given them of one sheep, about 30 lbs. meat, 2 lbs. coffee, salt, and thirty fish — salted haarders (a kind of mullet caught in
quantities at Saldanah Bay, and sent round to the farms by people who bought them from the fishermen).
If a new piece of vineyard had to be planted, the ground would be deeply trenched in August and got ready for planting, which was done about the end of the month. The ground for putting in melons was also trenched and prepared. On a large estate where there were horses, sheep, cows, ostriches, vineyards, poultry and pigs, there were endless things to be seen to, the many buildings had to be kept in repair, wire-fencing to be put up, and so there was much to interest and occupy both men and women. We had a post three times a week from Cape Town, the advent of which was hailed with great delight, and the current topics of the day were generally discussed at meal-time, when the whole family met. We, daughters of the house, being our own dressmakers, had lots to do, and writing or reading aloud alternately made the time pass all too quickly, when it was too hot for gardening or riding.