tables etc. was home-made by Duncan from Manitoba oak. Inciden-
tally I still have a violin made by Duncan when he was seventeen
years old.

A milkhouse was built against one wall of our home. Its other
three walls were of stone. The bank of a hill was dug out by team
and scraper to provide for a log barn twenty feet by forty. On the
roof of poplar poles hay was stacked. This provided a fine warm
place for the livestock in winter.

It was when they were in their home on 31 that the Daroughs
were honored by a visit from the Duke and Duchess of Aberdeen.
The Duke, then Governor General of Canada, was on an inspection
tour of the Gaelic settlements in the area. After lunching with the
Daroughs he proceeded to Glenboro. One of the gillies with the vice-
regal party apparently had a yen for exploring. When Mother went

into the milkhcuse to get some milk and cream to place before her

guests she discovered him feasting heartily from the thick layer of
cream on one of the big dishpans of milk. I did not meet the Duke
and Duchess as I was threshing at the north end of the half section.

1 can remember hauling the crop of '87 toKillarney witha ycke
of oxen. That was the first crop taken off 31 and a bumper crop it
was, going 40 bushels totheacre. It was hauled in two bushel bags
and the price received at Killarney was 40¢ abushel. OQur first three
crops had been cut with a scythe and threshed with flails, so it was
a joy in'85 to have a SELF REAPER. Although it reaped the grain
it did not bind it into sheaves. Binding was done by hand. Bands
were made by taking handfuls of straw in each hand. These were
fastened around quantities of grain which one bundled. In '85 the
threshing was still done by flail. Then in '86 Milt Mackie brought
the FIRST BINDER into the district. It was a giant of a machine
with framework entirely of wood and about twice as large as the steel
onies which were to follow it ina few years. With this machine Milt

- did custom cutting for Practically the whole district. It was a great
improvement over the self réaper as it both cut the grain and bound
it into sheaves. This DEERING binder was pulled by four horses.

In that year, '86, George Overend brought the FIRST THRESH-
ING MACHINE into the distriet. It waspowered by aten horsepower
- GORNELL steam engine, whichused straw for fuel. The separator
had neither feeder, bandcutter, nor blower. Straw was carried out
the back end of the machine by a straw carrier which was much like

- the elevator canvass found ona binder. This straw was taken from

' the back of the machine with a bucking rope. This was a hundred

feet. of three quarter inch rope witha loop oran eyveat each end that -

wase€ireled around the pile of straw that collected at the back of the’
) rmchme. Then the iwo eyes were hooked into the hook on a chain -

 

13

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