The
profession of the farmer was not so much a single job,
but a combination of vocations. To keep his farm up and
running, the farmer had to be ready to wear any number of
different hats, so to speak. He was a botanist with his
crops, a veterinarian with his livestock, and a
businessman when negotiating the best price for his
yield. He even had to play the role of weatherman, doing
the hay while it was dry and taking in the potatoes
while the soil was still damp. Farmers may not have
received much formal education but-- by any standard--
they possessed a wealth of knowledge, picked up from past
generations and from each other.
The sharing of ideas, equipment, and manpower was an essential part of traditional farm practice. When there were large tasks to be accomplished, neighbors always seemed to be ready with a helping hand. These collective efforts, especially important during cropping and harvesting seasons, were known as 'frolics.' Farmers would organize a group of men to help with the harvesting of hay, or to raise the frame and rafters of a new building. The reward for putting in a hard day's work would be a large meal, prepared by the women, followed by a night of fiddle music, dancing, and festivity.
One of the most
important sources of information for the early farmer was
the moon, which served him at different times as a
makeshift calendar, weather report, or even good luck
charm. The phases of the moon were used as a planting
guide, partly on the basis of reasoned experience and
partly out of superstition. Potatoes were planted in the
dark phase of the moon in May, while cucumber and
pumpkins were not to be put in the ground until the dark
phase of the moon in June. These rules-of-thumb had a
good reason behind them: the Island is prone to heavy
frosts until the end of May, which could wipe out above
ground crops.
But
other moon-related superstitions had less immediately
discernible reasons behind them. Pigs, for instance, were
supposed to be slaughtered during a moonless night to
prevent the meat from shriveling. When the moon was on
the wane, it was said, splitting firewood was easier and
the bark would peel right off the 'longers,' or fence
posts. Potato sets-- the sectioned potatoes used as
seed-- were to be cut before a full moon and dried in the
sun. Traditions die hard, and many older Island farmers
still swear by these beliefs.
Farmers also needed to keep a watchful eye trained on the health of their livestock. With veterinarians few and far between, they had to rely on their own diagnoses and apply traditional remedies, often passed down through several generations. Colic in horses was treated by 'drenching' the animal-- administering a purgative made from birch tree bark-- and then walking it until the medicine brought relief. Cows who had overfed on green grain or clover would have to be stabbed in the stomach, with aprecise incision that relieved the painful buildup of gas.
Until
recently, the Island farm was a mainly self-sufficient
operation, and there was little need or occasion to
record its financial dealings. One local farmer
remembered how his father kept a tally of farm production
with notches on his barn door. When the barn caved in,
all the records went along with it. But the lack of
written records did not mean that the farm itself was
ready to fall apart at any minute. The farmer carried his
calculations around in his head, always knowing how much
a field or an animal should produce. However, the rise of
large, commercial farms has required that farmers develop
a more formal managerial style, with cost and revenue
tabulations and payroll accounts. To be successful, the
modern farmer has to fulfil another role over and above
the many that his predecessors perfomed: the role of a
businessman.
