farm chores Archives - Appalachian History

How can a 2-horse farm have no horses and STILL be a 2-horse farm?

Before modern mechanization, the size of farms across southern Appalachia was usually measured in horses. A two-horse farm was average size.

Instead of bathing at the back porch pump of an evening, the farmer now adjourns to his porcelain bath tub.

My cousin had a row with a pig. This pig refused to eat when he came down to feed it. It pawed the ground & ran to the other side of the sty.

That spring, I gathered up suitable pieces of scrap lumber wherever they could be found in order to construct a brooder house.

Uncle made fun of me, so I took my bottle and hid behind the room door, and he still teased me, so I crawled under the bed and finished it!