One morning before a thunder-storm, when it fell
forty degrees in a few hours, it was up to 90 degrees. We have had
some rain, but not the heavy if storms we have seen wandering round
which generally follow the course of the Assiniboine - a relief to our
minds, as our hay is still out.
It has been cut nearly all round the property outside the fence,
in spite of the risk one runs of having it subsequently claimed by
the owner of the section, who is generally a half-breed, a loss
only to be avoided by leading it home at once, which we are doing.
This has happened to our neighbour, with whom, I am afraid, we do
not sympathise very keenly, as he had taken up the marsh which our
men cut last year, and had the full intention of doing again this
year, so they looked upon it in the light of their special
property.
We have only two waggons working here, as nearly all the men and
horses are gone over to Boyd's; and as our hay is a mile and a
half away, we don't get much more than five loads a day, so that
the stack does not grow very fast.
Our excitement this week has been a cricket match with Boyle's
Farm; four of their men we challenged. It really was too amusing.
They had a bat and ball, stumps, but no bales, and played on the
prairie, which was so fearfully rough that it was almost
dangerous, the ball shot in such various directions after hitting
the tufts of grass. Everybody fielded, but a ball going into the
wheat-field behind the wickets was not counted as a lost ball. The
total score of the two innings was only ten, and in one our
opponents went out without a single run; so you may fancy the
howls of either applause or derision at every ball.
* * * * *
August 17th.
The Farm with all its toils and pleasures is a thing of the past;
we were both very low when we turned our backs upon it and its
inhabitants just a week ago. We have been in such robust health
the whole of our three months, hardly a headache or finger-ache.
Our maid-of-all-work life has suited us, and we have acquired such
an immense deal of practical knowledge that for those reasons
alone, we might be gratified and pleased we came. Since then we
have been staying with Mike in Minnesota, where we were either
riding or driving (anything to do with horses) all day long.
Driving four miles, jumping the horses over a pole, taking them
down to water, having a mule race (which was truly amusing as the
course was just in front of the house and several bolted home),
and driving, a gang plough, were a few of the "diversions" found
for us. Our host was most kind and anxious to make us comfortable;
he worked heaven and earth to get his house ready, the contractors
having taken so much more time than they said; anyhow, he turned
the carpenters out of the house the day previous to our arrival,
carried in the furniture, nailed up mosquito blinds, and did many
things himself, so that everything should be in spick and span
order.
As these men, Mike having two partners, are farming thirteen
thousand acres, they are on a much larger scale as regards
buildings, numbers of horses, etc., to anything we have seen
before. Their living-houses are about double the size of C - -
Farm; they have also huge stables, which A - - fancies will be cold
in winter, but have a most imposing appearance, as have also their
implement house, sheds, etc. The land seemed much the same as
ours, a rich black loam, but very much wetter, marshes everywhere.
They have broken two thousand acres since the beginning of June,
and were busy, whilst we were there, cutting hay, Mike hoping he
had already got over five hundred ton up!
We drove one day to see a neighbouring farm which is said to be
the "boss" one in all the country, belonging to a man who has been
out five years. He was just starting to cut his two square miles
of wheat, and we watched the seven self-binding machines with
great interest. They seem as light as a reaper, and the machinery
comparatively not intricate.
We were driven through some standing corn, which was rather
agonizing to our British ideas, but he thought nothing of it. The
straw was four and a half feet high, and he hopes to get forty-two
bushels to the acre. His farm being on the Snake River, and having
many creeks running through as drainage, is a great advantage. His
vats were pronounced no better, if so good, as ours at C - - Farm.
We remained at Warren a day longer than we had intended, as we got
to the station just in time to see our train move off. We accused
Mike's Irish groom, who is quite a character, of bringing round
the carriage too late on purpose. If he did, I think all the party
forgave him; we were very happy, it gave us another night of
A - - 's society. Mike was low at our going. Poor man! one cannot
be much surprised at his liking to keep us, as, besides the
fascinations of ladies' society, he has no neighbours whatsoever,
and, excepting the two men he has in the house, there is not a
gentleman nearer than Winnipeg. He offered me seventy-two dollars
a month to be his housekeeper. E - - was to have two dollars a
week as parlour-maid, which she considers an insult; or she might
have seventy-five cents a day if she would drive the ploughs.
